Hello Commanders!
Usual caveat: no guarantee, no ETA! This is just another thought experiment.
A quick question regarding player-versus-player (not AI) in open:
Currently there is no real difference between crime against AI and crime against humans.
Do folk think that additional, relatively severe in-game penalties for illegal ship destruction where there was a large disparity between rank/power of murderer to victim would be a worthwhile thing?
As an example suggestion: a high combat rank player in a combat capable ship boils a low combat rank player in a trade vessel. In addition to a bounty, the murderer is unable to dock at high security systems and suffers an increased insurance premium excess for an amount of time.
Continued offences of this nature increase and prolong the punitive measures.
Would a system like this help reconcile the two factions of the PVP and PVE, or would it not really address the issue?
Thoughts?
This would not solve anything im sorry, there's a lack of consistency in elite as it is and you don't want to punish your players who have played the game the longest.
If I was to envisage a proper crime and punishment system there would need to be some fixes outside of the issue to compensate.
first thing is if you get killed in a system where you have a bounty you should be forced to pay all of your bounties. Being able to weasel out of punishment by respawning at an anarchy system negates the system. You were caught and dispatched in a system where you're wanted, pay up.
also remove the suicide by sidewinder "exploit" if you die you have to pay your bounties and fines.
if a player collects the bounty payout 85% so that there is a net loss.
second would be for bounties to scale in both time and credit value.
1 murder bounty = 1 day bounty before payable @3000 Credits
2 murder bounties = 3 days @ 9000 credits
3 = 9 days @ 27000 credits
ect.
this would only scale for repeat offenses in the same system. Move to another system and it starts back at 3k.
at a certian point say 15 murders you're flagged at that station and denied docking clearance it could even be a fun mechanic where by if you're scanned your privilaged are revoked and then your clearance is denied.
Make the police response scale as your bounty rises and use ships in accordance to the controlling faction.
In federation systems you will get interdicted by gunships and assault ships, eventually even the corvette or even wings of corvettes.
empire systems would see imperial Eagles, couriers, clippers, and cutters
aliance or independent systems would use vipers, cobras, pythons, FDLs, and condas
after that buff the black market for one it just doesn't pay enough but it would offset these operation costs for pirates.
increase the production of goods in anarchy systems there are no checks and balances in an anarchy government demand and production should be through the roof. Again this is to give pirates a hunting ground, traders will by nature move to greener pastures as will pirates. It should be a choice if the trader wants to take the extra risk or if the pirate wants to avoid security and steep bounties.
make NPC piracy viable, a lot of the players with a thirst for the macabre want to do the darker professions of elite. Players aren't very common in most situations and NPC's do not carry goods worth pirating or in high quantities. Often times you will sit there forever waiting and a type 6 will spawn. A lot of piracy's income problems are from downtime, players are the only real source of income. Limpets take a bit too long to scoop cargo, the hatch breaker doesn't drop enough cargo and is too slow and fragile.
players should also only have one way to drop cargo, unmarked and legal, if forcefully ejected then it should be stolen.
Increase the cost of all cargo this will buff piracy, and give increased risk to smuggling.
add a lot more super expensive cargo with higher profit margins, preferably illegal for sandbox smuggling. It would further buff piracy, by extension bounty hunters, and if getting scanned was a bounty instead of a fine it would add some much needed risk to smuggling, piracy, and incentivize PvP bounty hunting.
buff the income of other professions, people get understandably upset being forced to do something they don't want to do for monetary gain. Adjust the reward to be based on time investment and risk. There's no reason mining should make less than trading.
lastly increase the skill and loadouts of the NPCs but do not make them cheat, they must follow the same rules as we do. And they should treat us just as they would an NPC we aren't supposed to have special treatment in elite.
what I'm getting at here is that the game doesn't scale, not in risk, reward, difficulty, or with rank. Enemies do not get stronger as your rank increases, your ship becomes better, or your bounty becoming greater.
your black market bonus doesn't scale with trade rank neither does your rare allotment, or profit margin.
Your exploration data isn't worth more the higher ranked you are.
the players who play the dark side either as a griefer mass murderer, duelist, pirate, or a smuggler are bored.
The smuggler doesn't make enough in the black market and has no risk of a bounty, NPCs are largely ignored.
pirates might as well be fishing for hours at a time to catch one fish.
duelists seek a challenge an order of magnitude greater than what NPCs can offer.
mass murders are duelists without consent or honor / trolls.
Griefers don't go there to get their kicks clubbing newbies they get their kicks when we go to chase them off. They kick the baby so they can get a real challenge from other high ranked players or to satisfy their troll desires of causing mayhem.
Fixing the crime and punishment system will deter those that aren't looking for that challenge but rather just mayhem. Challenging the others and rewarding all professions will solve the problem of the bored.
not only does this have the effect of taking the heat off new players it makes the game more enjoyable to everyone.
bandaids are not a solution.
edit: make getting caught with stolen or illegal goods an instant bounty not a fine. This is to promote piracy in anarchy space and to add much needed risk to both it and smuggling to offset the increased profits.
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