Now, before you write me off, this is a very fair solution to one of the biggest problems in the game. Griefing and non-consensual PvP. This solution is fair for both sides and outlines fixes to the security system that Elite Dangerous, the game that we all love desperately needs.
FDEV can we PLEASE get a real crime/punishment system in place? Here are some fair solutions.
After playing for more than a year now, I have heard CMDRs complain about various parts of the game and things that need to and dont need to be fixed. One thing that is brought up absolutely constantly is the desperate need for a proper crime & punishment system. As it is right now, the game inadvertently allows players to be as naughty as they can be with really little or no consequence. Let's just face it and be honest here. Being wanted means nothing and police AI response (right now) means nothing to wanted CMDRs. Being wanted is a status symbol in the naughty CMDR community and there is literally nothing stopping them from doing what they do (killing traders, noobs, etc.) except for a very small amount of groups like my own that fight them off. This game in its current state has inadvertently built an environment that allows for pirate groups to be a dime a dozen while law enforcement groups are left with no benefit. Griefing players are allowed to kill all they want in starter systems with NO fear of being killed by NPC authorities or having docking issues in the system that they've been murdering CMDRs in.
The solution to this entire issue would be to actually make highsec systems HIGH SEC, basically meaning that the NPC reaction time to an illegal interdiction/murder is immediate and their AI is basically godlike (but still killable) and they come in swarms. High sec police should be military equipped instead of vipers/eagles. High Sec systems should also not allow wanted CMDRs of a certain bounty size to dock (aka save their location, repair, rearm, etc) in their system. Why the heck would they allow known murderers into their homes? I believe that High Sec starports should react to high bounty criminals like they do CMDRs who are enemies of the local faction and have the police force attack on sight if a high bounty criminal attempts to dock.
On the flip side however, lowsec and Anarchy should be absolute pirate havens with no rules and no police response (Anarchy) or very slow/weak response in lowsec. These Anarchy/lowsec systems should generally have very good trade routes and smuggling should be worth double in these systems as IRL the economies would be making their money dealing in illegal goods. Allow for rare goods to receive extra money in these systems to encourage players to take a risk if they want to make more money. CMDRs taking the risk of trading in these dangerous systems in open should be allotted a 10% extra profit dividend for doing so, whether they were pirated or got there safely. With this dividend the trader could give the pirate a little bit of cargo without going broke or having to die trying to escape. That way everyone goes home happy.
This would protect players in secure systems and protect pirates/smugglers in systems that matches their play style. The solution to griefers should not be "just go to solo!" It should be "well just stick to highsec systems." How will we know the security of a system outright? Why not have an indicator on the HUD as to what security the system that we're in is or the system that we're about to jump to is.
This is what the players want and this is what will fix our issues for most of the game population. A real crime/punishment system.
TLR - We need a clear distinction between system securities in this game.. Badly. Fixing it this way would allow for a much more rich style of gameplay that would make sense and bring back legitimate trade, safety to the noob systems and an actual risk v. reward system.
I actually want to agree with part of this about needing some Low sec and High sec systems... but your idea is far too extreme. You literally want safe zones where nothing bad can happen-- and that shouldn't exist. As for penalties for crimes-- so many uninformed people on this issue talking out of a hole. When you are wanted for a large bounty (I'm currently worth 353k in Eravate thanks to the ineptitude of AA in getting rid of me) you get harassed incessantly by the Security Forces. They may not be very good at killing people who are billionaire endgame players (guess who)-- but they are more than enough to cause some frustration for or even kill a less advanced player who's committed the same crimes. I am constantly being interdicted by NPCs and they frequently interfere with me being able to interdict another player (they like to get me when I'm lining up... lol so frustrating). Also, I can't go near a station without being shot at (I could go to Russell but I killed a player as he was leaving the station, so now I'm wanted there too). Anyway, getting shot by all of the NPCs as you are trying to dock does not make things easy, and as I said earlier it would be pretty difficult for anyone but a billionaire endgame player.
Overall these measures are far too extreme, and the reasoning for their necessity is somewhat misinformed. I do believe that there should be systems with better, more dangerous security (and more systems with lucrative rewards + NO security), but that's about as far as we agree on that. Please, won't you people stop shamelessly begging FD for a safespace? Just go find a singleplayer game or a coop-only game if you can't stand non-consensual PvP so much. It's never going to be fair and it shouldn't be.
