So with all the talk about Crime & Punishment and what suggestions we have when we say "C&P MUST improve", I thought I'd take the opportunity to offer my suggestions as a forum and ED hardass. Since they are lengthy, posting them in a thread to be lost seems counter-intuitive, so here's a thread instead. Not all of these suggestions would need to be implemented to satisfy me, but I do think they are good ideas...some of which have been discussed to some degree in the past by developers/posters and curated, some of which may be making their debut here. Most are interconnected as they must be.
Without further adieu,
Heavenly Hammer's Heavy Handed How-To Guide to REAL Crime & Punishment in Elite Dangerous. [cool]
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IF CMDR MURDER HAPPENS IN LOW/NORMAL/HIGH SECURITY SPACE
IF CMDR MURDER HAPPENS IN ANARCHY SPACE
IF BUSTED COMBAT LOGGING
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Pros:
Cons:
That's all I've got, boys and girls. Is it too much? Pretty gud? Hardass being too hard? Would it bring you back to Open (if you're not currently playing in Open but would like to)? Don't be gentle; if it all sucks it all sucks.
Personally, I think some combination or all of the above fix our C&P issues straightaway. Adjust it up or down based on feedback and new methods of bypassing these features that are revealed as you go along. As with any set of laws, they are organic and should move/shift/be revised as needed.
General Chang approves the book being thrown at all cheaters and criminals, btw.
$0.02
Without further adieu,
Heavenly Hammer's Heavy Handed How-To Guide to REAL Crime & Punishment in Elite Dangerous. [cool]
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IF CMDR MURDER HAPPENS IN LOW/NORMAL/HIGH SECURITY SPACE
- Prevent players WANTED for killing clean CMDRs from docking at any nearby stations (maybe in a 20LY radius). Expiring in 7 days. This cannot be removed by being scanned and killed. This means that you become unable to dock at any port, surface station, or outpost within 20LY of the system you murdered a CMDR in. This restriction should NOT apply to Anarchy systems.
- Prevent ship transfer to or from any station within a 15-20LY radius around the incident location. If your ships are all docked nearby, you will not have access to them for 7 days. This cannot be removed by being scanned and killed. This restriction should NOT apply to Anarchy systems.
- Significantly increase aggression from police NPCs in the ~20LY radius around incident system. WANTED CMDR should not be able to sit in Supercruise in a system with any Sec level for more than 60 seconds before being interdicted by authorities (scaling between Low/Medium/High). Security should respond within 10-20 seconds to a WANTED CMDR interdicting another CMDR in any Low/Medium/High Sec system (again, scaling). This interaction does NOT apply to Anarchy systems.
- Special WANTED tag that gets a special/distinct color that appears in ALL systems. This is because you are not just wanted by the system where the crime was committed; you are wanted by the Pilot's Federation itself.
- WANTED CMDR is in effect wanted by 2 factions, both of which will pay the CMDR who kills the WANTED target to collect the Bounty reward. The local system bounty will go dormant in 7 days as normal. The Pilot's Federation bounty and penalty phase will expire in 21 days or if a clean CMDR collects your head. It cannot be paid off.
- Bounty on CMDRs WANTED for CMDR murder increases exponentially based on number of CMDRs killed. Bounty is applied by the Pilot's Federation and can be redeemed in any station.
- WANTED Player bounty CANNOT removed BY a CMDR that is (or has been) registered as friend in the last 180 days. Extended to any friends of friends. (purpose here to prevent having friends to simply kill you to remove the special WANTED status and bounty)
- WANTED Player loses access to Shinrarta Dezhra and all systems Pilot's Federation controls until Bounty is claimed by another CMDR or the 21 day penalty period ends.
- Lost standing with superpower if murdered CMDR was pledged (PowerPlay) to a faction within a superpower. OR lost standing with every superpower the CMDR was ALLIED to. Eg. if you kill a CMDR pledged to Hudson, you lose a significant portion of your current Federation standing.
- WANTED CMDR looses access to Insurance. Insurance is currently provided by the Pilot's Federation. For the duration of time you are wanted by the Pilot's Federation, all rebuys will cost the full price of the ship. Once you've been killed by a clean CMDR, the full cost of your current ship + a re-admittance fee to the Pilot's Federation of X% of your current available balance is required. [yesnod] At which time you are fully reinstated to the Pilot's Federation and are eligible for insurance as per usual.
- Special WANTED tag doesn't apply until a CMDR has been killed. Assault will not trigger the upgraded WANTED flag.
- Running over SLFs at docks will not trigger WANTED status anymore.
- Safe flight speed around docks is raised to 150m/s. This is to prevent griefing. Very few ships go faster than 150m/s with the gear down. Higher than that and you deserve what happens next if you kill a CMDR trying to grief. 150m/s is generous.
- Allow DO NOT REPORT CRIMES AGAINST ME to also prevent giving someone the new WANTED flag. Sanctioned CMDR combat (having don't report turned ON should mean you are open to whatever comes your way) should be all good with the Pilot's Federation. Add a special symbol next to the CMDR name so that a scan will immediately reveal if they have this on or off. Flag cannot be changed during interdiction or for 10 minutes after combat ends (to prevent griefing).
- Wanted CMDRs killing Wanted CMDRs adds no additional length to their penalties. Godzilla_LetThemFight.gif
- Wanted CMDRs cannot collect or purge the bounty on other Wanted CMDRs.
- Killing more Clean CMDRs refreshes the length of all aforementioned penalties.
- Pilot's Federation reduces Insurance coverage cost to 5% for any CMDR that dies to a previously WANTED CMDR. (this is to slightly reduce the punishment for dying to a criminal while further incentivizing bounty hunter CMDRs to go and try to get the kill on them).
IF CMDR MURDER HAPPENS IN ANARCHY SPACE
- Not a damn thing.
- No additional crime tag is given.
- Pay attention to what back alley you decided to drive behind, nub
- Get rekt
- GG git gud
IF BUSTED COMBAT LOGGING
- 1st time in the last 120 days - WARNING
- 2nd time in the last 120 days - 24 hour BAN
- 3rd time in the last 120 days - 72 hour BAN
- 4th time in the last 120 days - 7 day BAN
- 5th time in the last 120 days - 21 day BAN
- 6th time in the last 120 days - 90 day BAN
- 7TH time in the last 120 days - 6 month BAN
- Not sure if bans should be able to be appealed. I lean towards NOT because ain't nobody got time for that. You need to be responsible enough to make sure your network connection is stable. The likelihood of your network being good then magically going down in the middle of combat is unlikely, and your history should be taken into account. FDev has data available to them to show them *exactly* when your connection dropped and in what circumstances. If it's suspect, enjoy your ban. Otherwise, make sure your internet works if you're going to play ED.
- Ban curve would be far less steep for combat logging against NPCs/Solo but would still exist. Perhaps maxing out at 72 hours or some such. How much exactly...I don't feel like thinking about right now.
- Rules and bans extend to Open, Private AND Solo. They don't get off scot-free because their logging has implications on the BGS, PowerPlay and Community Goals, depending on their cargo. If you should have died and didn't, you have effectively cheated the system out of the loss of your cargo, bounties, etc and whatever impact those things have on the BGS after you deliver them are effectively fraudulent.
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Pros:
- Strong punishment for crime without killing it completely. CMDRs will have to think long and hard about whether a kill on a CLEAN CMDR is worth it, newbie or not. If it is, murder to your hearts content!
- Full, meaningful and nuanced system that makes sense in the Lore.
- Wanted CMDRs will NOT go down easily or quietly as they will NOT want to feed anyone their death. Why? Because the full rebuy cost can end up in the hundreds of millions or even bankrupt them. Should create for some pretty exciting Bounty Hunting. [big grin]
- Keeps an option for criminally-minded CMDRs to still launch operations and conduct their brand of skullduggery (from Anarchy systems where they reign supreme free of laws). If they love the risk involved, they will have the most intense and exciting career path in the game.
- Makes systems with Security MEAN SOMETHING. Also forces CMDRs to pay attention to the systems they're jumping through or traveling to. Anarchy systems should be DANGEROUS. Frontier may need to buff the value of missions that take CMDRs to Anarchy systems to make them worth the risk.
- Will shift a lot of PvP into Anarchy space where anything goes is fine. Full wings can fight anywhere as long as DO NOT REPORT CRIMES AGAINST ME is on for all participants.
- Station griefing as we know it is largely neutered.
- Still keeps PIRACY available as a viable profession and career path. Temporarily disabling ships and stealing cargo does not get the stronger WANTED tag. That said, maybe Frontier should think about a new weapon or mod that temporarily disables a ship or forces it to reboot somehow. Dunno how it would be balanced, but some way to increase your likelihood of successfully stealing cargo is essential. Maybe the current DRAG weapons are enough, but I don't know. I've never used them.
- Increasing speed required to reach the SPEEDING penalty reduces effectiveness of station griefing BUT CMDRs still need to be vigilant! obey the speed limits, people.
- Combat logging now has real consequences, and your behavior is observed over a long period of time. Players will be more likely to face the music rather than lose access to the game for long stretches. Everyone gets a freebie warning every few months to account for questionable connection days. Maybe 2 disconnects before bans start. Whatever makes the most sense. Again, CMDRs must take responsibility for their own network connections
Cons:
- Idunno. I'm sure there are many.
- May be overly harsh to criminals and cheaters. (?) Quite frankly, my capacity for concern with regard to the feelings, concerns and comfort of cheaters and criminals is extremely limited. [redface]
- May miss some ways people can game the system to avoid penalties.
- System has to work well enough that innocent CMDRs will not get the special tag on accident (say by way of intentional griefing), though CMDR carelessness should get it regardless. Learn the harsh lesson and learn to fly safer and not accidentally shoot or bowl over other CMDRs. That is part of your responsibility as a member of the Pilot's Federation. It's a privileged, not a right. Treat your Pilot's license with the respect and honor it deserves or risk harsh penalties. [mad]
That's all I've got, boys and girls. Is it too much? Pretty gud? Hardass being too hard? Would it bring you back to Open (if you're not currently playing in Open but would like to)? Don't be gentle; if it all sucks it all sucks.
Personally, I think some combination or all of the above fix our C&P issues straightaway. Adjust it up or down based on feedback and new methods of bypassing these features that are revealed as you go along. As with any set of laws, they are organic and should move/shift/be revised as needed.
General Chang approves the book being thrown at all cheaters and criminals, btw.
$0.02
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