In the ever going debate on gankers versus people trying to enjoy the game, we have the issue of the current way crime and punishment works.
There are a few key items to consider:
1 - We must treat NPCs and Player Characters the same way. (For "reasons", just go with it.)
2 - We want there to be a way for players to prey on NPCs, both in missions and outside.
3- Different factions are different jurisdictions, and normally does not care for crimes in other jurisdictions.
4- We want there to be a real downside however to "role play" the psycopath that runs around killing randomly.
The current system does definitely allow for #1 to #3 while #4 clearly is not currently discouraging enough.
The system with "notoriery" that forces you to wait before you pay off a bounty, and NPC bounty hunter is something. The problem is that the bounties are no way near the losses incurred.
My suggestion is to add a reparations as part of the punishment. You incur a reparation debt that amounts to the rebuy cost for the ship destroyed as well as the cost for any cargo destroyed. Notice that robbery (aka "piracy") does not count as goods destroyed. The cost is either 90% of galactic average or actual purchase cost, whichever is the lowest.
This of course has to be reflected in they payout for massacre and wet-ops missions.
At the same time anarchy systems need to mean something, I propose that uninhabited systems without a navigation beacon are considered lawless, the same way that some installations and conflict zones are today.
Anarchy regimes should not share bounties, while high security regimes should share murder bounties once you cross a certain threshold. If that is 10 notoriety or one billion in legal debts or something else I leave for those with better insight into the game mechanics (preferably FDev).
As for notoriety and bounties/fines/reparations as a result of missions:
Part of the rewards for a wet ops missions could be that your name is cleared for that crime (fines and reparations for that crime are paid off, but not notoriety). Just stay out of trouble if you do wet-ops, notoriety in itself is not a problem unless you have a bounty on your head.
Massacre missions (killing X number of enemy ships) are typically given in war, so there will be conflict zone where you can get those kills without incurring a murder charge.
This is a bit of a brain dump, so here goes:
1 - reparations for lost cargo and rebuy for the victim. The current discount for victims of mass murderers should be in place, but not reduce the amount the criminal pays to the insurance company. This just means that less of the reparations are paid to the victim.
2 - base bounty/fine for murder significantly increased to about one million credits. Also unlimit the payout.
3 - Bounty is set to half the value of the fines and reparations incurred both for fines above a value lower than the murder value, and unpaid fines, just as today.
4 - Trespassing and other minor bounties are not touched.
5- If reparations are paid off at a station contact, full reparations are sent to the victim(s).
6- If a bounty is claimed, reparations are halved (as half the bounties and reparations are paid as bounty)
7 - Legal debts are account bound and stay through character wipes.
8 - Failed missions? The penalties should be on the murderer, not the vicim. The murderer shold lose the majority of the goodwill. This includes fines for lost mission specific goods.
Please. if you comment, do not claim that it is a major inconvenience not to be able to handle hot goods because you managed to rack up millions in bounties using the current system, or that some of you ships and ship parts are hot. Just pay off your debts and be done with it.
Do however comment on situations I did not think of, actualy relevant game play that have to be accomodated without turning the galaxy into the completely lawless anarchy it is now.
