Another suggestion about crime killing.

[jnTracks]

It's my personal preference that I think the game is better in principal to be played in open mode.
Last night I got killed by a player for the first time. I had no cargo, don't pledge for any power, etc. Since I prefer open mode in principal I don't love the idea that I'll have to switch to solo mode near common player systems or risk a random bigger CMDR choosing to kill me for the sake of it.

But I don't think they shouldn't be allowed to by the game, or that they should be banned.

(Maybe bounties need to go up, but I think it should be commensurate with NPC bounties, so it they go up it should be as a re-balance since the mining/exploration update. That's a different issue since I don't think bigger bounties would slow down players that just want to kill clean ships for no reason.)

I think the consequences should be actual in-fiction consequences. It should get very hard to live in galaxy as a CMDR that has killed many clean ships. System authorities (if they exist there) could put out APBs calling for pilots to hunt this player, and these could be direct missions that appear in coms like follow-on missions. They could extend to other systems in a radius around the system for repeat offenders. Stations would also become hostile, and in a greater radius for repeat offenses.

Firing on a clean ship should be worth a fine, and it's reasonable for that fine to have a timer if you want to just wait it out. We can accidentally land shots on a ship we didn't mean to hit.
But actually destroying a clean ship should be a much bigger deal. It shouldn't be just a fine, and it shouldn't go away after a timer. You should be hunted in that system until you are killed, and maybe even a 1 to 1 ratio of clean ships killed. As in, your bounty would only go away after you are killed the same number of times as ships you've killed. (This should include shipps they kill in defense of themselves as they are being hunted!)

Players can still choose to play this way, but the rebuy cost will get very high very quickly and systems will remain hostile to them until it's paid. So they would have to live by a "I can't go there anymore" kind of method, or run the big risk of every ship and station in the system having it out for them.

Surely this would at least slow this practice of killing for no reason, and for those who enjoy playing that way maybe it would even feel better to them, since what they are after is playing a murderous outlaw.

So yeah, I know updates to killing of CMDRs has been suggested to death, but usually what I see are suggestions that it should be banned or something... I don't like that solution. I think being able to shoot whoever we want makes this game fun, and dangerous. That's why I want to play open. But if somebody does make that choice there should be strong, persistent consequences that can't just be shrugged off. Being hunted in multiple systems, not being allowed to land for repairs, and rebuying your Anaconda once for every ship to blow up, and none of that on a timer. That would be an in-game consequence that makes sense with the fiction.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Being hunted in multiple systems, not being allowed to land for repairs, and rebuying your Anaconda once for every ship to blow up, and none of that on a timer. That would be an in-game consequence that makes sense with the fiction.

Quite a lot of this is already here, or very close equivalents are, or in some cases what there is goes beyond what you request.

- if you commit crimes in multiple jurisdictions (five, I think?) in the same superpower, you get a bounty that applies to *every* jurisdiction in that superpower
- ships that are wanted in a jurisdiction are already blocked from the Repair (and Restock) services when using anonymous protocols
- bounties already do not ever expire, unless your ship is destroyed
- when at maximum notoriety, which the habitual killers are, you get a significant fraction of your rebuy cost (potentially all of it) added to your bounty if you destroy a ship with a lower rebuy than you. This roughly equates to your "one rebuy per murder" idea.
- if you have any notoriety (which the habitual killers generally do) you can't lose a bounty except through your ship being destroyed
- the bounty level for most killers therefore substantially exceeds their rebuy, especially if they're using a cheaper ship such as the FDL, so there's no direct need for them to take actual rebuys - they'll take the equivalent cost anyway

The two things which I think are missing compared with your suggestion:
- wanted ships are not actively hunted by NPCs (e.g. police won't regularly try to interdict, and won't succeed if they try) which means in most cases it's not even much of an inconvenience to be wanted in a jurisdiction, especially if your plan is to attack targets where you can be in and out before they show up.
- your suggestion of regional bounties would also apply to Independent systems.

I'm not sure how much Frontier could do on the first of those without more general rebalancing, but recent Galnet articles have made clear that independent systems have a common judicial system including extradition, so an equivalent to "superpower" bounties there would definitely make sense.

 

[Tiili]

Yep, life already becomes quite inconvenient if you turn to murder, it actually becomes quite a lot harder to interdict people in SC with all the bounty hunters and system security on your tail, especially if your target is evading instead of flying in straight lines. They will also pop into the instance instantly if you catch someone, and if they have missiles it becomes impossible to pirate before taking down their weapons at least as they will blow up your collector limpets with the splash damage.

Gotta find anarchy ports to repair and refill at as well, as nobody clean wants to deal with a criminal. Often this means jumping 100+ ly in a large ship just for repairs if you're not in the middle of the bubble.

Don't know how much funnier people find it to be left at 5% hull and broken drives & FSD without a canopy But that's how I roll if they don't comply, and no murder charges

 

[Skip Rockbounder]

I think the whole combat system should be overhauled to be honest.
Players wanting to play 'Pirate' should be able to disable the ship with no loss of life at all, target FSD a 'blam' send over the drones you could hurry things up with threats of more damage, but you know you need to be outta there before the authorities arrive... presuming the 'Merchant/Victim' sent out a distress call.
Added to the call going out, the 'cops' I feel should have to get there from where they are with no magic, so a careful and considerate Pirate should have time to only be a annoyance not a murderer.

Any unarmed ship with no cargo or faction or current mission should be worthless and destroying one should be seen as murder and a full reclaim against the 'criminal' should be the way to go.
The high bounty is just a sports badge for some, so paying the full cost in damages and a hefty fine should deter 'some' but not all, it would make things easier to see though.

A proper Insurance system payable up front monthly could be introduced (instead of the silly 5% rebuy) too, for every ship you choose to fly, and a criminal using her/his ship as a weapon would find insurance a bit steep, a secondary point would be the magic of having the offending 'bad boi' replacing all of those Engineered modules off the shelf... nah, I don't thinks so fella, go find some more materials then we'll talk!

So yeah, Piracy should be viable, as is trading.

 

[jnTracks]

I think the whole combat system should be overhauled to be honest.
Players wanting to play 'Pirate' should be able to disable the ship with no loss of life at all, target FSD a 'blam' send over the drones you could hurry things up with threats of more damage, but you know you need to be outta there before the authorities arrive... presuming the 'Merchant/Victim' sent out a distress call.
Added to the call going out, the 'cops' I feel should have to get there from where they are with no magic, so a careful and considerate Pirate should have time to only be a annoyance not a murderer.

Any unarmed ship with no cargo or faction or current mission should be worthless and destroying one should be seen as murder and a full reclaim against the 'criminal' should be the way to go.
The high bounty is just a sports badge for some, so paying the full cost in damages and a hefty fine should deter 'some' but not all, it would make things easier to see though.

A proper Insurance system payable up front monthly could be introduced (instead of the silly 5% rebuy) too, for every ship you choose to fly, and a criminal using her/his ship as a weapon would find insurance a bit steep, a secondary point would be the magic of having the offending 'bad boi' replacing all of those Engineered modules off the shelf... nah, I don't thinks so fella, go find some more materials then we'll talk!

So yeah, Piracy should be viable, as is trading.

But I'm not even remotely talking about piracy.

 

[Skip Rockbounder]

But I'm not even remotely talking about piracy.

I was alluding to the 'shield' that some hide behind,

perhaps just this bit is relevant,
Any unarmed ship with no cargo or faction or current mission should be worthless and destroying one should be seen as murder and a full reclaim against the 'criminal' should be the way to go.
The high bounty is just a sports badge for some, so paying the full cost in damages and a hefty fine should deter 'some' but not all, it would make things easier to see though.

I wanted to allow for some reasoning beyond simple murder (killing other players for kicks) that in my view could be avoided to some extent