I searched and didn't see a recent suggestion of this type. It's fairly short and simple.
Current Model:
1. I earn a bounty by breaking the law. It is imposed for a certain period of time, say 7 days.
2.a. I survive for 7 days and the bounty then becomes a payable fine and I am not wanted by anyone.
2.b. I get blown up (by anyone) before the 7 days is up and the bounty goes away. It is replaced by a dormant bounty with the full duration of the original, i.e. 7 days. I then avoid the cops in those systems for an additional week and it gets converted into a fine. (Not sure what happens if they spot me and blow me up again... a new bounty with the original duration?)
Suggested Model:
1. Same as before - naughty behavior = bounty for 7 days.
2.a. Same as before - be sneaky and survive, it gets converted to a fine.
2.b. If I get blown up the dormant bounty has a duration equal to the remaining time on the original bounty.
This still prevents me from easily accessing the systems controlled by whichever faction I've offended, but it doesn't punish me unduly for getting blown up by a pirate while bounty hunting 1000 light years away during a CG.
Whatever the punishment system winds up being, the remaining punishment after a bounty has been enforced should not last longer than the original bounty's period. As it stands you can get locked out of a useful system for nearly twice the original punishment's duration by going elsewhere and losing a ship in a completely legal fashion.
Current Model:
1. I earn a bounty by breaking the law. It is imposed for a certain period of time, say 7 days.
2.a. I survive for 7 days and the bounty then becomes a payable fine and I am not wanted by anyone.
2.b. I get blown up (by anyone) before the 7 days is up and the bounty goes away. It is replaced by a dormant bounty with the full duration of the original, i.e. 7 days. I then avoid the cops in those systems for an additional week and it gets converted into a fine. (Not sure what happens if they spot me and blow me up again... a new bounty with the original duration?)
Suggested Model:
1. Same as before - naughty behavior = bounty for 7 days.
2.a. Same as before - be sneaky and survive, it gets converted to a fine.
2.b. If I get blown up the dormant bounty has a duration equal to the remaining time on the original bounty.
This still prevents me from easily accessing the systems controlled by whichever faction I've offended, but it doesn't punish me unduly for getting blown up by a pirate while bounty hunting 1000 light years away during a CG.
Whatever the punishment system winds up being, the remaining punishment after a bounty has been enforced should not last longer than the original bounty's period. As it stands you can get locked out of a useful system for nearly twice the original punishment's duration by going elsewhere and losing a ship in a completely legal fashion.