Station register for hunters

[Quill]

Hi, very new here, so please excuse me if this idea has been discussed already.

For the use of bounty hunters and other interested parties in hunting other players in the vast galaxy, a station log could be available (maybe for a price) for those ships docked at that station.

This log would be similar to a hotel register, showing all the comings and goings at that station/outpost of all ships and commanders over the last few days, maybe even include the transactions that that each commander undertook (that way the bounty hunter could build up a picture of the type of trading the target engages in for interception purposes and also gain an insight into what ship and armaments his target has)

The bounty hunter can then quietly track his target from station to station although it still requires guess work as to which direction his prey has taken once outside the station.

This could be a lot of stealthy fun, hunting a target quietly until you strike. Combine this with player determined bounties (see my post “hello and bounties”) on the head of players then you pirates better watch out!

 

[AtomicHorror]

Hi, very new here, so please excuse me if this idea has been discussed already.

For the use of bounty hunters and other interested parties in hunting other players in the vast galaxy, a station log could be available (maybe for a price) for those ships docked at that station.

This log would be similar to a hotel register, showing all the comings and goings at that station/outpost of all ships and commanders over the last few days, maybe even include the transactions that that each commander undertook (that way the bounty hunter could build up a picture of the type of trading the target engages in for interception purposes and also gain an insight into what ship and armaments his target has)

The bounty hunter can then quietly track his target from station to station although it still requires guess work as to which direction his prey has taken once outside the station.

This could be a lot of stealthy fun, hunting a target quietly until you strike. Combine this with player determined bounties (see my post “hello and bounties”) on the head of players then you pirates better watch out!

I like the idea, though I think it should be something that you'd have to bribe someone for and which carries a risk or a fine/bounty, that the bribe recipient will blackmail you or tip off your target?

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

problem: if you enter the station you can pay off any bounties on you, once the bounty is paid the bounty hunter no longer has a valid reason for tracking you making such a system more than a little bit pointless to use for tracking commanders.

great for NPC pirates but not a lot of point for human players.

 

[Tacheel]

I like the idea, though I think it should be something that you'd have to bribe someone for and which carries a risk or a fine/bounty, that the bribe recipient will blackmail you or tip off your target?

Am thinking along similar lines. Maybe reputation would work itself into success rates as well. Overall this sort of gameplay helps bounty hunting become less like go to known area where pirates show - farm anything with a bounty. This kind of tracking effort would obviously have to be for known larger bounties.

Wondering if this would be more visible in gameplay and features thread.

 

[Tacheel]

problem: if you enter the station you can pay off any bounties on you, once the bounty is paid the bounty hunter no longer has a valid reason for tracking you making such a system more than a little bit pointless to use for tracking commanders.

great for NPC pirates but not a lot of point for human players.

imho the bounties are too easy to pay off for repeat serious pirates. Though it does also eat into their profits.

I know someone with a federal bounty of over 1 million that if they paid it off would wipe out their money.

 

[Quill]

A couple of possible solutions; Maybe players can pay off their bounties as usual, but if the bounty becomes very high and reaches a pre-determined limit then they flip over into “Super Criminals”. Then they cannot pay off their bounties as usual, the authorities have lost patience and they are turned over to the bounty hunters to go get them.

These “Most Wanted”commanders could be listed on the news networks, setting the scene for some great hunting adventures.

Also, maybe if the game allows player determined bounties, ie I can put a price on the head of another player who has either; stolen my cargo or I just don’t like the cut of his jib, and I have the cash (it will have to be a significant reward or it wont be worth the bother of a bounty hunter) then these bounties cant be paid off and the hunt begins.

Also it would be a very satisfying feeling to have a bounty hunter do you dirty work for you. The final thing your enemy will see is a “hand” delivered message from you via your bounty hunter saying something like “see you later sucker!”

 

[Quill]

With the possibility of persistent bounties on the heads of players it will encourage people to be more law abiding or face being hunted.

For some of course this is the fun bit, the flip side is you could have very highly skilled and dangerous criminal commanders just waiting for a dirty dogfight with a top-gun bounty hunter.

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

With the possibility of persistent bounties on the heads of players it will encourage people to be more law abiding or face being hunted.

For some of course this is the fun bit, the flip side is you could have very highly skilled and dangerous criminal commanders just waiting for a dirty dogfight with a top-gun bounty hunter.

and totally ruins piracy as a valid game play style in the open universe.

that's the problem when introducing rules into a game, all too often it unbalances things.

 

[CaptainKremmen]

A couple of possible solutions; Maybe players can pay off their bounties as usual, but if the bounty becomes very high and reaches a pre-determined limit then they flip over into “Super Criminals”. Then they cannot pay off their bounties as usual, the authorities have lost patience and they are turned over to the bounty hunters to go get them.

Remember the old "OFFENDER" -> "FUGITIVE" status?

 

[Stoopyface]

Quill, read the DDF on criminality: http://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6276.

Player instigated bounties are planned and what you describe with 'super-criminals' is basically the exact same thing as fines and bounties that is already in place. If by persistent bounties you mean ones that remain after death then we also already have that, although it takes a while for them to be converted from fines back to bounties.

 

[Tusken]

problem: if you enter the station you can pay off any bounties on you, once the bounty is paid the bounty hunter no longer has a valid reason for tracking you making such a system more than a little bit pointless to use for tracking commanders.

great for NPC pirates but not a lot of point for human players.

Can't agree with that.

We now fly about in a small section of mostly federation space.
The empire has as far as i know legal slave trading. I for 1 will not stand for that.
In the full game i'll most likely be a bountyhunter in fed space and a crimminal in empire systems.
I won't be paying of the empire bountys and eventualy i wil not be able to get docking permisson for empire basis.
But i do need ammo and sleep so my movements can be traced on the basis i do land on.

I like this idea, how els are you going to track a player who is not in your friends list?

 

[Quill]

Hi Stoopyface

What I mean by persistent, is a bounty that can not be paid off while the player is still "alive" in their present ship, therefore encouraging bounty hunters to hunt them to the destruction of their ship. Once a dead player is back via escape pod then this persistent bounty is paid and they are free to mend their ways and start over.

I am probably talking rubbish on this of course, so I will read the criminality DDF

 

[Commander Debic]

A couple of possible solutions; Maybe players can pay off their bounties as usual, but if the bounty becomes very high and reaches a pre-determined limit then they flip over into “Super Criminals”. Then they cannot pay off their bounties as usual, the authorities have lost patience and they are turned over to the bounty hunters to go get them.

These “Most Wanted”commanders could be listed on the news networks, setting the scene for some great hunting adventures.

Also, maybe if the game allows player determined bounties, ie I can put a price on the head of another player who has either; stolen my cargo or I just don’t like the cut of his jib, and I have the cash (it will have to be a significant reward or it wont be worth the bother of a bounty hunter) then these bounties cant be paid off and the hunt begins.

Also it would be a very satisfying feeling to have a bounty hunter do you dirty work for you. The final thing your enemy will see is a “hand” delivered message from you via your bounty hunter saying something like “see you later sucker!”

Ah so because you do not like a player its ok to put a griefer bounty on them then shades of Eve again. Good luck with getting that passed nice to know you are just a griefer deep down.

Tell me then what in your opinion is "just don't like the cut of his Jib."? Well I just suggested that's a griefer tactic here on the forums. I would presume you no longer like the cut of my jib now so it would be okay to put a bounty on me would it?

That needing to leave a message from you via your hired killer would be good though because then I would know who to track down and give them a little taste of their own medicine.

 

[Tacheel]

Hi Stoopyface

What I mean by persistent, is a bounty that can not be paid off while the player is still "alive" in their present ship, therefore encouraging bounty hunters to hunt them to the destruction of their ship. Once a dead player is back via escape pod then this persistent bounty is paid and they are free to mend their ways and start over.

I am probably talking rubbish on this of course, so I will read the criminality DDF

Just so you know, death does not clear the bounty, from the last comment a dev made, death makes the authorities believe you are dead so your wanted status goes until discovered. You still have it however.

 

[Quill]

I know someone with a federal bounty of over 1 million that if they paid it off would wipe out their money.

Now there's a tasty target, I wonder where he is?

 

[Commander Debic]

Now there's a tasty target, I wonder where he is?

Probably more than you could handle.

 

[Quill]

Hi Commander Debic!

Ah so because you do not like a player its ok to put a griefer bounty on them then shades of Eve again. Good luck with getting that passed nice to know you are just a griefer deep down.

Tell me then what in your opinion is "just don't like the cut of his Jib."? Well I just suggested that's a griefer tactic here on the forums. I would presume you no longer like the cut of my jib now so it would be okay to put a bounty on me would it?

That needing to leave a message from you via your hired killer would be good though because then I would know who to track down and give them a little taste of their own medicine.

I am no griefer. Just putting my ideas forward, just adding my two penneth, is that ok? sorry to anyone I offended with my suggestions, maybe they are rubbish, but this is part of what the forum is about I thought.

 

[Commander Debic]

Hi Commander Debic!



I am no griefer. Just putting my ideas forward, just adding my two penneth, is that ok? sorry to anyone I offended with my suggestions, maybe they are rubbish, but this is part of what the forum is about I thought.

Not rubbish, just mistaken. A player putting a bounty on another because they were attacked by them in game is a perfectly acceptable reason for employing a bounty hunter.

But a player putting a bounty on another for say not liking their name, or not liking the paint job on their ship, or say because a player on the forums suggested they would be griefing if they did that, or for not liking the cut of their jib, would be griefing and in which case it would be fair to assume they were a griefer.

I am not offended by it just think you didn't think that part of it out properly before commenting that way.

But as others have pointed you to the DD's about this subject I am sure you have educated yourself well on the subject now

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

Can't agree with that.

We now fly about in a small section of mostly federation space.
The empire has as far as i know legal slave trading. I for 1 will not stand for that.
In the full game i'll most likely be a bountyhunter in fed space and a crimminal in empire systems.
I won't be paying of the empire bountys and eventualy i wil not be able to get docking permisson for empire basis.
But i do need ammo and sleep so my movements can be traced on the basis i do land on.

I like this idea, how els are you going to track a player who is not in your friends list?

again its problematic as when you go to pay off the price on your head you dont get the option to pay per jurisdiction, you clear one bounty through the pilots federation and you clear them all.

if singular jurisdiction payments were introduced to fix this then due to the large amounts of independent systems there will be in the finished game that list could very quickly become so long that its unmanageable.

the only other option would be to visit the station in each system that has a bounty on you and pay each off through the local security office.

on the surface that sounds okay, but when you realise that to do so you would also have to dock without getting scanned by any police ships or risk death it suddenly doesn't seem worth the effort.

 

[Quill]

Not rubbish, just mistaken. A player putting a bounty on another because they were attacked by them in game is a perfectly acceptable reason for employing a bounty hunter.

But a player putting a bounty on another for say not liking their name, or not liking the paint job on their ship, or say because a player on the forums suggested they would be griefing if they did that, or for not liking the cut of their jib, would be griefing and in which case it would be fair to assume they were a griefer.

I am not offended by it just think you didn't think that part of it out properly before commenting that way.

But as others have pointed you to the DD's about this subject I am sure you have educated yourself well on the subject now

My original post was to put forward the idea to have a station log of those ships that been in that station over the last few days, that's all. I thought that would be a useful tool for people hunting/looking for other players.

Everything else said has been on the fly, so if my other comments were have been misinterpreted as some griefer manifesto then I'm sorry.

My education continues