There are a couple steps that I assume would be simple number tweaks but make bounty hunting more like an actual hunt.
Currently it's a, frankly, quite silly excercise of finding nearest RES and then murdering endlessly spawning Wanted ships. Here's how I see the "new" bounty hunting:
You're hanging out in supercruise in your favourite High security system. Not many pirates appear here, nearby is the seat of Federation power - who in their right mind would show up here when they're wanted?
The Credits are a little tight, so you decide to jump a little further away, to a medium/low security system. With a system security more "relaxed" the pirates are more likely to come through here - It's time to scan the ships going about their business. Turns out that none of the ships in supercruise near navigation beacon are Wanted, you decide to head towards the spaceport. While in transit, you receive a tip off from your friend who works in system security - A bad boy was seen around planet X. A fat bounty on his head, 2-3M Cr is nothing to scoff at. You go to the location, searching for traces of his signature. You lock in, drop on him, and engage him in combat.
Now, doesn't that sound more like a hunt? Here's what I propose to achieve that:
1. Remove altogether, or heavily (heavily) reduce the number of WANTED ships spawning in RES .
2. Increase the bounty credits proportionally to the reduction of spawn rates in RES in (1). Very important step, please do not forget about it. (Side note - if ship properties in each RES can be modified individually, I would leave Hazardous RES almost untouched - small/moderate spawn reduction and same for bounty increase, which would allow more variety for bounty hunting in game)
3. Wanted ships appearing in supercruise would be less common in High security systems and more common in Low security systems.
4. Becoming friendly or allied with controlling faction would allow you to get tip-offs about Wanted targets, essentially an impromptu pirate assassination mission received while in supercruise in systems with allied controlling faction.
With these changes I believe players would have a reason to get an interdictor on their bounty hunting ships and scan targets in supercruise. Heading for Hazardous RES would still guarantee some payout,
Bigger bounties would make up for more time spent looking for ships, and make each encounter more interesting - missing one payout of 100k when you know more are spawning in (or are already spawned in and waiting) is not a big deal, missing one payout of 1M or 2M Cr when you'd have to search for another would be more serious.
Leaving Hazardous RES more or less in the current implementation would allow more variety in this path.
Heading for Hazardous RES would still guarantee some payout, but other RES would be safer, and perhaps associated with miners rather than Bounty Hunters and Pirates like it is now.
Most importantly, Bounty Hunting can now be reliably done in any system, no matter if it has RES or not. Scan the ships that are travelling in system, interdict the criminals and dispose of them for payout. The additional tip-offs from system security contacts would prevent periods of "dry spell", where nothing is happening, but also allow for unusual or otherwise uncommon targets.
Currently it's a, frankly, quite silly excercise of finding nearest RES and then murdering endlessly spawning Wanted ships. Here's how I see the "new" bounty hunting:
You're hanging out in supercruise in your favourite High security system. Not many pirates appear here, nearby is the seat of Federation power - who in their right mind would show up here when they're wanted?
The Credits are a little tight, so you decide to jump a little further away, to a medium/low security system. With a system security more "relaxed" the pirates are more likely to come through here - It's time to scan the ships going about their business. Turns out that none of the ships in supercruise near navigation beacon are Wanted, you decide to head towards the spaceport. While in transit, you receive a tip off from your friend who works in system security - A bad boy was seen around planet X. A fat bounty on his head, 2-3M Cr is nothing to scoff at. You go to the location, searching for traces of his signature. You lock in, drop on him, and engage him in combat.
Now, doesn't that sound more like a hunt? Here's what I propose to achieve that:
1. Remove altogether, or heavily (heavily) reduce the number of WANTED ships spawning in RES .
2. Increase the bounty credits proportionally to the reduction of spawn rates in RES in (1). Very important step, please do not forget about it. (Side note - if ship properties in each RES can be modified individually, I would leave Hazardous RES almost untouched - small/moderate spawn reduction and same for bounty increase, which would allow more variety for bounty hunting in game)
3. Wanted ships appearing in supercruise would be less common in High security systems and more common in Low security systems.
4. Becoming friendly or allied with controlling faction would allow you to get tip-offs about Wanted targets, essentially an impromptu pirate assassination mission received while in supercruise in systems with allied controlling faction.
With these changes I believe players would have a reason to get an interdictor on their bounty hunting ships and scan targets in supercruise. Heading for Hazardous RES would still guarantee some payout,
Bigger bounties would make up for more time spent looking for ships, and make each encounter more interesting - missing one payout of 100k when you know more are spawning in (or are already spawned in and waiting) is not a big deal, missing one payout of 1M or 2M Cr when you'd have to search for another would be more serious.
Leaving Hazardous RES more or less in the current implementation would allow more variety in this path.
Heading for Hazardous RES would still guarantee some payout, but other RES would be safer, and perhaps associated with miners rather than Bounty Hunters and Pirates like it is now.
Most importantly, Bounty Hunting can now be reliably done in any system, no matter if it has RES or not. Scan the ships that are travelling in system, interdict the criminals and dispose of them for payout. The additional tip-offs from system security contacts would prevent periods of "dry spell", where nothing is happening, but also allow for unusual or otherwise uncommon targets.