The Bounty Hunting & Bounties tips, and general discussion thread

[Flappers]

Don't lose anything on death? The mission is lost and you have to pay insurance, how is that not losing anything?

Trying to compare with trading is stupid, if you want to get a trader and do a trade run you can guarantee a big profit with virtually no risk. Also, it's completely intuitive that your cargo is lost if you get blown up.

Bounty hunting makes money much slower and the bounties you've already got should be kept. If you want to compare it to trading, it's like being blown up and not just losing your current cargo but losing all profits from previous runs that session.

There is only one consequence of the current mechanic - it encourages you to stop what you're doing and go claim your bounty.

/sigh

Trading can be very risky.
In larger ships you can end up spending millions on some commodities. You get blown up? That's millions gone PLUS the insurance for the ship, which is a hell of a lot more than a ship that you use for bounty hunting.

Trick is... don't die. If you are being outnumbered, or losing a fight, run away before it happens.

It's not going to change, so there is no point even arguing the matter. It is very well balanced and fair right now.
And this is coming from a bounty hunter, it's my career choice and I am happy with the risk associated with it.

Paying insurance is not a risk for bounty hunting. It's the death penalty for everyone, regardless of what you are doing. So for bounty hunters not to have any other risks, would basically be the only viable choice for risk free credits. There has always got to be risks... this is of course, Elite Dangerous. Dangerous is there for a reason.

 

[Marak]

One reason bountys are lost at death is to stop a default sidewinder going into conflict zones znd farming credits (Ok - they got to be good).

Go out into conflict zones and kill stuff 'till you die, racking up bountys.

Get a new free ship & repeat.

Credits for no risk.

 

[spacejumbofudge]

One reason bountys are lost at death is to stop a default sidewinder going into conflict zones znd farming credits (Ok - they got to be good).

Go out into conflict zones and kill stuff 'till you die, racking up bountys.

Get a new free ship & repeat.

Credits for no risk.

So what you want in that situation is for the fights to be hard, the bounties difficult to collect. Going out to ta conflict zone in a default sidewinder to be a hiding to nothing. You don't just say 'sod it we'll leave the fights easy and make it arduous to collect the bounty'. Maybe they should reduce the bounties on the sort of kills you can get in a default sidewinder if that's your worry.

Let's face it, if it's just about the money you'd stick to trading, it's a much quicker way to lots of money and a lot more predictable.

 

[Marak]

Let's face it, if it's just about the money you'd stick to trading, it's a much quicker way to lots of money and a lot more predictable.

Yeah... but a lot less fun!

 

[Axelon]

Hi Jumbo,

There is a bug ATM that makes Local Authority Vessels go hostile. Loads of threads...

Losing bounty vouchers is a risk/reward thing... Do you stay a little longer and go for one more kill or head in to a station and cash out?

I like choice!

Toffs
( '-')7

I had mixed feelings about this in the beginning, but I agree, I like the idea that pushing for another bounty could result in the loss of uncollected bounties if I got too cocky!

 

[Flappers]

So what you want in that situation is for the fights to be hard, the bounties difficult to collect. Going out to ta conflict zone in a default sidewinder to be a hiding to nothing. You don't just say 'sod it we'll leave the fights easy and make it arduous to collect the bounty'. Maybe they should reduce the bounties on the sort of kills you can get in a default sidewinder if that's your worry.

Let's face it, if it's just about the money you'd stick to trading, it's a much quicker way to lots of money and a lot more predictable.

A better solution is to keep it as it is, and to practice combat scenarios before complaining about the death penalty.

Sorry, but a lot of us here have been playing for some time. We are pretty well experienced with the dog fighting, so I don't believe that removing the death penalty to make it easier on the new pilots would be the right choice to make.
The game has a massive learning curve and combat is part of it.

Practice some more, become competent in combat, and then try again. There is no point nerfing everything that new pilots cannot handle, because it would cause a detrimental effects to the more experienced pilots who want the challenge.

 

[Dissentient]

It works the opposite for bounties on your head.

Doesn't make sense though. If information about your bounty on your head is instantly transmitted to everyone, then information about confirmed kills should also be instantly transmitted to stations in the system.
Looks like just another edgy 'lol look at us we so hardcorez' mechanic.

 

[Im_Lost]

Because there would be no risk if you didn't loose them when you die, it would be purely reward. It would be like not loosing exploration data when you die, or cargo.

 

[Flappers]

Doesn't make sense though. If information about your bounty on your head is instantly transmitted to everyone, then information about confirmed kills should also be instantly transmitted to stations in the system.
Looks like just another edgy 'lol look at us we so hardcorez' mechanic.

The bounties placed on your head are reported by the ships that you attack straight to the authority vessels.
If someone attacks you IRL, wouldn't you want the police to be notified straight away?

If you attack wanted ships, why would they send out a signal to the authority saying "well guys, this one got me! congratulations to him"
They are criminals, they wouldn't do such a thing.
Again, to compare it to RL, if the police capture a criminal, the criminal isn't going to go around shouting about it, and praise the ones that captured them.

 

[Dissentient]

The bounties placed on your head are reported by the ships that you attack straight to the authority vessels.
If someone attacks you IRL, wouldn't you want the police to be notified straight away?

If you attack wanted ships, why would they send out a signal to the authority saying "well guys, this one got me! congratulations to him"
They are criminals, they wouldn't do such a thing.
Again, to compare it to RL, if the police capture a criminal, the criminal isn't going to go around shouting about it, and praise the ones that captured them.

You miss a very simple thing. Or ignore it on purpose, as it is extremely obvious.
Why can't your ship use same communication system to transmit kill confirmations right when they happen?
The answer is: "becuz we hardcorez gayme wer you luz stuf if u die", even if it contradicts lore.

My problem with this mechanic is that it results in net negative fun. I could understand meaning behind it if you could steal bounties in some way, but money being simply destroyed doesn't enhance the game in any way.

 

[Warlord711]

+1 from me

I would like to have the actual bounty amount displayed next to the "WANTED" sign after i scanned a ship, for sure updated by kill warrant scanner. I hate to switch to left hand menu, switching into contacts then scrolling up/down till i found my actual target.

 

[Flappers]

You miss a very simple thing. Or ignore it on purpose, as it is extremely obvious.
Why can't your ship use same communication system to transmit kill confirmations right when they happen?
The answer is: "becuz we hardcorez gayme wer you luz stuf if u die", even if it contradicts lore.

My problem with this mechanic is that it results in net negative fun. I could understand meaning behind it if you could steal bounties in some way, but money being simply destroyed doesn't enhance the game in any way.

It's hard to take a post seriously, when you try to insult the game itself by writing like a 10 year old.

As I mentioned, what I wrote is head cannon to explain why it is, like it is.
You can choose to ignore the idea, fine.

But ultimately, it's there to balance the game. Create your own thoughts around that if you choose.

 

[Poseidal]

/sigh

Trading can be very risky.
In larger ships you can end up spending millions on some commodities. You get blown up? That's millions gone PLUS the insurance for the ship, which is a hell of a lot more than a ship that you use for bounty hunting.

Yeah, you might mess up your docking, or get stuck in the entry to the station and get blown up by the cops.

 

[Cantonious]

+1 Showing my support.

 

[spacejumbofudge]

You miss a very simple thing. Or ignore it on purpose, as it is extremely obvious.
Why can't your ship use same communication system to transmit kill confirmations right when they happen?
The answer is: "becuz we hardcorez gayme wer you luz stuf if u die", even if it contradicts lore.

My problem with this mechanic is that it results in net negative fun. I could understand meaning behind it if you could steal bounties in some way, but money being simply destroyed doesn't enhance the game in any way.

What Flappers seems to be doing is either replying with rubbish in game lore as to why it can't be changed or simply suggesting we're not good enough. I posed the question purely as a mechanic and explained why I thought it had a negative consequence and the only reasonable counter is that it's a 'risk vs reward' thing, which I still don't personally agree with.

At no point has my argument ever been about me not being good enough or needing it easier. I've done plenty of tutorials for weeks, have CH hotas and head track and feel pretty confident at fighting. What I don't like is a mechanic that says 'hey I know it took a while to find some pirates to fight, but you should probably stop and spend 5 minutes travelling to bank your kills now in case either through your own making or a bug of the game things turn south and you die'. I'd prefer it to say 'you won the fight, you keep the reward, but time to make these fights harder'

 

[Hethwill_Khan]

Take a Assassination mission analogy. You either make it back, or you die and no reward.
See your grand Bounty Schemes as a mission broken into small details. If you die some details will be lost.


IIRC the AI combat prowess was better at earlier beta stages. As it is now is meh 90% of the time.

I would support a change in mechanics towards your opinion IF the AI actually got recoded to previous danger levels

( but then a sea of tears would flow, as a Competent NPC would make short work of many out there )

 

[csebal]

Is is just me starting to become sick with everyone using the name of the game (dangerous) as a blanket excuse for every stupid game design mistake the creators made.

Making things easy on the player is not a bad thing.. its about making concessions to the player so the game is more enjoyable for them and not waste their time having them do things that are plain boring.

ED right now is full of boring or punishing game mechanics. If anyone things this is good game design, they are badly mistaken.

As it is now, the only reason I am playing the game is to be ready for when the multiplayer part gets released, so we can have some actual multiplayer play with friends. For the single player experience, I would take Elite 2 or 3 over Dangerous. Considering how Elite 2 did fit on a single 3.5 floppy disk, not managing to achieve that level of entertainment is quite an amazing feat.

 

[TheOohChild]

I primarily play as a bounty hunter, and I like the design decision to lose bounties upon ship destruction. It just adds a sense of imperative and risk.

 

[CmdrKull]

Nope, it's always been this way.

Incorrect, for a time during Gamma you did not lose bounty vouchers, and there was much rejoicing. Now the loss is reimplemented, and we wail and gnash our teeth and beat our breast in sorrow.

Maybe not so dramatic, but in all honesty I did like it when I could keep my bounty vouchers. I die less often now than when I first started, but it happens.

Not crying for it to return, as I think the risk/reward makes the game more exciting.

 

[Flappers]

What Flappers seems to be doing is either replying with rubbish in game lore as to why it can't be changed or simply suggesting we're not good enough. '

I said twice what I wrote is head cannon. If you don't know what that means, read it up.

Fact is, the losing bounties on death is there for game balance. If it was not, it's very easy to jump into a free sidewinder and farm bounties to no end with no consquence.
Someone mentioned then nerfing the bounty reward for sidewinders... why? Punish new players for having a smaller ship? It's absurd, and it can still be exploited regardless of the amount you get

It's like speaking to a brick wall, so I'm not going to bother here.
Main problem is new players who have no idea about the balancing act we all went through in alpha/ beta, and want an easier ride because they can't handle the balance in place.

It's not going to change. Good luck.