Player Features and Ideas Discussion

In the CSM minutes there were lots of comments regarding how to blur the line between PvE and PvP, by making rats behave more like players. I think that a lot more fun can be had by making players more like rats, which have an effective payout or reward for destruction. Not only will it provide more enjoyable competition but make player ship combat a more interesting and effective career choice for everyone.

There has always been an issue with grunts earning enough isk to be able to field ships, etc. PvP to most players is an isk-destructive activity and is generally not self-sufficient. The majority of people who prefer player combat fund their operations through PvE activities elsewhere, while a select few player groups are lucky enough to fund their activities through fleet operations.

The current mechanics force people into building a sufficient isk generation operation in PvE which has an impact on lower-sp players, people who don't quite have the knowledge base or support system to help them make isk, or people who simply don't enjoy the PvE experience. Players should be able to earn a decent income doing whatever they please, even if it's shooting other players.

I have a suggestion that may assist in bringing direct income to PvP activities and may make the game more enjoyable. Feel free to discuss in this thread efforts to make player combat more self-sufficient and more like PvE.

---

In an effort to reduce insurance payouts, Pend Insurance has decided to place a bounty on the heads of those who destroy others. When you kill another player, a bounty is placed on their head of approximately 10% of their ship value (split across the fleet, similar to how payouts work).

PROS:
- Bounty directly related to how dangerous a player is.
- Active PVP players are worth more, players would want to actively seek out those with high bounty to get a guaranteed payout. Those with more experience have higher risk, higher reward (more kills).
- Provides incentive to start using the bounty system, as it is underutilized at the moment.
- Bounty hunting is done better in smaller groups, incentive to bring as few people as possible to get higher payout.

CONS:
- Bounty inflation. Some players might end up with a bounty that never will truly be paid out.
- Players who do not participate in PVP will more than likely be worth nothing.
- High bounty could serve as a scarlet letter, and there's no easy or cheap way to get rid of it.

The new bounty system introduced in crimewatch only pays out a maximum of 20% of the bounty per kill, and payout is limited based on the value of the ship you're flying.

It's basically bulletproof, unless you want to spend 5x the amount of isk to churn through your bounty.

This thread might help people understand how the existing bounty system works: https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=179454

"Bounty Overhaul" --- +1
"Make PvP More like PVE" --- -1

Net score --- 0

Implement more 'NPC life'.
Create missions based on killing / defending said life.
More creative use of suspect / limited aggression flags.
Contractable killrights.

I was totally reading a different thread when I posted this....

Giving the base insurance policy payout to the killer, perhaps limiting the payout based on sec status, may also be an interesting idea.