These forums have been archived and are now read-only.

The new forums are live and can be found at https://forums.eveonline.com/

Player Features and Ideas Discussion

 
  • Topic is locked indefinitely.
12Next page
 

Simple Bounty Hunting Fix - Searchable Shared Kill Rights

Author
Stacee Joringer
Kraken Exploration and Janitorial Services
The Initiative.
#1 - 2014-08-10 10:36:31 UTC  |  Edited by: Stacee Joringer
Short Version: Make shared kill rights searchable. Let players figure out the rest.

I have discussed this with a few CSM members and they like it enough to encourage me to post a thread.

I am aware that strengthening Bounty Hunting as a profession has been proposed many times in many ways. However, all of the suggestions that I have seen end up being complex or affect game balance significantly. I propose the simplest possible solution.

I propose that it should be possible to search for shared kill rights available to you. That's it!

This proposal does not make any changes to the existing mechanics for kill rights, bounties, aggression, locator agents - but instead allows these existing systems to be used in combination to make Bounty Hunting as a profession more viable.

Here is how it would work:
1] Go to a Bounty Office (or some other UI function). Search for kill rights shared with you. Pick a few candidates.
2] Check the Bounties on these candidates. Do some intel. Choose one to hunt.
3] Run a locator agent on them.
4] Get on grid with them. Activate the kill right to flag them suspect and engage!


The mechanics are 95% there! We just need that searchable kill right. Players can make the rest happen.

A desirable refinement and a note:
- it would be nicer if the search showed the price of the kill right (just to avoid wasting time on overpriced kill rights).
- I like that this is not "easy mode", you need to be skilled, connected, organised to be a good Bounty Hunter.

Stacee
Ralph King-Griffin
New Eden Tech Support
#2 - 2014-08-10 12:19:01 UTC
love it, now we just need bounty's sorted.
Myriam Deloitte
Doomheim
#3 - 2014-08-10 12:32:48 UTC
Great idea, would lead to more PvP, which is great.
Jason Pareka
Hedion University
Amarr Empire
#4 - 2014-08-10 12:34:56 UTC
would also be nice if we could turn bounties into a form of a contract unlike what we have now
Achenko
Imperial Academy
Amarr Empire
#5 - 2014-08-10 12:47:17 UTC
+1 for this
Sorin Orii
OriiGen
Path of OriiGen
#6 - 2014-08-10 13:16:02 UTC
+1 +1 +1

I also think the bounty system could use some tweaking.

:Sorin Orii

Sanity is the denial of chaos

Projak Dynamo
Pro Synergy
#7 - 2014-08-10 13:16:17 UTC
This is a great idea. As you say it doesn't make it easy, you still have to have the skills and the ability to find your target, then actually successfully engage him.....gonna keep one eye on this but it gets a +1 from me.

The Pro Synergy Pilot is not just a fighting man, he is a salvage expert. If it is lost, in the blackness of space, he will find it. If it has been destroyed, he will loot and salvage it. If it is in his way, he will move it. If he is lucky he will be podded 20 jumps from home, for this is the closest he come to being hero.

Sergeant Major Connor
Doomheim
#8 - 2014-08-10 13:29:51 UTC
Love the Idea's! Searchable kill rights, sorted bounty's, and transferable in contract form. If they did all of this it would be, well, Bounty Hunting! How much better this would make the job/skill is something to hope and look forward too. Now I want to learn more about PvP. I give it 2 thumbs up.
Boom Boom Longtime
EVE Corporation 6908469858
Heroes and Villains.
#9 - 2014-08-10 13:42:02 UTC  |  Edited by: Boom Boom Longtime
Not a bad idea but you still have to take into account that bounty hunting as a profession will never be fully isk viable given the current mechanics / payouts.

If you look at the top bounty hunters on the bounty board the first one can be discounted as that was an abuse of mechanics.

The second one who is legit (and dedicated to the cause) has made 8b+ since retribution was released in December 2012.

400m on average per month basically.

Not terrible, but that still pales in comparison to other "professions" especially taking into consideration that Santo excels at what he does Big smile

The current payout structure means the average bounty hunter will never make a decent income from bounty hunting so it will only ever be a hobby on the side, or a bonus when you get lucky, but never a fully blown profession with regards to isk generation.

What you've suggested would certainly enhance the system but increasing bounty payouts to 50% of ship / pod value would also potentially make the concept of hunting more appealling to some.

75% if you are have a bounty hunting permit, just like a mining permit, maybe Big smile

Bounty contracts allowing assigned individuals to hunt other individuals / corps / alliances for personal profit certainly might not be a bad idea either assuming it can't be abused for griefing.

This kind of bounty contract mechanic could maybe be extended to cover wardec contracts also which might augment the Mercenary profession.

At the minute people have to rely on sending / or expecting isk for services rendered, in good faith with no binding onus on either party to keep their word. A more formal process might be good for all parties involved.

Concord Approved Trader

John E Normus
New Order Logistics
CODE.
#10 - 2014-08-10 13:53:55 UTC
Yes!

Great idea +1

Between Ignorance and Wisdom

Athryn Bellee
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#11 - 2014-08-10 18:49:44 UTC
How do kill rights translate into bounty hunting? I guess you have to hope that the person that you want to pay the kill right for has a higher bounty than the kill right's price. Seems like a nice idea for making it easier to find kill rights, but I don't quite understand the bounty hunting aspect.
Angeal MacNova
Holefood Inc.
Warriors of the Blood God
#12 - 2014-08-10 19:02:54 UTC
Athryn Bellee wrote:
How do kill rights translate into bounty hunting? I guess you have to hope that the person that you want to pay the kill right for has a higher bounty than the kill right's price. Seems like a nice idea for making it easier to find kill rights, but I don't quite understand the bounty hunting aspect.



Selling a kill right is just an option. You can make them publicly available at no cost. Thus you make it publicly available, put a bounty on them and then any hunters do the rest for you. If you are the hunter, and you scout them first, then maybe you can catch them in something expensive to get a higher payout.


I like the idea. Kill rights should've been searchable from the start.

http://www.projectvaulderie.com/goodnight-sweet-prince/

http://www.projectvaulderie.com/the-untold-story/

CCP's true, butthurt, colors.

Because those who can't do themselves keep others from doing too.

Athryn Bellee
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
#13 - 2014-08-10 19:05:21 UTC
Angeal MacNova wrote:
Athryn Bellee wrote:
How do kill rights translate into bounty hunting? I guess you have to hope that the person that you want to pay the kill right for has a higher bounty than the kill right's price. Seems like a nice idea for making it easier to find kill rights, but I don't quite understand the bounty hunting aspect.



Selling a kill right is just an option. You can make them publicly available at no cost. Thus you make it publicly available, put a bounty on them and then any hunters do the rest for you. If you are the hunter, and you scout them first, then maybe you can catch them in something expensive to get a higher payout.


I like the idea. Kill rights should've been searchable from the start.


A free kill right will simply be used by an alt or a friend of the person on the kill right.
Arthur Aihaken
CODE.d
#14 - 2014-08-10 19:20:53 UTC
+1, great idea. All we need now is a timer on activation of a kill right to prevent players from immediately docking.

I am currently away, traveling through time and will be returning last week.

gnshadowninja
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#15 - 2014-08-10 21:14:57 UTC
Athryn Bellee wrote:
Angeal MacNova wrote:
Athryn Bellee wrote:
How do kill rights translate into bounty hunting? I guess you have to hope that the person that you want to pay the kill right for has a higher bounty than the kill right's price. Seems like a nice idea for making find kill rights, but I don't quite understand the bounty hunting aspect.



Selling a kill right is just an option. You can make them publicly available at no cost. Thus you make it publicly available, put a bounty on them and then any hunters do the rest for you. If you are the hunter, and you scout them first, then maybe you can catch them in something expensive to get a higher payout.


I like the idea. Kill rights should've been searchable from the start.


A free kill right will simply be used by an alt or a friend of the person on the kill right.


This is not true, not long ago I killed an Orca and Vindi within 2 hours both with 0isk killrights...
Alot of people dont understand the system and do not realise they have killrights.

This idea is great but im not sure if it can be implemented as currently killrights do not get updated instantly by the server, you literally have to scan through ships in space to find a target with a killright, then it might of already been used.

The last I got told killrights update every 3 hours as the load would be too much on the servers to constantly search and update killrights. (When i say update i mean that they will appear on the overview and even if a killright has been exhausted it will still show a killright available)

This obviously would carry over to your killright system that targets killrights may of already been used or the target already hunted and you wouldnt know until you got in system with them.
Angeal MacNova
Holefood Inc.
Warriors of the Blood God
#16 - 2014-08-11 04:43:02 UTC
I'm not too familiar with how kill rights work but it could go something like the following (if not already):

The kill right can be activated by more than one person. It then becomes a race of sorts as to who gets the kill mail.

The kill right is only completed when the person is podded (since a person has to pod you to grant you a kill right in the first place).


What will this do?

The first one prevents alt from taking up the kill right and sitting on it.

The second one will keep them from completing it on themselves since it means being podded. Even if they use a jump clone with no implants, if their SP is high enough, the cost to replace their medical clone can get pretty high.

The kill rights last for X amount of time and as more and more people get kill rights on the same person, and make them public, the time gets extended.

Placing a bounty on them just ripens the deal for any bounty hunters looking to get the kill mail.

http://www.projectvaulderie.com/goodnight-sweet-prince/

http://www.projectvaulderie.com/the-untold-story/

CCP's true, butthurt, colors.

Because those who can't do themselves keep others from doing too.

Tipa Riot
Federal Navy Academy
Gallente Federation
#17 - 2014-08-11 09:05:20 UTC
The kill right / bounty mechanic is broken in several ways, at least for the hunter. +1 for the idea, although I think this will not change a lot finally.

Currently the kill right mechanic is simply mapped to the suspect feature, which isn't the best choice imo. What about mapping instead to a (modified) war dec mechanic? Hunters could get a personal war dec against the kill right "recipient" for a fee per week paid to the owner of the right. The recipient can be decced by multiple hunters and has the chance to surrender by paying ransom to the deccer.

I'm my own NPC alt.

Dirk D'Aguilar
Kraken Exploration and Janitorial Services
The Initiative.
#18 - 2014-08-11 10:42:59 UTC
I think this is a simple approach to implement, with minimal change in the underlying game mechanics, but I would like to see a social skill to increase the percentage value of the ship you destroy that you receive as a bounty. Maybe reduce the target's insurance payout by a set % with each skill level and redirect it into the bounty hunter's account? As long as it can't be gamed to have alts making easy profits by shooting each other.
The reward for successfully bagging a bounty will need to be increased for this to become a viable option. However, bounty hunting is such an iconic trope of sci-fi, I'd love to see it as a viable career path in EVE.
Memnon of Rhodes
The Spechul Club
S h a d o w
#19 - 2014-08-11 11:02:07 UTC
Whilst I accept the comments that have been made that suggest that there are other fixes that are required to the bounty hunting mechanic, it strikes me that this change, if delivered, would only be positive and deliver more pew pew.

I quite like Angeal MacNova's suggestion that the kill right only be extinguished on a podding. This would have the advantage of limiting, though not necessarily extinguishing, the killed-by-alt solution to public kill rights.

Maria Dragoon
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#20 - 2014-08-11 21:42:50 UTC
You guys should stop focusing on the profession. That is the problem you all are having.

I +1 this idea because it a TOOL a tool that allows the players to do MORE.

Let the players figure out what they want to use the tool for!

Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. Confucius

"A man who talks to people who aren't real is crazy. A man who talks to people who aren't real and writes down what they say is an author."

12Next page