Crime & Punishment

I say make the payout equal to the kill value and payout at up to100 percent of kill value (but not more than the value of the bounty).

Also, just to make it interesting include one open killright with any bounty that is 100M ISK or more. While this part could be skirted around careful timing of dropping a bounty with a killright could still result in some good emergent gameplay...

I think an improved bounty system would include or improve on these key points, these are some of my own ideas but mostly culled from various posts throughout the forums. I would really be interested in hearing your opinion on making Bounty Hunting a profession a priority in CCP Coding

Kill Rights
Bounties
Skills
Modules
Kill Rights

Kill Rights that last longer than 30 days – how about they don’t expire.

Yeah I have the names of the guys who ganked me when I was a noob, I am still a noob by the way. I can now use locator agents and track them down when I feel my skills are up to it. However it would be great to bump into them in hisec have a kill right from a year ago that I could activate and have a shot at them.

Or even as just a reminder that I still have a score to settle Big smile

KillRights could become a commodity to be bought and sold on the market auction contracts could work well for this?

Activating a killright destroys it regardless of the outcome of the battle. Activating a killright could start a forced duel between the two parties? So you will want to be in sight and ready to engage the target before activating the kill right.

The kill right expires after the first offensive module is used on the target or (timeframe? I would suggest 30 days the current Kill Right timer) This would allow you to try again if the target escaped before you could aggress him. This timer would only apply to killrights that were purchased, earned killrights would not expire unless an offensive module was used on the killright.

An actual Bounty System

Bounties can only be placed on a player within 30min of acquiring a kill right, and can be any amount

Additionally a minimum bounty say 50mil can be placed without a kill right. This would be similar to a Wardec on an individual.
A Bountied player is added to the card list of all Bounty Agents.

Bounties are only paid out to the player who holds the card for that character and are paid in full. Killing a player with a bounty is no longer a surprise jackpot the bounty is untouched until it is properly collected.

Bounty Cap? Should bounty be unlimited or capped at a few hundred million? Placing a bounty cap will allow the profession to stay unique to those who truly want to pursue it. If you can make billions in your favorite gameplay why would you risk so much time and effort for a relatively small pot? Meanwhile a professional Bounty Hunter should be able to make a nice living.

Fleet members can aggress the Bountied target without Concord intervention. The normal fleet mechanics could be used to divide the rewards, with the Card holder having the final say. This would allow small bounty gangs to roam hisec as a proactive police force.

Bounty Cards

Request a bounty card from a Bounty Agent you will be given a random card of a player within X number of jumps with a bounty to collect. You will never receive a Corp member or Alliance bounty card. I also assume CCP can prevent alts from collecting a card that would break this concept. So rolling for additional cards in the hopes of getting a friend for a mutually beneficial conclusion should be next to impossible.

Once activated the card will expire after engaging the target. If the target is not engaged within (timeframe? I would suggest 30 days the current Kill Right timer) the card is lost and returns to Concord to be randomly assigned to another Bounty Hunter. A hunter could hold multiple active cards at once 5 to 10 active bounties. If bountied players aren’t dying fast enough the cards could be dealt to multiple hunters simultaneously and a race to beat your fellow hunters is on!

Better Access to Concord Intel

Concord has tabs on everyone so unless they are in a wormhole we should be able to tap into that intel. Who could access that intel? People with the right skills.

Bounty Hunting becomes a new type of mission complete with instructions to assist in finding the target. The intel could go so far as to specify the ship presently being flown or docked at Station XYZ in a Typhoon. The higher your bounty skills the more accurate the intel would be.

Welcome, Dawg the Bounty Hunter always good to see you.

I think I have a Bounty that is particularly suited to your expertise!

Will you accept the contract?

Excellent! You have thirty days to collect your bounty.

You have drawn the card of Sir Tyrell Ganksalot last known intel shows this lowly criminal as undocked in Niarja in a Catalyst, he has 25 kills in the last thirty days and a 123 million dollar bounty.

Good Luck Capsuleer!


Bounty Hunter skills

We should be able to train skills to become a Bounty Hunter, make it a true Eve profession.

Bounty Hunter 1 to 5 improved access to Concord intel to find a Bounty or Kill right target – the higher the skill the higher value cards you will be offered and the more recent the location information is.

Advanced Bounty Hunter 1 to 5 intel accuracy improvements – access to Bounty Hunter Modules

Bounty Hunter Tools

Bounty Hunter Module – when activated the Bounty you are actively seeking can’t see you on Dscan or local, I think as Bounty Hunters get to be well known this will be a necessary tool for them. This is a reasonable counter to the ganker who is able to get easy access to miners for intel gathering and then strikes them without warning. This would be a good mechanic to get the ganker looking over his shoulder a little bit.

Bounty Hunters may have to make specific fitting choices based on the requirements of this module – Active or Passive module?

Bounty Hunter Probes – again undetectable by the activated Bounty Card or Kill right will only scan for your active Bounty Card.