Amicus
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Posted - 2004.03.04 03:33:00 -
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Edited by: Amicus on 04/03/2004 04:23:34
Sara, kudos for this thread. A very important topic in my opinion. Bounties are EveÆs only system of public justice, and the bounty system does not work. If CCP is not going to fix it, then they should eliminate it, because it deceives new players into wasting their money. Bounties now are simply something for griefers to brag about, not fear.
THREE PRINCIPLES OF BOUNTY REFORM:
Three things I think are important to take into account in any bounty reform:
- the target will get the money somehow, whatever the system;
- knowing that the target is getting the money, the punishment from collection must still insure that the bounty payers are getting their moneyÆs worth; and
- there must be safe-guards to prevent unjust bounties.
THE TARGET GETS THE MONEY:
Any bounty system must assume that the money will somehow get to the bounty target. Even under the private contract proposals above, there is no guarantee that the ôtrustedö bounty hunter wonÆt cut a deal with the target in order to make collecting the bounty easier or in return for some favor. I suggest whatever system goes in place just allow the target the option of surrendering to Concord in return for the bounty or its equivalent in value û let us have the transaction out in the open and visible for the dumb bounty target as well as the clever one.
THE PUNISHMENT MUST BE WORTH THE BOUNTY:
Bounty fraud does not happen in the real world because the punishment to the target is always greater than the bounty being offered. Start from the premise that the target will get the money, and then figure out how to make sure that the bounty payer still gets value for their money, that is, significant punishment to the target (e.g., along lines of proposals above by Thano, Carmencita, Brobro, and Lyonardt û I think I got them all  .)
Real punishment means real bounties. Once it is clear that the target will genuinely suffer from collection of the bounty, bounties will skyrocket. To be worth the risk of losing battleships and the time involved in hunting, bounties must be in the 100Æs of millions. No players will put up that large a bounty, if they suspect that the money could just go to the target without any significant punishment.
BOUNTY MUST BE JUST:
Whatever the bounty system, there should be some safe-guard against unjust bounties used to grief players who have committed no grave crime (e.g., ThonosÆs idea of restricting bounties to targets with less than û5 security status.) Players who can ôkeep their nosesö clean and get their security status in the positive zone for long periods, could be allowed to have their punishments reduced or eliminated. The bounty payer would still get a restriction on the targetÆs nefarious activities for a time, and thus something for their money. If the target was not really nefarious, then it should not be that hard for the target to keep his/her status in the positive range.
EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW:
I believe whatever the bounty system, it must not just be for the rich. The poor noob in a frigate who has been ganked should be allowed to contribute his 100,000 isk to a bounty with some hope of getting justice. That poor frigate captain has no recourse against the pirate in the battleship who ganked him. He cannot hope to go up against the pirate, and he may not want to focus the rest of his life in Eve trying to get powerful enough to get revenge (assuming the pirate stays in the game that long). The poor pilot who has suffered at the hands of a griefer needs to have a chance at justice, or he/she will likely quit the game. When 1,000 poor players contribute their measly 100,000 isk each to a bounty û you have a respectable bounty of 100 million isk.
JURY OF ONE'S PEERS:
Another proposal to allow bounties for players who manipulate the security system: allow players to affect other playerÆs security status, by setting of personal standings. For example, if 4,000 players decide that Big Griefer (ganker, ore thief, corporate swindler, and for whatever reason nasty guy) is û10 personal standing in their character sheet, then Big Griefer should get a û10 hit to his security status, have all his security penalties doubled, and all his security gains halved. A check on such a voting system would be to have û10 personal standing equal a personal declaration of war on the target (allowing the target to gank whoever voted him off the island without interference from Concord).
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