Bounty Hunting

[Baltar]

In the BHG chat an idea came up for an addition to the whole bounty hunting thing.

Normally, a bounty is only collectable if the target gets blown up. If the target does not blow up, no money.

So here's an idea:

make forcing a pirate to 'surrender' also collectable. Meaning you 'arrest' him.
Gameplay makesit impossible to actually arrest someone for a bounty. This way, 'arrests' are possible.

and if the pirate does not surrender... well, that's his choice. At least he has been offered one.

I very much support this line of thought. My pirate has surrendered to an overwhelming force in past encounters and was brought to a neutral base to dock (simulating being delivered to prison). Then I would log out and go to another character for a day or two.

Addition to this suggestion ... lobby for the dev team to make all prison bases neutral for this very purpose. Remove purchasable items from prison bases to prevent people from abusing it. After all ... a prison is supposed to be where bad guys are sent ... right?

advantages:

- it will enhance bounty hunting rp. for the hunter, as well as for the pirate. I can picture some pretty hilarious rp to be had for the more creative among us.

- more realistic. inrl, bounty hunters don't kick down the door, yell 'this is a warrant for your arr- I mean, death' and empty a clip of 5.56 leaded fuel into a villain's chest. Or balls.

- no blue messege hunting is neccesary anymore to collect. (so people perhaps will stop crying about pvp whoring hunters)

Isn't so hard to implement either: just change the blanket bounties a tad, saying that arrests and proof of the arrest (the ss saying 'I surrender') are worth the same as a kill.

Tecnhincally it is possible ingame as well. you can rp it out. the pirate activates cruise and dissapears after he has been 'arrested'. that counts as a flee, so it's the same rulewise as a pvp death.

if he says he surrenders but attacks again, he gets whacked and claimed upon the old fashioned way.

Ideas? Rants? Got milk?

Absolutely agree. Bounties usually say "Dead OR Alive" ... right?

I've always been an advocate of letting the loser limp home after a fight if he gives up or pleas for his life. And I have always considered it a bit of a PVP-only encounter if they insist my ship is destroyed.

Absolutely hate blanket bounties. But if there are going to be blanket bounties ... rules need to state that they've gotta be arrests ... not deaths. Death bounties must be specifically targeted characters. Otherwise you're just encouraging a PVP-fest and minimal (if any) role play.