[Ratneck]

I'm sure this has been brought up before but I don't really know the right terms to use to search for it.

Bear in mind that I'm going to make the following assumptions with this idea:

1) PvP server. Anyone can be shot, anywhere.
2) Consequence system in place. Shooting certain "types" of people in core areas carries consequences. I'm not a fan of the standard "next person to kill this guy gets the bounty" system since it's far too easy to exploit with a couple friends. I'd prefer a "collect half the bounty" system (nuclear half-life style) or a reputation system (a-la Tradewars)
3) Squad warfare system is in place allowing squads to target each other anywhere without this system applying.

What I would like to see is a "service" or NPC that would be able to locate other pilots for you in space. This would make bounty hunting more exciting for both the hunter and the hunted since there would provide more frequent hot PvP action that didn't involve civ-rips.

The general outline for the idea I was thinking of would include:

1) Cost of search based on the reputation (or bounty) of the player you're searching for. More bounty/bad rep from the consequence system would make the search cheaper.
2) Rather then changing the cost of a search (or in addition to it) the worse the Rep. or Bounty on a player, the more accurate his location would be reported. Player A may be trackable to the specific sector he's currently in because he's got a really high bounty/bad rep, but Player B might be trackable to within a single nation because his bounty/rep isn't too bad.
3) A player can only use the service once every "X" amount of time. This would abuse the tactic of one person sitting in station and reporting the location to his squad mates over and over.
4) Rep/bounty is nation specific. This way I can't dock at Sol Core and use their search feature to find a pilot they consider friendly (privateers vs. pirates style).
5) Pilots could be given the chance to either increase the rep/bounty (default) against a pilot that killed them or 1 free use of the "locator" service so they could retaliate. This choice should have to be made within a set amount of time or before the next launch, whichever comes first, or the game automatically chooses the increased bad rep/bounty.

I'd also like to see a "squad based" system for bounties:

1) A squad could "hire" bounty hunters to kill or steal from their enemies (mercenary system may be a better name).
2) Squad leadership could set a certain credit value on different categories....type of ship, name of pilot, squad of pilot, nation of pilot, etc.
3) Max. repeat kills in a X hour/minute period could be set to avoid abuse of the system or "griefing" of players.
4) Consequences for killing the "bountied" pilots WOULD still apply to the merc in the core sectors. Only "offical" bounties would be able to get around a punishment in those systems.

Like I said, it's a rough idea....I admit it. What does everyone think? Would either of these ideas be useful? Do you think there would be too much leeway for abuse? Do you not like the idea of being able to track people indirectly? I can see that last one being a sticking point for some, hence the reason I was thinking the accuracy of the tracking should scale based on how badly the nation wants that pilot killed.