The following rule regarding bounty operations in Sirius will be effective April 1st. (No, this is not an April Fools Joke.)
The minimum acceptable bounty payment, including blanket bounties, will be 1 million Sirius credits.
Bounties larger than this are acceptable. No bounties smaller than 1 million credits will be valid or acceptable for posting.
Groups and factions may enter into contracts with governments or entities for flat rate fee payments instead of individual bounties. The flat rate shall be at least 30 million credits, and can be higher. Proof of this payment shall be posted prominently upon the forum, either on the bounty board or in a thread specifically regarding that contract.
All current bounties will be checked by the person or organization posting them prior to April 1st. Any bounties found to be in violation of this rule after April 1st will be subject to deletion without notice.
This change is for both lawful and unlawful bounties.
Note that this does not change house laws regarding contraband items and the enforcement of any embargos. This DOES change the minimum acceptable payouts for any bounty work in house or other space.
The Admin team
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An unfortunate decision, one that will neccessitate a costly rehash of TheLibertyBountyBoard. It is unfortunate, however, the Republic of Liberty is now considering raising certain taxes to offset this costly change to the bounty procedures Sirius-wide. At this time, we would like to apply, on behalf of everyone, for an extension of the grace period to the fifth of April. Two days is not time enough to change any complex bounty system. Simply upping the prices as it is, on paper, a fairly simple task, is not actually that straight-forward. The cost to the state is potentially enormous, but more so, the grace period is not long enough to allow the relevant figures to come together, discuss and approve a new bounty system.
Personally, I am sure that this is the case with the Republic of Liberty, and a likely possibility with the Bretonian Crown and the Empire of Kusari, as well as, obviously, the Dictatorship of Rheinland.
The alternative is to suspend bounty board service until a system that is acceptable to the relevant figures of authority is drawn up, discussed and polished. This could potentially stifle the bounty hunting business, at least temporarily. Bounty hunters in particular are very helpful in their services, especially within the Republic, and it would be a shame to see any reduction, even only for a short period, to the rate of business.
Yours,
~ Ferris Dufresne, Head of the Central Liberty Internal Treasury
The new bounty system has been approved - by us. It is highly suggested that the leaderships of ALL houses, both lawful and unlawful, act appropriately. We are not Bretonian diplomats who sit and jaw, jaw, jaw. We are not Liberty bureaucrats who hide things within piles of paper and mislabeled document files. We are not Kusari nobles who take bribes from criminals. We are not Rheinlanders who march lockstep to the voice of the Kanzler.
We are the Autonomous Department of Management and Interstellar Navigation.
A suggestion would be to temporarily increase your blanket bounty payments until such time as you can negotiate with any group that might be of service a flat fee for services rendered. Or, as you mentioned, temporarily suspend bounty payments - which would, of course, increase criminal activity within any house that did so by an enormous amount.
The bounty system has notoriously been used and abused, with many bounties not even being filed as they simply are too small for a pilot to bother with - they are merely there as an excuse or reason for PvP. Or a small bounty is placed by someone, simply as an excuse or reason for PvP. Both of these actions will now come to an end.
Bounties will be worth claiming - or they will not be posted.
The Admin team
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We are disappointed at the lack of flexibility offered by the Autonomous Department of Management and Interstellar Navigation. At no point did we object to the new macro-economic policy to be employed by the first of April, we only applied for an extension to the grace period provided.
As such, measures will be taken until a new revision of TheLibertyBountyBoard can be produced.
Yours,
~ Ferris Dufresne, Head of the Central Liberty Internal Treasury
Opinion by Del (Player) 2 days is way too short, 7 (as has been requested) is a reasonable amount. I will know do what I can to make it 7 days, to avoid a traffic jam regarding folks getting their ducks in a row.
Saint Del is considered a holy healer of diseases of children, but also as a protector of cattle.
Me, I approve of this decision, though I admit I am a tad biased on this issue.
I like this decision because it will benefit my Hunter character.
Additionally, I like this decision because it makes bounties worth collecting/gives Hunter/Mercenary players some incentive to actually go out and collect.