This is going to be a pretty long suggestion because I am eager to include my reasoning for wanting this change, and to put the suggestion I'm making into some proper context. If you're not bothered about reading that and just want the bare bones, skip to about half way through.

I've been playing for almost a decade, now. 4-5 years ago I wouldn't think of posting a suggestion like this because it would publicly earmark me as a hitter in a time when people did everything they could to conceal the fact they were training a gun. These days, it doesn't really matter. It's pretty much a universally accept fact that if you're ranked and you have an account with any kind of age then you'll be training a gun. After all, there is literally no reason not to. There is no inherent risk or drawback to training a gun.

Maybe I'm an elitist, but I do yearn for the days when dedicating yourself to be a hitter was a relatively big decision because in the days before DFPs, CA's and OC's the only way to make big money was drug runs, and you often missed out on a lot of money if you weren't flying for the best prices but for your IA route. In addition, forget about mugging (as it was) or PPIng; with a shared timer the only time you'd want to use that timer was on something that would benefit your gun. This is before we even consider that every shot you took could end your account; and so relatively few people dedicated their account to building a monster gun. Those who did were rewarded with real power, sometimes outstripping their leader, and that all made it worth it. It wasn't unfair in anyway because no one was excluded, it was ultimately up to each individual whether or not they wanted to train a gun.

Fast forward to now and, again, this is absolutely not the case. I can train up every area of my account without suffering stagnation or even 'losing' skill in other areas of my account. When you think of it, this is a relatively unique feature of RPGS or online games and in this case I don't necessarily think it's a good thing. Whereas most games will use some method to 'force you' to choose an aspect of your character to develop by way of certain actions becoming unavailable or through the distribution of skill points, this game offers nothing of comparable effect other than tapering which only effects the top 1.5% wack stats. As a side note, I personally think that the more accounts with guns, the less enjoyable the game becomes as the power of a gun is massively diluted. In terms of politics and strategy, this game has taken a step backwards, IMO.

Anyway, on with the suggestion.

The Big One - Wackback

The removal and opposition to wackback death is that it wasn't effective at the job it was doing and it was too 'random' meaning a pissant 10 kill account was just as likely to get thumped as a 1000 kill account. The change I would propose is that the most severe 'tier' of wackback would have an adverse affect on your account, but only your wackstat, and in such a way that it affects people according to their existing wackstat. Something along the lines of:

Wackback at:

<50 wackstat = no effect
51-99 wackstat = Loss of 10% of wackstat
100-199 wackstat = Loss of 15%
200-299 wackstat = Loss of 20%

And so on and so forth. I've not really 'crunched' the numbers to see if these specific ones would be viable but they're more to demonstrate how the concept would work rather than to say 'these are the precise figures' - I'm sure a balanced percentage penalty per wackstat range could be worked out if this suggestion gets any support. The key is that it reinstates an element of risk into wack which has been sorely lacking since the removal of WB death, and that it doesn't shit on the little guys as the risk becomes more punitive as your gun becomes stronger. Whilst tapering hamstrings the top 1.5% to a certain extent, it still doesn't present any viable reason to stop wacking and whilst it does it's job better than the original WB death, I think there is still room for improvement.

Some smaller changes
 

As I said earlier, I quite like the idea of you choosing a different path for your character rather than just being 'Jack of all trades; master of all trades' and I think it would be pretty fun to have some changes to everyday activities that would force users to think 'Training a gun, is it worth it for me? Is this want I want to do with this particular character'. Off the top of my head:

- Reintegrating PP and Wack timers. Top-level PPs are often extremely useful in wars to ascertain how many BG's someone has.
- No carrying drugs unless your wack timer is open.  Simply RPed as, you wouldn't carry 200k worth of coke on your way to a hit. It's stupid.
- No carrying drugs whilst you shoot. Simple RPed as, following the hit, you clean up and dispose of the evidence, you don't walk down the street covered in blood trying to score a kilo of blow

Again, none of these punish any user over another. You ultimately have the choice of what you want to do with your account, but there are benefits and drawbacks with each path you take.

In regards to any/all responses, please bear in mind that I'm not making any of these suggestions out of any kind of personal agenda. I once had 9 relatively decent, made + accounts consecutively die of WB. I know how shitty and annoying it is, but I always thought it was good for the game as a whole. If you are going to oppose this for any reason; do it from a standpoint of how it would impact the game - not you and your character.

Cheers for reading this absolute essay.

+ Don't have alot of time to comment but GREAT idea! I remember when I used to have to work to have a great gun.. now it blah!

i dont like the idea of losing gun stats over a wack back. however, im an adrenaline junky and am all for bringing back wack back death

Keep it the way it is.

without touching the mechanics of this suggestion (cause i'll muck my brain), I agree that this needs revamping. if you spend enough money, and/or enough time, i you can build an  account that is so powerful, you are near impossible to stop. we saw this, in that deadlysin came within a whisker of winning a war, on his own.

i'll see if i can figure out this particular suggestion once i've had some sleep

I can see the point your looking at there Cantona but i always loved the thrill of the shot not knowing if that shot would be my last its an aspect i really loved in the game my 1st ever account only ever used his gun 3 times for 3 wbs 1st was gun 2nd was jail the 3rd fatal.

WB death is somthing i love having in the game ,if there was a fair way to work that into the game i would support it.

Though would people know how much Wack stat was lost?

If they didnt i could prove very interesting in a war.