Make Master Bounty Hunter Great again

Make Master Bounty Hunter Great again
This idea/suggestion is Open. You can respond to ask questions or discuss the idea and either vote it up or down if you believe it should or should not be implemented, respectively. Popular suggestions and ideas will be considered by the development team to become reality in-game.
Proposal
Make player bounties require Master Bounty Hunter in order to hunt players
Justification
Bounty hunters are the only class that can force pvp on players at any given time they want with the ability to strike first. Some of these tilted builds as we all know are impossible to 1v1 let alone 3v1. I believe that requiring MBH to hunt players instead of 4xxx would not only coincide with lore more but it would allow for a more balanced ecosystem in hunting. Master Smug is required to run the pvp underworld missions so it would be in similar line with this. I believe that making this change to Bounty Hunting would also allow other classes to shine in areas they should withouBt everyone asking for a nerf on them. MCH/MDoc 4xxx BH is not a bounty hunter that is a side profession and that build may have a place in other areas of the game but is an impossible task for anyone to 1v1. This change would also effect the BH/Jedi build so many people despised. Those are just a few of the tilted builds that some have gotten creative with and though creative they dont belong forcing pvp upon people in unwinable scenarios.
Motivation
I believe these changes to provide a more balnced ecosystem of PvP and do away wit ah this watered down version of Bounty Hunting. Bounty Hunting is a Mastery profession allowing 4xxx to hunt players has turned that class into a dipping pool for peoples hobbies.
Make BH great again. and give bounties a fighting chance.
 
Well don't feel discouraged. Id hate to change it back as would many others but it is possible it can still happen.
I made a player voice long ago saying smuggler shouldn't need brawler, and should choose medic instead and got told how broken it'd be. Now its completely optional between both of them.
My point being, it is likely being worked on from a balancing perspective either way. Trust the devs to deliver even if it takes time. Perhaps they'll add other benefits to mastered advanced classes in general. Heroic jewelry alone is a good draw.
 
Wouldn't letting people take points out of BH period, sure make it so they can't pop people with bounties, but let them make their builds even more broken by putting those points elsewhere? Countering the point of this also being about balancing?
 
Wouldn't letting people take points out of BH period, sure make it so they can't pop people with bounties, but let them make their builds even more broken by putting those points elsewhere? Countering the point of this also being about balancing?
the point is about balancing the ecosystem of bounty hunts where pvp is forced upon someone with all advantages going to the BH already waiting for buffs to be on or off the numbers of 2v1 3v1 etc let alone tilted builds.
 
the point is about balancing the ecosystem of bounty hunts where pvp is forced upon someone with all advantages going to the BH already waiting for buffs to be on or off the numbers of 2v1 3v1 etc let alone tilted builds.
And you think it would be better just getting rid of an entire feature, which mind you let's you have several people 1v3 you as you stated regardless, than just balance the builds themselves? I'm sorry this is starting to sound more like a complaint about getting ganked above all else, at risk of sounding rude.
 
And you think it would be better just getting rid of an entire feature, which mind you let's you have several people 1v3 you as you stated regardless, than just balance the builds themselves? I'm sorry this is starting to sound more like a complaint about getting ganked above all else, at risk of sounding rude.
Im a Bounty Hunter, this is not a complaint about getting ganked this is about recognizing a problem that there are builds out there that can't even be 1v1ed
 
Forcing that build onto someone that can only get off the boards by losing a Bounty Hunt is broken in general let alone that build might have a place in GCW but isnt a place for Bounty Hunt is the point
 
I started the game recently with the intention of becoming a Bounty Hunter, drawn in by the fantasy of tracking high-value targets, pursuing dangerous marks, and feeling like a true specialist. But after spending some time in the system, I realized that dream doesn’t really align with the current state of BH in Restoration.

What I found instead was a profession oversaturated with players dipping into the investigation line just enough to qualify for player bounties. That flood of hunters means there’s very little opportunity for bounties to grow into meaningful targets. By the time someone racks up a few PvP kills and starts to feel like a real threat, they’re already being hunted—and usually by a dozen people at once. As a result, the gameplay loop for BH lacks tension, progression, and payoff.

I think improving Master Bounty Hunter would help address this. It could offer a meaningful path for those of us who actually want to specialize and commit to the fantasy of being a full-time hunter. Give us access to real tools and advantages that justify going all the way to MBH, and reward those who dedicate to the path, not just those cherry-picking a few boxes to unlock bounties.

In a server where identity and specialization matter, there should be space for the Bounty Hunter to feel like more than a side hustle. Give us higher-value targets, give us meaningful challenges, and let the role feel as iconic as it’s meant to be.
 
Unfortunately as pvp has so many factors involved, controlling it 'better' hasn't been effective in any amount I've seen and stayed popular. Namely in mmos with alot of pve. Perhaps if there was something implemented to allow people who are being hunted to be able to anticipate, and in essence counter, a hunter? A way to make it possible to attack first and get the jump when you know you are being hunted it would help? I'm confident there are better paths forward than going backwards in development.
 
Unfortunately as pvp has so many factors involved, controlling it 'better' hasn't been effective in any amount I've seen and stayed popular. Namely in mmos with alot of pve. Perhaps if there was something implemented to allow people who are being hunted to be able to anticipate, and in essence counter, a hunter? A way to make it possible to attack first and get the jump when you know you are being hunted it would help? I'm confident there are better paths forward than going backwards in development.
So your proposal would be to take the advantage of choosing when to fight away from the 4xxx side hustle bounty hunters?
 
It's a touch of brainstorming. I'm not saying it is definite. But taking away 4xxx bh builds away period won't help because the already broken builds will be more broken in pvp, even if they aren't bhing, and the problem will just be pushed somewhere else.
 
I started the game recently with the intention of becoming a Bounty Hunter, drawn in by the fantasy of tracking high-value targets, pursuing dangerous marks, and feeling like a true specialist. But after spending some time in the system, I realized that dream doesn’t really align with the current state of BH in Restoration.

What I found instead was a profession oversaturated with players dipping into the investigation line just enough to qualify for player bounties. That flood of hunters means there’s very little opportunity for bounties to grow into meaningful targets. By the time someone racks up a few PvP kills and starts to feel like a real threat, they’re already being hunted—and usually by a dozen people at once. As a result, the gameplay loop for BH lacks tension, progression, and payoff.

I think improving Master Bounty Hunter would help address this. It could offer a meaningful path for those of us who actually want to specialize and commit to the fantasy of being a full-time hunter. Give us access to real tools and advantages that justify going all the way to MBH, and reward those who dedicate to the path, not just those cherry-picking a few boxes to unlock bounties.

In a server where identity and specialization matter, there should be space for the Bounty Hunter to feel like more than a side hustle. Give us higher-value targets, give us meaningful challenges, and let the role feel as iconic as it’s meant to be.
I can see moving player bounties back to MBH and leaving pve ones in the 4 but would that not put us back to the problem before they changed it? I think there also needs to be some distiction when talking about player bounties as well. Jedi bounties are different from bounties on Smugglers. MBH is not an Alpha class so it should not be an automatic 1v1 win just because they are MBH. Jedi/BH are another story all together as well.