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Im going to write a little addition to that I think, which Im sure ander will move to the main page if he sees fit.
So ransoming, whats it all about and how does it work?
Ok here's the deal, you have an apoc you caught mining scrammed and massivly outgunned now you have a choice, blast it to smithereens or ransom it. If you blast it, you might get lucky and keep 4 miner 2's int he explosion, not exactly hot loot. Or you can ransom it.
If you ransom it then a good rule of thumb is to take a little under half the ships value if fully equipt, if its mining the reinsure money that its going to cost the miner will probably be the best bet. If you have someone with a ship scanner in gang then you can tell if he's got anything REALLY tasty on there and up the ransom accordingly, all pretty straight forward stuff really.
Now for the tricky part, actually illiciting the ransom from the player. Most players are understandably upset at this point and the adrenalin is pumping. They want nothing more than to tell you to go f**k yourself when you convo them, in fact this is a pretty common response. This is where you have to take charge of the situation, be a professional. Dont get all upset and smash him to pieces because he smack talked. if your tacklers have the cap to hold him for any length of time then let his anger run down and then calmly explain that all your asking is what it would cost to reinsure the ship and he gets too keep it and his modules in tact. Convert the heated situation that he considers personal into cold hard maths. he complies it costs him 30-40 million, he doesnt then even without the pod kill he's looking at 50-60 mill. be cool, be professional and dont go smack talking him or making wild demands.
Ok if you've done the above chances are sooner or later he'll decide to pay, he's probably going to need to borrow the money from somewhere so set a firm deadline for payment but make it realistic. I've usually got htem in hull at this point and keep them there, if he tries to pull a fast one a quick volley will be enough to destroy him and teach him not to do it next time. Once the deadline is reached give one last chance to pay then destroy the ship, its important you follow through on the threat without hesitation or renegotiation because chances are you'll bump into him or his corp again in future and this will make any future transactions flow more smoothly.
finally ALWAYS keep your word, no matter how much smacktalk comes out of his mouth when you let him go, do this in local, have him confirm your letting him go then let him rant if he wants. the locals will see that you kept your word and the people they speak to will know. again this makes business much easier in the future.
so there we go, ransoming 101. its really very easy:
use your original show of force effectivly, ensure the target is scared half to death on volley 1.
Be cool and professional, for the target this is personal, for you it isnt.
set clear deadlines and stick to them.
ALWAYS keep your word.