not getting paid when dying would making the mission harder hurr

But that doesn't really fix anything. Right now escort gameplay is broken not because you get money when you die, but because you never die, nothing ever threatens you, and you don't even have to be at your computer to complete them half the time.

Spawn however many NPC rats you need to genuinely threaten the cargo ships and the gameplay brokenness is fixed. Anyone trying to ride a Trident is going to watch their convoy get shredded and their pay dwindle to nothing. Maybe add a faction hit if you fail too hard as well. Say 50% cargo lost = 50 faction lost, or whatever makes sense and punishes failure sufficiently. Hell this would force you to fly escorts in groups because a large convoy is going to attract a large pirate force and you'll need more than one pilot to handle the attack.

I don't think the corporation who hires you cares if you live or die so long as the cargo gets there safe with no damage to the cargo ships. If you die valiantly in the defense of the convoy I'm sure they'd be grateful. But if you die valiantly and then half of the convoy dies at the next wormhole that corporation is going to be very unhappy regardless of your valor. It all comes down to results.

Didn't we already have this discussion? If I want re-runs, I'll go watch tv.

You know full-well that VO has been nothing but "re-runs" for at least 4 years :P

Go fellate something, Fluffer.

How about this for an idea. Lower the current payouts, raise the payout for killing enemies along the route, and implement a survival/reaching the end bonus on top of it. Make it so the full payout + bonus is at a level equal to or slightly less than the current rate, so that killing a bunch of bots in storms on the way there (or rats at whs or whatever) gets you an even nicer bonus.

Incentive to stay with the convoy, defend it, and survive to the end.

+1 for peypey
What a bunch of lazy ninnies ye are.
"Ye die ye fail" makes completely sens!
Ye can't claim the price cos ye are dead : )
We do not pay for pilot sorry failures.

"do not die" well : )

not getting paid when dying would making the mission harder hurr
Not really. Just makes it more annoying. Adding challenges, not punishments, makes shit harder. Adding punishments makes shit less fun/engaging.

Soo... we traders get a bonus from now on whenever a rat fails to kill us... Great idea for a bonus.

PaKettle... what?

Also, possible addendum to the idea of making escorts "harder": for some fraction (say, 1/3rd?) of escorts taken, spawn missions at other factions along the route to "intercept" escorts of other factions. The intercept missions would have decently high payout and allow you to keep the goods.

if you die in the mission you die in real life!

"The intercept missions would have decently high payout and allow you to keep the goods."

This would also give meaning to the mission where you can become a privateer.