lol rin... yeah Shadow, I like the hunt as well. But what I don't like is the super easy ability to completely vanish. I think we could conceptualize a transponder that essentially would function as a trail of blood more than a homing beacon.

For instance, it could work this way:

For five minutes after being hit the marked vessel would relay back to the originator a four or six sector square region where the vessel is located (the uncertainty attributed to the imprecise and low power of transponder and the recieving antennae on your ship, and any energetic disturbances that might be present in the area). Any time the marked vessel jumps to a new sector, the reported region is updated. If the originator is in the same sector as the marked vessel, the transponder would illuminate on the radar an enemy dot (red) with no distance limit (just like groups).

Then, you could further add interesting complexities such as having the transponder function longer, say 10 minutes, if the shields are down when it's hit. But then having the transponder disarmed if someone successfully reps the marked vessel to 100%.

I'm sure there are any number of ways to go about it... but we really should have this type of device. Chasing down a Trident is an incredibly enjoyable experience -- and it is the latest and greatest thing that encourages group play. We should find a way to encourage this and make it more interesting, while at the same time adding in protections to allow knowledgable Trident pilots to survive and not be horribly inconvenienced.

*so relating to the OP -- suggest some adjustment/modification to allow the above described imprecision, or some other conversion to not just being a clear and present homing beacon.