I've been reading the thread and there seems to be a theme. People love the risk, but it seems to hit a lot harder than it is possibly worth.
I'm fairly new to the game, still running around with my first car, level 4 or 5, got a few upgrades... Go out to a night race, on the way get chased down by a cop. Manage to escape it close to the race I was heading to. Things cool off, I start the race. Near the start, pass a group of cops that were initially after me and still in the area (Didn't expect that) and BANG! heat takes a jump. By the time I'm done with the race, it is high enough that I have massive things hitting me from the front, I'm scrambling to figure out what the hell happened, I have corvettes hunting me down in packs, my dinky 150 car is screwed six ways from Sunday... I decide that it is just not worth the stress and stop running.
Get busted for the first time... Lose ALL my money, nearly $60k... I have nothing left, lose most of my rep that I had earned for completing the race and now sitting with empty pockets too. I'm all for a bit of a challenge, cops being tough, even losing some cash. It is supposed to hurt, I get it... But this early in the game, without much experience... This is WAY too rough and broke it for me.
I stopped playing the game for now until I can wrap my head around this brutality so early in a game.
A suggestion? Have the amount lost be a function of rep level, car level and difficulty setting maybe.
You want harsh, aggressive, hyped-up cops hunting you from the second you enter the street? Set it to hard.
Have a rep of 30+? Yeah, you probably have a fair bit of experience, a good car and some extra cash lying around, go ahead and hit them with some fines if they get caught.
But you are a low level in rep? Maybe don't take $100k on a person's second night out. Scale the heat level a little slower.
