TL;DR - I want to know how ISK payout per match is determined.

http://dust514.com/news/blog/2012/12/war-and-profit/

its based on warpoint contribution

It was less a request for throwaway terms like "A portion" or "a larger share" and more a demand for actual contracts with cold hard numbers, none of this smoke and mirrors. It wouldn't be that hard I'm sure.

It was also a call to perhaps have fluid contracts; maybe some aspects of a battle are more important from one contract to another. Perhaps battles could be differentiated and spiced by these slightly different contracts. This would come into play in interesting ways if players could put out contracts.

1.Base rewards GÇô Every mercenary receives basic compensation for each battle they fight. The size of the reward depends on the time you spent fighting, so joining a battle late will net you lower earnings. Value of objects destroyed in battle has no bearing on this part of the reward.
2.Team rewards GÇô The total rewards calculated from the value destroyed are split between the participating teams, with the winning team earning a larger share. Then, each participant earns a cut of the total rewards that their team received based on the time they spent in the battle. If youGÇÖre late to the party, youGÇÖll earn a smaller cut.
3.Individual rewards GÇô Finally, every participant receives a reward based on their individual contribution on the battlefield. Mercs earn war points based on their actions in the course of each battle, and the more war points you score, the higher your cut of the total payout.

Have we not shown that we are intelligent and capable employees?

CCP have said they aren't publishing the numbers because they're constantly in flux, but why not have a visible contract for the player to read and accept? They could code it with variables that autofill with the appropriate current values so players can see what to do in order to ensure that extra payout.

I like this idea, but why not take it further and vary each contract for each battle, within a certain range. On the public contracts tab you'd see something like this:

Contract type: [Ambush/Skirmish/Domination]
Hiring corp: [NPC corp]
Location: [Planet and district]
Appearance fee: xISK per second
Performance fee: xISK per WP
Destruction fee: x% of total ISK value
Win bonus: +x% destruction fee
Salvage: x% chance
Meta rating: [Lucrative/Generous/Average/Ungenerous/Miserly]

SP should be the one payout that's made according to rules that apply to each battle, as that's presumably the one thing that doesn't vary with each contract.

That's one possible format, but here's another.

Contract Type: [Ambush/Skirmish/Domination]
Hiring Corp: [NPC corp]
Location: [Planet and district]
Appearance Fee: xISK per second
Destruction Fee: x% of total ISK value destroyed by team
Performance Bonus: top 3 WP earners get x% bonus (or tiered bonuses for 1st - 3rd place)
Performance Fee: remaining Destruction Fee after Performance Bonus divided among all team members based on WP
Win Bonus: +x% total payout before Win Bonus
Salvage: x% chance
Meta rating: [Lucrative/Generous/Average/Ungenerous/Miserly]

I just based my format on CCP's actual calculations. I agree that the destruction fee should be based on what the team destroys, not on everything destroyed in the battle, which is how CCP calculates it. I'm not so sure about giving a performance bonus to the top 3 alone. That would make it very hard for any infantry to get the bonus if there is a capable tanker in the field - two gunners would often get 2nd and 3rd off vehicle assists alone.

I just based my format on CCP's actual calculations. I agree that the destruction fee should be based on what the team destroys, not on everything destroyed in the battle, which is how CCP calculates it. I'm not so sure about giving a performance bonus to the top 3 alone. That would make it very hard for any infantry to get the bonus if there is a capable tanker in the field - two gunners would often get 2nd and 3rd off vehicle assists alone.

You were giving every player a fixed % of destruction value. From what we've heard, the destruction value is divided based on WP earnings, NOT a fixed amount per player. Also, a lot of reports have suggested that the top 3 players are awarded a significant bonus to ISK earnings, and I've seen evidence to support that in my own playtime. If it's a very small amount, like a 3/2/1% split, then the remaining 94% is divided by WP earnings, it shouldn't give too big an advantage.

2.Team rewards GÇô The total rewards calculated from the value destroyed are split between the participating teams, with the winning team earning a larger share. Then, each participant earns a cut of the total rewards that their team received based on the time they spent in the battle. If youGÇÖre late to the party, youGÇÖll earn a smaller cut.
3.Individual rewards GÇô Finally, every participant receives a reward based on their individual contribution on the battlefield. Mercs earn war points based on their actions in the course of each battle, and the more war points you score, the higher your cut of the total payout.

I was going on the devblog I quoted above, these being the relevant sections:

I read this as saying that the allocation of 'team rewards' is based on something like

1/n of total value destroyed*time in battle*win/loss multiplier

and there is then a separate calculation that gives 'individual rewards' based on WP, which does not take into account value destroyed (as that is not mentioned in the individual rewards section). But as that section also says 'the more war points you score, the higher your cut of the total payout', I suppose it is possible that the individual reward is another function to be entered into the value destroyed calculation, which then looks something like

1/n of total value destroyed*time in battle*win/loss multiplier*WP multiplier

In any case, the devblog is ambiguous.

As for the top three bonus, that's not mentioned in the devblog, though I suppose it could be part of the 'individual rewards' calculation. I don't have a problem with it if its weighting is small (3%, 2%, 1%, as you suggest) and total WP is the main determinant of 'performance-related pay'. But I wouldn't want to see guys in 4th and 5th getting 1000+WP but ISK payout only around the same level as the players in 15th and 16th.

Point 2 that you quoted doesn't say what you, personally get. It says how the total payout value is calculated. Winning team has a larger share of the destruction value applied on their side, and losers get the rest. Then that result is divided between players on the team based on their WP earnings.

That's how I read it based on the parts I put in bold.

I believe it is based on time spent in battle, rather than specific WP earnings. Or at least that is what that 2nd Point's writing would have me believe.