While waiting for my main ships to be restored by the admins I took the liberty of starting a trader from nothing.
Now I'm flying around in a little freighter, (think Rhino), I have no money, my entire small fortune sunk into the ship and cargo and I meet a pirate... guess what he demands? 1million credits.
Seriously pirates you need to smarten up. Doing this to new players is obviously just you wanting your lil blue message and the ego boost you so desperately need, cause YOU outsmarted and out gunned him. (lets not even mention that most pirates these days are in GBs)
If you want new players to stay and trade more, wait UNTIL they have a ship that can carry lots of cargo. Asking more then 1kk from a ship that makes maybe 100k at best is just ridiculous.