Well, in my personal traders opinion, If you want me to hear your RP and play along with you, the very least you need to do is CD me. If you have genuine RP I've got the time to listen then, but a traders first instinct should in most cases be evasion, not confrontation. I'm quite happy to RP back with a pirate, but these days all I seem to hear is the gold old variations of '2 mil or die', and then vaporisation before you've finished your RP response! Partly my fault, I should type "Hang on" first more often I guess, but I still rarely encounter any of what I think of as the gentlemen pirates, those who are playing a character rather than out purely as a random callsign out to get cash or kills and they aren't fussed which (although obiously it's more realistic to have SOME like that!).
In a cornered situation I'll pay, escape pods aren't guranteed life savers, and it seems bad RP to assume they are (despite the evidence!). But I really dislike the assumption that Traders should stop if they think they have a chance of escaping. By all means, increase the price you had in mind a little bit for the 'inconvenience' of stopping me long enough to hear that you have RP more than just a demand, but don't assume because I'm trying to run I'm going to say 'I'd rather die!'. Hector would rather HAVE a future to enjoy the money he's making, and he's not going to risk death when he clearly can't escape! But up till then, he WILL try!