As a trader and pilot of two different 5k transport ships, having been on the wrong end of several encounters with trigger-happy pirates, I say with certainty that escorts make more sense in RP than they do in game terms.
If a trader isn't giving up what a greedy pirate wants, he's going to be the first one shot down. Everytime. You'd have to be a damn terrible pirate to let a 5k transport get away before you get your blue message. I see no reason to pay out of my profits that I made from my own free time, to pay someone to follow me around and at best, get revenge on a bloodthirsty pirate. If I run into an unreasonable pirate, I'm losing all my time and profits to begin with.
Note this applies to the particularly greedy pirate encounters. When I actually get some RP and a decent demand, 500k - 2 mil, I am happy to type out that givecash command and play along for the fun of it. Hell, that right there is what most escorts expect for payment, they don't get to the end of the route and say "Oh well you made a lot more off that ore so I'm gonna need like 18 mil more..." in terms of comparing players, a pirate is no more deserving of a higher pay. Equal pay for equal work, a pirate did nothing but sit there waiting for a meal ticket. An escort does nothing more than fly a routes in a far more agile and defendable ship.
If the ore in question was obtained via the method desired by the mod creators, that is in a team as an organization, then the nice fat check gotten at the end point is already getting divided up upon cashing in. Paying miners, the faction and so on. If you think I'm paying a pirate for half an hours work out of an hour mining, go ahead and blow me up because I'd rather make nothing than let their grubby hands touch it.
In conclusion, I recognize the points you wish to bring up Ivan, and I respectfully disagree with them on account of it being an insufficient solution to a growing problem.
