What if everyone actually paid the pirates?

[Hielor]

There's no damn limit to how much you ask. It's all based on your character and whatever you're pirating. For example, I've had many pirate characters, some asked for a donut or something, some asked for your cargo and some credits, one of them for most of your cargo. Then I had this total jerk who'd rob you 3 times in 2-3 different systems.

Actually, fun fact.

There is precedent for admins to sanction people for demanding too much.
http://discoverygc.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=55699 :

19 million is an unreasonable demand for a pirate, and so is the rest of your behaviour.

Unfortunately, 20million seems to be fine nowadays.

http://discoverygc.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=48002 :

60 million credits.

60 million.

That's not piracy. Thats bizzaro terrorism. You're banned until you explain to me exactly why it is that you felt demanding 60 million credits from someone and then blowing them up was in any way something that was an exceptionally fair minded thing to do.

Of course, I wasn't able to find anyone getting sanctioned for demanding too much anytime recently, but there is definitely precedent.