You lose time which is most precious thing ooRPly in this game. I agree that pirating should be challenging but refusing demands just because you have nothing to lose is poor form. I put CAU8 on my Battle transport to provide a challenge to would-be pirates instead and that is much more exciting than just going "shoot me cuz that's cheaper".
This is an rp server, so you as trader am an tasty treat for a pirate. The bigger the ship the bigger their treat. By refusing rp and simply fleeing you not only lose your ship and cargo, it is an big ship and thus have crew inrp not only you get blasted to pieces there are countless of crew and their families suffering from it.
Yes, but usually I get away in the Serenity. With good armor and shields it's a tough nut to crack. If that makes the pirate "role" more difficult either don't become a pirate or lobby the powers that be to rebalance the mod. I'd give up two turrets in the Serenity for a big bomber gun or bomber torpedoes.
The other method is to equip a hunter ship and turn that pirate's wife into a widow and his children into orphans. That's what I'm doing now. I don't need the bounty hunters' guild to fight my battles for me.
Best advice with most pirates, Don't run, don't get toxic, and don't try and open up and kill them in a train. Most pirates here are pretty reasonable when it comes to demands so usually some patience and some roleplay things can turn out for the better. One tip is if you have an odd number add the end of the cargo hold for example 4,993 for example, grab a few crates of some booze of some sort. IE: Rum, Liberty Ale, Vodka or whatever liquor you happen to find. With some good RP and an offer of some good rum most pirates can be pretty cool to roleplay with. Demands are supposed to be reasonable too, so if you get one of those "20 mil or die" pirates screenshot it, screenshot what you have in your hold. If the demand is way out of proportion to what you are hauling then you can file a report. No special guns are needed for disrupting lanes at all. On my serenity i have a pulse cannon on the back which is useful for helping drop shields in a fight, and also is great for shooting out a lane behind you if being chased when you need that extra distance between you and them. But bottom line most people here are good players looking for a good RP interaction so try and make it enjoyable when encountering one and relax and enjoy some interaction. Many vets are so used to newbies silently trying to run from them, so it is pretty common for most to shoot out a lane and keep it down. It's shocking to see someone who actually roleplays back being pirated so most of us are pretty reasonable and cool when we find someone who doesn't just try and run.
I'm happy to roleplay and pay a nominal tithe to a good natured pirate, but when they want millions I have to weigh my chances to escape. I'm happy to talk before I try it, but I get away most of the time in my Serenity. I'll take your advice on the pulse cannon too.
Sold my train. The extra cargo space wasn't worth it. I need another Serenity and a good gunship, like the ones the pirates have.