(12-18-2013, 04:34 PM)Thargoid Wrote: My hypothesis is that traders are exaggerating when they say most piracy demands are unreasonable, as an ex-semi-pro poker player, I know that we tend to remember bad encounters more than not-so-bad/good encounters, as bad encounters have more of an emotional impact, but they occur at the same rate regardless, we just think we're experiencing bad-encounters more often because we remember all of the bad, but not as many of the good, because with the good-encounters, we just brushed it off, mostly forgot about it and carried on playing.
I'm in the same boat as you. I spent the last year mining, hauling, trading, finally have the pirate ship set up exactly the way I want it. Now when I log in, most times I'm not trading or mining anymore, but going out to seek player interactions, sometimes as lawful, sometimes as a pirate. Most times the top demand I'll make is 3-4 million, and probably let them talk me down. This is because I take into consideration they may be pirated again after me, or just were before me, and so 10 mil most times you probably won't even find except issued by a newb that doesn't understand how larger amounts of money are made.
Honestly this time last year I never would have fathomed I had it in me to ever pirate someone. But it doesn't feel so bad when you keep the demand low. I'm usually the type, and I think most pirates are, to actually be seeking cash from a pirate encounter, not a blue message. So keeping it reasonable helps that a lot. I have found thats about the average amount I myself have ever been pirated for before I ever did so myself.
Sun Tzu would have probably said "A truely successful pirate wins an encounter without having to fire a shot"
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