^ Honestly the playerbase is waaay too spread out to have regular escorts, this is not 2015 with 200/200 full server anymore.
Now, I'm all for making escorting more viable, but how would you do it?
I think one way, if possible, could be to make NPCs in independent space target 5kers again but run away from other classes. That way you'd be incentivised to form convoys even without pirates online, to have a less annoying run.
Of course profits should also be bumped up slightly for these routes.
And it seems the team is doing a good job making frigates able to fend off pirates. What we lack is a good way to keep a pirate's firepower suppresed as a 5ker. So bring back EMP flaks, that do good energy damage, but make them require some skill with timing to hit the attacker.
That way one could go for a purely defensive loadout that would keep the fight a stalemate until either an escort arrives or more pirates show up.
