I have been on disco for about six months now, and i'm trading to raise the money to register a faction. Im not interested at all in buying an uber-dread-juggernaut-battlestar-cruiser.
I've been pirated a handful of times, and for me, when a pirate says 'stop or die' from 5k away, I run like hell. If he gets lucky in the asteroid field, and actually gets within CD range, i spam CM's until im away, or im stopped.
At this point, the RP begins.
'damn' or 'This is the captain of the <ship>. Stand down, pilot. We gotta talk to this pirate before continuing'
I will then talk to the pirate, alert to two possibilites:
1. i can talk down the price, alert him to alternative rewards (like the story of the three billygoats - 'oh noes, Mr troll (pirate), u dont want to eat (tax) me, you want to eat my brother (trader), he's much tastier')
2. see if i can trick him and get away again (and try to avoid him in the future)
if i've been stopped, i see no problem with paying, and if i escape again, but he catches me up, i see no problem with him destroying me...
if a pirate asks for 1m, i pay up immediately, no questions asked.
if a pirate RP's better than '2m or die' (seven characters is NOT rp imo), then i'll pay
but if he's trundling along behind me at 5k, whining that i gotta stop... pfft - MAKE me stop, and i'll respect you in the morning.