ARE PIRATES DEPLETING?!

[Baltar]

Maybe with the old GMG. We pretty much won't bat an eye at you now.

(As long as you don't pirate our transports, naturally.)

Naturally ... I make it a point not to pirate Zoners, GMG or Smugglers.

No. Pirates aren't dissapearing. Traders are.
Fewer traders, each doing obscure routes alone, means that pirates such as the Corsairs simply can't devote the time going all the way to wherever just to pirate one ship.
The long and short of it is, if there's no traffic, it's not worth a pirate's while. Pirates are around, but they're not pirating as much due to low traffic.

Yup ... too true ... and with a lack of pirates maybe the bounty hunter population will subside. Food chain ... that's what it is ... food chain. But then this is good for role play ... traders find routes that are spread out. This forces us pirates to actually find them and disperse ourselves. Makes more of an interesting hunt.

Only thing i can tell is the massive increase of lawfuls....

And this too is very true. The largest increase is among indies. The members of established lawful factions have vastly improved on their self-control when dealing with others. Even some of the indies (those who've been around a while) have improved here. The problem is all these new guys getting into caps before they figure out what role play is ... and the new guys that just plain do not listen to the orders of the established lawful faction.