Pirate RP?

[sovereign]

Pirates doing business outside lawful bases is fine by me, so long as they're getting shot at by them. If my little tradeship undocks from a base and finds someone trying to liberate my wallet, I will usually make mention to what might happen if he tries to fight me for it next to a heavily armed and patrolled battle station. Transports lose pitched battles out in the open, no doubt, but... this is paved ground, if a pirate wants to try his luck here he is welcome to it. Failing that, I always have the ability to turn right around and dock before I explode (unless there's a squadron of them) or employ general pirate evasion tactics with the added bonus of station firepower and NPC clusters.

As for jumpgates, they're better defended than tradelanes but otherwise fall into a similar category as bases. The pirate has the advantage of surprise, but it comes at the price of increased enemy defenses. The price is a lot lower at jumpgates, but they aren't supposed to be the best defended things in the world (usually- for exceptions, go no farther than Bretonia). For the most part they are just another part of the trade routes.



The above assumes that pirates are properly repped, and that if they aren't (or have different circumstances a la Hogosha) have flung ordinance into nearby people with intention to get them to defend their prey. Failure to do so is a rule violation and should be treated as such. But if they cover that, let 'em pirate near bases/lanes/gates/carnivals. It's their right to get themselves killed.

Oh, and in case a sizable chunk of pirates have gathered outside a base, just turn around, dock, call the local navy or police, and wait. Pirates should feel just as disenfranchised by those tactics as the traders should about pirates being there in the first place- i.e., don't complain, just deal with it.

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