Pirating is ruining my game experience

[blubba]

For me, there can be excessive pirating. A pirate got miffed because he asked my miner for 400 units of cargo. I only had 600. The number of train CD's he fired trying to stop me probably cost a good proportion of what he wanted. He was upset that I gave him 600 and told him to bugger off.
It wasn't his fault. I understand his position but I had been robbed three or four times in less than an hour in the same field. I hadn't actually left it. It was my first experience of being a miner and I have to say it was bloody awful.
It's NOT FUN when it's that bad.

Rant over, now some advice.

Armour.
Casero is right about armouring your vessel. If you do it right, theres an even chance you'll make it, should you decide to run for it.
Learn the speed dock spots on stations and importantly, how long you can survive against your enemies.
You might be surprised to see how far you can get dodging and firing on autopilot right up to that base where you just learnt where the speed dock is.

Fight them off.
In some mining ships, you have a number of guns. If the pirates a bomber, you might surprise yourself.
Not all of those pirates are that good, although sadly, many are.

Plan your route.
If you have a good idea what your looking for, scan the systems your travelling through. Look for tell tale names like OPG for example. If you had seen that name a few months ago, you'd know to stay away from that system, or prepare to get evasive.
It's not just names your looking for. It's level and timing.
How long have they been there?
If it's a while, it's probably someone you don't want to meet.

Make friends!
If you are mining amongst several other miners, introduce yourself. They don't normally want conversation but you'll get known. If they get attacked, help them if you think you can. Stick together, a small group of miners can give a pirate transport a good hiding. They might even make a gunboat think twice - but that depends on the captains, and the mining ships.

Don't be predictable.
If theres an obstacle you can't get round, change route completely or better yet, just swap ships if you don't fancy the encounter. Pirates watch ships movements to spot a route. Remember that when you keep ploughing up and down the same old trade lanes wondering why you keep getting stopped.
Be aware of jump holes in system or bases that are not on the beaten track that you can get to if you need a quick way out.

Finally try doing all of the things above.
The first thing you should do is sort out your ship until your happy with it. Armour is a definate first purchase but next up should be guns which will take some bruising encounters to get the best out of them (sadly-you'll probably learn the hard way). The rest will come with time.

Remember, if it gets a bit tough in certain areas/certain runs, do something else in game that keeps it fun. Change ship or profession. When it isn't fun, you'll stop playing.
You can always come back to that character later.

---