I'll have to admit, when they run it is fun. Quite fun, in fact. I remember not too long ago when some guy in a transport had a hefty 20m bounty on his head so I tried to take him on in my Sabre. I had to ring up two buddies just so we could corner him, and even then we chased him around Bretonia/Liberty for half a bloody hour.
Good fun indeed.
It's a pitty that I don't see smart pirates/escorts around anymore. Now it's more of a "Meh, escorts are unbalanced, might as well not bother and let the guy pirate me" or when the tide changes "Meh, bombers are so unbalanced I can't even pirate a measly Albatross. Might as well not bother and go trade instead.". Now, either things are so bloody unbalanced that the not bothering is actually justified or people are getting lazier by the day. I think I'll choose the second one.
Basically:
Traders: Learn to run, plan ahead, get some decent scouts/escorts, pay them well.
Escorts: Learn to escort. Scout ahead. Scout behind. Scout under your knickers. Anything that takes to get the job done.
Pirates: Get some buddies. Plan ahead. Cover all possible escape routes.
