Does RP even matter?

[Tomtomrawr]

I see it as somewhat of an issue, because to its extreme, you have pirates who make a demand, then shoot before the trader can realistically carry out the demand. Plus, a trader may not have the funds being asked for, and will have to negotiate down - and while you can say "yeah, but he may be lying, and he may have a cap8 barge on another account, blah blah" - thats metagaming, and simply a justification for refusing to negotiate, and shoot regardless.

Lets look at it from another perspective, shall we?

Pirates always say "you have your ship to think about, even if your empty, so you should be paying, no matter the amount..."

Well, a pirate is an outlaw - he has no income, and is a hunted man. Pirates are not rich. the money you recieve goes toward keeping your ship flying just that much longer, keeping you and your crew fed just that much longer, and keeps you out of the reach of the law just that much longer - pirates, by there nature, are destitute - consider your own rp, and ask yourself "should shooting REALLY come so quickly? I need this money - I need anything i can get really..."

So if you demand 5 million because your greedy, trader says he only has two - shooting him and getting nothing makes no damn rp sense whatsoever. especially if your in a bomber.

The pirate doesn't want you to be thinking. He wants to force you to pay as quickly as possible, because every extra second that trader is there it spells extra risk. If you start shooting you're far more likely to get what you asked for quickly if you have a conversation about it. Pirates are aggressive by nature - they're not going to stand for negotiations and diplomacy with traders. Don't have enough money to pay his demand? If it's a fair demand based on the size of your ship, then tough luck. Next time pay the bloodthirsty pirate.

What does the pirate earn by destroying the trader? He improves his reputation. A reputation for being a bad-ass pirate who kills anybody who doesn't give him what he asks for was crucial for one of my indie pirate characters. Crucial because it was exactly what I was trying to achieve.

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[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.

Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.