I'm a bit confused on how this is going to benefit RP ...
First, the whole LF bit. How does a scout helping you to avoid an interaction all together promoting RP? So, to solve the silent trader epidemic were going to force you to avoid pirates all together? I see vast metagaming in the future on both sides, even more than now. I used to have fun RPing with pirates, we BOTH had to be vigilant.
Second, it seems that this is because traders used to say "cheaper to just kill me", well my problem with that is I really don't see these guys all of a sudden caring about if they live or not. Maybe if you just took away the 4 hr rule, but also taking away the ban on caps is going to launch all these rather unpleasant traders into rather unpleasant caps.
And one more thing, the worst part of all is for the people who play on the server after hours, meaning when the population is the lowest. Because of my timezone I can usually only play when most of you are not playing, I'd really like someone to find a scout, and 2-3 bombers to tag along with my transport at low population times. All the while the cruiser needs just him ... oh yeah this is really going to help RP!
I won't say this is the end of the world ... err Disco, I will wait and see. But I do predict we see a negative change in gameplay.
