While I am pretty certain that noone wants to see Gunboat-Tech on my transports, I suggest the following for trading-factions:
Pitstops or Docking-Depots.
Corporations would be able to install dockable depots along dangerous lanes. I imagine them like the borderstations but on a more exclusive basis:
Small, maintained by robots and only accessable if you can identify yourself by showing a faction ID. There might even be NPC-escorts that escort your ship to the next Corporational Depot if you have the proper ID.
Now this would probably not increase traders working together but would drive more traders into trading-factions and thus encourage people to travel along certain routes.
At the moment we have the situation that many traders travel individually along the same route although there would be some safety in numbers. If they would make even 3-ship convoys it would take quite a large group of pirates to endanger the convoy.
But our Disco-traders do not work that way. You can't force them to cooperate with each other. Most traders see trading only a stepping-stone to something they consider to be more exciting.
You can already have a great bonus of picking up a new player and teach him how to scout the lanes towards your remote destination for the better of the both. I do this whenever I have the time.
Last but not least I don't make any non- military sense of multiplying a ship's defensive capabilities by escorts since a trader momentarily has no need at all to get stopped by pirates by simply detouring them.
Yesterday someone asked me if I ever get pirated and the correct answer should have been: I never see any pirates on my travels from closer than 10k if I don't provoke it. Instead I have to get my battle-training in Connecticut, which is why you will meet me there with transports frequently to be fit for a trader's worst-case-scenario.
' Wrote:for those who missed it: the moral of it all is ----> traders with teeth are fun for pirates. - within reason.
