While I'll probably be quoted as an exception, I enjoy trading a lot - mainly cause I get to watch series, movies or do forumlancing while at it - like answering to this thread. Other than that, the interactions I have had while on my Zoner transport outweight many of those I've had on my pirates.
Why? 'cause differently to most traders or miners I meet while pirating, when I'm on the other side of the gun I make it enjoyable to both parties. I don't mind paying as long the player roleplays. Anyone doubting this, hunt The.Lexicon server wide and try me:P. Surprisingly, it's exactly this kind of attitude that seems to have made most pirates I've encountered so far to actually play nice. I can count on my left hand the times I had to pay to leave - and there's still to come the time when my Whale gets blown to pieces.
Taking aside paying, the difference between role playing or not while being on a trader dictates whether or not you're going to lose ten minutes of game time and a few millions. When you're pirating, it doesn't matter much if your ooc or ic - you got close to nothing to lose, you can act like a mean mother huber, and sometimes dying it's even the fastest way to go home.
Side tracking? Not really.
Although interfeering with economic balance and giving some the nice sensation of destroying a station, if not properly done this kind of thing is gonna destroy the triangle. Decent trade route gets cramped, pirates leave, militars leave, system gets abandoned for what, 6 hours? It's too much I think. Besides, I've seen more than once groups of lolwuttery on the server - I can quote several if you wish, including a certain time where three Gallic caps tailed my Chameleon on Edinburgh before noticing I was faster.
All you gotta do to destroy something is jus' keep clicking that mouse button.
Ways to improve this idea, however:
Do it, but in an event like situation. Every friday said players get to explode certain stations and during the following week the results develop. Complicated? I think so too.
After being raided, said station sells their stuff for less but also buys certain stuff for more - like scrap metal, ship hulls, etctera. Complicated? I think so too.
Make so that only official tagged ships can destroy stations, should filter the lolwut bomber squads.
So summarizing: If trading is supposed to be considered annoying and boring, adding a way to trample it further is not going to change things in any positive way.
