Decent Pirating

[Archelon]

That all depends on whether the Trader is a speculator plying the trade lanes on a whim, or Allied Trucking hauling goods for someone else. Depends on that trader's RP.

I agree about the human cargo though, definitely something you should be allowed to risk. Then again, if everyone RP'd human cargo as an automatic pay-out to pirates, we'd see every pirate hanging out in Bering, or no traders hauling passengers anymore.

I've still never seen a pirate ask for cargo rather than $$. I've done it several times as a pirate/junker, seems like others might try to RP that way rather than just looking to line their pockets with cash.

But you at least get my point.

I don't expect a 100% guarantee for payment because someone is carrying passengers. The most profitable route is Cambridge / Theta. Interesting the traders don't seem to have trouble with Corsairs and Red Hessians on that route. Probably because they get their rep good with Corsairs and Red Hessians before taking on that route. Especially since Omega 5 and Omega 41 are heavily populated with Corsairs. But the traders never seem to get shot at by these NPCs. What's the RP reason for every trader being friendly with Corsairs. Not to mention some Corsair PCs I've encountered who protect traders in Omega 41.

Now, what I do expect is the traders to be real about this. They've gotta expect pirates to hang out where the most lucrative trade routes are. This is because there's usually more trader activity (more targets) and the traders on these routes can generally pay the demands we ask. I would hope the traders would think more about protecting their cargo as being just as important as protecting their cash. A destroyed trading vessel should be considered worse than paying a pirate. But I hear too many traders say, "I'd rather die than pay a pirate." Come on, like your passengers would agree this. You'd likely have the passengers rioting aboard your ship trying to tell you to give into the pirates demands so they can remain safe.

Morrigan ... once again, don't take one side of this argument. You wanna talk realism here, don't just concentrate on how a pirate pirates. Start getting these traders in line with realism. Stop being one sided.