Besides, aren't there NPC pirates? I don't even haul cargo and I've been ripped from SC and scanned countless times. So really, the player pirate is no different from an NPC. It's an online game, confrontation WILL happen. Stick to solo mode if it's so offensive, but this huge mis-balance of players is awful! Like I said, I may go pirate now, instead of Bounty Hunt now that I know exactly how many players have chosen the same path as me.
This is exactly my feeling. THERE ARE NPC PIRATES! EVEN IN SOLO!
Now supposedly, the Elite 'verse is this ongoing dynamic. SO even if there were ZERO players, there would STILL be piracy. NPC pirates would prey on the NPC traders. In SOLO there are still NPC pirates who will interdict you!
Some NPC interdictions I've experienced don't even scan! "OMG, that's so griefing/ganking/pvp"!
I thought the reason people play people is for the challenge. Yes I know Big Blue beat Kasparov, but honestly, since when has an AI been as downright sneaky or innovative as human players???
You can't avoid piracy attempts by going solo. And intervention is a joke due to easy evasion. Most trader posts are about how much they can carry because they don't bother with shields or weapons...
Sounds like the pirates need some catchup or something. ALSO Sounds like the traders need a challenge. C'mon, you have to admit, you came to play a game because you wanted risk/adventure! Which means you need a chance/probability of loss!
Otherwise, as I keep saying in my Star Trek metaphors, you might as well just press a button labelled "GET RICH!!!" to "make it so!"
The balance comes in making the risk bigger for the bigger gain. But if you don't ever lose where is the risk?
It's up to Frontier Development to decide if they are making Elite Dangerous or Elite Nanny, but all you traders asking for less piracy are really weighing in on the Elite Nanny side.
FYI Whilst I read about lots of traders scrapping weapons and eschewing power management for shield cells so they can trade more, I don't read so much about PVP piracy or ganking (where a player legitimately kills another player without cheating or anything other than either a bigger ship or more skill). Don't forget, there's a L O T of populated space out there that doesn't have human players! Obviously humans players are drawn to the central stars of the Empire/Federation and there should be more opportunities for trade profit AND risk. So if you don't fancy the risk either play solo (still NPC pirates out there- which I personally believe should be ramped up to mirror human skill level distributions) or go to the M A N Y places without players!