It's their ball - they can take it home any time they like if someone else demands to play with it.
No its not- they play in a shared universe, and at that point in time have a game item someone else wants. In the context of Open, that narrative for both players then plays out- either the pirate gets something, the trader escapes via running or giving in to the demand.
If you break that narrative, then piracy breaks down, and there are no consequences felt for the trader or the pirate.
Apparently not - as menu exit still works.
And if its used to break continuity its detrimental to the game at that point.
Not every interaction in Open is worth partaking in - as not everyone enjoys PvP.
It does not matter, if you don't like interaction then don't place yourself in that position.
If only one party is seeming meaning, narrative and conclusion then they're rather out of luck in this game.
Then I struggle to put it any more clearly- narrative in this case is the chain of events and its outcome. Piracy:
Pirate is destroyed
Pirate runs away empty handed
Pirate gains cargo
Trader is destroyed
Trader runs away untouched
Trader drops cargo and survives
If the trader in an already gated mode pulls the handle when they are about to lose, it breaks meaningful outcomes of that interaction, and the wider game because the structures that build on them cannot exist in a coherent form.
.... or people just need to accept that no-one needs to PvP with them, regardless of game mode.
Thats like saying footballers can't tackle. Thats an absurd thing to say when several parts of the game depend on violent or aggressive interactions, and that for one (Powerplay) that action can lead to an explicit loss or win condition.
There's the thing - something being a possibility does not mean that it is an unavoidable necessity. The game certainly includes the possibility of PvP between players who are up for it - it does not, however, force any player to engage in it or stick arround when someone else engages them.
Which is cheating others then- for honest pirates who see logging all the time, thats not a basis for a fun occupation in the game. We have modes for a reason, people should use them intelligently rather than distorting them.