I guess because those are the profitable nearby routes - that's why I go there - RA to Gliese 868 - when I want to top up the creds.
But there are plenty of other routes out there, far away from CGs and the old worlds anyway, so no one really needs to flee into solo or private groups either. IMHO.
It just always looks silly to me when pirates talk about cowardice, challenge etc. when for the most part they completely have the upper hand. Yes it makes sense for a "pirate" to seek a weaker target - just don't pretend it's challenging.
Depends what we are talking about. Actual
piracy (i.e. getting a trader to drop an appreciable amount of cargo, without ship destruction) seems to be the hardest profession and completely stacked against the pirates, given ether the trader is going to be able to boost away, or is going to be vaporized by a wing, with nothing in-between. If course the issue is compounded currently by the lack of penalty borne for PC or NPC ship destruction, and the general lack of reliable mechanisms to track ships through systems to promote bounty hunting due to the whole instancing thing.
.
However, the game seems far more stacked towards the solo trader overall, given the amount of money made by trading outside of CGs or the old worlds, and the Python and Anaconda being trade-gunboat-cruisers, rather than actual trade ships requiring escorts. Worrying about one or two areas where a guild might have dominance is fairly pointless. So what if Code or whoever can muster forces in Lave or Diso? 'Tis a big universe out there. The fact that people are in this thread saying 'I've got an Anaconda in solo', but (with the implication as you say) that they can then bring it into open to make the pirates powerless' is also one of the strongest arguments I've seen that the game is unbalanced more by the ability to swap between solo and open, than by the existence of 'pirates'.
.
A lot of these issues I lay at Frontier's door, for the still clunky comms system, by seemingly releasing ships piecemeal as and when they get completed, rather than considering in-game implications, by not having protection for traders in the form of AI wings at the same time as player wings were introduced, and by not having the crime system fully in-place etc. etc. But we're getting there... slowly.
.
I agree that talking about 'cowardice' or 'challenge' in a one-sided fight is pretty pointless though.
