And who does that?
That is the point. Seriously. That is the point. Aside from stupidly overengineered shield-tank ships, 12 elite Annies is simply not the goal for a bounty-hunting session. Spawn rates dictate how often it happens, at the very least, and it's not a common occurrence.
But it's not. If I have a 500t-capable ship, it's just as easy as a 5t-capable ship. It's just not more work. Whether or not it should be is perhaps the point of this thread, even though that's not exactly clear.
Sorry, that's just not true. As a case in point, I challenge you to determine exactly how much work each mission in the game should require a priori.
This is the basic problem with the charlatan's initial premise, and with yours too: How does one quantify "work", and how does one prevent players from working out how "work" is defined and then min-maxing it?
Your post is basically petitio principii. It's also the same problem that affects the charlatan's posts.
I don't expect that either of you will be able to provide even a minimally adequate answer. This is not an insult; it's just an observation derived from the available facts.
Obviously the example of the 12 Elite Anacondas was a very specific example, the odds of such a string of enemies appearing is pretty much remote. However, the point is that taking down a single weak ship and returning back to cash in is far less work than fighting through dozens of enemy ships.
If you have a 500 tonne capable ship, then the same work is still done, it just takes less effort. The whole point of industrialisation, economies of scale, automation and mechanisation is to achieve maximum work done for minimum human effort. The work achieved is what matters, not the effort expended to achieve said work.
I see work as being what is actually done, not the effort expended to achieve it. Moving 2000 tonnes of cargo an evening means that the work of "moving 2000 tonnes of cargo" has been done, regardless of the number of trips it takes. To achieve this maximum work for minimal effort should be accessible using non-transparent and intuitive mechanics, rather than hiding this maximum reward behind counterintuitive yet extremely exploitable mechanics. Players should be rewarded for actually playing the game and performing the work-related activities, not for artificially gaming a system by returning to dock after every kill or using a macro to sell cargo a few tonnes at a time while they go off to make themselves a cup of tea.