Right now mining is pretty predictable in regard to pirates. You'll usually get a pirate group right after dropping into a hotspot (sometimes security). After they do their scans or you evade them, there won't be any threat again until you drop into a new spot or go into SC.
More mining activity should raise the chance of pirates in a system, another thing to go along with depletion and give a reason to move to other systems.
In a busy system having a pirate follow you in to a ring would make sense, but they shouldn't scan you right away, knowing you just got there. They ought to hang out just outside range, so if you aren't alert, they'll sneak up on you. Give you a reason to play cat and mouse before you start operations.
Detonating asteroids ought to eventually get some attention. It'd be nice if such things were also shown by the surface detail scanner, giving a way for pirates, NPC and player, to see where the action is, and plausibility for NPCs to know where to spawn. Another reason to move around and not stay in one place as a miner. It would also justify the very quick interdiction attempts right after you leave a ring, since they'd have tools to know there's mining going on, and be in wait for an exit to sell.
In short...some believability to the mechanics. Right now it's not even a script, it's just IF RING DROP, GOTO PIRATE ROUTINE.
More mining activity should raise the chance of pirates in a system, another thing to go along with depletion and give a reason to move to other systems.
In a busy system having a pirate follow you in to a ring would make sense, but they shouldn't scan you right away, knowing you just got there. They ought to hang out just outside range, so if you aren't alert, they'll sneak up on you. Give you a reason to play cat and mouse before you start operations.
Detonating asteroids ought to eventually get some attention. It'd be nice if such things were also shown by the surface detail scanner, giving a way for pirates, NPC and player, to see where the action is, and plausibility for NPCs to know where to spawn. Another reason to move around and not stay in one place as a miner. It would also justify the very quick interdiction attempts right after you leave a ring, since they'd have tools to know there's mining going on, and be in wait for an exit to sell.
In short...some believability to the mechanics. Right now it's not even a script, it's just IF RING DROP, GOTO PIRATE ROUTINE.