I don´t believe there will be too much bounty hunting or pirating going on, except for pirates.. pirating each other maybe. The hunters will be in the Allgroup and the prey will hide in private groups, so I might as well go solo and play "classic single player mode", since co-op is not that attractive to me.
It remains to be seen how much bounty hunting, pirating there will be and how many people will be in the All Players group versus how many "hide" in private groups but I personally think your negativity will be proved wrong in all three respects.
As you are going to play the classic single player mode anyway, why complain about the multi-player aspect?
Out of interest will you be playing offline too, or will you be playing single player online (connecting to the evolving persistent universe)?
Elite is a game about a single pilot vs the universe. It is a game that you can play with other players but it is not an MMO. It is not about PvP, it just so happens that you can meet and fight others if you wish. It matters not if the game is easier for some and not for others since the game is not about competing with other people. That's what I understand is the vision anyway.
&@Cathy
I understand and appreciate the points you are trying to make but I disagree

. This is just my take so far.....
1, EliteD can be about a single pilot vs the universe but it can also be about single pilots against each other, groups of pilots against each other or (if the current DDF topics are anything to go by), single pilots and groups of pilots against the universe (PvE).
2, EliteD is (in my humble opinion) an MMO but maybe not in the sense that we have seen before. There are still 1000's of players in a single online universe regardless of the networking methods and technology. I feel strongly about this purely because I think it belittles FD's vision for the game and ED itself. It is better to see this as a type of MMO rather than not MMO at all.
3, EliteD is about PvP if you want it to be. It is also not about PvP if you don't want it to be. You have a choice.
4, EliteD isn't necessarily about competing with other people but it will be for some (a minority if the poll is anything to go by).