Something I noticed starting a new run and trying for a somewhat more humble fleet is that the lowest level bounties are frequently against "trade fleets". Obviously, the targets you're up against in these bounties certainly fit the low payments (30-50k, etc), made up of mostly non-combat ships like the Colossus, Tarsus, maybe a Buffalo and a few Hounds or Cerberus, etc.
What I find a bit odd about these bounties is that despite the targets being classified as pirates, they always seem to be located orbiting a "lawful" colony, marked not as a pirate, or smuggler, but as an independent "trader". So that seemingly easy, low paying, low level bounty mission isn't actually forcing you to take on an underpowered smattering of pirate trade ships, it's forcing you to take on orbiting fleets of whatever planet they're orbiting. In addition to that, they even have a special fast picket style fleet of that colony's faction specifically assigned to them, with the "guarding trader" task applied to them.
This seems a little bizarre for a few reasons.
1. The obvious: If you take on the lowest, cheapest bounty, the idea is that you're on a new run, and you're looking for a mission that is is reasonable for a destroyer and few frigates, a new fleet, etc. Instead, you wind up pitted against relatively powerful orbital defenders, and at the very least, an addition cruiser or destroyer and a few frigates, provided by the "guard" that your target is assigned, which is hardly appropriate to the tiny bounty price.
2. Why are "pirate" trade fleets classified as independents in space? Why are they not only neutral/friendly with factions they are typically hostile with, but even assigned a defender from that faction? It is feasible to say that they're a smuggler more so than a trader, and they're running with false IFF (even though that isn't really an established mechanic in game), therefore allowing them to carry out their trading/smuggling, but again, this is a poor line of reasoning to explain why they would even have an assigned bodyguard from the Hegemony or whatever faction whose planet they're orbiting, as per how the bounty spawns them in.
3. This bit I'm not entirely sure of, but why exactly does this fleet spawn in and seemingly infinitely orbit a planet like this, as opposed to being in a more secluded location that would fit their pirate/smuggler status? Is there any way for these low level trade fleet bounties to spawn elsewhere? Do they leave at some point, sometimes, and allow you a chance to intercept them then? Keep in mind these are 30 day bounties, and I lurked for 25ish days and never saw this happen, so that doesn't seem to be the case, but has anyone seen otherwise?
All in all, it just seems a little wonky for these low level bounties to be set up like this. Obviously there are ways around the difficulty imposed by how they're set up, whether that's managing to lure away defenders, waiting till there are no additional orbiting fleets besides the designated guard fleet, etc, but like I mentioned before, this still is counterproductive to these bounties being aimed at low level, small, new player fleets, befitting their measly credit rewards. I checked three of these missions ranging from 30-50k reward, and all of them were identical in their setup, so I feel like this is just how they are, and they're just sort of useless in every scenario. If you're using a new fleet, they're too difficult, or simply more effort than they're worth, and if you're using a stronger fleet, they're simply pointless.
I do feel like this could be remedied in couple different ways. If they were identified as smugglers, without a "guard" fleet in orbit, the player could simply roll up on them in orbit, knock them out, with lawful fleets indifferent to your actions based on their quasi-lawful status on their IFFs, or something along those lines. Or, you could simply find them somewhere else, perhaps near a jump hole, uncolonized planet, a debris field, etc, perhaps even properly identified as a pirate. Another idea that would make a bit more sense to me would be for them to be trading with unlawful bases. This would involve them orbiting a pirate, pather, etc base initially (which may provide more danger than the bounty is worth, naturally), but then moving off from that base once they're done, allowing you to intercept them alone. They could have a course set for a jump hole, and once they reach it, maybe that's the end of the bounty period.
I don't know, just brainstorming, because I really do think that these bounties are incredibly odd and pointless in their current execution. Any thoughts?