I finally felt the need to post after lurking for longer than I care to remember, this update is just that awesome.
So I'm loving the smuggler/pirate play so far, goal is to systematically bring each pirate base in to control over its system whilst sabotaging the capital planets. Primarily I'm doing this via trading but I've had a small hitch. It's mentioned that it's possible to trade with a station even when inhospitable if your fleet is about 3 frigates big. Well as soon as I hit inhospitable I get the message about patrols breathing down my neck when trying to trade at all hegemony stations (my fleet was just a hound). Kinda put me at a hiccup as I was carrying 60 harvested organs intended for trade with them. Further tested this by doing the same with sindria and the same result.
Is this a bug or did I misread the patch notes? Guess I can work around it by just intercepting trade fleets and dropping the loot at pirate bases but using the new smuggling mechanic to achieve my goals would be far more entertaining.
Which also brings another question, anyone know the relationship caps for various actions? (smuggling, bounty hunting, trading etc)
Edit: So you can still smuggle with inhospitable factions BUT there can be no patrols nearby AND your fleet size needs to be around 3 frigates big or 1 destroyer, haven't tested enough for the exact limit as long as you aren't using high-tech ships it should be fine. Guess I did misread the patch notes lol.