Sentinel: A plot-defense against pirates

[Blitzen]

In keeping with the realism, you should have to bride the pirates (without lapse) or face a chance that they will come calling.   

[Karawane]

Also I would like to see the Pirates also steel food, smithore, and energy randomly, so this would also make energy and food play more then just in shortages. The change to the code would be minimal and should be easy to accommodate.

Aren't the "fire in store", "planetquake" and marginally "pest attack" and "acid rain storm" addressing just this issue?

[veridia]

A plot defense against pirates is a bad idea. Pirates barely balance out the risk/reward paradigm of choosing crystite over smithore.
Crystite is overpowered, more so with 4 high crystites... but even in the original it was. I'm actually in favor of increasing the amount of turns pirates can show up from 2 turns to 3, and also in making the number of high crystites random from 2-4... That way there is variability in the amount of crystite that would make the game more interesting.

If you do a CVP analysis of smithore vs. crystite you will know this.