1) See the post you quoted.Tusck wrote: How much of a fight would they put up? Would you get full cargo or partial? Would the NPC's remember your previous actions. Like if you demanded a ransom, then blew them up anyway, would word get out, and the next ship would be less likely to given in because they know their dead anyway?
2) that sounds like a game balance question to me and will be worked out during beta together with most balance fine tuning.
3) See the post you quoted.