I've been playing a little bit today and can see 2 things need a serious change. NPCs should not be super aggressive. Its real hard making enough money in the starting sectors when the stupid NPCs grief you. You have enough of this problem with other players in the open sectors without dealing with it from the NPCs while you are still in a bus. And there should be more sector patrols if they are going to engage the NPCs. Sector patrols are outnumbered.
Second, there needs to be a chat interface while you are docked. It only makes sense. Being able to talk while docked so you don't have to worry about getting jumped while talking to someone.

You can talk while you're docked. Press `.

the NPCs really aren't that aggressive, and are very easy to kill. I think having them around encourages new players to learn the basics of fighting; after all, real players are 50x harder to defeat.
if you have any trouble with NPCs, just outrun them, or have someone teach you how to kill them efficiently

"the NPCs really aren't that aggressive"

-Every NPC I know of besides the defbots attack on sight, and will follow you all the way back to the station. How can you be more aggressive than that?

Raymund: there's a little maneuver you should learn called the "barrel roll." It involves simultaneously strafing and rolling. The bots are getting better, but they still have a hard time hitting it.