As a sysop, you do have options now.

General editor H, option ";" - Photons Disable Players - Yes/No

Another option I really like is having the ability to delay the photon wave. Delay settings Option Z, Photon Blast 6 - Set it to none, Default on is 1 sec. or you can set it from 2 - 5000 ms.

What this does is gives the player time to react. You get the message that a photon has been fired into your sector and if you have a delay that give you time to get out of the way, if you're fast enough typing.

And with the delay on, photons will still take turns if you are carrying one and hit mines, nav haz or cannon blasts.

.... Maybe just avoiding others figs while that corp is on...that seems like the most logical way to defend against photons...

There are those who would say your best defense is to remain in fedspace.
But your best defense against photons is "MORE SPEED CAPTAIN!"

As a sysop, you do have options now.

General editor H, option ";" - Photons Disable Players - Yes/No

Another option I really like is having the ability to delay the photon wave. Delay settings Option Z, Photon Blast 6 - Set it to none, Default on is 1 sec. or you can set it from 2 - 5000 ms.

What this does is gives the player time to react. You get the message that a photon has been fired into your sector and if you have a delay that give you time to get out of the way, if you're fast enough typing.

And with the delay on, photons will still take turns if you are carrying one and hit mines, nav haz or cannon blasts.

Are you talking about Photons as used in player hunting, or as used in attacking your base?

You could also just turn photons off, make all ships carry 0 figs and 0 mines, but max shields to protect against nav haz.

I think Micro was talking about after getting hit. If the ships are equal then you are about to be podded or SD. All you can do is make it cost as much as possible to take you out. You might get lucky with a flood attack against some players.

I'm talking about player hunting. From the other responses here, it seems the only defense against them is a good offence. Surround your cashing area with figs and mines, and don't attack enemy figs or do anything else your opponent can use to track your location. Unfortunately, if I trade at a port they can track me, and they can easily dismantle any defenses. I don’t have the resources to setup proper defenses, and I can’t cash with them monitoring the game 24/7. I guess I will just play hide and seek :/

Make the ships attack with smaller waves, with the newest version you could manually get away since the attack wave is slower than in previous versions.

They can't track ports that have your fig under it. That is one reason a grid is important. If you have a ship that has ptorp capability, then setup a trap for them if they are charging into sectors where you are trading. Total resources don't necessarily win the game.

I don't understand. I can't "get away" if I have no turns and can't move.

You might get lucky with a flood attack against some players.