So my complaint here is that I lack the options and tools necessary to be able to select and budget for the level of safety that suits my needs. My only options, really, are either a $40 non-customizable, non-upgradeable Quad (L), or an $8,000 Privateer. That really sucks. I don't need to go full Privateer but the Quad (L) is too slow for me, what about creating some $500, $2000 and $4000 options to begin with? And what about releasing an upgrade mission for Quads (L), they do last a long time if you are just using them to go between planets and it would be worth it for me to spend a little money to upgrade mine if it means I can get there faster and out-run pirates.
It looks as if there is a gap that wants to be filled, but think of what would really happen. Pirates would be the quickest to upgrade theirs. It would lead to just forcing everybody to spend on doing the same upgrades, and if they were limited in any way, the market would simply adjust and again price it out of reach for the rest. Whatever you do, you'll end up with a level field of opponents, only how high the bar is in absolute terms determines how many players are excluded from ever getting there because they can't or aren't willing to follow along with the requirements. It would end up being seen as a mere money grab.
As it is now, it's indeed relatively inexpensive to acquire the tools needed to cross Space at all. In its own, it is much less competitive than the rest of the game, save for the high-end part of the ship market but that's to do with business, not gameplay. Being a pirate or the opposite is solely depending on your decision, not on your wallet. With the now at least realistic chances to avoid conflict altogether since the spawn point camping is gone, a compromise has been found which should work for the time being, until someone has a better idea what to do with all of it. Some steps towards space content development are made (and I'm happy that it reflects earlier suggestions) but the engine takes precedence now.
Space in Entropia to begin with was a crutch, conceived as artificial abyss between planet economies, and the solutions found by players (massive SI motherships) seemingly ran counter to the developers' initial vision. But here we are and the massive amounts of money sunk into these ships are a burden to eventual further-reaching changes. Entropia didn't start out as a space game and it doesn't seem likely it can ever become a contender to dedicated space sims, especially those whose development funds are by orders of magnitude bigger. It would be unfair to MA to expect or demand that. Who knows, with the new engine there may be potential for surprises but the open questions will remain because they are rooted in the human condition, not technicalities of a game. Therefore we will also repeat this discusson ad infinitum...
