@Laura C. hit the nail right on the head, as far as I'm concerned. New things are good. New things are great. Freelancer and its stories grow stagnant if we're all playing the same characters robotically running through the same routines day after day.
However; playing in an established universe - as we all are - comes with limitations. People can get a little riled up about that, but 'limits' ain't a dirty word. Those same constraints; whether they're technological (Freelancer ships can't travel between stars in any reasonable time without a jump point [artificial or man made], for instance), physical (oh no, how will dastardly Pete the smuggler make it through the Rheinland blockade?), or emotional (will poor, battered Jane Hartman ever overcome her injuries and learn to love again?) define a character or faction's struggles, and give their victories (and inevitable defeats) meaning.
Bringing in something new shouldn't let a faction circumvent those boundaries, or lessen them for those it interacts with - or, if it does, it should create more issues (and, of course, be discussed with the affected people beforehand). Removing those boundaries altogether cheapens the experience for everyone, and makes the trials of the characters involved seem meaningless and trite.
By and large, the established setting gives us reasonably concrete walls - constraints and understandings that make it possible for characters to interact on reasonably even footings, or at the very least, a mutual understanding of what's involved (for instance, it's taken as a given [at least in the stories I write] that interplanetary travel without the jump/lane network takes days, at least, and more often weeks and month. It wouldn't be fair to the people roleplaying with me to suddenly up and say 'Oh, by the way, we're here now.' a day after we left. It cheapens their investment and, ultimately, they're just likely to say 'no' and move on.)
In part, making statements like that is a luxury of forum roleplay. I know the people I'm writing with, they know me, and we all discussed and accepted the limits of the setting when we set out. You don't have quite the same luxury in-game, where you can meet anyone at all, so it's best to er on the side of caution.
So, by all means, don't be afraid to introduce new things. But be careful not to step so far out of the setting constraints that other people have to accept changes to the universe in which their character exists to roleplay with you. Because given that option, more often than not, they'll shake their heads and say 'no.'
In any event, I wish you the best of luck with whatever it is you're planning.
