Let's Talk Fuel

[Barrier]

The main purpose of this mechanic is the rp flavor and immersion, aka something that is tangible in-game that you can play around. I can today buy mox as rwx mentioned and pretend I need it to fly my ship, etc. etc. But that's not very compelling, and hardly anyone will inherently understand what I'm doing unless directly told - they'll just assume I'm hauling mox towards some pob.

You can just RP that in the game right now? I've never described something as an "RP skill issue", but if your own RP is not compelling, that sounds like a you problem in the most genuine way.

There are some very scathing remarks that have, thus far, been held back about the entire idea, including a lot of the nuances mentioned in the original post being lifted/imported from Starsector. This is definitely not as negative as the feedback could have gotten, the people took it easy on you. However, having spoken to the people in question, it seems that this idea was basically completely lifted from Starsector. Don't do that. Just play Starsector instead.

Ironically, I have never played Starsector. I mean I've heard of it, but I have plenty of other sweaty crap I can be playing in single player when I have the time for that. If you and other people don't like the idea, fine - but don't assume I'm somehow trying to force a specific mechanic here. It's more likely that the reason it's similar is like I mentioned at the start, space and fuel go hand in hand.

As for this idea that freelancer is just an arcade game, I just don't see it after running events and generally experiencing disco. I've done multiple conn brawls, which are ideal arcade environments: no rp requirement, just shoot, respawn, focus on the tactics. They were quite unpopular. More generally, why don't people just pew in conn all day every day if arcade shooting was this server's draw? You're a vet who remembers the NOrp server, which hardly had any involvement even when the main server was maxed at 200/200 during most prime hours.

That is why I'm trying to think of more mechanics that actually add to the rp flavor. RP involvement is still what actually draws people are the main ingredient. Sure, there are other things they want to have at the same time, but RP as the baseline is necessary. Otherwise, we'd be back to 2008 clans who sweat to find the ideal loadout and just pew each other with the wide array of ships and weapons disco added. Fuel is just the low-hanging fruit, and like I mentioned, all the tools are in place to implement it. But I'm sure there are plenty of other things to consider - boarding, gravity, storage, investments, insurance, equipment mods, etc. etc. And for each of these, including fuel, there are ways to implement them with a minimal effect on the "arcadiness" of the game.