I like Option B, primarily because it caters to most players' desires. Those players who miss those old systems are free to visit them once again - All they have to do is go a bit out of their way to do so. And once they're there, there's only one exit, which in a way encourages interactivity between other explorers. For players who don't care about the old systems, it isn't hurting anything much to just have them sitting out of the way.
I feel like dead-end systems would also allow players to maybe make a small territorial claim to part of the place via POB. It'd be hell to upkeep such a base, sure, but if someone really wanted to have a base in a nice, quiet back-end system, why not let 'em?
If we truly had to stick with Option A, I would say at the very least allow these old systems to remain in-game, but with no jump connections. This means that the only way to reach them would be via Jump Drives, either Blindly or via Old Coordinates. There have been a lot of cool systems that have been cut over the years, and I'd really love to see them, again. Yes - Even the Gallic systems that were cut, although perhaps squishing their size down and further trimming out planets/solars before re-releasing them might be a good idea.
Option C time: I'd love to see more Kansas -> Unknown -> Pennsylvania system-tunnels. Not-quite dead-ends, but certainly one-way. The Kansas -> Unknown pathway really adds a sense of thrill, suspense and dread to space exploration. Once you take that jump, there's no turning back...
I would also place some high value wrecks in dead-end/tunnel-systems. Like, a secondary ARCHANGEL wreck for example - A code that many people seem to desire these days. This allows a second spot for such a gun to drop, albeit at the risk of having only one way in and out of the system. If you really wanted to ensure fighting over a wreck, you could even place the wreck inside of a small, maze-like minefield to deter someone from instantly F1'ing after looting.
You could even add a few new/unique weapons to Blind-Jump-Only systems. Like, a 10.00 AI-Clone Gun or something? Just tossing out ideas, here.
I miss Omega-15. The wrecked Junker base mystery was always intriguing to me. Dead Ends would be awesome - #GoDiscover!
