I haven't had time to read the entire thread....but let me give my two cents here.
This is Freelancer right?
Go anywhere, do anything, right? That's what it says on the box atleast. We have enough restrictions in place to encourage house shipping, but that does not mean we should really do away with the smaller working class kind of person in FL...meaning those independent traders.
They have their smaller ships. Now, sure you can argue that in real life we have shipping companies. We also have privately owned ferries and freighters.
Joining a corporation is fine, yeah. But you go into an entirely different RP compaired to an independent trader. Corp routes are very limited and not the most exciting....sure that the 'nerf zoners, buff corps' campaign have increased their profits, but really, you know that it's not the same.
Independent traders and Freelancers have an unmatched amount of Freedom when it comes to RP.