Ok, this might very well have been suggested before (this is how I usually begin my threads...). But its a simple idea. The EC-89 would only be free at certain stations, like each nation's capital, and possibly at Odia Prime (in the case that you became KOS with your own nation). If you are ever stuck at a station with not enough money to buy the EC-89, you would be transported back to your nation's capital. The tutorial would inform new players of this fact.

It could end there... ooooor perhaps if that ever happened to you, you would be forced to take a unique (but fairly easy) mission to pay back the debt of borrowing that nation's "free" EC-98... like collecting some scrap metal or something.

Or maybe that is just too much trouble to be worth it...? Right now, it probably wouldn't make too much of a difference, but if I understand things corrrectly, ships will be a bit more expensive and a little harder to get a hold of in the near future than they are now.

I had the same idea a while back

http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/10501

In the end I think this may be a little too hard on the newbies, but then again who knows... I've also heard suggestions from some players for harsher death penalties.

On some other MMORPG, there was something similar, when you died at or below a certain level you lost nothing, but after you get to a certain level you start losing xp and coinage (an increasing percentage, and never enough to make you lose a level), I propose a similar penalty system here. If you're combined total levels are greater than 6 (3/2/1/1 = 7, 2,2,2,2 = 8, etc) then the ship costs money (IF you have money, if not, it takes whatever you have left, so even if you are flat zero broke, you can still buy it, but if you can afford it, you must pay)

When you get killed by a bounty hunter, you loose 10% of your current level.

Believe me, this is a harsh-enough penalty.

I wouldn't want to loose any XP because I died to a simple combat. I die a lot.

Please Please Please don't turn this into just another MMORPG. Part of the fun of this game is in fact the frequency of death, it's ease, and the fact that it doesn't take very long to recover.

Personally I think just having the equipment drops, and loosing items you can't buy, is more than enough of a penalty.

This game is supposed to be about the fun, not about working. I do not want to see this game turn into just another level grind. Being able to take a chance, or not really loosing that much if a fight goes bad, makes this game fun.

Anyone who thinks a game should "punish" failure or bad luck, just isn't in the right spirit in my opinion.