Just posting this as an idea--I don't think I've seen any topics like this here, but of course I could be wrong, so sorry if I am.

It would be interesting (and I believe possible) to see something like armor upgrades in Freelancer, since you cannot improve the armor on your ship unless you buy a completely different vessel.

Armor upgrades could be sold at equipment dealers (obviously), and would have different levels of quality, as well as requirements and expense. For instance, as a basic example:

Standard Armor Upgrade
Increases armor by 250 points
Requires level 8
Price: $5,000

Deluxe Armor Upgrade
Increases armor by 500 points
Requires level 14
Price: $11,000

And so on and so forth. I'm not sure how it would really be balanced, prices and levels would probably be quite different. Nor am I begging to see someone make a mod of this. All I'm doing is throwing out an idea!

Along the same lines, shield upgrades could be cool too, but should be limited to improving the inherant shield recharge rate, rather than the shield's ability to absorb damage.

--Agent Mchale