This is why it would be great if you could do the following:

Buy/construct a base/station and then run your own trade post/bandit outpost from there, but the station would carry all the running costs also (defenses, maintenance etc). This would be very expensive to do and maintain, but then you could charge people to use it as thier base of operations or take a cut from all trade going through it.

What about creating your own faction which would result in a dynamic, player influenced faction with its own reputation. Maybe this faction would grow strong enough to control a system.

Etc etc the ideas are limited only by your imagination. But then all of this takes money, time and the enthusiasm of the developers/producers to implement 'cause it means a truly massively online multiplayer universe which needs servers and developer support (to create and maintain this system and stop the cheating that inevitably occurs) to create it.

Imagine this game been like Everquest, but Freelancer sytle....I guess dreamers can dream but I'd certainly be willing to pay a monthly fee/subscription to play in a ongoing, ever changing Freelancer universe.

BTW, why are there no automated turrets in Freelancer that you could mount on a ship ? You'd think in the day and age of technology like this they'd have created an automated ship defense system...

Also, why none of the folowing types of missions:

1) Cargo transit mission, get paid by a merchant faction to move cargo from A to B
2) Escort missions, why not get paid by merchants to escort some of their freighters from A to B

Man I could come up with ideas all day to improve the game.

This is not to say I dont like it, in fact I love the game, but it just seems a little short sighted in a few places...