There are two factors to be considered here: canon and gameplay. They are of course linked: canon (insofar as there is an agreed-on canon for Oolite) is what enables "gameplay-in-the-head", allowing us to imagine the larger, richer universe around us. However, the gameplay itself is what is ultimately important. When canon and gameplay collide, gameplay has to win every time. When a canon starts to dictate what you can do, no matter how much fun it might be, then it stops being a game and starts becoming a cult.
When people object to things like laser coolers, it's not (I don't think) because such devices are not canon: it's because they will have a negative effect on gameplay, in this case by making it too easy. Witchdrive injectors weren't canon, either, but they enhance gameplay by giving players (and NPCs) more options, with an attached cost – so nobody objects. All the benefits of a laser cooler, though – being able to shoot for longer – could be got simply from learning to play the game better and becoming a better shot.
The current setup, where players can only save in main system stations that are controlled and patrolled by GalCop, has been inherited from the original 32K game, and there are no doubt strong program-architecture reasons for keeping things this way. The problem, from a gameplay point of view, is that this doesn't allow for the best player experience of a criminal lifestyle, as DH has pointed out.
An optimum solution (if we assume that work gets magically done for no cost ...
) would be to alter the program to allow players to save anywhere, or at least in any station. Then all sorts of new stations and in-game lifestyles can crop up.
An acceptable (to me, anyway – not that I'd use it) kludge, though, would be to make certain systems friendly to players with criminal rankings. The obvious candidates for this would be Anarchy systems. I firmly believe that it is possible (especially if we include alien societies) to have peaceful, even idyllic, anarchy worlds: however, we're looking for a quick fix here, not a political thesis
, and the easiest way to bend the canon to fit would be to assume that yes, Anarchy systems
used to be part of the Co-operative, back when it was running relatively smoothly, but now with the Thargoid threat pressing ever harder, things are breaking down. The Co-operative needs its member planets to co-operate. The Anarchy worlds, lacking any form of central government, aren't providing any support to the crews in the station. The Viper pilots and station personnel have not been paid for months, and the other Co-op worlds are refusing to bail them out. Eventually things reach a tipping point and the co-op structure collapses in the Anarchies. It's not that the stations all fall into pirate hands, it's just that Co-op control has ended. There's nobody to fly or even maintain the Vipers, and nobody to check the ships coming in or going out. Maybe it's a sign of things to come for the Co-operative ...
As I say, this is a quick fix which could allow criminal players a more immersive experience. The reason for doing it would be to enhance gameplay. If it does, then it's easy to rewrite the canon a bit, for those that want to play this way.
If the devs can allow saving in any station (or at least a broader class of station, rather than just the main system one) then pirate bases, smugglers' dens, etc. and their associated lifestyle choices all become possible. If not/in the meantime, allowing certain systems to fall out of Co-op control (thus producing non-GalCop main stations that the, um, legally challenged can visit safely) would seem to me to be an acceptable OXP compromise.
