I suppose people could make maps of the place... but there are a few interesting things to keep in mind as far as map "farming"

In a real game the grid is 90,000 sectors with 1500 people. The center portion of the universe will be larger than the current one, and you need to be at least tech level 5 to not be insta-killed. Sure you could take screen shots and piece together a map, there is no mechanic stopping you, in fact with the new screenshot feature you have that ability.

For someone to uncover the whole map you would have to explore it. The map is not kept on the client, and is only updated as something is encountered. Once you leave the game the map is gone. There is no client storage of the map.

If a couple of guys want to take screenshots and piece the map together it's going to take more time that it would to probably explore the stuff yourself. I'm better off telling you some place to avoid, rather than piecing the map together.

Also ever map is different. It's not like this map is the map everyone gets. Every map is a unique map created by "The Big Bang". Each time you play the game the universe and your placement is totally different. I personally don't care if someone wants to make maps and try to flog them in the real world. Sounds like a lot of work.

We have no desire to turn this in to a freemium game, we would really like to move in the direction of a game based on your skill, rather than a game based on who has the most money. What fun would the game be if I could spend a few 100$ and buy my skills up to a planet killer, and then buy ore to churn or 50 PKs in a day, then fly around just destroying people.

Just my 2c on the freemium model and buying your way to victory.