Idea to get more players

[Seris]

I don't like the idea of free players even being able to play in Competitive servers. What's to stop some enterprising players from getting friends to farm planets and then leave, giving that player or others a well established colony? It'd be easier, I think, to just allow them free play in the tutorial server. Once they get the hang of the game (which takes a few hours) they can decide if they want to pony up and join the big leagues.

That's an excellent point. But personally I think that it should be time limited, not skill or tier limited. Time limited lets you have everything, and lets you get the feel of the game and it's entirety--but not for long. However, I do think a free player should be able to continue their game in a competitive server if they sign up? It's an idea.