I don't like highways. In my opinion, that new highway shouldn't be build. Because I find highways are not natural for the human race and think people should rather walk. Yet, other people want and some may even need that highway.
There's an ever so subtle difference between trying to argue that the new highway should not be build, because I personally think people should just walk and acknowledging that others might really want and/or need that highway and let them have it, while avoiding it myself.
Yes, I'm very much trying to impose something on people. To think a tad further than the tip of their own nose!
I feel your view is too limited. It is much more complicated than you think.
There is a big difference between high ways in the real world and certain mechanics in a game.
The real world is infinitely more varied and has infinitely more possibilities and options than a game and even in the real world we see the same type of conflicts about certain topics as we see in the game.
People feel that to a certain extent they can shape the Elite universe and avoid what they perceive to be dangerous mechanics that will negatively influence the Elite universe. In general the real world is accepted as is and it's diversity is mostly unstoppable.
People have very strong views about the character of this game.
Guilds for example is a hot topic for many different reason I won't elaborate on, but some people feel having such mechanics would poison the Elite universe like it poisons other games they compare Elite too. I can certainly understand those views.
Personally I am fine with guilds in the game, but I would never get involved with anything like that.
I distrust group mechanics in the real world and very often consider them poisonous. I want nothing to do with them.
In games this is even much worse, because of the fact that in games, and the online world in general things escalate much easier.
The only reason I do not mind guilds/clans or whatever in ED is that I do not mind if I would have to retreat to solo forever to avoid them.
It would be even better if FD would eventually give us an off-line version of the game so I would never have to deal with other people in
my elite game universe ever again.
You also mention instant ship transfer and think you see inconsistencies with the acceptance of stuff like the re-buy mechanism and pilot transfer.
It simply comes down to this: people have different degrees of acceptance for different mechanics.
I like the re-buy system, but at the same time I would like a ship transfer delay.
There is no inconsistency there. These are different mechanisms designed to do different things.
For the same reason I am for the current reasonable re-buy system I am also for a reasonable time delay in the ship delivery mechanic.
For me it increases the quality of the game as I perceive it.
But this is always a personal thing.
FD has the difficult task to navigate all these different tastes and demands.