You're right. It would be nice idea for single player game but not for MMO.I've always been puzzled when people bring up the realism thing.. Let's face facts here.. realistic space combat would involve flying towards an enemy at 3.1 x 10*8 m/s, you wouldn't be able to see them because of the distances and you'd only have one chance to fire because one assumes turning would involve massive levels of deceleration and maneuvering that could take weeks.. I'll take Elite thanks.
I would love to see elite combat without speed limit... But It would probably too laggy.