I'm not liking much of what I'm seeing here. Egosoft is using ideas that have proved successful in other space games, but in doing so are cutting out what made the X series different. What's the point of getting a game which is just like every other? There are plenty of games where I can fly around space in my one ship, upgrading it with different parts, but very few where I can manage an entire space empire. That to me is the point of playing X games.
I also don't see how they expect to cut things that were crucial to previous games with a reason that makes sense to the universe. E.g if the X universe were real, why would anyone stop using SETA, regardless of whether or not there are shipping lanes? It would still be ridiculously useful.
It seems to me that with the loss of SETA, and the constriction to just one ship that's not a cap, this is Egosoft trying to nudge the series towards a conventional multiplayer. Many people have asked for multiplayer to be part of the X games, but I don't think that this kind of implementation that they wanted. I predict this will lead to a lot of long time X gamers, the fan base the series really relies on, being dissatisfied in the end. I could be wrong, and Rebirth could succeed, but imho it's more likely to be a flop with Egosoft taking a big hit from the community.
ಠ_ರೃ My monocle and I disapprove ♋