I think they could limit the player restriction on a ship quite simply by not allowing jump/takeoff without folks sitting in a "designated" seat. While in flight - folks could move around, but w/o butts in seats - wouldn't be able to get very far.

And yup... I picked one up. I was going to get the Retaliator originally when it came out, but opted for the Orion instead at the time. I need to be able to buy missiles for my other ships right?

I picked up all the modules accept the Torpedo Modules - as they were not LTI, figured I would just buy them in-game instead.

So now my hanger looks like:
----------------------------
Aegis Avenger
Aegis Vanguard
Anvil F7C-M Super Hornet (+ Skin for Veterans only)
Anvil Gladiator Bomber
Aegis Retaliator (+ modules)
Banu Merchantman
Misc Freelancer
2x Reliant
RSI Orion

Taxman

"Any group is weaker than a man alone unless they are perfectly trained to work together."
- Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers