I don't at all in fact. The main unifying point of both "features" that I listed is this: making this game look like less of a ghost town than it is. Of course, at this point, that might be a lost cause itself, or worse, make it look like more of a ghost town with it being obvious just how many aren't logged in at any given time.

"[...]give us a free market!"

Perhaps I should utilize a sarcasm warning as well?

Err, nah. Even the guy who thinks using a sarcasm warning makes him a master of sarcasm missed it, why bother?

The research is currently tied to a special commodity, that you have to obtain in order to progress the research. This bottlenecks the research, and that bottleneck is exasperated by private corp markets.

One way to ease the bottleneck would be to make it a time based progression, which requires more available raw materials, like refined products. At least then, if you can't find what you need on a market, you can at least harvest the materials yourself. Still an uphill battle compared to more established players and corps, but at least you don't have to cross train and dilute your EP just to get a hold of some kernels.

1. Island wide chat channels.
2. Eliminate corp only sales posts, give us a free market!