No. We didn't play Freespace because of the universe, we played it because it delivered the ultimate space sim experience available. Yeah the story rocked, but it was emergent with the gameplay
Immersive, rich, gameplay is one thing the Battlecruisers have never gotten down. They're too focused on creating an expansive system.
All the best space sims ever made have been all about details important to a single player experience... Something Smart titles have not had scope for