To address points made:
Die Hard, in scope this system is no more complex than GW4, actually, it could be seen as "simpler", as I'm basically going to lump all CP and BP ships into one purchase system, using the same pool to buy all fancy ships.
The complexity comes into play with the "casual vs nutter" rules, and even then, something can be worked out.
As I think about this, I come up with more and more ideas. For example, in an effort to reduce RM workload, I'm contemplating a system where the entire "purchase" system moves out of RM control, and into a "requisition" system. For my server, I might start a series of threads, one for each race. I'd start the thread with the BPs available, the BPs the "nutters" can have, and the current rank that is considered casual.
If someone wants a ship, they can go in, and post "Player bought Ship for X BP, Y BP balance remaining". Then it's a trip to the shipyard in-game, and off to the races they go.
RMs are reduced from tracking down players to give ships etc. to resolving disputes if there are no more BP left.
On build cycle day, I'd check the webmap roster to see if the rank restriction goes up, how many BP are still floating around in ships, and update the availabilities with the new information.
Of course, this could be all rendered moot with a SQL system, but that could take a while...
On the subject of ship restrictions:
Why is it that as soon as someone new says OOB, everyone suddenly thinks that everything's going south?
My firm belief, and nobody's going to talk me out of this...
Every ship that has been flamed on the D2, except for the I-CCZ, and even the I-CCZ if you account for I-torp issues, has been restricted in SFB by any number of rules (shock, limited builds, conjectural, commando, bombardment, escort, carrier, etc.), that are not appropriately accounted for in SFC. I am working on something that changes this small fact. I was on the DIP, with their new class system / adjusted BPVs etc., and I unfortunately have to call that system a near-failure as there has been no follow-up since LB5.
Here is another attempt by me to remedy that issue.
This setup isn't an attempt to make D2 = F&E with it's 3 F-BCFs etc. It's just an attempt to make the fancier, more powerful ships less common, and have more line ship participation. That's why I'm "charging" a BP surcharge to these fancy ships. Something possibly complicated in structure, hopefully easy to use in game, and probably something phased out with the release of SQL.
Finally, something else tells me that I might have a rule or 2 that might make the restriction list a lot thinner. Probably something that lets people fly maulers, commando-boats, and escorts under a different (Sethan-like) set of restrictions...