I had the question of whether I could use a cheap free-player ship and be a factor in the game play or was I just fresh meat for the long-time players?

In a recent major battle 17% of the ships free-players will be able to access were in the battle. With something like 60,000 world-wide players participating in the battle, that means over 10,000 ships in the battle could have been free-players. 

A massive military power, the Imperium, was thought to be undefeatable. They had the big high cost ships. But, the little players when invaded banned together their fleet of junkers and defeated the Imperium. Awesome.

The free-player aspect could change the strategy of the game. Those that can draw the allegiance of thousands of new people could build a deadly swam of tiny ‘mosquitos’. There is power in numbers.