It seems like the most common thread to the discussion is most similar to the Firefly universe model. The campy spaghetti western was fun and more in line with the “frontier”, in that it was set in recently terraformed rim planets. While the inner worlds more closely resembled classic SF like Expanse, Babylon5, Battlestar Galactica, etc.

The key would be a strong focus on antagonists beyond the type you can attack from orbit. Some of the best SF plots focus on the survival aspect of deep space. Crew vs. Hal, or heck even running some high class NPCs out to hunt space elk. (Have you seen the teeth on those?). A sudden failure of the ship throws the crew into an unknown zone full of mystery…… Higher level social gameplay is supported in the more central industrial worlds. The example of political powers at play in the Expanse was great and easily adapted to