[2021] Icarus seems to be hamstrung by its F2P structure

So it wasn't until I read an article that mentioned Icarus was originally going to be free to play that it finally made sense to me.

• The weird timer and session system- probably a paid premium time or something, because I see no logical reason for it. But F2P is all about timers. It's possible it used to be much shorter, which may explain why completed missions simply sit there without any feedback.

• Half-assed server system- why is there even an online server mode when we host our own games anyway? What's the purpose or value add over simply playing offline? Clearly something was removed here.

• Dual currency, exotics, shop/"workshop" - these are obvious staples of F2P.

• Prospects/outposts- why is there a limit? What's the point of having both prospects and outposts when they are identical?

There's probably other stuff I'm missing, but I think all the "unique" gameplay or plain jank we're seeing is due to it being a F2P game converted into a normal game.