This is to take care of the problem of having to continuously add to the research tree as the original players get higher and higher level. A lot of people (including me at only level 59) wonder how they would have played some other race/profession or even if it would have made any difference using another strategy. How about at some extremely high level down the road, they get the option to get a second ship (starting at level 1)? This second ship acts just like a second account; if it's impossible to do in the existing format, then a second account (with separate password) could be set for it (without needing a second FB account).