It's super awesome they can port pieces of the live PU map into mini parts for closed map play like the race tracks - this bodes well for other "game in game" mini-map games like Star Marine (having exterior FPS only maps - imagine capture the flag with Port Olisars ship kiosk rooms) as well as the larger scale combined arms type play like ToW if it ever becomes a thing. I always thought these games would become the risk-free pick-up-and-play game-in-game parts of Star Citizen due to the risk of Permadeath for doing stuff which would be otherwise low-reward for the risk committed to in the PU such as racing and not coming first or arcade combat for fun due to that being what it used to be...
Really, really pleased to see this is getting attention or at least our attention is being bought to the progress which is being made on this section of the game, just feels like it's making the whole thing a bit more of a fleshed out through through product. Yes, you can die permanently in the PU but no, that doesn't mean you can't go have some competitive Pew Pew fun with no consequences like loosing an arm or your life entirely. Imagine if trolls got a suspension from the PU but were still allowed to play in AC or SM where their kind of kill-everything play is actually the intention...? Could it actually push anti-social play away from the 'Verse in to a more productive area? More players in these kinds of short-form match session game mechanics = more fun.
Remember when the VR pod in the hangar was the way to get into AC? I'm currently living on Faint Glen station in the PU and there is an arcade in the bar. Nothing would be more awesome (well, some things might be) than getting out of bed, walking down to the bar and powering up the AC or SM arcade cabinet to get in to the game from the PU. The other cabinets could also have the 8bit games which we've see like Rescue Medics etc. I'm sure that's the end intention but it's just delightful to see progress in that direction too.