I was under the impression that although hacking may not be in Alpha it will be a gameplay element later in the future. As someone who tends to have some pirate-y tendencies the ability to steal or otherwise mess with other people's property is intriguing. I am curious how it will all be handled and or balanced because it would be a shame for hacking to be easy enough that if i go to bed my ship will be stolen by morning. I think some sort of interesting dynamic where hacking is harder when the owner is offline (say 1 hr after last log in to avoid people disconnecting for the bonus) could help allow hacking to be a powerful tool that doesn't destroy gameplay for the more casual user. I think that as a dev i would want to encourage hacking as a gameplay mechanic when both parties have the power to do something about it - like if i break into your base and want deeper access while discouraging people from stealing ships while the owner is offline. Finding the balance might be difficult.
As for multiplayer ships, i am looking forward to the implementation of my trading space station, I think a properly managed layer of secure bays for each trading mechanism could be a lot of fun to run. I was imagining some sort of trading bay for the "rougher" types where we arrange for trades by providing a secure trading space with enforcement if trade goes wrong. For the eve players - some sort of operation similar to Chribba's brokering, but for people that are actually likely to backstab you.