Congratulations LurchBrick!
I ran across this review of one Gold Box game that failed. The review and the reasons listed for the failure of this game are relevant to this discussion so I thought I'd post a link to it. I think it provides a valuable lesson for all of us FRUA/DC designers with a perfect example of what NOT to do. And the game can be downloaded and played from the same page the review is on. So if you haven't already play the game and see why plot is so important to your game.
Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace