Yes it can.
“As you progress through Freelancer, more areas of the Safehouse can be unlocked and new customisation options will become available”
Based on this i assume there will be mastery levels tied to the mode. So theres a decent chance you start in a very small section of the hideout, where you cant customize anything.
Then for example at mastery level 2 you unlock X room, and then you can go decorate that one.
I reckon we’d either start wity no money and build up our arsenal and safegouse from complete scratch OR we gett some low amount of money to entice the player to play on and enjoy customising their safehouse or to but some equipment to start off our assassination killings.
Then that’s option 2: we start out not being able to buy any furnishings for the safehouse. Maybe the money earned during gameplay isn’t used for the safehouse; maybe it’s solely for in-game usable items and weapons, but still, whether it be actual money or points or mastery levels, we either start off with some and able to do some customization, or we start off with none and no customizing until you start playing and earning whatever capital is needed to furnish.
But not due to a lack of money. So again neither as per your initial question
“Money” hereby meaning whatever is used to acquire the items for customization, which I clarified in my preceding post. Lacking the mastery rank needed is the equivalent of lacking the money in the context of customizing the safehouse; you have to work to earn it and use it to obtain the desired items.
Your initial question gave the following options:
A: You begin with a starting amount and can decorate straight away
B: He’s broke and needs to work to pay for furnishing it
Where as it could potentially be
C: You begin with a starting amount (so not broke, ergo not B) that you can use to prepare for your very first mission (weapons,items), but you have to gain mastery to unlock sections beyond the mission hub that you can decorate (so cant decorate straight away, ergo not A).
Not quite what I was getting at, but close enough that I don’t think I’ll argue it.
Omg a time when Heisenberg isn’t arguing with someone else on the internet. The ends of days has come 
Hey, there’s plenty of times I don’t argue! See, look at you and me, right now, not arguing!
Totally arguing
Totally arguing. 
Thats why i like you as a member of this Forum, enjoy your blue meth
Yes it is. The Almighty duck has spoken
Given the original target date of Spring 2022, I assume that IO would have spread out the contracts in Freelancer across the roadmaps to give us new content in amongst the ETs, FCs and Arcade batches. Given that it’s launching significantly later than that (though, ironically, in Spring 2022 - just in the southern hemisphere), do people think IO will just dump everything into it in one go at launch or spread them out over the final roadmaps of the year?
No idea, could go either way. I hope that it’s all at once.
With the extended development time: they might release with all locations or have them ready and made, but release over time. I feel like a 3rd year of content might be milking the game too much unless they make new ETs and free escalations, so we’ll see.
Personally I hope it’s the former and they release with all. With what was just discussed about having it a main hub for the entire game would be great to see, I can already see a mod that brings back the old main menu haha! Or possibly a mod that consolidates everything into the safehouse.
I would rather not be forced to load into a location any time I want to play the game.
Yeah I get this. They also wouldn’t scrap the entire menu system. If I was IOI and was going ahead with placing everything in the safehouse. I would have both a “load preference” so either when you press enter it loads you into the safehouse or normal menus or if you’re in normal menus have a button (kind of like the VR button) on the home page to take you to the safehouse.
But knowing IOI, if they did do it, it wouldn’t have a setting. They’re not very good with them.
From the trailer it sounds like Freelancer is across all WoA-maps from the get go and that the contracts are RNG.
I’m hopeful we will get a new trailer with the release date during Sony’s next PS Showcase
There probably will be. Something this high-profile isn’t likely for IOI to just toss in our laps like a game of hot potato. Aside from the roadmap announcement, there will likely be some kind of gameplay trailer.