Personally, I think that if we are talking about stone age to bronze age to iron age, then this should be handled as a mod by the server admin, where every once in a while, systems are provided a small addition to their base production to simulate universal technological advancements. (E.g. Every week or so, reactor blocks are increased by 1 e/s, capacitor blocks are increased by 1 e, shield generators are increased by 1 s/s, shield caps are increased by 1 s, per-entity max softcap energy storage is increased by 100 e, etc.)
It sounds unbalanced at first blush (just wait until tech levels reach a good level before starting), but established players will have a greater industrial base, with which they can upgrade rapidly. Meanwhile, new players who joined late will be able to enjoy the new technology age right from their starting day.
