Pretty sure it was still four weeks when you posted this a year ago. Then again, perhaps they did change it… I really can’t say for sure. At any rate, I’m sorry you had a bad experience with the beacon system.
I’ll avoid going over the how’s and why’s of the system because I’m fairly certain you get it. I agree with you on some points and I can sympathize. However, the problem remains that until we have some sort of instanced or privately contained areas for players to build in… the refueling in persistent worlds just seems like a necessary evil.
Edit: retracted my previous offer and apologies since I’ve now actually finished my coffee and re-read it. 