Hmm. In the old days, pretty much every ISP ran a Usenet server. The cost was covered as part of your internet connection bill, it was just part of the service.
I could see a potential future where running a Lemmy instance became table-stakes for ISPs, like Usenet used to be.
If you're already going to couple the axes to BLDC motors, why not use the same encoder for position feedback for the motors and the stick?
Hall effect switches on the motors for commutation are accurate, but may not give enough resolution for your application. There are rotational hall effect sensors from AMS that have a LOT of resolution, something like AS5055A might work for your application?
The story you link literally says:
"the varying ways to count and then interpret police data means it’s worth taking all claims about crime rates rising or falling with a pinch of salt"
They go to great pains to point out that the data is not recorded consistently, so drawing any conclusions from it is fraught.