This game has become a contest for CR/Hour. With engineering they tipped the balance with ships. Once there was "the mighty Anaconda", now it is the big and slow Anaconda. The balance there has changed and made ship building just weird. All the grinding to buy the ship, then another grindig of all you need to make the ship usable. That is not versatile gaming, as FDev wanted. And if you don't do all the grinding you end up like the beginners without horizons. They might get into their mighty Anaconda, but that mighty ship is no match for engineered ships, regardless of size. Engineering was the ultimate gift to gankers, and the gift keeps giving. The balance between ship size and firepower was broken.
Mining is supposed to be a slow, but steady income. Not many people in the real world can make a living of mining. But if you are willing to travel to uncharted territories you can strike the gold mine. That is what mining should be. The same with bounty hunting, cargo hauling, every job. It gives you a steady income to keep the wheels turning, and when you build your career and reputation the income will increase. Now everybody can buy an Anaconda in a week or so. The first time I saw a "harmless" commander in an Anaconda I knew that a crucial part of the game mechanics had changed. The balance between ship and experience was broken.
That was the two most important changes that destroyed the balance and progress in the game. You had to go into combat, you had to make income in so many ways. Every now and then you could find a mission that felt like winning the jackpot. But you needed to climb the ranks to increase the chance of finding those missions. There was a continuity that kept the balance. The merchant and explorer rank were hard to climb, a lot of work behind those. Then passanger missions came, and the ladder was suddenly much shorter. So now you see harmless commanders in Shinrarta Dezhra. Prior to passanger missions it was extremely hard, nearly impossible to be Elite in one branch while still beeing harmless, aimless or penniless. There was a balance there too.
