You posted this and still can't figure it out? I've played all those games, they have an end. ED has no end. The whole game is based on the journey because there is no end. If 20 million an hour ONCE you get a bigger ship isn't enough, all you are wanting is a gold seller and an instant win button "you know, I want it all and I want it now". Of course there is no win in this game.
more in my favor then, by this game not having an end then player retention is paramount because the "endgame" is subjective, sure I'm content with my DBX and my Viper MKIV at the moment, they give me enough fun sure I want a Python for combat, an Exploration 'Conda and a Type 9 for space trucking, but I'm not really starved for them (atleast not yet) but maybe if my brother started playing now his objective would be to the big 3 A rated and engineered to do PvP because he likes PvP and hates to underperform, with the grind now in place he would leave the game after 2 weeks max because he wouldn't see his objective getting any closer, I play this game for PvE and relaxing exploration, he wanted to pick it up for PvP and after he saw me playing 3 weeks with the same ships he told me "This game sucks how will you ever get to the PvP meta at this rate?" I explained it to him and his response was "I was in the WoW PvE and PvP meta after a week I started playing, you were in the Tibia PvE and PvP meta after what a month or 2 tops with your Knight and 2 weeks with your Sorcerer? who would want to grind for a year just have the good stuff?" (and mind you Tibia was grindy as hell comparable to Ragnarok Online), Similar thing happened when I showed the game to my best friend's boyfriend, he liked it when he saw it, yet when I explained the mechanics he was again put off by the grind, another potential customer and player lost because of the awful progression system in the game.
See the galactic (no pun intended) grindfest that it's the game just put off a player that was interested in the game after he saw someone close to him playing it, Rainbow Six Siege also has no end yet it's one of the most played games across all 3 platforms since it released, Ark: Survival Evolved has also no end and has more and more players coming in droves to it because progression is maneagable for your average gamer, Subnautica is pretty much Elite: Underwater edition and guess what? it also has higher retention rate than Elite because of the progression, or take Grand Strategy games like CKII or Europa Universalis, yes you can just conquer the world (comparable to only having the big 3 fully kited and engineered as your endgame) yet my playthroughts can range from developing an stable dynasty, becoming the most powerful trading nation in the world, convert Asia to Christianity, repel the Spaniards as the Aztecs, make the Vikings stablish colonies in Mexico, Restore the Roman Empire and so on, a subjective endgame just as elite, and yet those games have become more popular with each installement again because of accesibility and progression for new players
It's not that people want an insta win button or cheat code, just a way to feel like the path to their subjective goals isn't a chore, and what's better, this is not a player managed economy and market like WoW, Tibia, Ro, Guild Wars, Eve and the billion other MMOs out there, here the economy is static, we don't influence it in any way and by the looks of it never will, you having an A rated fully engineered Corvette does not detract anything from my experience playing the game, just as if CMDR Random rakes 100 Billion on a tuesday night affects nothing in your game, you know why people prefer solo instead of open? because they don't want some pushing them from a Cutter to a Sidewinder just as they leave the station, with the credit safety matress less people would play in Solo and more in Open since losing a big expensive ship would equal to good fun instead of being equal to another half a year grind for buying the ship, outfitting it and engineering it, plus another good amount of time for the rebuy cost.
try see it from the perspective of a potential player who just found about the game today by looking at a random video on youtube, not as a seasoned player and you will understand where I'm coming from
