Just adding my twopenneth on ranks, echoing a lot that has been said, but for me, (as someone who is not Elite in any category!) Trade is too easy and Combat is (way!) too hard, and I think Expl is about right. I've been playing the way I play, trying to avoid grinding, but when I've committed time it's mainly been to flying large distances (I don't 'explore' as such), for coming on for two years and that's got me to Pioneer; however the last six months I've been doing a lot of combat, especially in the CGs but beginning before that. In terms of the skill level I've gained, and the amount I've been focussing on the core point of Combat (blowing stuff up) to a greater degree than I ever focussed on Explo (e.g. scanning stuff) I reckon I should be somewhere comparable to my Expl rank. But I'm about halfway up 'Master', and it's only going to slow down and get more of a grind from there!