Sandbox doesn't mean unbalanced. It's still a game, multiplayer at that (yes, even solo is actualy multiplayer, other player actions directly affect everyone else). I have nothing against good credits earnings, I'm just afraid it's too accessible and allows everyone to skip content. It should accelerate new players in this stage of the game, for sure, but not straight out skip it. And that's if we don't take into consideration a phycology of multiplayer games, with which you can't just say "Don't do it if you don't like it". Many people do mining for example just because they don't want to fall behind, even tho they hate it and would never do it if it would be single player game. The fact it's not a single player game is what drives everyone to do those exploits. It would be fine if there would be some sort of progression, where you would gain bigger and bigger rewards. Giving new players all the assets in the first 6 hours doesn't help the longevity of the game. Right now nothing means anything, no sense of accomplishment is left, ranks don't mean poop (you can get Elite in the first hour), credits mean poop (getting any ship in the first 5 hours of playing, that's not counting exploits which can get you FC in that time).
Bah, why even bother, most people don't even undestand game dev and balancing. Too bad there is no data available how quickly new players give up on the game, maybe you would be more concerned about it then.