Update (if anyone really cares) on my re-entry into the world of SC.
Last night I decided I wanted to rent a different ship than the Aurora just to do something different. I picked the always popular Avenger Titan, which I take it is a real Jack-of-all-Trades. Great little ship, turns out.
It seems the stars aligned for me last night and I had a multi-hour session with a stable and light-population server. No disconnects, decent (for SC) framerate, and no crippling bugs. I managed to do several different mission types so I could get a feel for the game loops available, such as package delivery, distress beacon response, and com relay maintenance. All were quite fun. I also dabbled in some trading, which was fun (if not profitable with the tiny cargo hold in the Titan). However, I have to say trying to find a darn trading terminal in Lorville is a nightmare. Why CIG designed it that way is a mystery. I get they want to make the cities seem huge, and they've succeeded, but at the expense of fun. Getting lost and taking a subway tram back and forth for 20 minutes isn't really what I want to be doing in my couple of hours max gaming time.
Beyond that, though, I felt like I finally got to experience SC at its current best and I really did enjoy it.
(Again, not defending CIG's business or marketing or lying - I just wanted to have fun in the game as it exists today).