I havent played for 6 months but came back for horizons starting 2 or 3 weeks before release. I was rep level baron for the clipper because rank used to be easy. I tried grinding the old way but after plenty of reading found most people had used the donation mission exploit with solo-to-open to grind out what they needed.
After trying it out for a rank it felt too much like cheating and i started combat mission stacking. I did this nonstop for 2 or 3 days and was nearing marquis when horizons hit.
All that time was completely waisted as you somehow thought it was right to wipe ranks to 0 percent. After giving the new missions a try and looking at my progress not move after 4 combat missions, i have thrown in the towel. Grinding missions for 2 months or more for a new ship because you like to reset stats after an admittedly broken system that doesnt properly reward for bounties or trading is beyond what is sensible or fun. Play your own way you say? Sure as long as you get on the exploit train while the getting is good or your way is missions til you die.
After trying it out for a rank it felt too much like cheating and i started combat mission stacking. I did this nonstop for 2 or 3 days and was nearing marquis when horizons hit.
All that time was completely waisted as you somehow thought it was right to wipe ranks to 0 percent. After giving the new missions a try and looking at my progress not move after 4 combat missions, i have thrown in the towel. Grinding missions for 2 months or more for a new ship because you like to reset stats after an admittedly broken system that doesnt properly reward for bounties or trading is beyond what is sensible or fun. Play your own way you say? Sure as long as you get on the exploit train while the getting is good or your way is missions til you die.