The CGs are fun! I liked playing Elite back when Void opals and Borann didn’t mean too much grind. Exploration with exobio can still net you money in a pinch, but it’s a bit less fun than core mining or wing laser mining with pirates and 400T+ in the cargo hold.

I miss the high stakes/high reward gameplay that made elite feel dangerous, when your miners needed lasers and sidewinder missiles. I’m hopeful that they will bring mining back that can make enough money to support carriers.

All that said, work towards the Corvette! It’s one of the best large ships in the game. Twin Class 4 plasma accelerators w/engineering, g5 dirty drag drives, and prismatic shields are insane. Put a multicannon on the bottom, two turretted lasers with thermal vent effects on top, and sidewinder racks on the side for long range interdictions. Having an AI pilot with a fixed laser taipan or fixed multi cannon F63 is insane for throwing power around too. Throw some SCBs on for the prismatics, and you can be in CZs or haz reses for a long time, safely.