Excellent breakdown of what DU has become. I'm a medium-core player - honestly, i was putting in 30 hours a week with half of that on weekends - and with another player in my org and one alt, i was able to build a base on madis that spans 3 tiles, have two warp-cell factories running, and buy all the cool ships i could eat. Now i worry about how low i should let my efficiency go on a MU before i recalibrate, should it be in VR or not, which ship do i use to gather up the ore on various planets that would be the most efficient use of warp cells, are there hexes i haven't scanned that might be more productive, on and on and on. TL:DR i used to spend half my time fiddling with my base or buying ships, and half my time in the dirt mining. Now i spend 80% of my time calibrating/hauling ore, and 20% of my time worrying that i have too many TUs and can't afford them. It's a different game, for sure.