I wanted to love this game and did initially.  It has some great things going for it, but the flaws are pretty obnoxious.  First, the game explains very little.  Be prepared to be frustrated with the learning curve, which is significant. Second, it's just too hard in the beginning.  I've put in 30 hours and lost my ship dozens of times.  If I can't win anything, I can't improve my ship, but if I can't improve my ship, I can't progress.  Even with the difficulty set on low, the game is still insanely hard until you can acquire a better ship.  On top of that, you can't raid anyone without losing points with that faction, leading to not being able to visit their ports.  Save yourself a lot of frustration and pass on this one.  It could have been great, but these flaws totally ruin it.