There are a few big differences between SC and ED with regards to ships though playing both , I can attest to this with a certain amount of expertiseauthority that will make this not as much of an issue as it is in ED . 1 In ED , the endgame ships are just that endgame . They are the best . The Cutter is the best traderminer , the Corvette the best combat ship except maybe for PvP , where the FDL is a solid choice . In other words , in ED , there is a clear ship you should aim for depending on what you want to do . In SC , the more expensive ships aren ' t necessarily the best they ' re the best at a very specific role . The Carrack is the best at deep space exploration , but the Freelancer DUR is likely better at shortrange exploration and can likely use small jump points , thereby being able to explore certain areas the Carrack cannot . Likewise , some combat ships are offensive , others defensive , some will be designed for covering fire , etc . Cargo haulers can be highvolume ships designed for safe routes the Hull line , for example while others are more aligned with smuggling , or maybe are tougherbetter armed for more dangerous routes Caterpillar , Freelancer , etc . . The Hull series can ' t do planetary landings , the CaterpillarFreelancers can . And so on . In other words , in SC there isn ' t necessarily a clearlydefined best ship for any given role at least not the generic roles trader , miner , combat , exploration . The variety in ships means there are tradeoffs , so you pick what is best for you for a given role . So you can very likely encounter scenarios where even though you have access to X endgameexpensive ship , you actually choose a lowerendcheaper ship , as this ship is actually better for the particular roletask you have in mind . Rarely does that happen in ED , but I can see that happening all the time in SC . 2 In ED , you are your ship . From the smallest SLF to the Cutter , one player is all it takes to fly each ship to its fullest potential . Turrets are automated , and the controls have been simplifieddesigned for oneperson operation . This means that the only reason you really wouldn ' t own one of the biggermore expensive ships is because you can ' t afford one or don ' t have the necessary rank . In SC , the more expensive ships require more crew to fly effectively . Anything beyond a Freelancer would at least require 12 NPC crew ideally human crew to be effective , especially in combat . So even if you can afford a bigger ship , and even if it would be a straight upgrade to what you currently have , if it requires crew to be effective , the net result might be that it isn ' t actually better especially true in combat . Once you pay your NPC crew or split the profits with a human crew , maybe it won ' t really be that much more profitable than when you were running your HullFreelancer solo , and the added hassle of managing a crew might mean you ' re simply better off in a solocapable ship . The Idris , for example , is a massive , endgame and expensive ship . But if you ' re a solo player who never plays coop with some buddies , there might not be much of a point to it . You ' d be much more effective in a smaller ship . TLDR Given that expensiveendgame ships in SC aren ' t necessarily better at generic roles , and given they often require extra crew to operate effectively , players won ' t necessarily grind away for hours to buy them . They ' ll focus their efforts on the ship that is the best for the very specific roletask they have in mind which could be an endgame ship , but won ' t always be .