Let's have that TL;DR bois

Camus

So I recently started playing again (like, today) after leaving for quite some time. I played for a month or two starting from day 1. I guess I'm looking for that TL;DR on what has changed. How are CPs now? Incursions? Did artifacts divide the player base into top tier and everyone else yet? Is hacking more fun? Looking for the reasons to stay back I suppose.

Steve

TL;DR:

• cosmpiercers have been overhauled (but mostly just their context -- a reward system has been added and so have caches) but the CPs themselves are not the most exciting.
  
• Caches, on the other hand, are new, and they're free-for-all pvp that spawn every few hours and are the only source of crystals, which we need to power CPs and to pay for the rewards we get from powering CPs (and these rewards are pretty sweet).
  
• Artifacts, while pretty powerful, currently aren't the end-all, be-all because the main ones simply add damage (but not subsystem damage, meaning instant kills aren't affected -- just health pressure).
  
• There isn't an availability problem with incursions, but they're still pretty much a placeholder system.
  
• Hacking has had a lot added on top of it in the way of contracts (which have rewards associated with them), hacking CACs, hacking enemy faction comms, and embezzlement (success means marks in your account, but there's a chance of the NPC putting a bounty on you).
  
• There have been some fun new additions like performance and xenozoology. The space economy has changed but still needs work.

That's what comes to mind. I've been here since March, and I've been pleased with the game's development.

RocketCat

Some other things I thought of:

- Economy got an overhaul with some recipe adjustments and new Manufacturing Specializations.

      - I think economy works fine now but this is possibly a minority opinion.

- Pirate Refineries and Autofactories you can blow up when you have big ships for big reward in materials/manufactured goods

- Cerebral Augmentation Chamber (aka faction engagement missions) to add some nice bonuses to everyone in faction

- Level-scaling areas including New Dikamazi and Wildernesses across the sector, the latter which will yield raw materials when triangulated. Great pve content IMO with some tough mobs.

- Some of the COSMPIERCER powers are amazing qol stuff. TARGETWARP for instance is amazing for running incursions and basically doing anything in space.

- Multiclassing added

I really enjoy hacking with the new changes.

Nykara

RE: artes and top-tierness, 

----------------------------------< Rankings >----------------------------------
Rank     Name                                Kills                              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#1       Nykara                              120
#2       Ata                                 89
#3       Maven                               76

and

---------------------------------------< Owned Artifacts >----------------------------------------
ID     Active Power           Name                      Linked To            Cooldown Purchased   
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zhedan

Overall, Starmourn seems much improved since I played last December/January.

Way WAY less players, which at first I was bummed about. However, the community is so much tighter now I don't mind it at all. When there are 300 players online, you only get to know a few really well. When there are only 12 active players in your faction, well you get to know them all (or at least over time). Also no more junkies rushing to your body to steal your replicator and items within a few seconds of your death.

Haven't explored PK yet, but from what I hear, it is also much improved. More opportunity for group PvP, just not the player-base to sustain it yet.

RP is back! When Starmourn was originally rushed with players, everybody was so focused on the gains that people just interacted with their old friends. Now that there isn't this overwhelming competition to level, people are actually standing around who you can interact with. @Vega's first interaction with Zhedan is basically what made me decide to stay beyond the first 5 levels. Now I'm hooked!

Hunting is about the same. Pretty fast once you get moving. Welcome back!