Is there any word from the devs about improving the non-trading methods of making money? I have no problem with efficient trade routes being the most lucrative way of spending your time in game but the difference is enormous and the ship prices seem balanced against trading. I can't imagine strictly sticking to bounty hunting and buying much beyond an ASP. The pay simply doesn't scale up with better equipment at the rate that trading does. In fact, a bad encounter with my ASP while bounty hunting, I'm not talking about ship destruction, just taking say 40% hull damage, can nullify a huge chunk of time due to repair costs. I could get most of the same bounties, with a little more effort but with less potential cost with a well equipped Viper or Cobra.
I know I'm not bringing up anything new but yesterday I made a big stupid mistake bounty hunting, completely my fault, that didn't only cost me all of the bounty I was carrying at the time but also probably all the profit I ever made bounty hunting. My ASP was at 50% hull and my shields were down but I continued to face off with an Anaconda that was on the verge of destruction. It must have destroyed my power plant or something because with 50% hull, I just exploded. To be fair that was about 2 million total but I went back to trading and my losses were recovered in an hour and a half and that was with a simple bi-directional trade route, no carefully crafted trade route or exploitable seeking luxury scheme. I find myself spending, by far, the least amount of time doing what I enjoy the most because I can't seem to make it a viable source of income.
That all being said, I'm hopelessly addicted to the game, even if I spend 95% of my time trading. The feeling of piloting a spacecraft around the galaxy is just too good.
It's what I'm doing anyway.