FYI, while the PTU is a big download, you get 100,000 aUEC and a bunch of ships to play with...although, it may hurt when you have to go back to the regular 5000 aUEC and just the ships you own, lol.
And yeah, 3.3 looks insanely cool...I really want another landing zone and the Hammerhead!
It will hurt if you get too used to it, but it's not that hard to make 100,000 aUEC in the PU. Now you have an option, you can mine too... though that's a hella lot of mining.
Whenever a new patch is in PTU the old patches PU and AC gets really weird. I couldn't get an engine for love nor money in the PU today, when I finally spawned a ship with engines it didn't come with a seat.
In AC no one else spawned in... Didn't matter though, I was sat behind my seat in the engine well with no controls whatsoever.
I was awol for two weeks. I saw a video on mining mechanics so I wouldn't blow myself up, which I did anyway because I'm a TESTie, and so far it's a pretty cool activity. I like the added aspect of a different way to earn $$ in the game. I can see the Rock Raiders starting to get our shit together in the not too distant future.