i was kinda in the same place, tried it about a year ago, never got into it because it was so slow. i just started back playing about 2 weeks ago and it seems to be alot faster. lots of newbie guides and missions to walkthrough alot more than they had a year ago.
i'm enjoying it, i just found out about 20 minutes ago though, if you attack someone in 0.7 space at a asteroid belt the guards will kick your butt and blow up your ship lol.