IMO, there's currently little to no reason to grind away at missions in the PU just to amass the small fortune necessary to purchase and "test" new ship components. Believe me, I'd love to see how different components affect my ship's handling, emissions, and power management; however, due to the total lack of component/weapon insurance, there's not much incentive to risk the time and effort needed when you can lose those items to a random bug or crash at any time. Consequently, I'd guess CIG isn't seeing many players purchase and test the majority of ship weapons and components available, which is unfortunate. What I think they ARE seeing is most folks simply "testing" the components available for cannibalization off their other ships (or loaner ships) because those can readily be replaced, and those are just stock components/weapons, not the better items available. Therefore, if CIG really wants PCs to purchase and test the best ship components and weapons, they need to ensure a "Tier 0 Ship Component/Weapon Insurance" makes it into an upcoming patch ASAP. Once this occurs, I (and I believe many others) will finally feel the risk/effort may be worth the reward. I would encourage CIG to do just that. DISCLAIMERS: 1) I know SC is still in Alpha; I am not demanding anything, just suggesting CIG prioritize the ship weapon/component insurance feature to maximize player testing. 2) I am not a miner, nor have I ever seen (like most players) a "30k+ aUEC run." I grind for bounties, small-scale cargo, and "mercenary-type" work. I start with 5k aUEC. 3) This is not an attack on CIG - I know ship weapon/component insurance is a planned feature (somewhere?), but it would be nice to see it front-loaded for the reason provided. 4) This is the only game forum where disclaimers like these are necessary to minimize the "blind hate wave" that game concerns/recommendations usually elicit, and I think that's unfortunate.