I've played Freelancer since it first came out in 2003, and have played many good and not so good mods since then. For me CrossFire is Freelancer 2, it's a great (big) mod with many improvements and new challenges.
Now that I've said all that, I'm sure I'll get an invitation to OP's next Christmas party...
But seriously, I felt the true experience of CrossFire for the first time when I entered the SOL system through the dimensional rift. It was like something wonderful was going to happen...and so far it has.