A couple of years ago there was a thread asking about people's aesthetic preferences in ships. Predictably, the aesthetics part soon got side-lined, but it was/is a very interesting and educational thread. I was reminded of it when I recently considered the relative merits of greed/acquisitiveness and style/deadliness.
Having finished the Crossfire campaign and a run through Renaissance space, I've been doing some solo itinerant trading while carrying out a more thorough and leisurely exploration of the systems in the Crossfire universe. I've been flying a fully equipped Haidar, which is--IMHO--pretty much ideal for that purpose. It's called a freighter, and it certainly has a freighter-worthy cargo hold, but it is designed to carry VHF equipment. In fact, ship dealers whom I visit seem to think that it's a VHF when they eye it as a potential trade-in. It's not the most agile ship, but it's formidable and to me it seems the perfect design for a pilot with both trading and exploration in mind, but who doesn't suffer a few misguided pirates gladly. It's not exactly the most elegant ship, either, but to me it looks exactly like what it is: a tough, large capacity freighter that can fight its way free of most problems, and make a profit while exploring. I imagine it's the kind of ship that, in a different universe, Nicholas van Rijn (one of my early role models) might have flown as a very young man. Until the Coalition-origin Haidar is more familiar in other areas, it may even be somewhat like the "Q-ships" from WW1 & WW2: it looks like a nice merchant target until pirates get close enough to see the bristling weapons...and maybe their pods end up in that capacious cargo hold.
On the other hand...the dynamic market happened to provide me with a very profitable trade run in Helios recently. Inexpensive engine components were available on Planet Eton but fetching high prices at nearby Empire Station. What's more, at the time I wasn't particularly disliked by the local criminals; possibly because I had shot down quite a few Xenos not long before. With plenty of money, and pretty much all of the gear I could want, I began considering a change of ship. With many systems still remaining to be explored in depth, and with the expectation that risks will abound, I remembered that I was quite nearby a very different sort of vessel, but one which could also be an ideal long-range exploration ship even in the more dangerous corners of the universe. The Chimera is sleek and can be very well-armed, indeed; it would be a pretty good choice for exploring even the areas where the more powerful aliens lurk. Its cargo hold is respectable for a VHF, although not the biggest among them. It's agile, good-looking, and can be quite deadly. There are similar choices available (the Coalition Saracen, for example), but to me it's hard to find a ship that looks as good as the Chimera while being as deadly and still broadly functional in a variety of roles.
So, I'm trying to decide: explore with greed or in style? Decisions, decisions...