Of all the F2P games I have tried, this game gives you the most options, you can play the entire game and farm the gear you want in time. I have spent some cash on the game, but it was for uniforms I wanted, plus I wanted to keep the game alive. Developers have to eat too.
I l ove the mirror ship on my science kdf officer. I am more of a healer now on him, but I love it tons more then my cruiser, I actually play on KDF more. Just need to finish winding out some kinks, but i like it.