I didn't find it utterly boring or completely compelling. I'm aware that I only really dipped my toe in the water and that there are probably all sorts of interesting complexities when you get properly into it.
However, I remember when I was a student in the mid 1980s, one of my housemates had a computer game called Elite, which was similar in the sense that you had to trade between planets and occasionally might have to fight other spaceships. It was absolutely fantastic and completely gripping, and as far as I can remember the fights were more interestingly portrayed - which is pretty amazing given that this was more than 20 years ago and computers were of course much, much slower. The spaceships were 3D line-drawings, but stylishly done and things moved fast on the screen. However, Elite wasn't a multi-player game, of course - you were just playing against the computer all the time.
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