These days I play two ways:
Ironman Spacer start
or
Devmode/Console commands/Mission Hacking and skip right to the point I'm interested in (usually to satisfy my curiosity)
On the other hand, I've got dozens of completed play throughs under my belt and have a reasonably good understanding of most of the mechanics in the game. For new players, I have no problem recommending the Easy difficulty setting though.
So if I'm hankering for some kind of specific end game fight, I'll just jump right to it via Console Commands. If I'm looking for a playthrough, I go ironman to test my overall play skills. And I'll push right to the edge. Sometimes I go a bit far and fall off, but then I get to try starting frigates again but with a level 12 character or what not. Which can play very differently from a level 1 character in starting frigates. Since I mostly view the campaign as a serial mission generator, and I enjoy both early and late game fights, I don't view losing a fleet as lost time, but an opportunity to play in a different way. Depending on what you like doing, end game isn't necessarily any more fun than early game.
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