Freelancer was ok, but the static economy was annoying. Tried a few mods, but they couldn't make it dynamic enough.

The X series certainly isn't for everyone, but I thought that they were great. The economy is very complex, which can be a turn off, but it is really interesting if you like that. I agree that not being able to conquer territory was a problem. The learning curve for noobs is really steep too.

It's a real pity that the space sim genre has nearly died out. Privateer 1&2, Wing Commmander, Xwing, I spent serious amounts of time playing them, and had great fun. One can only hope for the future...