@mrbojangles25:

The point of the base building is so you can plant certain plants for creating components which sell for a lot and you sell them in a galactic trade terminal built into your base. You use the money to buy a better freighter and you use the freighter to store items for exploration. The game revolves around getting better at exploring. The new missions and such add more things to do and more ways to see the beautiful planets. The game revolves around the planets.