Been playing since around June, 2003. Basically, almost anything is possible in BM. You can build just about any type of ship you can think of; scouts, merchant ships, freighters, warships, carriers, space stations, research vessels, I could go on and on.
I have met very few people that have played BM for over 3 weeks who didnt become completely addicted. Play the game and mess around on the forums, the player base is pretty varied, good/nutreul/evil/n00b/vet's all over the place. Just getting to know the players is enough to get you completely hooked on playing.