Stuck in the 80's
The programmers should have been more professional in their delivery but they made an attempt that was half-baked at best.
Don't get me wrong - the game is good (note good, not great). It is basically Elite for whatever old fogies like me out there are looking around for a replacement for Elite. But thats it in a nutshell. Egosoft added on some graphics and options - of course given that technology has advanced in the last couple of decades. Thats it though. There's no originality - there's innovation but no invention in essence.
Further, the game displays many glitches and is very user-unfriendly which bolsters the learning curve (takes at least a day to learn this game, and I have been playing simulations for a while). Much of this is due to the lack of documentation. Egosoft may as well be telling us how to add 1 and 1 for a job that requires mild rocket science (if you'll pardon the pun). You pretty much will be learning everything on your own. The online community is great and very helpful - goes to show that for pretty much any deficiency, mankind fills in the gaps.
I bought this for $20 and noticed that Freelancer is also the same price. That is misleading to the core. Freelancer is a true successor to Elite. It is refined with no major issues. A true game for the new age. X2 is a confused science project at best. I still play it but thats because I can't bear considering sunk costs.
And last but not least. If you hope to get any customer support for this game then you will pretty much have to rely on the gaming community, not the company. Fellow gamers have filled in the void of an apathetic view toward customers and help you out with issues quite well. Other than that, use google. So much for getting what you pay for.