Actually I left myself for about a year, due to issues when the game first came out. About a year after I left I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the ridiculously overpowered "siege frigates of doom" had been nerfed pretty hard. Also, the phase jump inhibitor, which was a joke when the game came out, got buffed. So that's what brought be back to playing the game. There have been tons more tweaks, fixes, and balance changes as well.
There is a recent expansion called "entrenchment" which adds new elements, such as starbases, mine laying cruisers, etc.
I think someone could answer your question better if you told us exactly what your concerns were when you left. You mentioned graphics and solo playability. Could you extrapolate more?
