Exactly the same situation here. I was really into the PvP aspect (especially powerplay - I liked to be a mercenary running defense for cargo ships hauling stuff into a system the power was trying to take over), put in a ton of time working through the engineering grind and learning to proficiently fly without flight assist (trying to navigate through the edge 'channels' of the Coriolis stations without colliding was fun practice).

I gave it so many chances but eventually had to just accept that FDev didn't really care that much about improving the game when one of the powerplay powers 'collapsed'. The original deal with regard to that happening was that FDev would remove that power, progress the lore and maybe introduce another power eventually. Instead they ignored it and allowed other players to exploit the situation, completely breaking powerplay as a system.