I spent all night yesterday (gmt) doing exploration missions over and over, and had the most fun ive had in STO yet. (i was in beta too)

At the end, i landed on this huge desert planet, just scanning rocks and killing klingons.
But, it doesnt matter how simple it was, i really enjoyed it, thats the point. That planet looked great.
More ground content like this Cryptic!! More huge open planets to land on and do randomized missions in. I friggin loved it.

The episode-missions are giving ground combat a bad name with their tiny claustrophobic "planet" encounters. The interior parts are awesome, but the first time after the tutorial, that you land on a planet, you are hugely dissapointed by how small the area is.

Again, more huge planets in ground combat like the one i described above, and i'll stay beyond the first month for sure!

Don't worry, you'll have plenty of them. Plenty.