@alexreadyqueueing for solo fleet battles vs ai will get you experience to level up (which gets you points) whether you win or lose. the dogfight queue is still active on most north american evenings, and will get you experience whether you win or lose. all cosmetics including past operation awards, with the exception of the ranked Bronze, Silver, and Gold helmets for both factions, can be unlocked with the Glory points you gain from leveling up or completing daily challenges. to unlock the Bronze, Silver, and Gold ranked helmets for both factions, you need to play ranked fleet battles. This will take a lot of coordination as there are never enough people in this queue outside of Friday nights in North American time zones. There are servers which can help you get those helmets, though you will have to poke the community members a bit to get them active again.
I do agree with you, though: all cosmetics and components really should be unlocked for the purposes of custom games, and there really should have been an unranked fleet battles queue from the beginning.
