User blog comment:FlammeumDraco333/Tales From the Not so Blocky Seas/@comment-25373667-20150826182951/@comment-27797576-20150826191451

And you also have to factor in the XP increase for each level. That alone on high level ships can easily slash your grind speed in half for only going up two levels. And from what I've seen on Colorado, XP income decreases per level on missions. By the time you get to level 46-47, it almost grinds to a halt from the combination of the two.