[GI] returning player

I started playing again after quitting around the time lf4s were the top laser. I see there are new enhanced versions or different lasers altogether, new ships and npcs..
My ship was full lf4s and bo2s. What exactly changed since then?

 

Not much has changed, overall.

So far, there's the Addition of the Cyborg. Think of it as an enhanced Surgeon ship, with 16 guns and 10% damage bonus, plus a beefed up Singularity ability. Recently, there's the addition of Blacklight, which you can read about down below:
Blacklight Teaser

Black Light Invasion

The missions have been completely reworked, with the majority giving a ton of Experience points upon completion.
Seprom no longer drops from destroyed players.
New Balancing changes upcoming, some of which have been applied:
[Pre-Production] Balance Patch: The Emerging Light
Balance Patch
Balance Patch Pt.2

Servers have and are currently being merged. See what has been merged below:
Next wave of merges

And that's about it; covers some of the major things so far. Everything else are all nitty-gritty things.