Newcomer / Intro Casual gamer gameplay recommendations?

[Uvelius Sång]

While I love playing Elite and enjoying it since the release, I only get to play a couple of hours every couple of days -- family, job and suchlike.
I am very satisfied with my dual Cannon claws/Burst beak Freagle (view loadout), and I am okay with slow progression (i.e., money making). Currently, I am doing something around 30 000 - 50 000 a session mostly through KWS bounty hunting, since hunting missions seem to take too long and others seem not really to pay off in comparison with bouties. Of course, no chance in terms of rank progression. Also raced some 200 Ly into Empire space, enjoying the journey, and currently flappin' further from Carthage.
But I would love to visit a battle zone now and then, see the capital ships, take part in community goals. And for that, the zones in question are often so far away that the conflict about vanishes until I get there, or until I got the money for a better FSD drive just to be able reach those zones. the last one is of course just a matter of time, but even so ...

So, my question: Which tips would you have for casual gameplay? It's not just about making money, I wouldn't want to become a trader.

 

[Pyrion]

Get an adder. A nice general purpose ship, not that expensive. You will find it almost as manouverable as your eagle, but with a bit more energy to play with. You can fit a good FSD inside so that traveling becomes easy (once you have the cash for it). It can have enough cargo for light trading (or even rare trading with a bit better FSD). It's really a smaller cobra, worth it in almost every regard.

 

[InMemoriamSirocco]

Don't take part in community goals. They are not worth it at the moment... except for the combat types, maybe... I didn't take part in those.

 

[purf]

+ "Get an adder"

with 8t cargo space and a Frameshift Interdictor. Then, slap a Cargo Hatch Breaker on it,
find an independent system where you just don't quite like the ruling faction and... if you catch my drift
Have some thrill!

I like your pff, money vibe. Repped.

 

[Uvelius Sång]

Get an adder. A nice general purpose ship, not that expensive. You will find it almost as manouverable as your eagle

So even bounty hunting might be an option with the Adder? Interesting, according to the description the Adder sounded a bit like a better hauler, like a T4 bully compared to a T3.
Thanks for pointing me to it.

@purf Got it, a beautiful idea! (and thanks for Repping )

 

[Kuroshio]

+1 on the Adder as well. It's a true multi-purpose ship, you can take it mining, bounty hunting, exploring or do small rares runs. Don't judge it by its looks, it is a capable fighter.

 

[the100thmonkey]

Don't take part in community goals. They are not worth it at the moment... except for the combat types, maybe... I didn't take part in those.

Respectfully, I disagree. The most recent widely-publicised goal at Yembo was great. I was running a Cobra for three days of it and made over a million in that time. A few hours a day in a community event in something like an Adder configured for trading would net the pilot a considerable profit - in the hundreds of thousands at least, given a cargo-oriented configuration. It sounds to me like that would be a considerable sum to a casual player, and would free them up to upgrade their Adder for bounty-hunting (which is still significantly more profitable than the peanuts paid out for combat zone kills.) A bounty Adder would still make a half-decent light trader, and switching configurations would cost trivial amounts.

 

[AstroZak]

While I love playing Elite and enjoying it since the release, I only get to play a couple of hours every couple of days -- family, job and suchlike.
I am very satisfied with my dual Cannon claws/Burst beak Freagle (view loadout), and I am okay with slow progression (i.e., money making). Currently, I am doing something around 30 000 - 50 000 a session mostly through KWS bounty hunting, since hunting missions seem to take too long and others seem not really to pay off in comparison with bouties. Of course, no chance in terms of rank progression. Also raced some 200 Ly into Empire space, enjoying the journey, and currently flappin' further from Carthage.
But I would love to visit a battle zone now and then, see the capital ships, take part in community goals. And for that, the zones in question are often so far away that the conflict about vanishes until I get there, or until I got the money for a better FSD drive just to be able reach those zones. the last one is of course just a matter of time, but even so ...

So, my question: Which tips would you have for casual gameplay? It's not just about making money, I wouldn't want to become a trader.

Here's my tips. Don't listen to anything that anyone tells you. Sounds to me like you have found your happy place. As long as you are enjoying yourself, keep on going. All the stuff with combat zones etc, will come in time. Why hurry to get to those. If you want and can afford to fly a bigger ship, get a bigger ship if you want one.

The whole point of Elite is that you make the game what you want to make the game - This is the hardest part of it for many people to get their head around. The universe is literally there for you to do what you want to. Your imagination is the most powerful part of the game. You don't want to trade, so don't. No one is forcing you to do anything. Hell, I'm thinking at some point just for the sheer hell of it, hooking up with a newbie, and escorting them for a day - using a fully decked out python or anaconda. Why? becaise I can. If the person that I decide to escort turns out to be a git, I'll pirate them... why? because I can. it really is as simple as that.

There's nothing saying that you have to play in a certain why. And there's no "progression" in this game. If you want to fly around in a freegle for your entire elite career and you are perfectly happy doing so, great.

Oh, when I said don't listen to anything that anyone is telling you - that includes me. If you don't agree with what I just said, great it's your game, your playstyle, your imagination, your fun. ;-)

 

[kilvenny]

I am in the same position as the OP. A few minutes here and there. I am quietly making a living bounty hunting in a starter sidewinder with an upgraded power plant. I have settled in a system and become friendly with the Feds. I can jump off the seat for family emergencies and if my ship crashes its only a few thousand credits.