I would just focus on combat at this stage as money dosent mean anything because of the upcoming wipe.
TL;DR version is at the bottom.
Agreed. Get your combat skills up, learn to fly under any conditions, even with no canopy (did that once - got home safe and sound), learn how to enter and exit stations the first time, every time.
Learn how to destroy ships in the combat zones, what the durability, speed and firepower of the different ship types are. Learn how to evade and run: practice on the interdictions and the dumb***ess who like to camp outside stations.
Learn some flight-assist-off tricks: they're worth mastering. Learn to dogfight at full speed in an asteroid field. Learn how to sideslip, jink, high-speed yoyo and immelmann. Learn to scoop cargo without spending 5 minutes at crawling speed.
And when the game launches, and the law enforcement systems are in place, and it actually matters what you do and where you do it, THEN you can go and be a trader. A trader that will know how to fly, how to fight, how to run and how to hide. A trader who has dealt with griefers and pirates, who knows the limitations of their ship and their enemy's.
A trader who is, if not actually Elite, then at least Above Average.
Oh, and a last thing about griefers: they love reading these forums and collecting people's tears and rants. They giggle and feel warm inside every time they see some post starting with "That's it, I can't take it..." or "I'm waiting for Single Player!"
I've been a griefer in the past (in SWG, for the curious) many years ago. I've grown up somewhat now, but I can tell you that the griefer's greatest strength is that they realise it's just a game, and just a Beta at that. They see no point in attempting to progress seriously, because in all probability they'll lose it all in a wipe, so instead they amuse themselves at the expense of others.
Because why not? It's not as though they're actually going to suffer any consequences yet. There's no reason for them to play the game as intended (in their minds) so they might as well get some ganking experience and watch people's frustration on the forums.
As everyone else advises, make a note of their name, and addignore them as soon as that's practical. While I've stated that 'This is a beta and it doesn't matter', that doesn't mean I think these chuckleheads should get a free pass on their dumb behaviour. Every griefer I encounter is going to be calmly added to the future block list. And that includes so-called "pirates" who are taking advantage of the lack of law enforcement systems to blockade space stations. Aggression without the potential for repercussion is bullying, and bullying in an online game falls under the heading of griefing.
And when the game starts, if someone is on my block list and wants desperately to group with me (because fate can be funny that way), they're gonna have to apologise publicly, here on the forum. Because I'm not
completely over my need to grief people.
TL;DR Version: Spend the Beta time learning how to fly, and don't cry about griefers on the forums because they love that, and you're just giving them the warm feelings they should be getting from girls.
