Newcomer / Intro Noob questions, Player with Neutral Status?

[KRU BARANKI]

Hi, please reply to few noob questions (sorry if it's too long)

1. As a newbie, I'm interested in flying with other people and see others in space, but this pvp harrasment is... well flying in a constant stress brings some fun but for longer it's exhausting.
The usual situation, I fly a hauler, no weapons, no cargo, harmless rank, courier missions between Dromi and some other, if I recall correctly it was Battuta station, and I'm interdicted by someone telling me to prepare myself. I'm not sure if it was a player or an NPC, because I had to keep an eye on that mini game. I did it and saw the blue bar filled in full so I guess I won...
But... I was flying to a target station, and around I noticed few individuals with Wanted status, so I didn't try my luck and jumped back to safe system. Thus I could not achieve the task and it's a bit annoying. Do I need to switch to Solo for a safe flying? Is it the only way? Maybe I can switch to neutral status in Open, that lets me be with players, who by default can not attack me?
Such untouchable status would be much more interesting I think, at least for the social humble traders / couriers like me ...

2. I was put in such situation. I was trying to operate within starting systems only, and I didn't notice that by picking some courier job I jumped to a remote system out of the starting zones. My fault of course. I also remember I didn't pick that mission to get 100k cr. if I fly out of start system - I bet I lost this opportunity now...
Being there in that system's station, checking commodities I noticed a good bussiness opportunity to make with the Dromi system, from where I came here. 36k profit for a noob like me was a cool thing, so I grabbed the goods on haste and was trying to jump back to Dromi - but my permit was cancelled . Of course... I left the starting systems with appropriate rank so they are now closed for me...
But... why the game is constructed this way... why the heck a humble trader with no weapons, but full stock of minerals, cannot enter a system and do bussiness with a station? Ok the permission for starting systems works here, but why not getting just the limited permission for trading, with auto-lock weapons etc.? I find it a bit annoying, as I'm left alone with full cargo of expensive goods for which I have to find another station without loosing my money, not even from pirates, but the inflation . Sure I wasn't paying attention, but generally it's an issue for newcomer .

3. Targeting and radar is a pain for me, especially when I choose a remote station for target and see it on main screen (as in screenshot for Fermat City). Now when I loose that target from view, how the heck can I see it again, where is it, in which direction turn my ship? I don't see any markers in the screen corners, where they should be imo (in other games, like the X3Reunion, when a target is not visible on screen it's marked with dynamic markers moving on the edges of the screen, so you see where to turn ship to face them again. Here I have only radar on which I can't find the target, especially if it's a remote station. Or probably I do something wrong, so please help...

4. I'd like to spend some RL coins in the Livery section, but it directs me to the Frontier Store.
Is it possible to buy these items using money from the Steam wallet? I bought this game on Steam and don't want to use extra money out of Steam wallet (no credit card too).

5. When I was creating New Account/New CMDR name, I wasn't aware (I think there wasn't any notice about it) that it's important if the letters typed are small or big (capitals). So now I see my name the way below - on the left only capitals, and on the right mixed. Any way to correct it? It works against my immersion when I read those automatic messages. And I'm sure when creating cmdr name all letters I typed in were automatically displayed as capitals.

Edit:
6. In Comprehensive Beginner's Guide I read that "Be warned, pulling a clean ship out of SC will land you a 400cr fine".
Erm... how much? 400 cr fine for messing around my tail and wasting my time? Why it's not at least 40k or 100k by default?
Even for a starting zone, 400 cr fine, even for a complete newbie it's nothing, once he did the first courier jobs...

 

[Chris Simon]

1. Yes. Open is "everything goes".
If you want to play with other people but safely, you will have to join or create a private group. Mobius is a good one where PvP is forbidden, so you can try that.

2. The starter systems are specifically crafted to give newbies the opportunity to start safely, therefore you lose the access as soon as you stop being a newbie (i.e. gain a rank in either trading, combat or exploration). Exceptions, even for "just traders" would be exploited.
But honestly, the game shouldn't have given you a mission for a permit locked system. So I'd report it as a bug, if I were you

3. You see that small crosshair target widget on the left next to your radar? The one with the blue blip in it?
That's called a compass and it shows you the target's location relative to your ship. When the blip is full colour, it means the target is in front of you, when the blip is hollow, it means the target is behind you. If you put the blip right in the middle of the crosshair and it's full colour, the target is right in front of you.

4. I don't think so, but I'll leave this open for somebody who uses Steam.

5. Yes, it's a bit annoying. When you're typing in your name (or for example when you're naming your ship, the game displays it in all caps, but it actually IS case sensitive and the game sometimes uses that instead of all caps. Unfortunately that is something that you had to learn the hard way - there will be many things like that further ahead.
If you're not far into the game and it¨s really bothering you, you can clear your save and start over, this time naming your commander properly. Otherwise you're stuck with it.

6. Don't try to understand crime and punisment system in Elite or find logic behind it. Just roll with it. You'll save yourself a headache.

Fly safe, commander! o7

 

[Para Handy]

1. Some people inhabit the dankest recesses of the devil's gluteal cleft. If you don't want to chance it then either play solo or join a private group - elitepve.com for the Mobius groups (the largest non-PvP PG).

2. You are warned before leaving the starter area - there are many things in the game that will bite you for not paying attention - so not an issue just a PEBKAC situation.

3. As @Chris Simon says - your space compass is your friend. You were introduced to it in your welcome mission and the tutorials.

4. Steam sux

5. Oh the fun of case-sensitive and case-blind - amusement that just keeps giving. (Don't be surprised at a lot of silly things like this in the game.)

6. I thought that establishing an interdiction tether on a clean ship gave a bounty (i.e. made the miscreant "wanted") - just a fine is not much especially compared to the insta-death that shooting the wrong ship can bring.

 

[KRU BARANKI]

But honestly, the game shouldn't have given you a mission for a permit locked system. So I'd report it as a bug, if I were you

Thanks a lot for you tips .
As for this "bug", maybe I wasn't precise enough, because it wasn't exactly a mission, but this prompt in commodities menu showing the trading opportunities in systems nearby.
Game showed me that the highlighted commodity can be sold with high profit in sector "xxxx", but this "xxxx" was outside of the noob zones, what the game forgot to mention about and I just trusted that it's also a place inside the right zone. Anyway, such moments bring a bit of flavour to space travels, even if a bit annoying.
.

 

[Ian Skippy]

"Prepare yourself!" is a default comm used by NPC pirates. If the icon on the radar is hollow it is a cmdr, if it is filed it is a NPC. I am pretty sure you only encountered NPCs in your scenario, and they are in every game mode. I think you can ask Support to change your account name once, if you want.

 

[Ashnak]

1. Other players are hollow symbols on your radar, NPCs are solid symbols. The on telling you to prepare yourself was likely a NPC, that's one of their usual pick-up lines. Especially if you won the mini game. Wanted status goes for Players as well as NPCs - it enables you to shoot them freely, without repercussions from what goes for authority in the respective places.
There is no 'untouchable' status - as long as you fly in open, you may be attacked by any payer you come across. Most of them won't (in my experience) - but the few who will, especially without any roleplaying justification besides "because I can", can really put a crimp in the day. The other alternative, besides playing in solo, is one of the PVE private groups. Mobius (elitepve, Para Handy just posted the link) is one of them, geared towards general players, Fleetcomm another one (geared towards explorers). These private groups are not official Frontier Development groups - they are handled and maintained by individual players.

2.
Be glad you're still alive. ED is very unforgiving towards any type of mistake. Some of them are immediately deadly, others take a while to kill you, the rest is only inconvenient. Your greed has been your downfall (as that of many other CMDRs - flying without rebuy in a brand new ship because "I only need that one mission to make back the rebuy - how hard can it be?" has set back many a CMDR from a brand new Python to a humble Sidewinder).
You're now big enough to have the training wheels removed. If you think otherwise, there's not too much lost if you reset your CMDR. It gets easier the second time round, since you now know a lot already.

3. The little circle with a dot just up and left of your radar - the compass. The dot shows you the direction of your selected target with respect to your ship. Solid = in front, hollow = behind you. Also very handy for finding your landing pad in the large stations.

4. Sorry, also no experience with ED on Steam here.

5. Immediately: clear save and start over. With a few days delay: ask support. They're great in sorting out minor and major problems you might have with the game.

6. Yep. As long as it's only wasting time, that's it. Shooting at someone will usually give you a bounty, which means you'll show up as wanted to anyone scanning you (and that includes the security in front of the station) and they can shoot you. Killing someone (including an NPC) will give you notoriety in addition, which means you can't use any station services except for the most basic until the notoriety has decayed.

 

[KRU BARANKI]

4. Steam sux

Thanks Commander for the reply, but I must disagree on this point .
Imho Steam is a powerful tool and serves greatly in getting free money for games . It came to my mind few weeks ago - while playing random match in Counter Strike I got a super expensive drop, then I sold it for more than $150 (a single skin for carbine, first time in my life I got such expensive drop)...
For a small part of that money I bought Elite Dangerous-Horizons. As you can see, Steam is good .

I could also spend some coins in the Livery section if it was available through Steam .

 

[aRJay]

Remember in Elite it is normal for the authorities to blow up your ship for being too close to the wrong landing pad (loitering) so fines for pulling ships out of cruise are par for the course.

If you become notorious as mentioned by @Ashnak the points only decay whilst you are playing the game not while you are offline I believe the rate is 1 point per hour.

 

[Para Handy]

...... - while playing random match in Counter Strike I got a super expensive drop, then I sold it for more than $150 (a single skin for carbine, first time in my life I got such expensive drop)...
For a small part of that money I bought Elite Dangerous-Horizons. As you can see, Steam is good .
...........

I kind of assumed that the entirety of my post was obviously plastered with attempted light-heartedness and so the Steam remark was an allusion to the myriad issues people post on these fora when using it for Elite.

 

[aRJay]

Thanks Commander for the reply, but I must disagree on this point .
Imho Steam is a powerful tool and serves greatly in getting free money for games . It came to my mind few weeks ago - while playing random match in Counter Strike I got a super expensive drop, then I sold it for more than $150 (a single skin for carbine, first time in my life I got such expensive drop)...
For a small part of that money I bought Elite Dangerous-Horizons. As you can see, Steam is good .

I could also spend some coins in the Livery section if it was available through Steam .

One hopes you are still that happy when the game next updates, I have seen many steam users complaining about how much trouble they have had getting the updates to install and work.

I am sure that if I played more than one game I might be more interested in Steam.

 

[KRU BARANKI]

Generally I believe in the developers' skills, if they won't make any mistakes, and I'm sure they are doing their best, the updates should be going without issues.
And so far I had no issues with Steam (knock, knock to unpainted wood).

PS. one of my friends keeps around 350 games on Steam, including ED, and he's an experienced pilot who recommended this game to me, so I'm sure we'll be just fine .

 

[KRU BARANKI]

One more noob issue, the mining.
To be honest after first attempt to mine rock I already bounced off of the game a bit. It's about collecting ore or generally this "limpet" idea.
I have a newly bought Adder with rank 1-2 modules, 50k credits in wallet, refinery and mining laser and collector limpet module equipped. I was thinking I'll get a lot of credits on mining... well that was before I realised it was a mistake .
Of course I forgot to buy the drones and noticed that just after mining first rock... where the heck are my damn limpets to collect that sh*t - I was asking the void, before I rage quit the game . Okay, so I bought something called limpet module which was empty with not a single drone packed... .

First thought, why the heck in 32-nd century I still need drones (with built-in automatic self destruction timer?) to collect ore? Not even speaking about manual collection, because of it's huge inconvenience and time needed. I found the lore inconsistent here, because I have to believe the scientists invented ships capable of flying faster than the speed of light, but could not make a simple ore collector that uses short range tractor beam to safely gather ore chunks to a cargo bay or refinery, with a simple computer command, of course working together with the cargo hatch and the ship's shield. Once the chunks are inside the hatch closes and shield is up again - everything automated. Why it's not possible here?
I came to ED after years of playing X-series. And if I recall correctly, maybe not a tractor beam, but a simple logical auto-collect command idea for the player's ship was used in X3 about 15 years ago .

 

[Sunyavadin]

You have a built-in means of collecting the ore, it's your cargo scoop. There's a whole minigame of lining it up with the scoop and picking it up. Limpets are just a convenience to allow you to skip the grindy monotony of that. The reason automated drones with a limited fuel supply are used is because Elite leans more towards the harder end of sci-fi. So no tractor beams or the like here. If you forget to bring limpets, remember that you can always synthesise some from the raw materials you have on board, if you have the right ones.

 

[Ian Skippy]

One more noob issue, the mining.
To be honest after first attempt to mine rock I already bounced off of the game a bit. It's about collecting ore or generally this "limpet" idea.
I have a newly bought Adder with rank 1-2 modules, 50k credits in wallet, refinery and mining laser and collector limpet module equipped. I was thinking I'll get a lot of credits on mining... well that was before I realised it was a mistake .
Of course I forgot to buy the drones and noticed that just after mining first rock... where the heck are my damn limpets to collect that sh*t - I was asking the void, before I rage quit the game . Okay, so I bought something called limpet module which was empty with not a single drone packed... .

First thought, why the heck in 32-nd century I still need drones (with built-in automatic self destruction timer?) to collect ore? Not even speaking about manual collection, because of it's huge inconvenience and time needed. I found the lore inconsistent here, because I have to believe the scientists invented ships capable of flying faster than the speed of light, but could not make a simple ore collector that uses short range tractor beam to safely gather ore chunks to a cargo bay or refinery, with a simple computer command, of course working together with the cargo hatch and the ship's shield. Once the chunks are inside the hatch closes and shield is up again - everything automated. Why it's not possible here?
I came to ED after years of playing X-series. And if I recall correctly, maybe not a tractor beam, but a simple logical auto-collect command idea for the player's ship was used in X3 about 15 years ago .

There is a lot involved with mining; just grabbing a mining laser, refinery and cargo rack and heading out to some asteroids will net you next to nothing. With the correct approach you will earn millions upon millions of credits per hour, even in a tiny Adder. A single asteroid can net you almost 30 million credits when you learn to find the right ones!

 

[Ashnak]

One more noob issue, the mining.
To be honest after first attempt to mine rock I already bounced off of the game a bit. It's about collecting ore or generally this "limpet" idea.
I have a newly bought Adder with rank 1-2 modules, 50k credits in wallet, refinery and mining laser and collector limpet module equipped. I was thinking I'll get a lot of credits on mining... well that was before I realised it was a mistake .
Of course I forgot to buy the drones and noticed that just after mining first rock... where the heck are my damn limpets to collect that sh*t - I was asking the void, before I rage quit the game . Okay, so I bought something called limpet module which was empty with not a single drone packed... .

You think you're the only one?

Some (especially mining oriented) stations have huge holo displays - since everyone does that. Especially when your mining ring is 300 ly out from any civilised space. So, welcome to the club.

First thought, why the heck in 32-nd century I still need drones (with built-in automatic self destruction timer?) to collect ore? Not even speaking about manual collection, because of it's huge inconvenience and time needed. I found the lore inconsistent here, because I have to believe the scientists invented ships capable of flying faster than the speed of light, but could not make a simple ore collector that uses short range tractor beam to safely gather ore chunks to a cargo bay or refinery, with a simple computer command, of course working together with the cargo hatch and the ship's shield. Once the chunks are inside the hatch closes and shield is up again - everything automated. Why it's not possible here?
I came to ED after years of playing X-series. And if I recall correctly, maybe not a tractor beam, but a simple logical auto-collect command idea for the player's ship was used in X3 about 15 years ago .

That may be lore - although yes, that (and other automation issues) are contested. If you delve a littel bit further in the background history, and also into the Thargoid/Guardian story, you will find out that AIs are not encouraged in the ED universe. Quite the contrary - thanks to some rather disturbing experiences in at least two cultures. However, the Guardian storyline still has the option open of some AI being still around - or possibly being reawakened by some all too hasty humans.

Tractor beams, like artificial gravity, also don't exist in the ED universe. Apart from the various FTL drives (FSD for smaller/commercial vessels, hyperjumps for the large carrier craft, black magic for the Thargoids), ED relies pretty much on 20th century physics. Invent a practical tractor beam here and now, and I'm pretty sure the devs would put it in the game .

 

[Para Handy]

......why the heck in 32-nd century ........ "load of whining about mining"..........

You seriously need to re-align your expectations. Elite isn't like any other game, you have to actually do stuff and to do that stuff you have to find out how to do it. Just bopping along figuring how to do things as they come up is OK if you can't be bothered to read up or do training or watch tutorials but then moaning that Elite doesn't do what you want it to do is just a waste of electrons.

BTW Elite is set in the 34th century not the 32nd and it tends to avoid magic sci-fi attributes like you find in NMS for example.

Stick with it, the game is well worth learning how to do stuff.

 

[McGyverCP]

One more noob issue, the mining.
To be honest after first attempt to mine rock I already bounced off of the game a bit. It's about collecting ore or generally this "limpet" idea.
I have a newly bought Adder with rank 1-2 modules, 50k credits in wallet, refinery and mining laser and collector limpet module equipped. I was thinking I'll get a lot of credits on mining... well that was before I realised it was a mistake .
Of course I forgot to buy the drones and noticed that just after mining first rock... where the heck are my damn limpets to collect that sh*t - I was asking the void, before I rage quit the game . Okay, so I bought something called limpet module which was empty with not a single drone packed... .

While I didn't make it to the field and start mining, I too forgot to get limpets the first time I went mining. Still learning it...Last night was my 3rd attempt at mining, and my first in a Painite Field...Took an hour or so to get the hang of it to a point. My biggest problem was firing off a Prospector Limpet...and then not switching modes and then Firing off ANOTHER Prospector Limpet...sigh. Still trying to get the Drill Missiles to actually Drill something out besides either bouncing off the surface or bringing up nothing.

But, at the end of 1.5 hours for my first Painite expedition...I made 30+ Million Credits...So I will put up with the B. S. and do the Hokey Pokey around the asteroids...There are Credits in them thar' rocks...Lots of Credits!

Take Care and Check Six Commanders o7

 

[KRU BARANKI]

I hope I'll be that lucky as you CMDR McGyverCP... so far no luck... and I was just destroyed by pirates with a cargo full of 16t goods worth maybe 30k cr.

It was strange, as yesterday I was manually mining for a few hours at the LFT65 (with a base of operation in Toolfa), and finished day by logging off on the edge of the asteroid ring, without seeing any damn single ship in range or scanner. In fact for a few hours no ships were spoted in this area, I was completely alone.

Just few seconds after I logged to game today morning, I found myself surrounded by few NPC pirates (appeared out of nowhere, maybe came to my position during the night and waited there for me to log in - no idea how it works really), they immediately scanned my ship and demanded few tonnes of something to give away and only 15 secs for decision. I was surprised so much... didn't expect anybody there. Before I had time to react, to understand threat, even do what they wanted, they started shoting and blew my tiny Adder to bits in few more seconds .

Now I'm again with Adder from insurance and no cargo 1k credits and questions how is this possible.
Shouldn't I log off in open space next time, even in Solo mode? Just 15 seconds to give the goods... seems not enough.
The galaxy is ruthless... another issue to learn and get over with it...

 

[Ashnak]

You shouldn't log in when you're in an asteroid belt or planetary ring, have anything but limpets in your cargo and can't defend yourself. These pirates spawn every time you drop into a mineable area within a few hundred ly from a populated system.
So, if you have finished mining, sell off your haul before you drop into a ring again.
My guess is that there's one or two traffic controllers in every system who are padding their paychecks by supplying these no-goods with all the flight plans.

 

[KRU BARANKI]

Ok that explains everything, thx Commander. I wasn't aware there is such big market for flight plans, that corrupted traffic controllers sell them to the pirates. I will be much more careful in what I'm doing. Hope they won't get me again without pants .