Meeting gankers: rare
Greeting other players or be greeted: happens, but please do not be offended if the other player(s) don't respond. In my case, it's because I fly in VR, and by the time I've spotted the comms attempt, have sorted out my flying, lifted the headset off my face and typed in a response, any other player is often long gone
PvP combat:
if you're interdicted in e.g. a CG or just any arbitrary system, and the player is a pirate (i.e. communicates their errrmmm... requests), do what they tell you (unless you know exactly what you're doing). If they don't communicate, better check you have the insurance money. Your chances of escape, as a beginner, are small. If you're interested in PvP and want to learn how to improve your chances, join one of the PvP groups or turn up at the
PvP hub for some training. In every case, do not log out in a combat situation.
Bounty hunting: it is considered rather impolite to steal kills from other players. Repeat offenders may find themselves suddenly under fire from even otherwise friendly players or (more subtle) find themselves having been tricked into shooting friendly ships and suddenly at the focus of police attention. Send out wing requests to other players or accept them. If you don't want to accept, a short response is also in order (currently, I rarely accept, since I run out of ammo really fast. By the time - see above..., I'm usually down to just enough ammo for one more opponent, if at all. I rather look for a quiet spot or, if there are too many players, switch over to solo).
Community Goals: In some of the trade CGs (notably those involving rare goods), it pays to pay attention to the forum. Often, the Truckers and the Teabaggers will organize loadups, i.e. fill your hold while you're waiting outside the station (and expect you to take your turn in filling the next time you come around). Similarly, in addition to the gankers, some good guys in combat ships may be around, patrolling the area.
Scratching ships at stations: as long as you're slow enough (i.e. less than 100 m/s), you won't draw the station's fire. If you're faster and the guy you scratch dies, you're dead. Which is what some people use to kill other people - let themselves be rammed in a low specced Sidey or Eagle. As for myself, nowadays, I'm around in a Type-10
. There's only four ship types I look out for when going through the toast rack. Everyone else can make way or take their chances. Yes, I've pushed what remained of a Clipper out of the station backwards. At 80 m/s with nothing worse than the ATC telling me to look out for traffic.
