Recently i saw a thread here "what should i do after i buy strongest ship?" which quite nicely illustrates the problem of the sandbox paradigm if not approached correctly. Quickly previewing that thread i didn't find anyone suggested: ROLEPLAY!
And to be honest, if you approach this game like a space shooter you WILL get bored too soon. Immersion is the key here. Game mechanics are pretty complex and slow which doesn't help fast grind but helps in roleplay dimension.
Settup your controlls properly, take some time and find the configuration that you are most confortable with.
Look at your Sidewinder. It's an ugly ship. You'll buy a better one pretty soon so no worries. Still take a look at where the weapon hardpoints are. I think left and right. Eagle has one hardpoint on top and one below (don't know where the third one is though).
After you analysed your ship equipment carefully, do not launch yet! You need to get into proper state of mind. I decided to help Eranin people as they reminded me to the policitcal situation in my country in the past. Eranin people were once part of the Federation but then they decided to split from Federation and continue as a separate country. Now Federation is trying to raise civil war so that Eranin weakens and then they would annect them back. That's the reason why there is a war going on out there. Eranin is trying to spread the word about their right to liberty around as many systems as possible. So i can help on several fields. I can accept missions from the Bulleting board which are saying "Deliver message to system xy" or i can e.g. go to the Distress Signal and destory some federation ships.
So only once you have some vision of what you want to achive, you can launch. Exit the station near the green lights. Now look at how pretty the space is, so clear, so dark, so cold. Look around your cabin, such amazing tech around you. Look through the cockpit glass at the nearby planet. At this point of time you should feel excited about your task which you have choosen yourself and which will help Eranin people. Go to the destination, do the task and feel proud.
Read Galnet news. Ok, game reset is just aroiund the corner but there are some really fun writting there: http://www.elitedangerous.com/news/galnet/
My understanding is that if your in game activity is meaningfull you could end in the news section. I believe that if more players engage in organized game actions it could be recognized by game admin and will influence how the story rolls out. So if you are determined in killing those pesky Feds you might actually contribute to the Galned announcement that Eranin has won the battle and the battle front is moving further.
I could continue forever but you get the point. IMMERSE yourself. Know the story. Know your goals. Don't rush.
It's not related only to this game, the same paradigm is everywhere. If you do not invest more, you won't get much back. It's your call at the end of the day but believe me, this game CAN offer you more. It's all up to you.
NOTE: please correct me if my description of political situation was not precize.
And to be honest, if you approach this game like a space shooter you WILL get bored too soon. Immersion is the key here. Game mechanics are pretty complex and slow which doesn't help fast grind but helps in roleplay dimension.
Settup your controlls properly, take some time and find the configuration that you are most confortable with.
Look at your Sidewinder. It's an ugly ship. You'll buy a better one pretty soon so no worries. Still take a look at where the weapon hardpoints are. I think left and right. Eagle has one hardpoint on top and one below (don't know where the third one is though).
After you analysed your ship equipment carefully, do not launch yet! You need to get into proper state of mind. I decided to help Eranin people as they reminded me to the policitcal situation in my country in the past. Eranin people were once part of the Federation but then they decided to split from Federation and continue as a separate country. Now Federation is trying to raise civil war so that Eranin weakens and then they would annect them back. That's the reason why there is a war going on out there. Eranin is trying to spread the word about their right to liberty around as many systems as possible. So i can help on several fields. I can accept missions from the Bulleting board which are saying "Deliver message to system xy" or i can e.g. go to the Distress Signal and destory some federation ships.
So only once you have some vision of what you want to achive, you can launch. Exit the station near the green lights. Now look at how pretty the space is, so clear, so dark, so cold. Look around your cabin, such amazing tech around you. Look through the cockpit glass at the nearby planet. At this point of time you should feel excited about your task which you have choosen yourself and which will help Eranin people. Go to the destination, do the task and feel proud.
Read Galnet news. Ok, game reset is just aroiund the corner but there are some really fun writting there: http://www.elitedangerous.com/news/galnet/
My understanding is that if your in game activity is meaningfull you could end in the news section. I believe that if more players engage in organized game actions it could be recognized by game admin and will influence how the story rolls out. So if you are determined in killing those pesky Feds you might actually contribute to the Galned announcement that Eranin has won the battle and the battle front is moving further.
I could continue forever but you get the point. IMMERSE yourself. Know the story. Know your goals. Don't rush.
It's not related only to this game, the same paradigm is everywhere. If you do not invest more, you won't get much back. It's your call at the end of the day but believe me, this game CAN offer you more. It's all up to you.
NOTE: please correct me if my description of political situation was not precize.