How to help a friend get started in the game?

s0lidb0b · Feb 17, 2015

Anyone have any ideas as to how to help a friend get started?
I've been trying to think of ways to get some credits to a friend who has just brought the game... and the internet doesn't really have any help in this area.

Here's we've tried:

1. Bounty hunting
Turns out if you do most of the damage you get the bounty... who knew! So it kind of works, but starting sidewinder isn't great for combat, and plus due to his inexperience he ended up being chased by the police a few times, lol.

2. Cargo exchange
So i thought I'd buy the most expensive cargo and drop some off for him to pickup... sounds like a good idea, but here's what went wrong:
1) dropping cargo near a station is a crime
2) the cargo is now stolen
2) and, as we all know, trying to sell stolen cargo is a crime (which netted him a 50,000 credit fine, at which point he cleared his save)

So there doesn't really seem to be anyway to currently help a friend

Does the community have any ideas?

Agony_Aunt · Feb 17, 2015

Fly 10km from the station, you'll be out of range from its scanners and the police, and you're fine.

SirKiwi · Feb 17, 2015

If you pick jettison cargo (abandon) it will not count as stolen.

Cmdr Andy B · Feb 17, 2015

you need to abandon the cargo instead of jettisoning it, that way it won't be labeled as stolen.

for me the best way to help is to find them a good trade route, two can explore systems/markets a lot quicker than one and by passing on your trade experience your friend will progress a lot faster than they would have. keep in mind the limited funds your friend will have at the start and pick the cheaper end of the commodities, i would suggest starting off with a run between an agricultural system and an industrial running items like fruit & veg and basic meds.

bvw103 · Feb 17, 2015

Cmdr Andy B said:
you need to abandon the cargo instead of jettisoning it, that way it won't be labeled as stolen.

for me the best way to help is to find them a good trade route, two can explore systems/markets a lot quicker than one and by passing on your trade experience your friend will progress a lot faster than they would have. keep in mind the limited funds your friend will have at the start and pick the cheaper end of the commodities, i would suggest starting off with a run between an agricultural system and an industrial running items like fruit & veg and basic meds.

What Cmdr Andy says,
Also for a starter do some exploring it will give you some credits quickly, keep an eye on the board for missions they also give you a nice profit when you are starting.

Dissentient · Feb 17, 2015

I'd start this game by bounty hunting in sidewinder until enough money to buy a hauler, then do a couple of haulage missions or trade for a bit, and start trading rares. First couple of runs are going to take long, but you'll be able to switch to cobra very fast this way, and from cobra it's just a day or two until ASP.

As for helping with credits. Buy some palladium, and jettison (abandon) it outside of station no-fire zone.

OamodSias · Feb 17, 2015

Cmdr Andy B said:
you need to abandon the cargo instead of jettisoning it, that way it won't be labeled as stolen.

for me the best way to help is to find them a good trade route, two can explore systems/markets a lot quicker than one and by passing on your trade experience your friend will progress a lot faster than they would have. keep in mind the limited funds your friend will have at the start and pick the cheaper end of the commodities, i would suggest starting off with a run between an agricultural system and an industrial running items like fruit & veg and basic meds.

Good advice; don't need to go for the low end stuff though.
Get the high end, do a cargo drop for him, you fly back into station to get more; then you both head off. Pure profit for friend, slight loss for you - but when it's helping a friend, profit/loss is not important.

s0lidb0b · Feb 17, 2015

Thanks of all the suggestions!

Cool, thanks for that everyone... It's time to abandon some cargo!

I'm mainly looking to give him a leg up so he can get some better weapons and and improved jump range, so we can do some hunting together and so he can have an easier time with the solo missions / trading.

When I started I did missions and bounty hunting and worked my way up to a cobra... only then did I bother with trading.

s0lidb0b · Feb 18, 2015

In case anyone is interested or wants to help someone out, here's what I did:

I picked up all the rares around Lave and when he sold them he made 700,000 credits. So it worked quite well... now he just needs to learn to fly (in his new cobra)

PS: we were about 110 light years away from Lave.