Newcomer / Intro Newbie signing in Saying hello and just looking for some advice

[NRCrosby]

Hello, oK first post, Let me start by telling you a bit about myself, Play-style, Equipment etc and some of the suggestions I am looking for.

About ME:
First I am a over the road truck driver so I only play on the weekends and even then sometimes only a few hours a week.

Equipment:
I use a Saitek X52 Pro Still diddling with the setups any help here would be appreciated. I Use Voice Attack along with the Astra Voice Pack again still diddling with the setups on this one as well, I mean given my time constraints it took me 3 weeks without any actually playing just to get where I am setting these two up So again any suggestions or good links would be appreciated.

Play-Style
OK So far I have play just in Solo Mode, Trading using TCE I am making money got myself up to a Stock Cobra around the starter system . With my time constraints every time I start playing Elite I have kind of a re-learing period especially if I have been a way for awhile. So as far as play style questions go I have been thinking about going Open instead of Solo Spent the best part of this weekend going over the Open vs Solo debates (Man was that some reading LOL) So I think I got a pretty good grasp on the risks involved. Obviously I am still learning about Factions and stuff in fact I still learning about all the politics in the game even the personal ones LOL. So when it comes to play-styles I guess I looking for suggestions about Rares Trading been kind of looking into that. I want to get away from the starter systems just not sure where to go, might try my hand at exploring but wondering with my limited time if that be even worth it. Hell I guess I am just looking for suggestions on play styles I guess that would best fit my time constraints really.

Again Hello from CMDR N.R.Crosby from my little corner of the Milky Way

 

[Ben Ryder]

Hello Have fun

 

[NRCrosby]

Thanks Ben and Greetings and Felicitations to you as well.

 

[Nagual]

Never easy when given such an open choice of what to do. A little trading, combat in either Resource Extraction Sites (found in extraction systems, among others) Navigation Beacons (every system, at every star) or Combat Zones (where local factions are battling it out - just remember to 'pick' a faction once there by going to right hand panel and Functions tab, top option). Play as a pirate, going for NPCs or players. Grab a fuel scoop, and go off exploring.

At the start, with the stock Cobra, as long as you have enough credits for your insurance, go out and have fun, don't worry about how much credits you have or worry about what ship to get next. Find out what you enjoy doing, don't be afraid to change your mind later on, or indeed go back to something. I've been a trader, explorer and bounty hunter. According to the Stats I've also been a Smuggler too, but your guess is as good as mine when that happened.

 

[Carl02]

Hello fellow Noob !

I was well-advised to keep a cash reserve minimum of twice the "buy-back" cost,
and I have added to this minimum reserv sufficient cash to stock a full load of medium value cargo as well.

I have been jacked and shot down, then on co-paying the insurance and getting my ship back,
was immediately jacked again, but was lucky enough to escape before getting shot down twice in a row,
but it could have happened.

 

[NRCrosby]

Thanks Nagual. Yeah I got enough credits for the insurance, and as far as the factions go yeah I have figure out how to check factions loyalties and so far I guess I have supported the Feds not really sure why other then I love Star Trek and the whole Federation thing even though I know that is about where the similarities end, and as far as figuring out the role I like the most yeah that's kind of what I am doing just trying to get information to help with the thought processes.

 

[NRCrosby]

Hello Carl02 when you say shot down do you mean pirated or just plain shot at killed cause you were a target? Did you do anything other than being there to instigate the assault?

 

[Djinn144]

hello CMDR, the best advise i can give you is this- RUN before space madness catches upto you

if you dont get alot of time to play id suggest sticking to solo or a PvE group where your not open to a player killing you just for the sake of it, there are some in Open.
if group PvE is your thing id suggest ckecking out MOBIUS group.

main thing is to play how you want to and have fun.

Good luck CMDR

 

[NRCrosby]

Thanks Djinn144 yeah I have thought about MOBIUS and I have check into the Forum. I guess I only considering Open cause I guess I am open to the idea of a little risk sure I don't want to die just cause some maniac with a gun is a maniac, though I like the idea of being stop by true pirates and having to give up some loot to proceed on my merry way. As far as having fun playing the way I want to play well that still in development.

 

[Carl02]

Hello Carl02 when you say shot down do you mean pirated or just plain shot at killed cause you were a target? Did you do anything other than being there to instigate the assault?

I was jacked by pirates both times,
and not very bright ones, as I was carrying either no cargo
or very low value cargo at the time.

So far in the game I have kept my nose clean,
nothing illegal, no bounties on my head.

Both times I was just on a trade run and was interdicted.
Both times I thought: "Buggerall, I'm going to fight this sod."
So I ditched the escape vector and made like I was submitting.
Mistake both times.
Both times sods got me with missiles.
So I got a pair of point defence turrets on my Adder,
but have not yet seen action so no idea how well they will work.
I have been advised they will work, though....

 

[NRCrosby]

Based on what your saying about the missile attack that doesn't sound like a pirate to me. Do be warned about that PDT make sure you make a habit of turning it off before going inside stations I read if it goes off inside a station stray bullets will hit the station and then the station will open fire on you. I guess some maniacs have found they can shoot missiles at guys inside stations and let the stations do their dirty work for them

 

[Carl02]

Thanks for the tip. The PDT indicators on the HUD inside the station
do make me a bit nervous.

As far as who jacked me w/ missiles,
in the case where I had no cargo I can't see any motive
other than an attempt by the attacker to add inches to his..."reputation"
(but it was an AI as I play only in Solo mode).

 

[IronLIch]

Greetings CMDR N.R.Crosby, o7

If you want to play open, I would suggest finding a small, out of the way system with a couple of factions you like and stay put for a while. Trading rares in Open is a fair risk, be prepared to deal with some player interaction and have enough to cover your insurance at all times.

Make some friends and hop into group play as soon as you can, you'll have more fun learning that way(assuming your friends aren't murderous psychopaths that see a hamburger when they look at you).

You can still explore and discover systems in human occupied space PLUS you will still stumble upon signal sources to shake things up. Exploring on its own is a little slow paced for my tastes

 

[NRCrosby]

From what I understand killing you wouldn't have gain the attacker any rep as far as being only the AI yeah I have run into a few AI maniacs and eliminated them . I don't think AI maniacs fire inside stations though so my advice about the PDT probably isn't warranted in solo mode.

 

[Draxxen]

Cheers Commander!

I would suggest doing group play like Moebius for instance (which has 8300 members at this point) in the beginning, and when you have acquired a couple of ships and some rebuy cost buffer (10 times or more), try it out in open.
I usually keep at least 2 different class ships - 1 combat for bounty hunting and such, and 1 trade; and lately I have had an explorer vessel ready to go also - to divide assets so you never have to start from scratch again, no matter how bad things get. Resource Extraction Site bounty hunting is a lot of fun, and rares trading is not bad; I actually do rares rather than bulk trades because of the repetitiveness of the latter.

Whatever you do; if you upgrade your ship make sure you can at least cover the insurance rebuy cost in case of anything unforeseen happening

 

[Carl02]

Something else that torqued me off --
Several times I was jacked, pretended to submit,
then I went after him. I was prevailing nicely --
his shields were down, he was taking damage, and I was about to nail him when...
he jumped away.
Yes, I had targeted his power supply.
I have three size 1 gimbaled burst lasers.
I did not have the ability to pursue, so I was left grinding my teeth
and exercising my vocabulary of choice one syllable words.

Well, I just hosed the chocolate chip cookie crumbs off the display and went back to business.

 

[NRCrosby]

Greetings CMDR N.R.Crosby, o7

If you want to play open, I would suggest finding a small, out of the way system with a couple of factions you like and stay put for a while. Trading rares in Open is a fair risk, be prepared to deal with some player interaction and have enough to cover your insurance at all times.

Make some friends and hop into group play as soon as you can, you'll have more fun learning that way(assuming your friends aren't murderous psychopaths that see a hamburger when they look at you).

You can still explore and discover systems in human occupied space PLUS you will still stumble upon signal sources to shake things up. Exploring on its own is a little slow paced for my tastes

Thanks IronLich I have read pages upon Pages of the Open Solo Debate so I got a pretty good handle on the risks and yeah so far just finding a out of the way spot away from the main system seems to be the best advice.

- - - Updated - - -

Cheers Commander!

I would suggest doing group play like Moebius for instance (which has 8300 members at this point) in the beginning, and when you have acquired a couple of ships and some rebuy cost buffer (10 times or more), try it out in open.
I usually keep at least 2 different class ships - 1 combat for bounty hunting and such, and 1 trade; and lately I have had an explorer vessel ready to go also - to divide assets so you never have to start from scratch again, no matter how bad things get. Resource Extraction Site bounty hunting is a lot of fun, and rares trading is not bad; I actually do rares rather than bulk trades because of the repetitiveness of the latter.

Whatever you do; if you upgrade your ship make sure you can at least cover the insurance rebuy cost in case of anything unforeseen happening

Well Draxxen that is an impressive setup you got there hat's off to you me right now just the Cobra Stock and maybe about 130,000 credits. Given my play time it will be the year 2030 before I could amass that much but thanks for the ideas

 

[NRCrosby]

Something else that torqued me off --
Several times I was jacked, pretended to submit,
then I went after him. I was prevailing nicely --
his shields were down, he was taking damage, and I was about to nail him when...
he jumped away.
Yes, I had targeted his power supply.
I have three size 1 gimbaled burst lasers.
I did not have the ability to pursue, so I was left grinding my teeth
and exercising my vocabulary of choice one syllable words.

Well, I just hosed the chocolate chip cookie crumbs off the display and went back to business.

I go after the FSD first not the power supply this seems to keep them from jumping away.

 

[Carl02]

Bounty hunting in a RES sounds interesting.
How does one go about getting into it ?

 

[NRCrosby]

Bounty hunting in a RES sounds interesting.
How does one go about getting into it ?

Don't know I have only bounty hunted a few select ship while in SC, you know check factions see who I'll support who I won't then scan see their wanted status and affiliation and decide from there Never been to a RES hell I don't even know all the abbreviations for all the different areas yet RES, USS, etc. Is the a thread explaining all these abbr?