Newcomer / Intro OK, now I get it. Thanks!

[Zalym]

Thanks to all of you who have posted advice on this forum, especially the gamers with the YouTube videos. All of it helped me get off the landing pad and into space.

I picked this game up a week or so ago. I've enjoyed the space game genre starting with IW and going all the way up to X3:AP and KSP. Elite, however, was just not working for me. I tried to sit down and set some time aside for it. I set up the controls, went through the tutorials as best I could, and loaded into the solo-game proper. I flew around a bit, but for some reason I had a heck of a time finding missions that were actually available for me to take. So I just took some time to enjoy the views. However, I just wasn't being sucked into the game's world.

Long story short I plodded forward, determined to figure something out. Last evening, I landed at a small outpost offering a mission to pick up transmissions for 12k credits. That was a tidy sum and it was actually available for me to try. I accepted it left the station. Once on site, I was interdicted by an NPC before having a short and ungraceful fight, during which he jumped out. I eventually found the transmissions, was harangued by some Federation folks, and returned back to my little outpost to turn in the information.

Then, as I tucked my cramped, now slightly beat up, Sidewinder into that tiny station (a veritable cocoon of safety, compared to my ship, against the vastness of space) I thought, "that was fun, let's do another."

See you around, as soon as I work up the courage to go into the open world that is.

 

[krysohmyz]

I'm glad it clicked, for you.
Welcome to the galaxy.

 

[Ommasaur]

Indeed, it sounds like you got the hang of it now. Welcome commander!

 

[OamodSias]

Great job. Stay away from those big rewards though. Tried my hand at a 199k reward mission ... yeah, one pass over and I had no sheilds and was down to 34% (in a Cobra). I hobbled back to station soundly beaten and not willing to try again just yet.

 

[Vampyre111]

Yep, anything over 100kcr is generally pretty tough until you have your ship out fitted with some top shelf gear and you have improved your skills.

 

[the100thmonkey]

For combat practice, head to nav beacons and pick up the wanted ships. Avoid anything ranked higher than "competent" until you have some quality gear on your ship (although don't be afraid to take an opportunity to attack large ships if they are in a battle with other bounty-hunters and police ships and they take a lot of damage. If you put some damage on it, you'll get the bounty.) Resource extraction sites are a good place to find high concentrations of pirates too.

Don't be afraid to upgrade the Sidey - you can sell your equipment for asking price when you buy a new ship.

Keep taking missions for one faction - as your reputation increases with them, they will offer you more lucrative missions.

 

[jpaulwilson1982]

When I first got to play the game on release, it impressed me with its visuals and sound. Then, the game just ticked me off because there was so much that wasn't explained at all, and I found myself losing Federation rep, getting fines and bounties and not knowing why. Then in my second play through came the "fight or flight" moment; I was out exploring a bit, found some good objects that would have certainly made me a nice bit of credits, and I had a couple of nice bounty vouchers to turn in. Then, I got interdicted by a superior foe and got my butt handed to me. I got extremely angry, tossed my controller on my coffee table, and went outside to have a smoke. At first, I had given up on the game. But after I smoked and cooled down some I decided to give it another try. I wiped my save, which reset everything I screwed up, and started fresh and experienced.

From that moment on, Elite's been a mostly positive experience. I just needed to learn how things worked and understand that for the first time in years I had a game that actually punished me for dying, which I can respect and appreciate. I wish there was manual on release that explained the more ambiguous aspects of the game, but all that is said and done. I learned how to play Elite, and I now enjoy it immensely.

OP, just be careful with what missions you accept, what cargo you pick up (and where you go to sell it), and treat your rep like a perfectly detailed, fragile, porcelain doll; extremely hard to create and maintain, but easy to destroy beyond repair. Just be careful.

Oh, and have fun