The newbie experience and learning curve... more like Feedback

I recently got this game, really wanting to give it a try and right now, im in a love-hate relation with it. I think the learning curve of this game is insane... as a starter, the game sends you to a few protected system to get use to the basic flying controls and most fundamental mechanics, taking off and landing, jumping to other stars, that stuff... I imagine the payments are low for activities like (and predominantly) Bounty Hunting because is pretty straigh foward, in those systems (Matet, Dromi, etc.). Once outside those systems, it gets crazy, few examples:

1. Bounty Hunting in the small ships you get at the beginning cant deal with a lot of NPC enemies, having to either run or get destroyed, with the third option of waiting for "police" ships to weaken them, that might take time, a LOT of time... people in social media is kind enough to point a few easy systems for farming credits for newbies, but shouldnt the game have some assistance with the matter? I killed 15-20 small pirates for 2.5M credits, that took me 3 hours, maybe Im getting the wrong, but gameplays dont appear to be so slooowwww paced...

2. Speaking of assistance, what a complete unnecesary, confusing and at the end, not informative bunch of crap is the in game guide, the one you get when you press 4, and the tutorial scenarios, damn! I picked up more info from Youtube, Facebook, Discord, Reddit. But that is time consuming and frustrating, the game shouldnt be so dependent on the player looking for basics online, investing a lot of time reading other players questions hoping i get the info i need, just ONE example: mining! the guide makes it so "easy", I ended up looking at a 1-hour youtube video, explaining the modules, the mechanics, where to look, how to F*ing scan, using that confusing screen of power distribution (and I still dont get it), the ship screen with the storage and so many other stuff (very cool to look at, sucks not to know what to do with it), what limpets are and how to use them, and still cant dominate the mechanics, not getting any real profits from that... just Bounty Hunting and Mining I tried, dont understand the other jobs, yet...

3. Other experienced players just kill you without notice in two shots... I lost 2 ships already, having to go back to the Sidewinder again and again, someone told me that Im doing it wrong, but ¿how am I suppose to know? the game doesnt tell you what to do, where to go, how can anything be profitable, not the differences in weapondry, or how to get to a group and the benefits it offers (also had to check that online), and many other things... how is a new player supposed to know that their are actually progressing in a normal time pace, if the game give no point of reference.

4. The Key mapping in Options is horrible, separated into subtitles that look pretty similar and its a pain to navigate, ending up asking, again, in my web browser. The panel to assign primary and secondary, or combat and analysis, whatever it is called, doesnt say how to use some scanners... I end up using the "honking" scanner and guns only, no idea what the others are for, and weirdly enough, Reddit (again) do pretty vague mentions sometimes, not very informative. In this matter, there is always that know-it-all dude, that says you are an idiot for not knowing, but you literally dont have a notion or concept of what some things are, ED has a lot of that :V also not helpful, just commenting...

My point is, Elite Dangerous is not noob friendly game, it looks beautiful and inmersing, but getting to know the mechanics, all the menus, all the UI that has no instructions, like Port services, availability of modules and ships, factions and conditions met for missions with each, rescue missions that require specific equipment to be done, etc. comes with a ton of reading on social media and help from other players, like an insane amount of it, you get bullied by other players, and getting credits is very slow, even an understandable visual Key map is available on Reddit... ¿cant the game show its own Key Mapping without having to resort to Social Media? there is a big difference on you telling us ty newbs "the possibilities" of the game, instead of the "this is what have to do now and how...".
 
1. It used to be much slower to earn credits. 2.5M was 8 hours work or more. But yeah, use system authority to your advantage to earn those early credits. Don't be in a rush. The game is meant to take you hundreds of hours to get to late game content. Just have fun. Or grind credits based on whatever the current meta is. It's not hard to earn 50-150M an hour once you have a Python/Krait or any of the mediums capable of either decent combat performance for stacked massacre missions, or stacked passenger missions, or platinum mining.

2. The handbook is not the greatest, but the tutorials are actually fairly comprehensive when it comes to the basics. They are definitely worth the time it takes to run through them a time or two.

3. It's unfortunate, but there is a subset of players that only play this game to salt mine other players. The newer the player better as far as they are concerned. They typically hang out in the places new players either need to go, or are likely to go. Deciat, and the systems near the starter area where new players are likely to take their first mission out of the starter area.
So, my advise is, play in solo until, at a minimum, you are comfortable with your ship and it's controls. Comfortable enough that you can pick a high wake target within a few seconds and begin maneuvers to avoid fire inside the 15 second FSD cool down window after submitting to an interdiction. Then stay in solo, or PG with more experienced players that are not trying to kill you for the lulz, until you have at least some shield and hull engineering done to your ship. Maybe join a squadron that has similar interests in game as you.

4. Your control setup issues are, well, welcome to flight sims. While ED's control setup menu is not the best, it is not that different from any other flight sim you might run up against. I do thing the SRV / Camera / and Ship flight controls were a bit better organized, but again, that is more the nature of the beast.

It's a sim, they are not easy to pick up. It's part of why they are so niche. The learning curve is fairly brutal, but if you stick with it for a bit, I think you will find it to be fun once you get the hang of it.
 
On point 3, I think the main issue is not your mode choice but that you were flying a ship+outfitting that you couldn't afford the 5% rebuy insurance excess for, if you ended up back in a sidewinder. This is a risk not worth taking regardless of mode, and it's best to keep at least several times the rebuy cost in your account.

If you do stay in open (there are many reasons why you would), then as above, expect aggressive players in Deciat (and to a lesser extent other engineering systems), also at community goals and one or two other places such as Dav's Hope/Jameson crash site and the best price systems for selling the most valuable mining commodities. Also note that pledging to a powerplay power paints a target in your back, particularly in powerplay capitals.
 
I had the advantage of being interested in this game months before I could actually buy the game (PS4), so I had plenty of time to watch YouTube videos and read FAQs on the forum, so when I finally climbed into the cockpit, my experience was way more positive than the OP's. Of course there's still a lot to learn, but I actually ENJOYED the process, and I didn't even bother with tutorials - I just jumped into my Sidewinder and figured it out as I went along (using the knowledge gained as stated).
 
I recently got this game, really wanting to give it a try and right now, im in a love-hate relation with it. I think the learning curve of this game is insane... as a starter, the game sends you to a few protected system to get use to the basic flying controls and most fundamental mechanics, taking off and landing, jumping to other stars, that stuff... I imagine the payments are low for activities like (and predominantly) Bounty Hunting because is pretty straigh foward, in those systems (Matet, Dromi, etc.). Once outside those systems, it gets crazy, few examples:

1. Bounty Hunting in the small ships you get at the beginning cant deal with a lot of NPC enemies, having to either run or get destroyed, with the third option of waiting for "police" ships to weaken them, that might take time, a LOT of time... people in social media is kind enough to point a few easy systems for farming credits for newbies, but shouldnt the game have some assistance with the matter? I killed 15-20 small pirates for 2.5M credits, that took me 3 hours, maybe Im getting the wrong, but gameplays dont appear to be so slooowwww paced...

2. Speaking of assistance, what a complete unnecesary, confusing and at the end, not informative bunch of crap is the in game guide, the one you get when you press 4, and the tutorial scenarios, damn! I picked up more info from Youtube, Facebook, Discord, Reddit. But that is time consuming and frustrating, the game shouldnt be so dependent on the player looking for basics online, investing a lot of time reading other players questions hoping i get the info i need, just ONE example: mining! the guide makes it so "easy", I ended up looking at a 1-hour youtube video, explaining the modules, the mechanics, where to look, how to F*ing scan, using that confusing screen of power distribution (and I still dont get it), the ship screen with the storage and so many other stuff (very cool to look at, sucks not to know what to do with it), what limpets are and how to use them, and still cant dominate the mechanics, not getting any real profits from that... just Bounty Hunting and Mining I tried, dont understand the other jobs, yet...

3. Other experienced players just kill you without notice in two shots... I lost 2 ships already, having to go back to the Sidewinder again and again, someone told me that Im doing it wrong, but ¿how am I suppose to know? the game doesnt tell you what to do, where to go, how can anything be profitable, not the differences in weapondry, or how to get to a group and the benefits it offers (also had to check that online), and many other things... how is a new player supposed to know that their are actually progressing in a normal time pace, if the game give no point of reference.

4. The Key mapping in Options is horrible, separated into subtitles that look pretty similar and its a pain to navigate, ending up asking, again, in my web browser. The panel to assign primary and secondary, or combat and analysis, whatever it is called, doesnt say how to use some scanners... I end up using the "honking" scanner and guns only, no idea what the others are for, and weirdly enough, Reddit (again) do pretty vague mentions sometimes, not very informative. In this matter, there is always that know-it-all dude, that says you are an idiot for not knowing, but you literally dont have a notion or concept of what some things are, ED has a lot of that :V also not helpful, just commenting...

My point is, Elite Dangerous is not noob friendly game, it looks beautiful and inmersing, but getting to know the mechanics, all the menus, all the UI that has no instructions, like Port services, availability of modules and ships, factions and conditions met for missions with each, rescue missions that require specific equipment to be done, etc. comes with a poopoo ton of reading on social media and help from other players, like an insane amount of it, you get bullied by other players, and getting credits is very slow, even an understandable visual Key map is available on Reddit... ¿cant the game show its own Key Mapping without having to resort to Social Media? there is a big difference on you telling us poopooty newbs "the possibilities" of the game, instead of the "this is what have to do now and how...".

You know nothing John Snow.

There is a manual to look at (directly from the menu albeit that it does require an update). You have tutorials, both the starter one and a whole host of in game ones. The codex too. Granted that not every little thing is given to you on a plate but the game can only hold your hand for so long.

Stay in the noob area for a bit, hone your skills then move out once you are ready.

Also, never fly without rebuy.
 
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