Elite: Dangerous

[Tamas]

There are nice Youtube videos for the game I am sure somebody has covered this as well, I'd try to take a look.

[Pedrito]

The amount of content that's been added since the last time I played is staggering: mining, landings, completely revamped exploration, 

I'm flying in a Viper Mk IV that I found in my inventory (probably gifted by the developers) that I pimped up a bit, and I'm trying to accumulate some monies to buy and properly fit at least a Diamondback Explorer for, duh, exploration, or a hauler of some kind for trading.

Have you ever tried PowerPlay?

Oh, and my name is CMDR AB Normal, if you want to chat some time.

L.

[Tamas]

I haven't really tried Powerplay yet.

Make sure you are concentrating on missions, and try to "settle down" in a system for a while. As your reputation with a particular faction in there increases you'll get much, much better payouts, as you'll be able to get missions above your rank. Often (at least the non-combat ones) aren't really dangerous, they just pay heck of a lot more. Don't make my mistake: usually when they want you to carry something somewhere you need to pick the cargo up via the mission interface after accepting.

The Viper is a combat ship but I've found combat missions to be a bad payout unless you really enjoy combat (which I only moderately do). Try getting a trade ship if you don't, and work on delivery missions. The Hauler is nice.

The way I do it, I always look for missions and don't try to trade without them BUT often the delivery missions (whether you are asked to take something or to bring back) reveal nice trade routes. So if I am jumping somewhere to deliver a mission cargo I load up with bought stuff as well to sell there. Before you do sell it though, check the local mission board, somebody might be looking for it.

Speaking of jumping around a lot: not sure if you know, but "D" designation equipment are the lightest. If you want to fight you can't really afford to have such brittle stuff but otherwise jumping as far as possible will make your life much easier.

[Pedrito]

Don't make my mistake: usually when they want you to carry something somewhere you need to pick the cargo up via the mission interface after accepting.

Sometimes I still do the same mistake 

I must say that the game has become way more fun than when it was released. At the time, it felt like it was half-baked, and almost completely devoid of content; now, after the Horizons and Beyond DLCs, there are a lot of things to do (although still very open-ended and loose), and it's become easier to make money to get the bigger ships.

In three or four days of trade missions, I've upgraded from the lowly Viper to a Type-6 trasporter, that opened up rather lucrative trade routes and missions (even if sometimes I forget to account the commodites' weight and have to take a longer route, but with shorter jumps)(and, THE main gripe about the game: how's it impossible to have a interplanetary market info in-game, but one has to go on external sites to know which trade route has financial sense).

I tried the "evacuate station under Thargoid attack" missions, and they are really fun and give a rather real sense of danger, plus are good money - about 10K credits per evacuated person, consider a properly fitted Type-6 can load up to 100 persons per trip -, and your major power reputation gets up pretty fast.
In some more days of trading (blessed are the imperial slaves: a cargo of 63 units netted me more than 3 millions Cr  )i've made enough money to buy an ASP Explorer; i've fitted it for core mining, and in the next days I'll be out following the void opal craze: there's a pristine icy ring just two systems away...

L.

[Tamas]

I've found mining a bit annoying but I can certainly see the appeal for others. Loitering and seeking in those rings can be quite atmospheric.

I haven't tried the evacuation missions yet, will do so once I return to the game.

[Pedrito]

There's a weekly thread on reddit with info on recent thargoid attacks, and what to do to help.
Various roles are needed: evacuation ships, stocked with economy-class passenger cabins; traders to bring in materials for the reconstruction, and obv. Fighters for combat.
Given the recent resurgence in thargoid attacks, I'm sure that this kind of missions will be available for several weeks more.

I'm trying opal mining because it seems that everyone except me is becoming filthy rich in hours, and who am I to not try to become virtually filthy rich?

L.