dapprman wrote:Hi all and thank you for letting me in.
New player (a few weeks now) who was directed here (and Facebook) by an existing member who I was at university with many many moons ago (and still keep in very vague touch with on FB). Have already proven I'm no combat jock, can't even complete the basic combat training .... TBH I see exploration as my probable end goal anyhow. Did play Eve off and on for many years, and avoided PVP over there, if I'm going to fight other players then it's just in WoWS and WoWP (both Euro servers).
A big part of combat flying is learning to die.
Sounds grim, eh?
In fact, if you lose your fear of dying, you relax more when you engage and lose that worry in the back of your mind. And, when you do get torn to shreds, it's much easier to shrug it off, rebuy your crap and get back into it without fussing over what you might have done better.
Elite has a steep learning curve and there are lots of "<whatever goal> quick!" schemes around. But the bottom line is, if you wanna get
good at something - flying, fighting, whatever - you just gotta keep doing it. And with combat, that process includes learning how to die.
The training tutorials are (in my humble opinion) really not worth the time. They'll teach you to fly like an NPC in a generic ship. As you move through the game, you'll learn your own tricks and preferences when it comes to how and what you prefer to fly. And that'll change over time, too.
Play how you want, honestly, but my advice would be to take your time, ask lots of questions, find some good folks to wing up with (it's far more fun with a gang of like-minded people) and let the game take you where it wants. Exploration is one kind of end-game, just as PvP is. The chances are, as time goes on, you'll end up with a mixture of stuff you like doing depending on your mood.
Anyway. Welcome to the boards. Don't expect to get good at this overnight: Elite is a demanding mistress, but one worth getting to know over time.
Safe flying o7