39yo from London. I've had the game for only 2 weeks, but I was a big fan of the previous Elite games.
I'm really enjoying it, and the open world hasn't been bothering me (met a few people who saluted me, 1 that killed me), and the ability to switch to solo or private makes this the most player-friendly multiplayer game I have ever played. However I've pretty much just been playing by myself so far.
I'm really looking forward to teaming up with people and getting some wing missions done, and whatever else there is to do. I've progressed fairly fast (Tycoon), but there's still a lot I don't understand about the game that I would prefer to learn by doing.
All the best.