As you start to browse this forum you will come across some pretty energetic views about one ship being better the another. A never-ending series of arguments are made that some ship is "competitive" or not, OP or not, and so forth. Keep in mind that these are opinions not facts, based on what the author enjoys, which may not be what you enjoy. There is no point shelling out money for what somebody declares "the best ship" if you don't find it to be fun. I watched the firestorm that arose when the Odyssey was released, and the arguments comparing it against the Carrack for number of gameplay loops, ability to make money per hours, and so forth. To me, none of that mattered. I'm not interested in making money in a game (I spend long hours every day making money in real life.) I'm looking to SC for my own little "Firefly" fantasy, a boat to head out away from everybody and visit visually amazing places, ideally unpopulated ones. I have a fighter for times I wanna get my PVP fangs out, but I'm guessing that 95% of my time in SC will be chasing some alien sunset, or crawling through a shipwreck splattered across a mountainside. So for me, a flying garage with a self-filling gas tank may not be the most versatile ship for my real-life dollars, but it is the ship I want. So if I can offer any advice, I'd say read the debates on this forum but don't let yourself get sucked into the endless waves of drama. Just have fun. Dabble into different gameplay loops with loaner ships, or with friends and orgmates, and take your time. Expect game crashes and "lost time" - it is a certainty for a while. Keep in mind that everything, and I mean EVERYthing, is not only subject to change, but is almost CERTAIN to change, repeatedly, before this game ever goes live. Just have fun, and welcome to the verse.