Couple of quick questions from a new guy

[Gemini893]

As for interacting with the storyline, that where roleplaying comes in. The only way to interact with it is to become a part of it. If you want to have an impact on a large scale (as in affecting the plot of the game) you need to propose that to the dev team or join the dev team. Being a faction leader helps too.

Not entirely correct, there have been a few times when a handful of people RP'd something out and expected everyone else to accept it even though they weren't even invited into the RP. You might also recall how several Faction Leaders were rather miffed recently that they were not included in discussions that effected their factions in major ways.

That being said, become an active member of the forum and play your character(s) with realism in mind, not the whimsical "because I wanna" mentality that a number here seem to use, and get a feel for how things go. Don't be surprised if you lose some battles, we all do. You'll win some too.

As far as finding your way around, you can Google Freelancer Companion. It's a pretty nice program to use, especially when you have multiple monitors. I keep it open on my 2nd monitor and alt-tab to it, as needed, to find a jumphole or profitable cargo to take from whereever I've landed. (It seems to me that it's primarily a trader's tool.) It does display every base, jump hole, trade lane, and jump gate in the game and helps you plan routes. Mind you, there are times I ignore the "fastest" way in favor of what I think is the safest way. That kind of thing comes with time and experience.

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