Man, mining fields become fucking crazy after a while. I hung out in one for about 30 mins and made a solid 50k. Not a whole lot, but a steady stream of 6-12k bounties. Even if you have "Report crimes against me" turned off, it's an insane battle between Wanted and System Security. It's easier to spot them, too, compared to Nav beacon, where the giant sun makes it hard to see laser being fired.
To everyone unsure about checking it out: I'm not familiar with flight sims at all (never used a joystick before, really) but I didn't have much trouble picking up ED's controls. Now I can dock pretty easily. It takes maybe a day or two to get used to it--I feel really comfortable now, and I mostly played this weekend. I was stoned half the time, too (p.s. flying around space at night with no one else around you is kind of terrifying). Zero crashed ships!
Not everything is directly told to you, but they have an amazing user manual that explains everything as in-depth as it needs to be, as well as their future plans.
The videos make it look complicated, but a lot of the more complicated stuff is procedure that is learned by repetition/getting used to it: requesting permission, checking on all nearby contacts, power modules, etc. I watched some vids, played the tutorials, and jumped into Solo mode for my first day. I think you have to have an appreciation for that kind of procedure ("micro management" if you want to call it, but that has a negative connotation). I think it's a part of the experience.
I think HOTAS is required--can't imagine playing without it. Control pad is one step below, and the mouse is probably after. HOTAS really makes it click, though, IMO.
