Commanding 101 for newbies

This guide is intended for newbies who have just downloaded the game, maybe flown in a few games, gotten podded (blown up) a bunch of times and perhaps have gotten tired of some guy yelling in bold chat all game long telling them what to do. Maybe you are thinking: "I want the commander's seat, I want the bold power too!". Well you have come to the right place. I'll give you some basic openings (yes, like chess) that will help you avoid crippling your team's chances at winning right from the get go.

First things first. Do your homework beforehand. Pick a faction you have some experience with. Do they have refineries?, can their miners rip?, what are the particular perks and nerfs of the faction? You can find the answers to these questions by pressing F1 and navigating to the appropriate faction. Having knowledge about your faction (and your opponents) will help you decide on what to research and how aggressively you might want to expand.

Next, look at the game settings. Do they look normal? What does normal look like? Here are some settings you want to pay special attention to:

game type: conquest starting money:? total money:? map connectivity:?

What map are you going to play on? Is it a big map with many sectors? How many pilots do you have at your disposal? Who is your opponent? Are they new like you or are you severely outmatched? How about your team compared to theirs?

Alright, enough questions, let's go to some answers:

Your faction is: Bios GT IC Dreg TF Giga Belters Rix OH