Dude I'm kinda weird. I like Souls games, Armored Core, strategy games like Ogre Battle, all kinds of action games, cartoony games like Okami. I go from grim dark to casual chucklecluckery.
Elite: Dangerous has a history as a series of being an in-depth simulation game. Most games back in the early years of "proto-gaming" were either simulations or proxies for what is close enough to the real thing. Still kinda is today, but people just want the fantastical feeling and narrative more than immersion, which is cool.
If you really liked games that really punish you for half-arsing your preparations, not taking a calculated risk, makes you manage weight, inventory, energy as part of your loadouts, and makes you consider the scope of your contract, then you might like Elite: Dangerous.
Casually, you are looking at purchasing cheaper smaller crafts and smaller missions that can be handled by an individual merc or a contract that is easily executed within a wing in a squadron. With the Odyssey expansion, you'll also occasionally come down planetside for a simple task with some hitches before you decide to rob the settlement blind, Skyrim style.
On the hardcore side, you'll specialize in many roles. Explorers are the solos who go out into the inky black of space scanning anything and everything there is to find in the galaxy. They are usually the first ones to report alien invasions or new ruins. You have mercs who get involved and messy with powerplay. Then you have our space truckers who putter about hauling money in and out of the stations. You can also look to the community led service of the Fuel Rats or Hull Seals if you are feeling generous to fly out and rescue people gassed out from extended exploration.
Hardcore players also tend to buy carriers and provide expanded economies to the local markets. They'll also taxi other players as it will help stimulate growth in the simulated colonies across the galaxy.
All in all, you're still a single pilot sitting in a single ship. This game is engaging when you want it to be, otherwise it's a great game to throw on podcasts in the background or enjoy discord calls with. Hell, I put together my own exploration playlist and when it's done, I park my ship nearby and call it a session.
My personal advice is to login on solo/private group play while you open up the engineer in Deciat for fsd engineering. Get yourself maybe a Cobra mk3 or stick your sidewinder until you get over 20 lightyears jump distance and then you should set your goal on a ship/manufacturing line (exploration vs combat vs hauler) that suits your tastes. After that you build up the fsd whether you look up a guide or blindly check out what the game has to offer through brokers and traders and other services. And never deny yourself a time to have some fun. Just remember to fly with a rebuy.
