I am currently in a fairly extensive exploration expedition and get to sell my bio data whenever I get within 1000 ly of a carier. (1000 is the magic number for me)
This time I had for 4 billions worth (incl bonus). I haven’t sold any cartographic data yet as I’m saving it for someone who mayne can use it for bgs when I get back
Although there is a lot of lore in this game, there is no story. You make your own story. You will experience a lot of stuff and learn even more.
My main advice would be not to rush it. Just have fun and play the game. The game won’t help you much. It has a short tutorial but it mostly feels like learning to swim in the titanics swimming pool.
If you can, find a small group of players to join. It’s always nicer to share your experiences and finds with others. Also they will help you a lot with what needs helping with.
Lastly, you’ll be spending a lot of time on YouTube and third party wiki pages learning about this game. . Writing this, I realise that it’s not a game for everyone. It can take up a lot of your time but I also feel that it is such a huge game with so much to experience