A week or so ago I started getting a 404 when I clicked on the first of the voting icons.  Now I am getting it on the first two icons.

(Apex Web Gaming, the second icon, is the site that brought me to AG.)

Is anyone else getting this problem? 

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

It is good to know where I have some misconceptions.  Both the game and the players in it are proving to be more interesting than I expected.  This is my first attempt at this type of online game.

I think I will stay around for a while.

[Phrasing it as I did was unintentionally arrogant. I apologise to everyone who was offended by it.]

Hey, Guys,

Don't worry, I don't carry grudges, especially when it says on the cover page that conflict is inevitable.  While my intention is to be peaceable, I will attack if I have been attacked.  Most of the contacts I have had in the game have been friendly, and I believe that there is respect and the beginning of several friendships there.  I often find that to be an important part of enjoying a game. 

I would like to correct what I said at the beginning about taking membership benefits being like an athlete taking steroids.  That was wrong of me, because it probably criticises a lot of people based on my own personal belief, which only applies to me.  It is not a strategy that would benefit my personal game playing pleasure, however I see nothing wrong in anyone else joining a corp as part of their personal strategy, and they should do it if that is how they enjoy playing.  Phrasing it as I did was unintentionally arrogant.  I apologise to everyone who was offended by it.

Your responses in this thread have been even more educational than the advice threads.  I have a much better idea of what the game is about, and some of your motives too.  This will be a great help in the game.

@ SirEmi
I feel that if you put your post in this thread on your front page, or even on a linked page, you will get more people trying the game out. 

Fly safe, Captains.
Garville Chance

[so why are the big corps still here?]

I have been playing for a couple of months now.

I think newbie status has gone, now that I have been attacked by two of the biggest corps in the game.  Not that I am bothered.  I joined the game expecting to take a few bruises as I learn the ropes.

Thanks for the offers from various corps, but I want to see what I can attain without help.  I believe that a game should taken for what it is.  Too much help at the beginning is like an athlete taking steroids.

Thanks also to those who have freely offered tips on how to progress, both to me directly, and through the guidance here in the forum.

One questions I have:  there are many recommendations to get far away from Sol, so why are the big corps still here?

Will I stick it out?

I don't know.  It is slow going to get anywhere, and once you have become the top player, what is left to achieve?  Indeed, what is the value of being top player?  Is the top player the one with the most power, most money, the most planets, or the most friends?  Or is it something else?

My ambition is to find something that hasn't been done yet, and be the first to do it.  I look forward to meeting you all in the game.

Fly safe, captains.