I made ME want to reinstall it!

Ooh, mine's already installed! Glee!

I'll have to start playing it tomorrow. Still a week 'til my job starts >.<

So X3 is actually more a space combat simulator rather than a game like Space Rangers 2/Star Control 2 ??

Did you ever play Elite? X3 is like a dramatic extension of Elite where you have a big open world, a hundred credits, an empty cargo bay and a universe to explore. It is set up as a space flight sim but if you don't mind ignoring the story, you can play a hell of a long time just from the space docks commanding your AI ships (when you can afford one)

For X3, do you need to have played X2 to understand the story?

I recall understanding all I needed to from the manual. This is just personal opinion, but it's not really about the story anyway. As evidenced by the fact that there is one story mode and four sandbox modes.

I adored X2, excellent open world and I loved the supply and demand economic system. That said the different standards for AI and player run factories were annoying as well as the oodles of sci-fi cliches (I swear I find one more sci-fi universe with anything that is not an element or Greek letter and is named after elements and/or Greek letters, there will be a few more dead writers in the world).

I've always wanted X3 but could never find a copy in stores. I swear, come hell or high water, I WILL aquire a copy this year.

Funny, just reinstalled this a few nights ago. I felt that X3 was easier combat wise than X2. Once you learn how to navigate the menus and the little nuances that make the game easier you become addicted.

I wasn't thrilled with it, either, but maybe I should take a look at the mod and give it another go around. I keep forgetting that a lot of games gain quality and life through the efforts of the mod community.

Edit: the more I look, the better this series ( X ) sounds. Is it worth visiting the games in order, or sufficient to just jump into X2 or X3?

You can jump straight into X3... actually, I recommend it. Every X game is exactly like the previous game + new ships, new ship types and many new sectors to explore. It also doesn't really have a point to play X3, you should go straight for Terran Conflict (same graphics as X3, with a load of new ships and new sectors added, the universe is just immense at this point).
Once you start playing, you will understand why the storymode is not important. Missions are a nice diversion from your freelancing and moneymaking, not the other way around ;)

Damn, now I want to play it too. But I'm worried how addictive the game gets after first few hours of play :-/ It's one of the games where I don't mind waiting for hours and hours to finish something, since there's always something to do in between . It's sitting right here on my hard disk for a few months now, oh the temptation :D

edit: also, I love the soundtrack :) Those New Age tunes in the background, while you're enjoying an acrobatic cruise around the outer construction of a giant space station... I miss that game! :)
Seriously, it's a very unique game, considering how the current gaming scene is. You can feel the love the developers put into it, as if they were ignoring all the conventions to make a game exactly like they want :)

I just bought the two X3-games from Impulse about 30 minutes ago. While the money have been drawn from my account I've got no games in my games-list, no confirmation e-mail and the order doesn't show up in "past orders".
Is this normal?
Doesn't seem normal to me.. :P

It has happened to me. I have Impulse because of Etherlords 2 and have bought Demigod (Playing a big walking castle is fun.) and Metal Brigade Tactics, both on a sale and it took a while before Impulse acknowledged I had bought them.

Remember you bought something on Impulse and Impulse suck.

I did not enjoy X3 Gold. It might be rewarding if you play long enough to build up a mighty enterprise. But the way to get there was too boring for me. Building your space stations is a pain in the ass, thanks to the uncomfortable build editor. Giving orders to your fellow ships is a pain in the ass. The random battles with space bandits got too difficult for me. They scale with your combat level and are just a little too tough for me too enjoy the fight. There no such thing as farming some low level space pirates. No when you level your combat level up and get new equipment, they just sent more powerfull ships at you. This destroys all feeling of achievement at all. The exploring thing is just boring. Space is the same everywhere. The same types of space stations are reused over and over again. You can't land on planets. You can't walk on your space stations. It was a very disapointing experience for me. For fans and people who get excited over excel tabs, x3 would be paradise. But for me it was just a waste of money and time.

Have a nice weekend