I'd just like to point out to everyone buying these that there are several mods that are absolutely essential to play this game properly. Things like CAGS make setting up a trading empire 1000x easier and there are a load of other ones I can't remember any more but you really sghould check them out, it's like a bethesda game only even more needed.
Secondly, you cannot play this game without the wiki. It's not a game you just pick up and it is very deep with a big learning curve.
Thirdly, you can easily lose 200 hours into these games. They are what you make of them. You can't say if you like it or not till you play it. I guarantee you though that if you go into it with the mind that you won't like it, you probably won't. Few games can bring about that excitement of flying about in your tiny ship running away from colossal ships knowing that one day you will own one your self and it takes a lot of work too. it's not a set "play this game 20 hours and you'll reach top tier". you need to be able to capture one or gain the millions of credits. it's no easy feat but it is extremely rewarding.
:EDIT:
Going to get all my mods downloading for X3TC and I'll post a thread up perhaps detailing what to get and where to start perhaps.
If you want to get started your self you will find a list of many (not all) mods here. You will see they are vast and that is a sign of a loved game with a strong community. The new game comes out next year and it will be a big release I suspect.
http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=216690
Thanks very much
