Hi all,
Just thought I would share my experience of how I got started on Ogame.
I started by reading the Ogame help forums. They can be a little difficult to navigate but they do contain all the info you need to understand the different elements of the game.
Once you have this understanding it will greatly depend on your style of gameplay as to what happens next.
For instance I don't do too much attacking as I am trying to get well establish first. I favour setting up many colonies and funnelling Res to whichever colony needs them the most. This also means you don't make any enemies.
I built enough defences to deter the smaller threats - and generally when your starting out you wont have enough Res to interest the bigger players.
However, you WILL get attacked so don't be discouraged if you do lose those hard earned Res you been saving and saving to build/research your next item. If you logon and see an attack coming spend all the Res on defences or send them away to another colony. (Sometimes sending the atacker a message that you have spent all the Res can stop an attack. Be nice when doing this by the way!)
I am just now starting to build a couple of small fleets and doing regular raids. I have a number of colonies with Mines: M20 C20 D16. I plan to grow my raiding fleets bigger and bigger whilst developing my main colony mining operations.
If you choose the other route of attacking everyone, just remember to research your target first. Get an idea of when they are on by checking the stats and also looking for an (iI) on the galaxy screen.
Use espionage probes to check their colony defences before you attack!
Also, make sure your target isn't part of a really big Alliance - chances are his friends will attack you. If you get on a big alliance hit list you will struggle.
Thats a brief overview anyway - hope it helps!