I think a theres a big reluctancy from non-players to start playing because games with no "plot" or "campaign" make most them throw up their arms and say, "well, what's the point?" Also, most gamers nowadays are not willing to learn complicated controls of such a unique genre. These are the two biggest reasons I have personally come across when pushing the game on my friends.
What I think everyone forgets is that this is both a simulator AND a game. It just simply cannot be for everyone. Some people don't want to learn to fly a plane. Some people wont even learn to drive a car. Some peope have hangups about investing time learning a new skill. So it kind of makes sense you can't peddle the game easily when the game starts you off in the equivalent of a VTOL F-35. That's why the DLC starts you off on foot in a more gamer friendly/familiar scenario.
But its normal to drive a car. It's fun and freeing too. And it's very practical and rewarding; you would almost always tell someone it's worth learning to drive a car even if it's difficult, because the person who knows how to drive wants you to feel what they have felt. They know something you don't. Their skill has enabled them to experience life in a very different way: locales, ventures, whatever they want is theirs to find and there doesn't have to be an end goal to that. It's just a nice thing to have--it's a nice feeling to be free.
So if you're considering Elite, let this be your challenge to find out why we love it so much.
