In my native language just the first word gets capitalized in a title. I don't think anyone ever explained to me why English capitalizes (almost) every word.
Long time since I played, but still... welcome Commander o7
There is no campaign. There is (I assume this is still the case) some background story developing (via in game news articles) There are/were community goals which are a at least couple of days long missions basically that essentially give the community options to branch this background story in a way (depending on if the goal succeeds or fails). Sometimes they used to do two goals at once that may work against each other even. Not quite sure how they manage it now, but I'm pretty sure they made it more dynamic with Thargoids (aliens) fucking shit up.
Mostly it's make your own fun kind of game.
There is multiplayer, I assume people still play in Open play. But people also can play Solo. The chatter you see is mostly NPCs, players will have "CMDR" before their names and have hollow (or is it solid? Again, long time :D) icons on radar. It's a big galaxy so might be a a while until you meet other players, unless you go to popular places.
Mouse will give you better control of the ship (or so was the consensus) but I found it infinitely more enjoyable with a joystick or at least a gamepad. HOTAS will give you ultimate immersion - and immersion is I think Elite's strongest suit.
Pros: you have a weekend when other people don't. So wherever you want to go, there will likely be less people there (thoug do account for morning and evening workday traffic). Some places you may need to go to may be closed on weekends, but you won't face this issue.
Cons: you have weekend when other people don't... If you want to do something with other people, you will likely be limited to evenings.
It's nice if you have a close person who can have similar week schedule like you, or if you just want to do stuff by yourself. I did use work like that (though I didn't have fixed days) and it had its perks for sure. Split days off may be manageable sometimes, but it is a terrible idea longterm. Might work forbyou, we are all different - but I'd advise against it. Go for it sometimes if you need to change shifts with someone (especially if you could get a 3 day "weekend" out of it), but I'd advise against having it fixed like that.
I guess it's about how you see quality. There are many products that are mass produced but if something is handmade, people see value in it to this day.
When or if AI will reach the point you describe... there will be still something special behind a performance done by a living flesh and blood person.
AI may have its place, but I don't think it should be the be all end all
My view is that the dog became an undead, but breaks the "undead are terrifying and dangerous" trope by being a good boi. Love between dog and its human is eternal.
I thought the sanctions have no effect and don't matter? Which is it?