Lemon_Curry: I would greatly appreciate it though if you (or someone else) would be so kind as to comment on the amount of in-game bugs that necessitate constant research, awareness and readjustment of play style.
I'm not sure if I'm the right person to ask, since this is one of my favorite series, so I may be more than a bit biased :). I'll try to be objective though.
First off, if you're worried about bugs and hidden issues, as a newcomer, you should stick to the most recent revision of the X3 series: X3:AP. They've fixed and redesigned a lot of the pending issues and problematic systems from the previous X3 games in X3:AP. Even if you want to play the X3:TC campaign, which is more extensive than what X3:AP has to offer, there's an X3:AP mod that allows you to do just that.
In term of bugs, there still are quite a few present even in X3:AP, but if you ask me they're mostly minor annoyances. The most annoying ones to me, as a dedicated fan of the series, are some graphical glitches that have never been fixed, but they don't really affect the gameplay.
In a game as complex as X3 there are bound to be some occasional glitches in the ship's navigation system (autopilot) that may send you crashing into other ships or glancing an asteroid and being blown to bits (you or other ships you own), but they're not that common. As with any game, saving often, especially when confronted with impending danger (such as a pirate raid, or navigating through an asteroid-rich system) is an unwritten golden rule.
In short, expect some frustration in the beginning, when you're still getting the hang of the game, but once you overcome that, especially if you're into space sims with 4X flavors, you're going to enjoy the game immensely.
The upside is that you'll have plenty of people in the forums willing to help you out and discuss any issues you run across or doubts you may have, myself included.
