There's a difference between being a jack of all trades and being able to craft a basic weapon and be able to use it.
As I said, you can easily gain a few levels on the beginning, also cash. From this cash you can buy a weapon. When reaching the proper requirements (the skillpoints you need to craft) then you're able to craft. Where's the problem?
unless you have 7-10 int you won't have enough skillpoints to craft by level 6, if you dont have points invested into barter or cha of 3 you can't buy weapons. Even if you can ammo is expensive and hard to come by. Unless your char can craft you can't really do anything unless you are hth.
If you have low IN and 1 CH... then you're monster-killer-build, and you don't need to craft.
My stats are CH=3 IN=8, science isn't tagged, and I don't have any problems with crafting.
Post your character sheet and i'll tell you why your comments are irrelevant.
Wow, and I thought I am a "whiner" Roachor, you're making it sound as if it is impossible to play the game in the moment. How comes that there are already alot of people running around with good weaponry, armor etc? And it's been already stated, that a laser pistol isn't really a "low tier" weapon, it's an energy weapon after all and they're meant to be hard to craft/ to get. So level 9 is a good start for it eh? You can also go for a other weapon in the beginning, or use the unarmed skill.
And I'm telling you that this is Massive Multiplayer game. If you choose to walk the walk as a loner, deal with the consequences. Of course it's easier in a group, that's the whole point about it. But it's also not impossible to survive for a lonely player, even without alts. Especially the first part of the game where you struggle for survival is the best part of the whole game for me.