[member="The Cosmic Debris"]
I know it can be very overwhelming trying to wrap your head around it all--this place basically creates its own canon, and there's a lot to take in. I myself have only been here a short while, and I know what you mean when you say "majorly impressed." This place is vast and amazing. I started with the timeline and then some of the tutorials/guides which will help you to understand how this forum works--mechanics such as ship and tech creation may be new concepts--they were for me. After that, take a look through the factions section--that too will give you a better understanding of what's actually going on here. And have an extra tab open for the map while you're doing it.
And, it may be a little unorthodox, but I stand by my previous citations of [member=Darth Vornskr]'s bio as what basically equates to the Hitchhiker's Guide to Chaos. Besides being very, very pretty, it will provide you with a convenient window into the history of the RP, which is really good to know. It can be found here:
http://starwarsrp.net/topic/307-darth-vornskr/
Hope it's not copyrighted....Kaine, please don't sue me!