Although the advice is to look through as many scopes as possible and make up your own mind, I have found that you really need to shoot a few comps with a scope to work out if it really does what you want.

The problem is that what I like in a scope isnt what the next person does, I dont like high mag, busy rets, bells and whisles, I dont like big scopes that upset rifle balance....So I shoot on 6 or 7x mag and 32mm objective with a simple mildot ret. Many would hate using my scope, regardless of 'glass quality'. Also really subtle things rule out a scope for me, some of which are hard to describe. I tend to like Hawkes, they work for me.
I hate MTC's. But thats JUST me.

My advice is.....buy a mildot 3-9x40 for 40 to 80 squids to get started. Sell it when you have a good idea of what you want to replace it with, or keep as a backup.