David of Broadway wrote

Me me me (I live near but outside the zones on a NR line).

And for me a paper one day travel card was better value and now I
have
a railcard, even better value.

I will admit that I have never been able to figure out ticketing
outside
the zones.

A paper ODTC is great if you'll be doing a lot of traveling once in
London, but what if you'll only be taking one or two trips?

For me just one tube round trip in zone one breaks even, so in fact my
local station no longer offers a combined train+tube Day Return off
peak.

Rail only Cheap Day Return 6.30 GBP, Combined Rail-ODTC 9.30 GBP

If you fit one of the Railcard categories 1/3 off so
CDR 4.20 Rail-ODTC 6.20

If I also take a bus or visit zone 2 (my favorite second hand book
place, Fantasy Centre, 157 Holloway Road) I am even better off compared
with the Oyster Z12 cap of 4.60

--
Mike D