I heard people mentioning that a ship exchange scam is finally over.

I was told once by a traveller that people call me an NPC in NMS, don’t know what that means but that is who I am right now. I’ve forgotten my real name years ago.

I travelled the universe trying to make a living. I’ve done some really bad deeds to be able to provide for my family. Killed wildlife, smuggled goods, destroyed natural resources, colonized planets without managing them and many more that I dare not to mention. After all that I’ve done, I’ve decided to put everything on a Hauler. Brought my family with me and lived life through sweet and sour.

One day, a traveller came to me at a station, offered me a really good deal for my hauler. A trade in for his S class ship plus some extra money and in total it will be an amount that will set me up for life. I accepted under the interstellar guidelines and rules. Money was deposited into my E-Wallet. One second later, I saw the traveller putting my dear Hauler into recycling. All those memories, all those adventures, were all gone in a second. That traveller was a destroyer of ships and a destroyer of dreams. I swallowed my pain and tried to ignore his actions since he already paid me.

After that, I saw him coming back to me and somehow hacked into MY SHIP (the one that he owned before), got access into it and threw me out. I was left with NOTHING. And before I say anything, he flew away, leaving me and my family on that station without shelter, no money, and no way of going to a planet to get my life back together.

The station’s security were not joking, they told me that I need to leave. I explained, no one cared. After an hour, they threw my kid into space were I saw him explode into thousands of pieces and they told me that me and my wife are next if I don’t solve this.

I went into the station’s lobby, and saw a GEK named Snoopy Doggo. He looked rich and had something in his mouth that spreads some kind of aroma in the air that’s makes everyone around him vulnerable. I begged him to help me. He agreed on the terms that I give up everything I ever cherish for this. I accepted and he sent me to some dark alleys behind the station. I lost my honor and saw my wife do disgusting things thinking we will be out of this soon. The monsters took turns on both of us. I saw the money piling up in Doggo’s pockets, I thought I will get paid. That never happened. Even at this moment, I am still being used as a slave. A kind master accepted to let me use this device to spread my message before he spreads my “message”. There are thousands of us here in the alleys and no one is getting paid. WE ARE SLAVES FOREVER. I asked the others and it was the same traveller who did this to all of us. Some also were scammed by travellers using something called “steam” to gain access into our galaxy. Life will never be the same again but I am glad that we will not see more brothers and sister enter the dark alleys after the recent news. Intertellar E-crime can’t let this go by after all those missing entities’ claims. I hope that one day they will find us. Help us. NMS NPC, out.

Firstly I just want to make it clear I am *not* accusing Hello Games of any devious intent here, I consider them absolutely one of the good guys of the gaming industry with the level of support they have given the game over the years!

However…. there is something about this game that I just cannot put my finger on. I will mindlessly grind for hours on end achieving absolutely nothing, feel angry with myself about it (to the extent I have deleted the game multiple times) then go back for more the very next day.

It’s like I have the desire to find the perfect ship, but then there is nothing to do with it other than the few random encounters that are the same wherever you might encounter them. Or I will look for the perfect Capital ship and accumulate a fleet of 30 living frigates only to then send them on missions to retrieve a trivial amount of resources that I didn’t need in the first place. Or I will system jump for hours at a time looking for a perfect planet, convincing myself that it’s not a waste of time because I can also check the Space Station for multitools while I am at it (see, killing 2 birds with 1 stone, totally not a waste of time!).

Seriously I don’t want to sound like I am hating on the game, I think they have done a fantastic job – but something about it has triggered an extremely bitter-sweet response in me. Maybe I have some type of undiagnosed condition like OCD or something that this game taps into…

Anyone else feel the same way?