Imagine an alternate reailty where the original launch went well and all the promised features were in the game on day 1

I can’t shake the feeling that No Man’s Sky would still be a very polarizing game. No Man’s Sky was supposed to be a very lonely experience and everything seemed designed to make it clear to player that they were alone in this massive universe.

People at the time said they wanted the multiplayer that was promised, but when you actually look at what Sean had in mind, I’m really not sure that many would have enjoyed it even if was in the game on day 1

In a 2014 gameinformer interview Sean described a multiplayer that was influenced by the 2012 game Journey. In the same interview he specifically ruled out having players run around on planets together like Destiny and he wanted players to communicate with each other by leaving little messages on planets.

It’s clear that Sean originally wanted a very limited multiplayer that still kept the player feeling isolated and, I dont think a lot of people who preordered the game would have ever been happy with something like that. Base building was also not part of the original plan nor do I think Sean would have felt as much pressure add it had original launch went well. In fact, I don’t even think foundation update would have ever happened had the launch for no man sky been good at the start

The backlash from the original launch of No Man Sky had a profound impact on both Sean Murray and hello games. We cannot overstate the effect that those events had when it came to turning No Man Sky into the game that now is today

First allow me to give you some brief background. I have been a gamer for longer than I’d like to admit. Let just say that I played Atari when it first came out, lol. I didn’t connect with any online communities until the Playstation 3 came along. I have also played on PC primarily once I was old enough and employed enough to buy my first gaming rig.

I have participated in some MMO games, I have moderated forums and I had my own forum and website at one time.

I got away from all that because I found that forums, message boards, social media groups etcetera.. can be extremely toxic and full of malevolent people.

I have a thick skin but I’m also a human with a heart. It can be difficult at times to shake off some of the things people do and say. So, I unplugged and went back to hermit mode game play.

Then one day I saw an advertisement for a game in development – No Man’s Sky. I followed the title for approximately 2 years before it released. I liked the sound of it. They originally designed it to have a very minimalistic multi player feature. You could possibly run into other players but we couldn’t interact. Well, that was just my speed.

Of course multiplayer has drastically evolved since then and that’s awesome for those who enjoy the full experience.

I still choose to keep “Public Multi player” turned off but I’m thrilled I am able to invite trusted friends to explore with me.

2016- No Man’s Sky hits the shelves. I bought two copies, PC & Playstation.

People had their tantrums and also legitimate complaints. I continued to play as I was 80% certain that the developers would restructure the game to accommodate the player base more. I am glad that came to fruition.

Recently, I decided to give some NMS Reddit communities a try. I have interacted with players via YouTube for quite a while and found the NMS players to be very helpful, welcoming and over all a friendly bunch.

I have not been disappointed with my Reddit NMS experience thus far. Yes, there’s plenty of dirt bags but that’s par for the course with any public community but overall, The No Man’s Sky Community as I said already, has proven to be primarily full of awesome, like minded people who have a passion to share their knowledge, creations and anything else the love about the game. I didn’t think an online community of this quality existed anywhere.

I’m very pleased I was proven wrong by many of you. Thank you to the good people for being you and forgive me at times for being me. Outside of the online environment I’m actually an easy going, friendly person. Online….well, sometimes my battle scars show. I treat good people very well. I treat dirt bags like dirt bags. I think there are times I should probably keep my comments to myself when responding to hecklers/trolls but it’s in my DNA to stand up for myself, my loved ones and friends.

It’s a positive attribute that certainly has some negative aspects to it as well. The trick is, I need to find a balance regarding that.

Anyway, enough said. Thanks again NMS travelers. ❤️ P. Wyatt