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?

Sorry to those accustomed to Normal who’ve had to make some expectation adjustments, but you have to be realistic. This expedition is not a permadeath.

The distinction between Survival and Perma is that in the latter, you literally lose everything. Not just the rewards; the entire save. The whole point therefore is to give a one-shot sense of realism that raises the stakes of an otherwise fairly easy (once you have the hang of it) game.

This isn’t the case in this expedition. Not even close. It’s more like going back to a save point, only even better for keeping certain progress, and actually progressing you further.

For actual permadeath players, this carries none of the risk or consequence of an actual permadeath save.

Also worth highlighting that this gameplay decision isn’t arbitrary: based on The Last Campfire, Hello Games include on occasion a deeper thinking as to the philosophy, to show players different points of view. Here possibly something like the “inevitability of death”.

The fact that so many of you are getting pissy about the dying part indicates they were probably justified in this as a beneficial writ large lesson–while it still also being just a game. That they even called it permadeath when it’s really a survival seems to give this theory some credence.

Another benefit, is the kind of enjoyment you’ll get out of the game after finishing an expedition like this. Like you’ve gone from Mordor back to Hobbiton.

These guys are high-concept developers who know what they’re doing. Trust in the game, and, seriously, stop with these fucking complaint posts. It’s not an actual permadeath.