As much as all the Cool New Stuff is nice, it’s getting really frustrating that the devs refuse to slow down and fix any old systems, they’re just throwing new stuff on top of a broken foundation and it’s getting more and more clunky. From basic quality of life stuff like being able to turn off the useless auto-Pin feature that literally only ever hinders getting things done, to desperately needed bugfixes (I haven’t been able to rely on any base or freighter based refiners since they were introduced b/c they delete their contents regularly), to dozens and dozens of visual errors with bases and ships, it’s all just building up into a constant frustration. It’s like Factorio’s most recent friday facts (# 374) said – doing that kind of underlying foundation repair and QOL gives more mental space to enjoy New Stuff, and NMS’s refusal to do so keeps me, and I imagine others, returning for new features and almost instantly leaving again. What’s the fun of a new race when fundamental issues with the character customization haven’t been fixed in the entire time it’s existed (like the presets being useless because they only save to the save game they’re made on). What’s the fun of the new inventory setup when half the things you can put in the technology slots are broken/useless/not worth the space and have been since they were introduced? etc etc.

Honestly, I’ve played Facebook “City Sim” games with more depth and interactivity.

They bring literally nothing to the table except a time and resource sink with no real return or fun.

Nothing you build can be interacted with or do anything unique, except the “Starports” which require you to pay materials to build a roof, but then just turn out to be a single “Alternative” landing pad that random ships can land on, and have no roof in sight

Nothing you build creates related items that can be harvested, or sold. Markets are completely empty and don’t house traders. The hazard control building is literally just an empty 1×1 box that doesn’t do anything or cause your settlement to act differently if their are hazards. Every building is filled with storage items and nothing else. No unique living quarters.

All the buildings are literally just made from the players base building kit and are incredibly uninspired and pop up with no structure or thought to pathways and lane flow. Citizens just amble around doing absolutely nothing except looking at data pads, hovering 4 feet above the places they try to sit, and have the least inspired Sims style mood indicators that also cant be changed or interacted with and have no actual meaningful purpose.

The output materials your base generate are randomized, un-customizable, and have nothing to do with the building you build or the citizens you hire and they accrue incredibly slowly at rates that make worthless for selling or building.

My base has a Jelly Donut Farm as a status modifier. Is there a farm? No. Is there a restaurant? No. Is there a chef npc somewhere I can talk to to buy donuts from? No. Does it switch Settlement production rewards to donuts for me to sell or eat? No.

Settlements are ugly, hollow, shells that sit around and wait for arbitrary decisions that cost you both resources and hours of your life as it can take up to 4 hours per tier of a building to complete, with each building having 3 tiers. 12 entire IRL hours and decent amounts of resources to build a landing pad that isn’t even a unique asset, that I can plop down in 6 seconds in base building mode for like 25 pure ferrite.

It feels so under-baked, it’s basically raw.

But thanks for the base building overhaul I guess… even though its incredibly buggy now, it was a semi-thoughtful overhaul but still left the base building at “Pretty much pointless after a certain progression and lacking decorative assets.