I have been through the game in nearly all of its permutations for a regular 4 years since launch. Participated in Waking Titan, in theorycrafting, all of it. Still use my day 1 save nearly all the time. I welcomed every new feature with open arms. The expeditions – chef’s kiss. Various features like derelict freighters and changes to base building – great. This patch, from a lore perspective – amazing! The customization and combat features – excellent! Hell, I even got a kick out of some stuff I missed, like the settlements.

But over time, every instance of my return to the game has been less lengthy until I began outright skipping more and more patches (been almost 2 years until I returned to this one) as the one thing I wanted to see in patch notes was nowhere to be seen.

Planet generation and exploration, at present, feel formulaic and sterile.

I don’t even have to visit a cold planet to know what it looks like. it’s the exact same every time with a difference in tree density. I barely have to visit a lush planet as they are mostly recycled between themselves and every single one has superheated storms. With very little difference, I am seeing the exact same generation and planets I have been seeing since around NEXT came out. The very same building blocks. They do not feel like planets, they feel like biomes. Animals are great to ride and befriend, but wild animals behave and look the exact same as in launch – chaotic.

I want to sink my teeth deep into developing my character, my journey, my fleet, my base and my empire. Hell, even finally commit to a galaxy center permadeath run. But what is the point if the exploration feels dead and if I feel like I’ve traversed every single planet a dozen times before? What was supposed to be the main attraction of the game and the expectation of millions of permutations has been, as of now, completely abandoned for the sake of easier introduction of new features in predictable worlds.

So I ask – can Hello Games crown all the great features they introduced over the years with an actual planet and animal generation overhaul? Can they truly give us long term explorers some new wonders to gaze in this endless universe? Can they, at last, provide the universe the depth that matches its width, even at the cost of a universe reset?

I believe they can and I hope they will.

I just ordered a used copy of NMS so I can finally have a game to play with friends and family.

I was excited for NMS since it was announced and then because of the bad launch, I didn’t pay any attention to it afterwards. My friend has been bugging me for years to get the game and then eventually I moved somewhere where I couldn’t play games online for a few years, so once again I didn’t pay any attention to it.

With internet once again, I’ve been wanting a game I could get my friend and brother to play, I tried to get them to play Overwatch or ARK but neither of them cared enough to get involved. My friend kept bringing up NMS, so I started bringing it up to my brother because I knew he would love it, we both love space, both loved Minecraft, both loved the idea of ARK, exploring, etc.

After weeks of bothering my brother he bought it at full price and loves it, now he started bothering me about getting it, and after seeing the synth update and watching trailers…I had to buy it.

I cannot wait to have a game to spend time playing with my favorite people, exploring and building and whatever else. Looking at a few posts in this sub and I’m in awe of what’s possible. This might become my favorite game ever (speaking too soon, I know) and I have to give a kudos to Hello Games, the work that has been done with a small team is outlandish in today’s market, I wanna give them all a kiss, chlamydia for everyone!

But seriously, I’m waiting for my package like a little kid waiting for Christmas, I can’t begin to explain how happy I am to finally have a game that gets my friends and family involved.

I’m sorry, but I had to selfishly express myself, I would love to read your stories of your NMS experiences!