That is what they mean when they say "immersion". If you take the game on its own terms, and you can ignore the little "Do this!" messages in the corner of the screen, this game can suck you in.

I think another reason I enjoy this game is because of my favorite band, The Sword. They have an album called "Warp Riders" which has the same weird surreal sci fi theme NMS is going for. Even the artwork looks similar.

Heard it was down to 1000 active players on steam. It has to be a lot less on gog judging by the forum posts.

I'm due to pick it up tomorrow (from GOG obviously!). I've seen a few let's plays on it (maybe 4 or 5 hours worth) but mostly as background while i've been doing other things, so not paid too much attention.

I can 100% guarantee i will not be asking for a refund once i have it! :) I pretty much know what the game is (a fantastic walking simulator at it's current state) and have zero problem with that. I obviously know about all the hatred and outrage around the game, but also know much of it is not about things that particularly concern what i'm looking for in (any) game.

Mods can fix some things that are currently unfinished/not fully fleshed out, and the patches seem to keep coming (even if in a slightly confused manner).

So i aim/hope to play the unmodded game for a good few hours, then look to see what mods i can add to create a better game experience for me, then look to add/tweak some of those for the fine tuning i might prefer. After that i will see about making mods myself, based on my overall experience and what i feel the game is lacking for my preferred game play style.

While all that is going on i hope Hello Games carry on supporting the game, i feel it is certainly a good enough base to build on, and despite the online campaign to destroy the reputation of the game (and devs), it could be made into all time classic, an essential game (especially with the modding potential).

I always laugh at this `70s` thing the game is supposed to have. It doesn`t seem at all `70s to me. For a start you had lots of sexy futuristic women in them who didn`t care. :)

Ah, good days.

@ Laurie and Cryogen4000: I'm nearing my forties and can perfectly relate - I've grown up with C64 and 486DX-2 50 MHz 4 MB RAM (and Amiga 500/NES at friends') :D We have indeed come a far way! If you really want to have several jaw-drops in a row, give "Dreamfall: Chapters" a try - don't know if that's your cup of tea but I could never have imagined that an adventure-like game could even remotely look as good!!! I could post screenshots if you like.

I still respect NMS' milestone in procedural generation and seamless gameplay experience knowing that this is a very different challenge from being able to flesh-out a static level to the tiniest bits in excruciating detail.

Jeff Minter quite likes it to, and wrote some words about that:

http://minotaurproject.co.uk/blog/?p=380

I saw this thread and thought, "oh, finally the whiners went to sleep for a minute and maybe I will meet some people who actually enjoy NMS."

Couple posts in, I read on about how Skyrim etc sucks. Insert your favourite facepalm.jpg here.

It`s not even the fact that post-release of NMS I often thought how similar the baseless hate it receives is just like the nonsensical and ignorant anti-TES/Fallout crap. Up until NMS was released I don`t think there was another game more misunderstood design-wise and fashionably hated on than Bethesda`s series (choose your pick, apart of course from the sacred cow that is Morrowind). So, one of the most complex and TRULY open worlds out there sucks because rain falls through solid matter? Okay, I rest my case (and no, I`m not interested in you telling me your hundred other lame reasons. Been there, done that. Y`all still miss the point by a country mile...just like all these poor sods bleating on that NMS sucks because console port and everything is boring. By the way, no, nothing in Skyrim looks "the same" unless you want it to.)

So while the above is rather annoying and depressing in equal measure, it`s just another confirmation in how godawful gaming community has became over the years. I don`t know, maybe it`s the internet`s fault and back in the day it would be the same if we had access to interwebs. Or would it? Would people really endlessly bitch and whine about games they because it`s trendy, based mostly on watching few videos to confirm their bias and on what some other people are saying?

There`s many genres/styles that I don`t particularly like or enjoy in gaming but I try to understand them and least show some respect: they`re not for me, it`s okay. Unless they`re some real evil turds crippled by corporate meddling - Mass Effect 2 or LA Noire springs to mind - I`ll leave them alone. But it seems majority of people these days just slag off first, think later. Or not at all.

This is why after NMS fiasco I completely abandoned the forum world and game websites because I`m sick of this crap. I miss reading about games and discussing them a bit, sure, but seeing how standards went to a cesspit level recently, not that much.

And since then, I really enjoy my games much more. It was a mistake checking on this subforum, won`t happen again for a long, long while.

:) I miss the old "Dear PCGamer" letters.

A bit like this: "Dear PCGamer. I recently acquired a computer game where one assumes the role of a faceless, mute and in terms of movement and combat ability physically challenged adventurer. As I explore the endless wastes of brown sand in this adventurer's lumbering pace, I meet any amount of creatures and people that, presumably shocked to panic by the player's horrid and monstrous appearance, will attempt to end my existence without as much as offering a warning to stay away. Sometimes I defend myself and crush my foes and feast on their remains. If I run away, they pursue me and stab me in the back, until I fall over and bleed to death in a gurgle of bloody carnage, the last words being heard by my unfortunately monstrous adventurer is my foe's merciless insults, until I am rescued from this denigrating horror by the prompt to reload my game or quit. I frequently choose the latter in such situations after composing myself and having wiped my tears from my disfigured face. Dear PCGamer, what am I doing wrong, I only wish to be accepted by the other inhabitants in this terrible wasteland. Is there no hope for lumbering, mute and monstrous adventurers in this post-apocalyptic hellish nightmare? Is the remnants of humankind lost forever in this world, through the rise of the eventually lethal obsession with appearances and first impressions? Is there no way to break this terrible cycle of violence?

Sincerely yours,
Sensitivemutant

Dear Sensitivemutant. It is indeed a struggle to overcome prejudice in the post-apocalyptical wastes. Although making one's best effort, a mutant may in a weak moment happen to fall victim to fits of violent rage, and so decend into murderous rages resulting in carnivorous serial cannibalism, of no fault of their own. And as such is met with unfair hostility by the overly prejudiced inhabitants of the wasteland. I believe therefore that the solution to your predicament is that you will need an image-change. Many post-apocalyptical companies can assist with such an effort for fairly cheap amounts of currency. But allow me to suggest the following: try to speak in clear language and full sentences. Many books may be found at the most unexpected places, and these contain valuable tutoring in the arts of conversation and speech that would make Demostenes envy your erudite soliloquies. Attempt to engage inanimate objects at first, and then carefully advance to living creatures gradually. And if you in spite of your best effort is still robbed of your life by the desensitivised brutes of the wasteland, do not give up hope - eventually you will succeed at engaging another in conversation. Might I also suggest acquiring a classy buttoned shirt and a hat. As well as attempt to practice to smile confidently while eagerly offering a hand to your would-be conversationalist partner. Which I have observed quite often will make even the most threatening carnivorous demon seem like a trustworthy and friendly individual.

Do not give up, Sensitivemutant, and carry your monstrous and lumbering appearance with an air of friendliness, self-confidence and hope. Until humanity is restored and will thrive in the wasteland once more."

I waited until the game had been on the XBox for a week. I heard all the hype & all the complaints. I saw a whole lot of videos on youtube. I thought about what sort of game I liked and didn't like to play. NMS appeared to be my sort of game.

In the last 20 years of gaming I have played many different types of adventure games, role-playing, FPS, simulation, strategy etc & have spent many hours on Rust & Skyrim and I recently enjoyed playing a free survival game called Stranded II.

I decided I liked games that are single player, adventure, open world with a bit of action when I decide to initiate it. I prefer a game with an objective but getting to that objective is really what it is all about. I like to keep playing a game that takes ages to reach the finale. I still haven't completed Skyrim after playing it for 12 months. Rust had a good concept but I hated the multiplayer part because every time I came back to the game after being gone for a couple of days all my gear was gone or destroyed. Some others will say they have to have multiplayer but I decided that I get that already with my wife & kids. No Man's Sky is a break from all that multiplayer in the rest of the house.

It appeared that this game might fit what I was after. I bought it on GOG a couple of hours before PC pre-order closed. Got it with the extra DLC for $45 and now it has gone up to $47.39 . Thankfully that was a week after the XBox release so that I knew what I was buying into. Now I play NMS every night for 2-3 hours.

I enjoy looking at the scenery & I don't mind the repetitive grind to get the achievements. After over a 100 hours of play I still haven't completed finding all the animals on 10 planets (level 6 for animals). My stats for walking are over 700,000 as it is the only way to find that last animal. Nor have I made enough warps either (level 4 for warps). And I've only got 5 Atlas stones. I have been spending just too much time enjoying myself walking, exploring planets and looking at the view either on a planet or in space.

Sure, it is repetitive but then most games require repetitive actions to level up or reach an objective. I don't care if the game has a few flaws as long as it is still playable. If a game can suck me in for this long then it has repeatability. That is something most other games lack. How many games have you played & never gone back to again? There is something about this game that makes me want to keep playing it.

I've played other games that take ages to finish. NMS is turning out to be one of those games that I keep coming back to. Why? Maybe I just want to see what comes up on the next planet or in the next solar system. Maybe I might get to the center but if I don't there appears to be a whole heap of other things to explore and to see.

So if you hate the damn game so much, what are you still doing here? Go play Elite. You can't seem to quit posting about it.

Ohh getting to you am I? Keep sticking your head in the sand. I`m waiting for my refund, once that`s happened i`m outta here, nob. And I`m having great fun on Elite by the way.

I hope to try Elite Dangerous sometime, especially the VR aspect (hopefully with HOTAS)!
However, I just dipped into NMS after a week or so. Didn't have time to play long. The atmosphere still amazes me. It can be a good 'ambient game' contrary to Sean's protestations.
I dunno if I'd call it 70s specifically, but it does evoke some of those sci-fi paperback cover paintings - the ones with eerie space or planet vistas and not women. (Though it's a bit annoying that even all the aliens seem to be 'male' in the game.)

I am hoping HG can gradually add more gameplay and structure to this game, but we'll see. I think it can get boring or frustrating to play continuously - maybe it's better when you dip into it once in a while. Not sure.
Strangely enough, I'm waiting for a big discount on Elite Dangerous before getting it, even though I dropped a ridiculous amount of money on NMS... might be a subconscious indie support thing.

I'm sorry your opinion's soured so much, looking at your posts from the beginning of the month. Maybe see you in Elite some day.

114 on steam 2 days ago
Currently sitting at 163 with 1134 people playing.
(17:15 europe, 8:15 pacific, 11:15 east coast)

Doubt this game has any future with either mods or updates.
Reminds me of hellgate london. Anyone remember that?

I managed to waste $150 for a founders pack on that. Didn't learn much did I.

If you get Elite dangerous, get it with Horizons as you`ll get the full experience and can land on planets.
Indeed, I was a fanboy at first and even made this avatar picture myself for the game, so yea, i`ve been through it, did it and gradually realised that this game is really just nothing designed as a game. I`m more annoyed at myself for falling for it really. It`s pointless as nothing you do actually stays. £40 for this? No.

Got my refund, so i`m out.