People had not BOUGHT the game, they had backed it. Sure, when they bought the game on GOG they could get a refund, from GOG, and GOG gave some people refunds.

Has nothing to do with stealing from people though. They did the best they could and delivered the game they could given the time they had to deliver it. Claiming they stole anything is just stupid, people paid for the game willingly.

Not sure what "better and more honest" developers you are referring to... only ones I can think of is pretty much CDPR. All the big studios otherwise are not exactly "better and more honest". Point and case, being how the game now does have all the features promised for the game. People who believed it would be in the initial release... well, I consider that pretty gullible for a game to have all of that in a game developed by a small team in two years.,

They took Pre-orders for a full game. If they were honest about where they were up to, people could have cancelled their pre-orders. they lied, So its stealing, full stop. So anyone who is up front about still being In-development is more honest. So what if people were gullible, that makes fraud ok, your morals are outstanding.
And pointing out others are arses too is like kinda admitting I'm right.

It ought to be pretty clear that they had every intention of releasing a game with everything they had "promised". People constantly interviewed them and demanded information and anything that was said about the game was considered a reveal, even though it had been somewhat dragged out of them.

People preordered, and what they got was a game still in development. It had gotten several of the features promised though and they continued to develop on the game and work on the promised features. Eventually delivering much more than they had promised.

That there are then still people who are salty about it even today, I find pretty petty. They could have decided to just be millionaires and leave the game in the state it was at release. That is not what they did though, and if you read up on their history you will find that they invested and pretty much gambled their livelyhood on this. They handled the PR badly, but its not that it was lies. Unlike f.ex. Peter Molyneux, the lofty promises were something they did end up delivering on. The game is now worth much more than the 60 dollars people paid back in the day, yet they are still often selling it at 50% off.

If someone tells you they have this thing and you can buy it and have it ina week or two and then only give you that thing 5 years later its a lie. You wouldnt except this buying an phone or a computer or anything really, so why a game. you like the game, go play it, but telling people to not be angry with a fundemental wrong.

I am not telling people to not be angry... but its now been more than 5 years. So... seems like a good time to maybe stop being angry. Why waste your time being angry at this point? They made a great game... if you refuse playing it, then you are the one missing out. Stop wasting your time on petty feelings.

But also, the ones who did pre-order, they were not actually promised those features officially. As I pointed out, its interviewers that demanded answers of the lead developers and he gave some answers about his ideas and plans, but nothing about whether it would be in the game on release.

So what people where angry about, is the game not living up to overly hyped up expectations for the game. Fact is the game was released and was playable. It lacked features, but the features did end up being added to the game at no extra cost... which would have been the case if this was done by EA or pretty much any of the AAA developers.

There is a good documentary on YouTube detailing the NO MAN'S SKY release and the many corporate demands of Murray and company... along with Murray's missteps...

While I can understand a certain level of disappointment and resentment, IMO the continued vitriol and unwillingness to accept / proclaim the efforts by Murray and co. to fix their mess borders on... well... childishness.

If the devs would have taken the money and run (and there are many devs who have done that very thing to less rabid vitriol), I'd 100% understand... but that didn't happen. In fact, at this time NO MAN'S SKY has instituted (as far as I can tell) all of the claims and goals made during development.

People make mistakes. I certainly have... and expect you have as well. Murray and company made one... realized the mistake... and ultimately made it right.

Now, I am willing to forgive a mistake based on the "character" shown in how Murray and co. dealt with their mistake... and reserve any long-standing anger should this happen again. Personally, I think they've learned their lesson and won't revisit the same mistake. And I chose to forgive them due to their hard work to make things right.