Pretty annoying to hear they pulled this shit.

I don't like it either way but is it a core part of the game or a bit of side razzle dazzle and primarily cosmetic?

Would you say you can still enjoy the game without it?

Also was it something they added to the game with the shop update thingo or something they had before then locked it behind the shop after the fact? Once is substantially more asshole than the other.

Thanks for your time.

What on earth are you talking about?

There is NO DRM in the GOG version of NMS.

There are a lot more things locked behind the online-drm. But there are already enough treads here in the forum discussing this, and how some of them can be tackled. I already complained about that with customer support and after their answer, stopped buying stuff here...
Anyway there are enough nice games out there. I stopped playing NMS quite a while back and never missed it.

Like WTF.

You dont need any DRM for No Man's Sky.

Only if you want the multiplayer. Which is pointless because it sucks. Except they hid some content behind it, which also sucks.

But really the game is playable without ... at least last time I tried I found enough ways around to do fine.

All in all its a small company and a weird game.

Some ppl seem to think an online connection is the same as digital rights management and copy protection.

Needing an online connection to access content which in the process also verifies a legitimate version of a game I believe is the definition of drm.

It's the rights management part of digital rights management lol

Hasn't stopped me from getting it (on sale now) and just playing the offline stuff, might try some of the hacks later on down the track. I'd imagine considering you only need to be on galaxy to download the expeditions etc then play offline it really wouldn't be a huge deal to have an offline installer for them, but it seems like the completion of stuff is linked to an online function.

I imagine 90% of the game is still there to be played offline if not more and to be fair it's also free additional content added many years after release (bumpiness of release aside)

First of all, nothing about this is DRM.
Second, if the online components didn't exist, there would be no complaint. You can play the game without the online components as if they don't exist.
Third, no items/rewards etc. are "locked" behind DRM or online. (If you think they are, you don't know what you're doing.)
Fourth, having to be online to play multiplayer is not a form of DRM, it's the simple fact that you can't play online multiplayer without the online part.....which is optional.
Fifth, you are mistaken if you think anyone really cares if a whiney single player is refusing to play because of some ill perceived notion.

I hope you are doing OK bud :)

This is based on a different version of the game, from another store, since I am still wavering on buying a GoG copy as I already own this and it has never dropped below 50% off...

You buy the stuff with Quicksilver, which needs to have online featueres enabled to earn, but you can use a memory editor to boost your balance of Quicksilver while offline and buy the congtent without connecting.

My only "cheat" used in this game has been to dump a massive amount of Quicksilver in my account so I was able to buy the "online exclusive" stuff without actually playing online.