Crowdfunded games are a bit of a different case from regular pre-ordering anyway. They're usually stuff that won't exist unless the fans fund it, and you still have to go in with the understanding that the thing you're paying for might suck, or might not even ever actually get finished.
Coming in late to this party (heard about it, but didn't really note it until now). I've got to admit, that in spite of the negative press... I'm strongly considering picking this up right now. The idea of the relative calm and such pick up for a bit to just chill strikes me as intriguing. It's certainly - as things are - angled toward exploration and I'm good with that. Probably gonna watch a bit more let's plays to get a feel for it a bit more. Seems that there might be a breadcrumbed expansion of the universe as a whole. I'm certainly down with that.
I'm not saying I can't feel the pull towards light.. I mean Minecraft-esque sandboxing with ships and all. Just, the points stated are a cause for concern - if it's open sandbox then you at least need to be able to do things in and with the world given. If it is almost solely exploration then it's really not my cup of tea.
Watching the promotional trailers, etc. it's disappointing how much was inexplicably left out. As much as I want to believe that some of those features will be added in as patched content, I wouldn't count on it (just to be realistic). That being said, I've logged about 50 hours on the PC and what's here has been captivating. That feeling of slowly improving my gear and touching down on a new planet to roll the dice and see what the game has to offer has kept me hooked. Even this many hours in there are planets, vistas, animals, etc. that make me stop and go "cool" or capture my imagination. I'm also enjoying the lore they've created for each alien race (though it's presented in bite-sized walls of text and not as part of any sort of immediate plot). The actual systems in place are grindy and repetitive. The simulation leaves a lot to your imagination that was supposed to be in the game (planets rotating on their axis, planets orbiting their sun, animals interacting with one another and their environment, meaningful alien factions and reputations). It's frustrating because with such a vast universe and so many parts in play it feels like this should all add up to more. But they're not moving parts. When it's just me, the planet, and the flora/fauna this is the best Spaceman Spiff simulator I'll likely ever play. When I walk into my 100th "outpost" to chat up my 100th alien just standing there, it feels like a lifeless theme park. If you don't have Calvin's imagination, and/or you're looking for more game in your game then I'd recommend a pass.
This is something I did on my own, galaxy generator where each star and planet and moon is created with realistic orbits and orbital distances to each other and with the body temperature dependent on it's distance to mother star(s) and their luminosity (energy output). If the star system had a binary or trinary star then the stars themselves revolved each other accurately. It took me something like 3 months to create, working full time and alone. So for me it's frustrating to see a big funded group fail to do something like it. But then in general it is frustrating to see other people get paid 5-10x what I get paid, doing things that I can do but sort of leaving them half way and being praised. Yes, I'm bitter and jealous as hell! And I'm never going to publish anything for other people to criticize. My adult solution is to drink vodka and snipe from the bushes. I'll criticize people who actually put stuff out there and keep hinting at Something Larger Than Life that I will never reveal what it is. I'm fairly certain that I will reach the end of my life with the same certainty as other people who take more "mature" approach to life.
Yikes. Well on the plus side anybody that wants to play it will be able to pick it up in the Fall Steam Sale in a few weeks for a fiver.
So now that we've established how NMS failed in execution, can we move on? No disrespect to everyone here, but I feel like we are getting into dead horse territory past this point. Go post more over here: http://www.theskjaldborg.com/index....-we-doing-and-how-are-we-getting-there.11260/ Hugs and kisses.
Must honor the Skjaldborg tradition of dead horse beating if multiplayer ever gets going and more actual content added. will most likely buy when it goes on sale.
I have an idea. Instead of beating the dead horse I'll tie it up and have sex with it. You use logic, rationale and constructive ideas. Cease and desist at once. That said, I think it was a fricking good idea to actually go through the best and worst aspects of the game in full depth. Now that I'm better informed I'll know to consider picking it up when it hits that sweet 5€ price range, aka "I got plenty even if I only play it for 20 hours if I enjoy those 20 hours". This discussion saved me 55€. I would have been really, really pissed off if I had paid the full sum to see that the stuff everyone was so hyped about was gone. That doesn't mean that someone who kept their feet on the ground through it all and love the exploration aspect can't be enjoying themselves. I was under the impression that there was so much else besides exploration - that it was kind of like Minecraft but on many planets and that I could build my own outposts, factories and take part in interstellar warfare. It's not out of the ordinary that people react to being lied to and that smirky douchey fucker pecker face I'm one of the biggest douches in the history of video games but at least I laughed on my way to the bank Now, eventually people will get that resentment and anger vented out and things will cool down to a trench warfare level where it's mostly quiet except for the random meme barrage every now and then Then eventually even the memes will fade and become less frequent... around the same time as the last red dwarfs are dimming out.
