I've tried it several times through the years wanting to like it because it sounds like something I'd enjoy, but it just never sinks its teeth in.

And that's okay. Not every game has to be made for me. I love that people love it and that the developers have worked so hard to deliver on everything they promised and more. I don't enjoy the game but I'm so glad it exists for those who do.

I love NMS, but it is shallow for the most part. Just like pure vanilla minecraft is shallow.

In earlier versions the sun was a part of the skybox rather an object within the gameworld, so it couldn't actually be visited, which you can now do with this new update. Haven't tried it myself, but from what i have heard it takes somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes to get there (probably depending on how upgraded the impulse drive, this games equivalent of supercruise, is) from the systems hyperspace exit. Should drop you out of impulse at a certain distance, planets and other points of interest do that too. Getting too close deals constant damage to your ship.

ED stands for Erectile Dysfunction haha

Strange. I've always wanted to send other people into it

I agree and it was the same comments on the hacker news article about the release too. Most people dont like a sandbox with no progression system, and specially when you can feel that the world is just different colors and different animal skins but otherwise the same.

Beautiful game but feels boring, and I guess it's the lack of progression system and that everything feels like the same.

I definently need some constant goals set by the game to feel happy.

It is fairly shallow, yes, but it's also open ended so you can set your own goals. It's also pretty good for creative types, with building bases and ships and such. I have some 700h in it but spread over a few dozen saves, played during updates over the years, and very few go past the 30h mark. I also haven't touched some gameplay elements so there's that. But it's a great game in shorter batches.

I bought the game when it first came out. I didn't really buy into the hype, so I wasn't disappointed at launch. Fucked around for like 20 or 30 hours, then never picked it up again.

Is it finally time?

Yeah, thats a bit revisionist? I will always be mad what a fucking liar Sean Murray was pre-release. There is just no dancing around that fact. He also wasnt some suit from the publisher. He is credited as a programmer on the game at wikipedia(you know boots on the ground good guy). Almost every promise he uttered was broken. He was on the fucking Conan late night show and educated us on how hard they had it(and on top lied about every single feature the game would have).

And yeah, they redeemed themselves. But i have to say that 10 years later i still regret my purchase. I revisited the game every other year or so after several bombastic update trailers. I'm still not impressed or even entertained. Also they got rid of the only thing i ever really liked at release: the artstyle. Which makes me even more angry. Fuck this game. I should get a hold on myself. I should let it go after 10 years of free update. But seriosly fuck this game and fuck Sean Murray.

I got it at launch and I love it, but it is not a game I am trying to finish, rather a place a visit now and then.

When they run an expedition it's got a good set of quests to follow and usually accelerated progress from the rewards. There's a new one with this update, not sure if it's live yet.

I played it before as a grinding game but you can easily play it as a casual game. There's not really a defined playstyle for nms.

The missions from what I remember give you enough guidance on how to play. You essentially use your explorer tools (scanner, mining tool, combat weapons) to gather resources and explore the universe. Missions are there to guide you and give you things to do but you could just ignore most of them lol.

There's aspects that are geared towards grinding like exotic ships, mine construction, sector economy, etc. but they don't matter for casual players.

There is a plot you can follow, but it's not exactly a game known for its memorable plot. Like many other survival crafting games, the "what" you're supposed to do is kind of up to you and your own creativity. It's not for everyone, certainly.