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[Haly]

Not really on my radar and I'm in the "what do you do in this game" camp but I'm interested in how it turns out. It seems like one of those games that promises big dreams but eventually fail to deliver, or people realize these dreams are kind of boring. The Spore comparisons are apt.

I've tried exploring in Elite, it's dull
EVE? Eh, aside from the occasional PVP encounter living in wormhole/null-space was dull too
Not a fan of survival games like DayZ either, and it seems like there's some of that on the planets

 

[More_Badass]

I still have no idea what the point of the game is. I've been watching gameplay videos, reading interviews, and asking fans on NeoGAF and Reddit, but I still have no idea what the point is. Everybody keeps saying things like "the information is out there" and "they've explained the objective a million times," but they never explain what the objective is. They just say things like "we don't want to put the game in a box because you can do so many things," and it sounds so shady.

Simple. Get to the center of the galaxy, by whatever means suit you. And between the start and that, it's arcadey Elite. Be a fighter, trader, pirate, etc.

 

[Shanlei91]

I'm going to rent it just so I can get the answer to the burning question, what do you do.

I honestly am interested but also think it looks boring. So trying it out without buying is the most logical choice.

 

[OmegaDL50]

Hasn't Minecraft just become the highest sold game of all time?

It's pretty obvious the industry exists on games that can be completed and thrown away, but there's a lot of people who will buy games that don't end like Minecraft and MMOs.

Starbound is the closest similar reference I can make to No Man's Sky, excluding the home and base building aspects.

Starbound has the same concept in it's gameplay loop. You are stuck on a planet, you need to upgrade your ship (get a hyperdrive), explore the planet you start on and gather stuff, make things out of this stuff to be able to travel to harder / more difficult planets that contain higher level / more valuable resources than the last one.

Were people confused about the Gameplay Loop of Starbound, Where people confused about the gameplay loop of Minecraft? Why is there an exception to No Man's Sky.

Do you not see how ridiculous this is.

 

[What did he mean by this?]

I give No Man's Fuck about it.

But the forced drama about "What do you do in it?" is always worth a laugh to read. It seems needlessly hostile for a reason I can't comprehend. No Man's forcing you to pre-order, so just wait and see?

 

[The Argus]

Excited. Preordered the LE on Amazon day one, and have been pumped since the announcement.

I like a slow game. I found The Forest and Don't Starve as relaxing as they were intense. I think people are expecting way more from this than such a small team could do. You explore. You have basic combat. You admire the sunset(s).

 

[Tigress]

"Procedurally generated" is what turns me off from being hyped for this.

I love freedom and exploration in video games - on the condition that it's something that has been handcrafted by someone. Stumbling upon a little cave in fallout or skyrim, an abandoned building or small town with its own self contained story is not only memorable but gives you the feeling that one of the developers had you in mind when you discovered that location/item/whatever.

It's this human touch that drives excitement - what will I find over this mountain or underwater?

No Mans Sky seems to lack this. Everything and anything you find and discover will be a random combination of assets decided by a algorithm. The sense of exploration is thus akin to receiving a postcard from a robot. There's no emotion behind it. The space station with the NPCs you can interact with? Will be just like Doom's snap map most likely. Just a series of rooms put together randomly.

I just can't see excitement lasting beyond a weekend at most...

I like handcrafted. But I kinda feel opposite about you about procedural. To me he fact that the world is new to everyone and I am truly discovering an area is really exciting to me. More so than a handcrafted game where I know that some one made it for me and it is purposely interesting therefore it's no surprise it is interesting. Where as I find a truly interesting area in NMS it is a true discovery. And I don't mind if they are rare, that makes them that much cooler to find.

 

[ichtyander]

Every time I hear the gameplay loop described, it doesn't sound fun at all. And it doesn't help that it's always a giant wall of text when a few sentences should suffice.

I'd argue that maybe also a lot of rogue-lites and survival games have a very dull sounding gameplay loop (especially if you don't disclose the actual amount (and variations) of loot, enemies, locations and other gameplay systems), but I think the "giant wall of text" bit is absolutely the number one reason why so many people have trouble figuring out what this game is about.

If they'd shown a half an hour of an actual, unmoderated gameplay loop (with all the glitches and rough edges of an early access game, for example) showing absolutely all (or most) gameplay systems early on (they've started doing some of it much later in the dev cycle, especially in relation to the marketing push), it would've been a lot clearer to most people. I'm not actually saying they should have done that, as I'm kinda happy they didn't (although I might've preferred if they were these strange, esoteric devs with a cloud of mystery hanging over them), but if they did, it would help the marketing side of things. That's why I'm very interested in just how well it will sell despite all that, or will it really hurt its sales (but there won't really be a good way of knowing that for sure).

But yeah, for the folks that try to explain the game with long walls of text (including myself!), it doesn't have much of an effect (and I'm really not trying to insult anyone here, on any side of the argument).

No Man's Sky is a freeform first person single player survival/exploration rogue-lite space trading sim set in a procedurally generated universe (as in whole galaxies), with endless alien species to discover, battles to fight and money to earn, gather resources, upgrade your gear, suit and ship and discover the mystery of the center of the universe.

That's what you do.

How you do it... (which is what most people actually mean by saying "what do you do") well, that's something you can piece together by reading massive info repositories, watching some gameplay preview videos and make educated guesses, but because how info dumps and marketing's been handled, we'll really know the full breadth of the gameplay once the game comes out and there's been enough time to learn most emergent gameplay systems.

 

[E92 M3]

I apologise if my post came across like that.

I wasn't actually asking what you do. I have watched many videos on the game.

My reference towards not knowing what to do was aimed at the reveal, there was genuinely lots of confusion at the start, hence the amount of discussion, articles, questions etc. While for many people the curiosity kept them hooked and interested, for someone like myself that tends to go for simple and safe games, it was an instant turn off. I tend to go for games that "hold your hand".

Obviously at this stage I think it's been made pretty clear what this game is about, unless you've purposely avoided anything about it.

Anyway I won't post anymore, I've stated my opinion, and there's no need for me to keep posting it, as it won't be productive.

Like I said, it's not for everyone and that's perfectly fine. Games shouldn't be designed for everyone - that's when things become diluted. No Man's Sky captivated me from the very first reveal trailer, and held my interest since.

I think it's more that most people need more of a "purpose" for the games they play. Not a ton of handholding.

Like the game can just be fun to play and not have any real narrative--see Overwatch. But to a lot of people the gameplay they've shown doesn't look fun. A lot of people don't enjoy just exploring for exploring sake.

Others don't even like stuff like Overwatch and need a strong narrative reason to play through a game, and getting to the center of the galaxy isn't enough for them.

Unfortunately a lot of those types of people are posting "What's the point? What do you do? What's the appeal?" etc. instead of just accepting the game isn't for them. It's just gotten an odd amount of media attention and hype for what's a pretty niche genre indie game so more mainstream type gamers are aware of it and commenting on it than say Elite Dangerous and similar I guess.

For me, I just don't think it's my cup of tea as I've struggled to get into ED and I'm not really an explore virtual worlds kind of gamer. I'd rather play a multiplayer game or a narrative driven game in my limited gaming time. But I get the appeal of NMS (and ED) for people who love exploring.

Exactly, I think people just need to realize that maybe it's not for them and they don't need to "save" us from the "confusion." Fans know exactly what the game is.

 

[Radio]

This game needs to hurry up and come out before "what do you do?" is asked one too many times and posters start to have aneurysms.

 

[Kssio_Aug]

I think that people asking themselves "what to do" just won't like what it may offer. I mean... I am most certainly at this group, cause I expect to see more than what I saw or read in the gameplay videos.

I'd love this game to be a very intriguing experience. Where you could, let's say for example, enter in a cave of an undiscovered planet and deal with interesting aggressive creatures, as you go deeper to gather more resources in order to make a better ship or a better gear (kind of what happens in Terraria, with bosses and all). I'd love to encounter intelligent life forms in some planets, with weapons and such that may or may not act aggressive against you, and may or may not even have spaceships patrolling the planet and stuff.

But... I believe that would be expect too much. It probably is just a game to explore nice and slowly, trying to avoid killing living things so you don't call Sentinels out of nowhere to kill you. Explore, explore, explore, get some resources from plants, caves and whatever, go to the next planet, and keep on going. What is not a bad thing at all to be honest... but may not be what some are expecting it to be.

 

[MikeyB]

I love the concept of NMS and I love the "what do you do" questions.

For me, that the discussion even exists solves a whole bunch of issues. I know that tastes are subjective, but seeing them diverge so strongly on this is pretty amazing.

For me, Gears of War, couldn't give a fuck.
Same for every Call of Duty, Battlefield, Street Fighter, (almost) Mario, Zelda, Metal Gear Solid, and Elder Scrolls title. I find the Witcher 3's writing dull and SMTIV is grindy garbage. Burnout Paradise was a ruined game. Yet I love Far Cry 2 and Killzone: Shadowfall. I think Animal Crossing and House of the Dead Overkill are near perfect games.

While knowing that taste is subjective, with me being that far off base, I thought there was something wrong with me. But seeing that people cannot even grasp something that seems plainly obvious to others throws that angst away.

Where people stand on this and other games is irrelevant. Reviews are irrelevant. Pre-order justified.

Even better, it means I don't ever have to try the "what do you do" question again. If you're asking, it probably ain't for you. Probably.

 

[n0razi]

It's minecraft with good graphics.

So minecraft with shader mods?

 

[Thor Molecules]

The funniest part of the travel to the center thing is that it's not really the goal of the game. It was just added so people don't ask "What's the goal? What do you do?" but there is no real goal other than have fun within the limits of the game. I've always wanted a game that would let me dick around in a cool version of space and here it is.

 

[ranmafan]

I don't think it's releasing in Japan, so I won't be getting it I guess.

Actually it's releasing in Japan on August 25th. Here's an Amazon Japan listing with the Japanese box and cero logo.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01GRDP5IK/

There is even a special Amazon Japan preorder version too.
Also dengeki PlayStation has some event coming up I read where it will appear.

As for me I'm importing the special edition from the us. Don't want to wait for the Japanese release. I'm super excited for the game!

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

On the side of "some people should stop stroking out about this so much".

 

[Coffee Dog]

Anybody that says they dont know what you do is probably overthinking it.

People are not praising the shooting mechanics or exciting enemy engagements, they praise that there is combat. People are not saying the game is the best space pilot sim out there, but because in this infinite universe, you can fly a space ship. Not because it's an in depth trading sim filled with statistics and spreadsheets, but because you can trade.

The whole point of No Man's Sky isn't to do one thing well, it's to have literally infinite things done well enough. And the appeal of that, the endless theme park, is something that is universal.

 

[iconoclast]

I thought it looked like shit on day one. A game full of randomly generated content sounds like the most dreadful thing ever conceived.

 

[kyser73]

I'm standing on a digital pre-order and one for the physical LE.

Although I have no doubt this thread is the usual NMS thread shit show.

 

[BluFish]

It always seemed to be promising too much. Feel like we're gonna get Molyneux'ed.

 

[MikeyB]

I thought it looked like shit on day one. A game full of randomly generated content sounds like the most dreadful thing ever conceived.

Procedural isn't random.

It has worked for loot systems in lots of games, like Borderlands 2, the layout of levels in other games, like Diablo 2, the parameters of gameplay like Dwarf Fortress.

 

[Tigress]

Anybody that says they dont know what you do is probably overthinking it.

People are not praising the shooting mechanics or exciting enemy engagements, they praise that there is combat. People are not saying the game is the best space pilot sim out there, but because in this infinite universe, you can fly a space ship. Not because it's an in depth trading sim filled with statistics and spreadsheets, but because you can trade.

The whole point of No Man's Sky isn't to do one thing well, it's to have literally infinite things done well enough. And the appeal of that, the endless theme park, is something that is universal.

Yep. This is a big thing to me. I don't care that it doesn't do combat really well or that the crafting won't be super detailed or flying the ship won't be super complicated. Or that the dialogue is probably not going to be elaborate (I love at there is dialogue and that there is even a language learning mechanic). It's that it does allow me to do many different things. It's a sandbox that allows me to simulate being an explorer by allowing me to do many different things and in general it seems those are my favorite games. It's why the big appeal of Bethesda games are to me despite the combat not being great or even the crappy dialogue. I admit Bethesda could improve on a lot of things but the fact their game tries to do a lot of things (mediocrely) still makes them hella fun for me.

 

[MilkBeard]

"What do you do?"

"You play it, dummy!"

 

[Coffee Dog]

Procedural isn't random.

It has worked for loot systems in lots of games, like Borderlands 2, the layout of levels in other games, like Diablo 2, the parameters of gameplay like Dwarf Fortress.

Those games have structured objectives to base their procedural generation around.

Just one example: how are the gunfights going to work in this? With procedural weapons, enemies, and environments? With everything being procedural, and since this indie team isn't going to pull some Deepmind level AI out of their ass, how do you ensure that a combat encounter is fun, rather than the minecraft solution of "enemy runs at you" repeated ad nauseum?

 

[davepoobond]

I thought it looked like shit on day one. A game full of randomly generated content sounds like the most dreadful thing ever conceived.

do you think 2+2 is random, too?

 

[Thor Molecules]

I'm standing on a digital pre-order and one for the physical LE.

Although I have no doubt this thread is the usual NMS thread shit show.

Molyneux reference? ✔
Spore reference? ✔
"What do you do?" ✔
"Game is gonna be shit but I hope I'm wrong." ✔

 

[Brine]

From what they've shown it's pretty much impossible for it to disappoint me

 

[23qwerty]

From what they've shown it's pretty much impossible for it to disappoint me

Yup, looks like a slam dunk already. Day 1.

 

[E92 M3]

Molyneux reference? ✔
Spore reference? ✔
"What do you do?" ✔
"Game is gonna be shit but I hope I'm wrong." ✔

I'll save this for future use, because it happens every time without question.

 

[Manifest Destiny]

right here:

When did it become a PS4 exclusive?

 

[Krappadizzle]

MY excitement for it has died quite a bit. I won't be getting it day one like I thought I would have when it was shown.

If they announced VR support, I'd be there day 1, as there aren't enough content filled games for VR right now.

As it is, I'll wait and see.

 

[E92 M3]

When did it become a PS4 exclusive?

PC as well. And it's been like that for a while. In fact, I bought my PS4 for Bloodborne and NMS. Though now I play Destiny on it as well lol.

 

[Walpurgis]

My hype died like a year or two ago. I will probably buy it down the line when it goes down in price though.

 

[oneils]

Seems like there are different ways you can spend your time getting to the universe, but all of those things dont seem to be particularly well executed.

I'm a bit cautious and will probably wait for some reviews before deciding whether or not I'll buy it.

 

[Coffee Dog]

do you think 2+2 is random, too?

This is like arguing that a random number generator isn't random because a computer doing math is responsible.

As in, that's basically entirely semantics.

 

[Chaos2Frozen]

Quite excited for it.

 

[NightShift]

Cautiously optimistic. I have always been a big fan of games where the main objective is to just explore and doing it in an infinite universe just sounds crazy good. But since you seem to be bouncing between planets constantly, I hope there are enough assets to keep it fresh for a while.

My hopes are that I can go between ten planets in a row and not see anything even remotely similar. Then I will be happy.

 

[Vire]

FOR OR AGAINST?!

 

[IfAllElseFales]

I've been excited for it since day 1

 

[Resident4t.]

I'll wait for reviews. I enjoyed what I played of Elite Dangerous but I liked the slight simulator aspect of it. This game is apparently that joy of exploration but with arcadey flying? It seems less interesting to me so I'll wait and see what people think of the other parts of it.

 

[Listonosh]

Molyneux reference? ✔
Spore reference? ✔
"What do you do?" ✔
"Game is gonna be shit but I hope I'm wrong." ✔

This is fantastic ^_^

I knew it wouldn't appeal to everyone, but this thread certainly surprised me just how many people are against this game.

Oh well, back to cryosleep until August 9th!

 

[Lemondish]

No Man's Sky has been everything I have wanted from videogames since the moment I started playing them. It captured my attention early on and has not once let it go. I cannot wait to explore this.

The only way I can see this game being any better is if they decide to release a VR update down the line.

 

[drotahorror]

When did it become a PS4 exclusive?

Is it coming to other consoles? It says right there 'console exclusive'.



Not sure about NMS. It looks cool but the things you can do in the game don't look that fun to me. It sounded great and I was hype but the more I saw, the more I think it'll be like any other sandbox survival/exploration game. I think "The Solus Project" looks better. These survival/explore sandbox games interest me but they never can do any aspect well. Everything seems half baked.

 

[Darkgran]

I was excited at first but now I am just kinda whatever on it.

I will still get it, but I have a feeling come September no one will be talking about it and it will be a HUGE disappointment....

 

[ZoddGutts]

Wouldn't surprise if rpgcodex is right about this game.

 

[blame space]

I give No Man's Fuck about it.

damn this is hardcore

 

[E92 M3]

No Man's Sky has been everything I have wanted from videogames since the moment I started playing them. It captured my attention early on and has not once let it go. I cannot wait to explore this.

The only way I can see this game being any better is if they decide to release a VR update down the line.

Yeah, I've been saying that for a long time as well. It's my dream game.

 

[Ozium]

Wouldn't surprise if rpgcodex is right about this game.

what did they say?

 

[Darkgran]

1. The main goal of the game is to get to the center of the galaxy
2. In order to get there, you have to upgrade your ship.
3. In order to upgrade, you need resources
4. Resources can be found by visiting new planets
5. As you are exploring and gathering resources, sentinels, aliens and animals can attack you.

Is it clearer now?

Yes, there is combat so you can die, and your ship can get destroyed. But you can always get the "basic" ship for free...

Honestly this sounds boring...

 

[blame space]

WHERE DO YOU STAND ON VIDEO GAMES?? 😂

this game looks sick