This might be unpopular, but it feels like the “redemption” story around No Man’s Sky has become more of a cultural comfort narrative than an honest look at what happened.

Let’s be real — most of those updates were just delivering delayed promises, not generosity. The game we were originally sold was missing a lot of advertised features, and Hello Games never actually apologized for lying. On top of that, every update brings more bugs and half-fixed systems, and the community acts like free beta testers for Light No Fire, while still framing it all as “passion” and “commitment.”

It’s like Hello Games built a shoddy, unfinished building, declared it open anyway, and then decided to use it as a testing ground for their next building — and somehow it wins “Best Ongoing Building” every year.

So why do people keep buying into this narrative? Because it’s a comfortable story? Or is it somekind of parasocial relationship going on there?

NMS made 78 million in 2016, this can’t be compared to a failed AAA game or indies where devs walk away from financial failure, another emotional argument?

https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2016/09/30/august-2016-digital-sales-report-no-mans-sky-generated-78-million/)

According to the number of upvotes, it seems that their angst is a reflection of the game industry in general. Hello Games had indeed performed to expectations by not walking away, but does that warrant mythologising the redemption arc? Even when the state of the game is buggy?

  • TalkingFlower@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
    1·
    4 hours ago

    Doesn’t fit the promise made was not the argument; shoddily made, then being reframed into something else was the argument, nor was I expecting a “cinematic experience”. And no, I like Minecraft, MC is crystal clear about what it is trying to be: a building game first with an open world and survival element.

    I cannot say the same with NMS and its space tropes and exploration loop.

    • Aielman15@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      4 hours ago

      I like Minecraft, MC is crystal clear about what it is trying to be: a building game first with an open world and survival element.

      I cannot say the same with NMS and its space tropes and exploration loop.

      Sounds to me like you had different expectations and are saying that it’s somehow the game’s fault.

        • Aielman15@lemmy.worldEnglish
          5·
          3 hours ago

          Your argument is that the game doesn’t fit its “space tropes”, but somehow that’s not you having different expectations than what it was actually promised and delivered?

          • TalkingFlower@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
            1·
            3 hours ago

            I expect functional dogfights, not simulator like flight model, but something arcady in a space game with functional AI. How is that an unrealistic expectation?

            Let’s not even talk about a simulated universe of faction battles, which Sean even mentioned as being in the game.

            • Aielman15@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              3 hours ago

              I don’t know exactly what you mean with “functional dogfights […] with functional AI”, but from the looks of it, it’s there already:

              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djIOoTjayKs

              There are also different factions in the game that the player can interact with and gain/lose reputation. According to the wiki, entertaining relationships with the in-game factions net the following benefits:

              • Availability of certain blueprints to purchase.
              • Faction specific dialogue options.
              • Possibility to start missions, which require a minimum faction standing.
              • High standing will grant the player aid at times when under attack by pirates.
              • Discounts on technology modules in Space Stations.

              Maybe it’s not as in-depth as you (and I) wish it was, but it’s there already.

                • Aielman15@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  2·
                  3 hours ago

                  You can always press S to win.

                  Don’t do that? I recently replayed the remastered versions of the old PS1 Final Fantasy games, and they have built-in cheat codes (press left and right stick to turn on God mode). I didn’t do that and played the game normally.

                  Thanks for proving my point.

                  You are strangely confrontational for some reason. But anyway, my point was that the game is, and always has been, exploration first, and everything else is complementary to the main gameplay loop. You were setting your expectations up for some sort of grand RPG dogfight game that never was, and are now telling us that it’s HG’s fault.

                  • TalkingFlower@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
                    1·
                    2 hours ago

                    “Don’t do that?” I didn’t press S to win, they still circle around in an arc. And they can barely kill the player when he is not moving. Is that good dogfighting AI in a space game?

                    “You are strangely confrontational for some reason.” Because it is a common tactic for NMS fans to claim others have “different expectations”, which you have done twice already.

                    “exploration first” Precisely, Minecraft started as a building game, NMS started as an open-world sandbox, or is it an aesthetic planetarium? Does that mean expecting good dogfights is unwarranted? Would you please check their original promotional material on what they are selling?