ODE to No Man's Sky Fans (and Hello Games)

ODE TO THE TRUE NO MAN’S SKY FANS

… (and Happy 2nd Birthday, NMS!)

Here’s to all of US: TRUE No Man’s Sky Fans
we, who UNDERSTOOD the Vision for an Exploration-focused game concept;
we, who saw THE POTENTIAL, and dared to take the Pre-Order plunge;
we, who felt our DREAMS come true, when we watched the previews;
we, who waited, PATIENTLY, but with excited anticipation . . .
And we were all rewarded for our Patience.

2016: 9th August..

Worldwide Launch – No Man’s Sky Day
++ Day Zero (8/8/16) Update v1.0.3
++ patches roughly every 2 weeks, based on our feedback!

Here’s to all of US: TRUE No Man’s Sky Fans
we, who held on to Hello Games’s Word, that all they pledged would come, in time;
we, who kept our nerve, when all around us were the angry cries of
– the over-expectant: believing they were OVER-hyped, venting angrily to hide their embarrassment;
– the unappreciative: looking for reasons to hate No Man’s Sky, rather than enjoying what we had;
– the unsatisfied: like the trigger-happy PvP griefer kiddies, with nobody else’s fun to spoil;
And -we- all stayed Loyal, to the Dream and the Devs who birthed it…


There was all the FUSS: CRUEL, No Man’s Sky Flamers
they, who jumped on the “Refund” bandwagon, claiming purposeful “false advertising”,
… while we kept our faith (and the game), seeing beyond the erroneous statements of an introvert;
they, who, sadly, know no patience (spoiled in today’s environment of immediate gratification),
… while we, as a community, enhanced our games with MODding, experimenting & sharing;
they, who clubbed together in child-like, salty tantrums to “down-rate” a reasonable game,
… while we continued to post videos, pix, & share Good experiences, to prove its worth;
they, whose bitter, pessimistic rallying cries of an “incomplete game!” echoed,
… even as we downloaded the regular FREE updates & patches, and played on . . .
And we all held our breath, hoping the radioactive acid-ice-storm would blow over.


2016: Thanksgiving..

Launch of FOUNDATION 1.10, a MASSIVE UPDATE (and a whole new start!) :open_mouth:
… with 3 Game Modes, Base Building, Teleporting, Farming, Auto Resource Gathering;
FREIGHTER ownership + customisation, Recruitable Crew, Item Stacking (5s), PHOTO MODE ;
… New Ship Weapon Tech + Formation Flying + “Drift” turns + Docking in (Lead) NPC Freighters;
“More Taste, Less Fat!” (More Life, more colours; less drab, lifeless planets), re-balancing…
& … SO … MUCH … MORE.
++ pre-Christmas Patches = Bigger space battles, MOD recognition, a temp SLI fix, . . .

HG did it all for US: TRUE No Man’s Sky Fans
The Hello Games Team, under @SeanMurray, have worked continuously since the beginning for us;
… and for themselves, with their own growth as a small, independent development studio;
… but also for anyone who’d open their minds and take a new chance, or another chance.
And we were all Grateful to Hello Games for continuing to improve, streamline, & develop.

Here’s to <ALL> of US: TRUE No Man’s Sky Fans
we – including all who joined (or rejoined) since FOUNDATION – who continue to enjoy NMS;
we, who loyally downloaded each new patch, tested various MODs, and played the hell out of the game;
we, who continued to send our bug reports & feedback to Hello Games so they could keep improving it;
And we all laughed with delight when they announced Another Major Update.

2017: March.. (7mo along)

Launch of PATHFINDER 1.20 MEGA UPDATE
… with Planetary Vehicles, Online Base Sharing (Steam Workshop), more Visual Improvements;
… Permadeath (Hardcore Survival), Specialised Roles (AND CLASSES) for Ships AND Weapons;
(( Hauler / Fighter / Explorer / Shuttle )) … ((Pistol [mining] / Rifle [combat] / Experimental [scanning] / Alien))
… “part-exchange” old for discount on New, OWN UP TO 6 SHIPS, & park them all in your freighter;
… NEW TRADER NPCs on Space Stations & Bases, and 40+ new Base building modules + colours + materials;
FREE CAMERA mode, incl changing time of day, weather effects, photo filters, and camera position.
++ “weekly” (avg.) patches in March: summon Exocraft anywhere w/ Geobays, + various improvements . . .

Here’s to all of US: TRUE No Man’s Sky Fans
we, the wider NMS Community, exploring the newer features, building community-shared bases;
we, those who came across, and participated in, the new A&S ARG, Waking Titan, from May’17;
we, who Stayed The Course, even as Hello Games otherwise went silent… (-ly deep into work);
And we were all given another side of the over-arching story to investigate, interact with, & enjoy.

2017: August -- NMS' FIRST BIRTHDAY

Launch of the ATLAS RISES 1.30 SUPER UPDATE
… with Overhauled, expanded storyline (30hrs), Branching Narrative, 2x the Lore, PORTAL TRAVEL;
… new “Interdimensional Race” to encounter, System Economics & Conflict levels, NPC Guilds & Standings;
… completely Overhauled Galaxy Map w/ filter views, Improved Navigation, Waypoints, & Journey history;
… expanded variety of Planetary Biomes, brand new EXOTIC PLANT types;
Crashed Freighters – can be Scavenged, Salvage Missions, Mission Agents in Stations, ProcGen Missions;
… Analysis Visor upgrade – more info, greater rewards, wider variety of Upgrades;
… Enhanced & Improved UI, Discoveries page, Journey Milestones, Mission Log, Commodities Guide;
… NEW TERRAIN MANIPULATOR fool to re-shape the landscape around you;
, New & Improved FLIGHT - low flight, better Manoeuvrability, new HUD & Communicator;
… addition of new S-Class ships, incl EXOTIC Alien vessels (Squiddy & Birdie) :stuck_out_tongue:
… and an early iteration of Multiplayer (up to 16 “floating orbs” in the same instance) . . .
And many, many more improvements across the board…

Here’s to all of US: TRUE No Man’s Sky Fans
we, the Community Builders, Creators, Dreamers, Explorers, Fauna & Flora Scanners, Gas Harvesters;
we, the Black Hole Jumpers, Freighter Captains, Galaxy-Hoppers, Pirate Hunters & Sentinel Shooters;
we, the Portal-Openers, Racers, Spelunkers, Starpilots, Terrain-Manipulators, . . . Travellers, all . . .
And after what felt like A Very Long Year, we were finally Blessed with the NEXT BIG UPDATE.

2018: August -- No Man's Sky turns 2

… and is a Very Chubby Baby indeed!!
… but we will still play with it, explore with it, and maybe even learn a thing or two from it.
Launch of the NEXT 1.5 SUPERLUMINAL UPDATE :stuck_out_tongue:
LOADS of updates, improvements, tweaks, bug-squashes; some more new bugs, too…
++ we ALREADY have had Patches within the last week or so – so dedicated is the HG Team!

Here’s to all of US: TRUE No Man’s Sky Fans

Don’t forget to be Grateful . . . and Always Have Fun!

Thank You, Hello Games. :heart:

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Sorry, I never preorder. Preordering goods of which there can be no shortage is incomprehensible to me… :stuck_out_tongue:

LOL that’s fine, @jedidia. :wink: :+1:

The idea is to be “inclusive” of MANY kinds of NMS “Fans”, not to mean that “True” fans ALL / ONLY pre-ordered.
Not at all. :slight_smile:
It’s just “one example” among many. :smiley:

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I think that the only people who are justified recently for pre-ordering is the Xbox Gamers.

They had the benefit of seeing how Reliable and Ethical Hello Games truly are :slight_smile:

Hopefully one day the Nintendo Switch players will again get to trust in Hello Games and Pre-order NMS for their platform as well :slight_smile:

Never Pre-Order unless you know the Game Company has a solid track record such that Hello Games has proven to us to have :slight_smile:

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That’s what I like to see: an Attitude of Gratitude! :blush:

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@kpd157
Thank you, Dennis; a v nice reply.
The “pre-order” concept really only harks back to pre-Aug’16, tbh… :wink: :+1:
You’re right, though, the recent “brand new” XBox release has of course granted the “pre-order” opportunity to XBox owners and – iff they didn’t already own the PC / PS4 version, then they could rightly-enough count themselves as having “taken the plunge” … though, your 2nd line is also v important:

Despite some of the early, negative press, Time (and, at this point, hindsight) would have informed our newly minted XBox Travellers to a degree from which my 2016 compatriots will not have similarly benefited. :wink:

As for “Never Pre-Order unless” – ultimately, each prospective buyer should decide, for themselves, whether or not a risk is worth taking, and at what price.

Star Citizen, for example, is a BEAUTIFUL-looking game, and Chris Roberts has MUCH history behind him (Space Rogue, the Wing Commander series, and other (eg Origin Systems) work besides) which rather makes him & his vision “bankable” / “investible”, but it appears to have been dragging out a long, long time in “Alpha” / incomplete . . . and suffers from PtW (Pay to Win)… :frowning:
I LOVE Space Rogue & WC (and esp Privateer!!), but have as yet NOT invested into SC.
I bought into Elite, though; and Empyrion (which, if you like Exploration, and voxel-based Crafting OF YOUR OWN (designs of) VEHICLES / SPACECRAFT / BASES, I’d recommend looking into…) as it also features “seamless” surface-to-space and space-to-surface, day/night cycles, and varied biomes . . .

NMS is its own different take on planet-hopping GRAND Space Exploration Opera, with the various necessary elements thrown in – flora & fauna, crafting incl base-building, mission elements, alien races with HISTORY . . .
… which makes it effortlessly easy to love and enjoy.

Of course, we’ve already seen that one Greek YouTuber criminal who went and DESTROYED an entire Community Base on purpose, and blamed it on his RolePlaying an evil character; he was, of course, supported by - as could be heard easily in the video - a whole host of similarly-non-communal / unfriendly AMERICAN (and I believe one Canadian) male youths who egged him on and laughed along, and will no doubt be his backers for his “RP” excuse.
He’s also the guy who showed his (oft associated with Greek men) MISOGYNIST tendencies, having disparaged the FEMALE Community Leader as being incapable of effective leadership because she is female. To top it all off, he left an insulting Message Orb.

Where does “RP” end and online harassment begin?
It’s an entirely separate topic best left to a different thread . . .
. . . but I will say this ONE thing: “RP” should, at its heart, have COMMUNITY in mind.
Even the honourable Highwayman, who’d stop wealthy coaches on the road, was polite enough in his “daylight robbery”, relieving his victims solely of items of value, but none of their dignity…
An in-game “(RP) Pirate” CAN warn a victim, call for surrender of valuables without harm (assured safety), but promise (not threaten) that any violent action will be returned with violence in kind, and that their safety would then be forfeit. Their base, or ship, or vehicle, or their person, would be undamaged, if the RP Pirate’s fair demand were met.

This new Multiplayer . . . only Time will tell how the Evil / Chaotic amongst our player base will decide to (ab)use the Privilege - and it is a privilege! - of playing within shared space with others.

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'Tis the Best Way Forward, @TravelEcho. :sunglasses: :+1:

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