Increasing negative attention at No Man's Sky (LONG)

[The Murderous Cop]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTTPlqK8AnY

here's angry joe's review

[Ad Bot]

[Shift Kitty]

No Man's Sky generated an unhealthy amount of hype.
So of course, when it flops, every single youtuber who's even remotely a game reviewer, or let's player, or whatever, is going to make a video on it. Honestly they'd be stupid not to. Effectively free views.

They stretch it out for long periods of time too because I'm pretty sure that factors into how much money they get.

[auzman466]

"wow tony can sure be an unbearable cunt sometimes"
"let's be unbearable cunts around him"

you're all unbearable loving cunts

[JBlitz404]

I read all of your comments guys and I see mixed reactions about this thread which is okay.

The sooner that indie developers make games I enjoy, the sooner I can stop being so critical towards them. As it stands, however, I just completely dislike the "indie culture" and indie games, and No Man's Sky is No Man's Exception to that rule.

I think No Man's Sky is not indie since they partnered up with Sony. Could be wrong.

[Nymph]

I read all of your comments guys and I see mixed reactions about this thread which is okay.

I think No Man's Sky is not indie since they partnered up with Sony. Could be wrong.

Ori and the Blind Forest is an indie title and it was published by Microsoft.

[espio100]

even without all the hype it still wouldve been a stuff game and not living up to expectations

[EcstaticEggplant]

So it's ok for someone to make a video explaining their opinion of no mans sky, but if other people start making videos with the same opinion, they are just unfunny attention whores milking off of a bandwagon?
Maybe the game loving sucks and that's why there are so many people making these videos. Also, of course this is going to create a bandwagon. These videos explain why it was so disappointing and not worth the $60, so people don't have to spend that much money themselves on a game worth $20 at most on early access. Sounds like you are just extremely salty that people don't agree with you.
It's fine to not agree with people, but to just dismiss their points as something like seeking attention is stupid.

[McJob]

I think No Man's Sky is not indie since they partnered up with Sony. Could be wrong.

Sony didn't supply financial support to Hello Games. "Indie Development" is the process of making games without significant financial support, usually from large-scale publishers. Indie studios are usually made up of smaller, less experienced teams (which Hello Games also qualifies for). The other thing is that Indie Development usually take big risks, whereas AAA Development relies on a lot on playing safe.

No Man's Sky was a risky experiment, and in my personal opinion, it's a failure. It demonstrates that algorithms and generic design (creating a system that can build itself) do not make for brilliant, well-paced, gameplay that teaches; it's absolutely crucial that you have designers who fiddle and tweak content to craft a very specific experience that ensures quality. I know that some others are enjoying it, but I really do believe it's more along the lines of a niche simulation than an actual game for the wider public.

[Lord Tony®]

Lol McJob you act like they won't update the game.

I've seen game devs redeem themselves with patches.

[Yosher]

So much salt over a video game. Did you girls forget to put a maxi pad in your panties?

people got played big time and paid 60 dollars for an overambitious indie game, i can understand that people are pissed

[McJob]

I've seen game devs redeem themselves with patches.

You can't patch faulty core gameplay design.

NMS's loop revolves around you collecting materials to power the ship to get to the centre of the universe. There's no keystone mechanics which introduce new challenges, there's no pacing and the difficulty curve is basically flat, especially if you're one of the poor sods to get stuck flying between planets with barely any wildlife or systems without the alien spaceships.

While it might just be entertaining for those who enjoy the concept of exploring and taking in the sights and for those who are hungry for more space combat (since we'll never get a proper Freespace 3), as far as the design side is concerned, this is nothing more than a set of broken principles which cannot allow us to progress into better game design.

[Lord Tony®]

Core gameplay design can be changed.

[McJob]

Core gameplay design can be changed.

No, it can't, unless you're willing to completely scrap the game and start from scratch. That's why it's called "core gameplay".

Imagine if you wanted to take the core of Half-Life away. That would mean removing the shooting, which means you'd have to remove 90% of the puzzles/encounters in the game as they'd be otherwise impossible except for those who can successfully speedrun (which requires very skilled manipulation of glitches). Suddenly you have a game with barely any interesting moments and which the only interaction you have is the ability to move and click some buttons. The game is now boring because there's nothing for the player to learn and get better at (unless you think that "button-clicking" is a skill).

The only way to "fix" No Man's Sky's gameplay (if you still want it to be a game and not just a simulator) is to go back to the drawing board and really carefully plan out a new game which reduces some of the player's choices (such as reducing the galaxy from that giant number of planets to maybe just a handful) in return for making some very polished content and encounters and a dedicated skill chain for the player to learn and get better at.