Here's how to get 'They Who Returned' (New Story Mission) to trigger, unlocking the new content

[No Man's Sky Resources]

In order to get
They Who Returned (New Story Mission)
to trigger, you must have completed:

• The Purge
  
• Harmonic Seal (Previously found a Harmonic Camp & unlocked multi-tool cabinet)
  
• A Trace of Metal
  
  It does NOT matter where you warp to. You don't need a Korvax or Dissonant system, for example. You simply need to have completed those 3 missions.
  
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3025342315

[Zak]

I need to finish The Purge? The final Artemis Path mission? Are you sure? If true, this is stupid and shortsighted then. I'm on a >600 hours old save that I'm doing without playing any of the story content. I've done the story twice in previous saves and I really don't want to go through the story again. I hope someone comes up with away to work around this requirement.

[Rick]

It is for end game players that have done it all....I got told though its finish Settlers not trace

[Zak]

This should be available for all players. Many people play without doing the main story. This is a sandbox game, after all.

[taniwhat]

My save that it wouldn't trigger for had done the Purge, but not Settlers. So best guess Settlers/amped up exomech is the blocker.

[Zak]

But can Settlers even be ever finished? I had it ongoing for months now and it just keeps slowly increasing my Settlement's stats and adds inhabitants from time to time. Looks like this is an ongoing quest. I've done the Trace of Metal though. I got the little annoying sentinel buddy and maxed out my mech.

[taniwhat]

My best guess is you need a settlement, doesn't have to be a successful one.

It doesn't take me long to get to that point so I'm not one of the pissed ones, it just happens that the first save I tried I hadn't started Settlers because like many others I just find it annoying :). I had another save which had done settlers and first warp to a Korvax system and WHAM.

[sleepygaymer]

Originally posted by Zak:

I need to finish The Purge? The final Artemis Path mission? Are you sure? If true, this is stupid and shortsighted then. I'm on a >600 hours old save that I'm doing without playing any of the story content. I've done the story twice in previous saves and I really don't want to go through the story again. I hope someone comes up with away to work around this requirement.

Same situation here. I've played the game for 812 hours. Finished the story missions on a save I don't have anymore. Now Hello Games expects me to replay all of the missions just to get to the new content? Not going to happen. It's just as well. Next week Starfield comes out and my time playing this game is coming to a close.

[Zak]

Originally posted by taniwhat:

My best guess is you need a settlement, doesn't have to be a successful one.

It doesn't take me long to get to that point so I'm not one of the pissed ones, it just happens that the first save I tried I hadn't started Settlers because like many others I just find it annoying :). I had another save which had done settlers and first warp to a Korvax system and WHAM.

But I do have a Settlement, had one for hundreds of hours. I tend to it regularly. I've done the Trace of Metal mission and the Settlement is in great shape: all happy citizens, maxed out income, etc. I still can't trigger the new race quest. I warped to many Korvax systems, different levels of conflict, pirate controlled, dissonant, four pirate dreadnought encounters, I've easily done over 30 jumps, and nothing happened.

Originally posted by sleepygaymer:

Originally posted by Zak:

I need to finish The Purge? The final Artemis Path mission? Are you sure? If true, this is stupid and shortsighted then. I'm on a >600 hours old save that I'm doing without playing any of the story content. I've done the story twice in previous saves and I really don't want to go through the story again. I hope someone comes up with away to work around this requirement.

Same situation here. I've played the game for 812 hours. Finished the story missions on a save I don't have anymore. Now Hello Games expects me to replay all of the missions just to get to the new content? Not going to happen. It's just as well. Next week Starfield comes out and my time playing this game is coming to a close.

I honestly think this is a misunderstanding and the quest is just bugged. It would be such a slap in the face for longterm players.

[Raven]

My main save 689Hrs.

It has completed...

The Purge
Harmonic Seal (Previously found a Harmonic Camp), (even have one in inventory).
A Trace of Metal
Has a Settlement.
Flying a Sentinel ship

Jumped all over the Universe in different Galaxys

No mission triggered, so I still have no idea who has returned. I agree with @Zak.

[j.zeb2000]

This update is all a load of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

[MarStrMind]

Originally posted by Peregrinus:

My main save 689Hrs.

It has completed...

The Purge
Harmonic Seal (Previously found a Harmonic Camp), (even have one in inventory).
A Trace of Metal
Has a Settlement.
Flying a Sentinel ship

Jumped all over the Universe in different Galaxys

No mission triggered, so I still have no idea who has returned. I agree with @Zak.

Can't 100% confirm, but it seems you need to be in Euclid for it to trigger. If you have been in Euclid already and it didn't trigger, then I am not sure either. The criteria are met.

PS: You could teleport to Euclid... but then need to make one jump in-ship somewhere. Seen on a stream yesterday.

[sosayweall]

this is the most stupid way to introdouce new content in an anniversary update that would bring new eyes to the game ND twitch drops. why do this why bury content in a path most new plays wouldnt have done yet......gating content like this is bad and i love hello games but this wasnt great at all

[Griffman]

My game wont recognise that there is a new expedition running at all, just says new expedition coming soon

[PepeMilagro]

Never found a settlement on a planet I liked well enough to go for it.
Ah well, looks like it will be my wk chore he?

[MarStrMind]

Originally posted by roadiegriff:

My game wont recognise that there is a new expedition running at all, just says new expedition coming soon

That is because the Voyagers Expedition is, in fact, coming soon. It is not enabled yet.

The Expedition is independent of the main story that was released with Echoes, but does tie in with the narrative. Plus, cool stuff once again.