Just started the game, am already bored. Is this normal?

[RattyRyan]

Hey so I just started the game, played for about an hour which was probably one of the most boring slogs I've ever had to do in a video game. I start a new game, get dumped on a planet, with a broken ship, and absolutely nothing to compel me to care about this situation. To put this into context, I only just finished Subnautica and loved every moment of it right from the start, I knew exactly what my objective was, and all my survival/exploration had a sense of purpose even though the game really doesn't handhold you. Now playing NMS I am constantly tasked by the log to do this, do that, find 50x of this resource, open your inventory, craft this new tool in this flashy box, select your ship, hey you need this upgrade, go pick up more resources, oh you need a scanner, get these other resources first, oh these ones need to be refined, make this refiner, insert the resources, hey you need a fuel source, go find that first, now wait 3 minutes while your ore refines... WTF! It's just a constant back and forth between an unintuitive ui / inventory / controls and a log that keeps asking you to do the exact same objective for a seemingly never ending number of fixing tasks... 'Get 50x, put them in a box on your screen"... again and again and again.

I got off my planet, which I never really got to care about, only to warp to another planet close by which I also didn't care about to do more of the same fixing with the exact same "collect 50x and open your inventory to upgrade stuff" tasks... I mean at what point to I actually get to play the game? This is just a series of boring task which I don't want to do. I expect a game to make me want to use its systems, but so far NMS is just making me hate them for no reason.

So am I doing something wrong, or is this perfectly normal at the start and the game will get better later? I guess I could put myself through more of this pain so long as the next 50 hours will be worth it.

Edit: I did not originally buy the game for myself, I am not trying to bash the game, I'm just interested in hearing people's opinions to help me decide whether to continue playing or not.

[knighttemplar1960]

Yes its normal. The average time most players put into NMS is 30 hours. The people that post here are the exceptions having hundreds or even thousands of hours.

[Foxglovez]

If you are overcome with a sense of ennui, enough to come on the forum and complain, I would bet you dollars to donuts that nothing in the future in NMS holds even a glimmer of light for you. You hate the game currently and you will feel only distaste and frustration in the future. It's too bad you didn't figure it out before the 2 hours were up so you can get your money back.
Have a nice day. Go play the game you actually like.

[RattyRyan]

Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

Yes its normal. The average time most players put into NMS is 30 hours. The people that post here are the exceptions having hundreds or even thousands of hours.

Okay I accept that. I'm not trying to bash the game in any way, but I do have to ask whether, if the 30h average playtime is accurate, does that mean that the game is in fact boring and that most players take that long to figure it out, and I'm just ultra sensitive to these things? Or is it that people actually do find enjoyment after a while and play for a good 30 they actually do enjoy?

I wouldn't mind hearing from some of these 1000h+ players as they must have found something to like.

[Dirak2012]

The game is only superficially similar to Subnautica. Here there is no big purpose, or any real goal.
The game stops being a survival game after an hour, and the story is just a vaguely interesting tutorial.

This game is mostly a sandbox to do what you want to do, and set your own goals, if you aren't able to do that, I don't think you will enjoy the game no matter how many hours you play.

I do wish that the game had a lot more structure, more like Subnautica, but it is what it is...

[RattyRyan]

Originally posted by Foxglovez:

If you are overcome with a sense of ennui, enough to come on the forum and complain, I would bet you dollars to donuts that nothing in the future in NMS holds even a glimmer of light for you. You hate the game currently and you will feel only distaste and frustration in the future. It's too bad you didn't figure it out before the 2 hours were up so you can get your money back.
Have a nice day. Go play the game you actually like.

I actually got the game for someone else originally and I'm just trying it out now, so I'm not losing money in any case. I'm actually interested in the game and would like to play it more, but I'm not going to do that if I can get a clear answer from players that this is in fact what the rest of the game is like. I fell very much like the game has potential and is waiting for me to find it, but I keep getting kneecapped by the oppressive tutorial nagging me into insanity.

[LabPong]

Originally posted by RattyRyan:

Originally posted by knighttemplar1960:

Yes its normal. The average time most players put into NMS is 30 hours. The people that post here are the exceptions having hundreds or even thousands of hours.

Okay I accept that. I'm not trying to bash the game in any way, but I do have to ask whether, if the 30h average playtime is accurate, does that mean that the game is in fact boring and that most players take that long to figure it out, and I'm just ultra sensitive to these things? Or is it that people actually do find enjoyment after a while and play for a good 30 they actually do enjoy?

I wouldn't mind hearing from some of these 1000h+ players as they must have found something to like.

I just started playing yesterday. In VR, I was lost for half a day and didn't even realize it. But maybe this type of game is not for you?

If your looking for exact play objectives and goals, probably other games will work better for you.

[ominumi]

30 hours is usually where the player finish the main quest. Once that's done, they have no other objective besides explore the game. Which isn't for everyone it seems.

[Foxglovez]

4k hours here and I love the game but do take months off at a time and go do other things. But I was the child that would play with the box the toy came in as the toy became boring very soon. Those that love this game like the kind of puzzle it is, that it presents to you. We tend to be very detail oriented and it just fits our playstyle. That is such a personal thing.

What stands out to me is your love for another game, similar but different than this one. That may be the crux. This game will never be that game and it is too soon to even play a similar game as you will inevitably be disappointed at every turn. Maybe if you had played SN a long time ago, and didn't like it as much then NMS would be more interesting, but probably not. We are all different, as are our needs. I might go buy SN today and hate it because it isn't NMS and makes me feel a bit like I am two-timing my first love. Silly, but the human brain is complex... ymmv

[Dirak2012]

If this was Subnautica, imagine the story was mostly removed except for the pda files.
Then the map is infinite, but you can't get into any of the deeper biomes, you can just keep swimming in any direction, seeing how the terrain changes and building huge bases here and there.

Most people that playing for a very long time, play to explore the infinite map, or to build very elaborate bases just for the cosmetic value.

[Know Won]

Yes, this game is very very very boring, i can not understand why anyone plays it ever. I think most just prowl on general chat to troll ...

where is the sarcasm button?

[Foxglovez]

You're sitting on it...

[RustyNail]

It's NORMAL not to like things that other's might (or might not) enjoy.
Why worry? Be happy!

It's unfortunate, that so many miss that the game is primarily a sandbox; and not a traditional, quest/mission driven game - even though it has some missions added to it.

[UncreativelyNamed]

I recently surpassed the 1000 hour mark and, yes, IMO the quests in the game are boring and the main one, the Artemis path, in particular is excessively long. But the thing is, they are really all just tutorials, in a sense. They introduce the player to the various things that can be done in the game. The Artemis path introduces all the basics, including how to use portals and how to change galaxies. Others introduce other more specific aspects of the game, often aspects added to the game over the years. They are all, IMO, quite "fetchy" and uninteresting, mostly because I do not enjoy directed play. (Which is why I'm not a fan of RPG-style games.)

That said, the game is mostly a sandbox with some lore underpinning it, though the devs do keep adding more directed/progression-style elements, mostly in response to players who like that kind of playing. But overall, you're meant to come up with your own way to play the game, made up of things you enjoy doing in the game. The Catch-22, of course, is that you must be exposed to the things you can do before you can know whether or not you'll enjoy them. Hence, the "story" quests.

So, I think people who play the game for hundreds or thousands of hours are people who have the ability to and truly enjoy constructing their own way to play the game. Maybe they're ship-hunters. Maybe they're explorers or traders and they build a sort of role-playing scenario in their minds. Maybe they're data-hounds like me. (I just like to explore planets, find all the things each of them has, and then use that data to construct a giant spreadsheet with charts and graphs and stuff. Yes, this is my definition of fun. I'm weird.)

So yeah, if the kind of game you enjoy is one with an involved story or progression that isn't just a series of thinly-disguised tutorials and/or if you need a "point" for doing anything/everything, then this isn't a game that's going to appeal to you, especially not long-term. It's a niche game that's not quite like any other game. Those who like the niche that it caters to can be endlessly entertained. Those who don't fit the niche so well will likely be bored sooner or later, usually complaining about "meaninglessness" and "pointlessness."

[Dirak2012]

Being honest, for me the best part of the game is when you are unraveling the mystery of Artemis and the Atlas. After that, everything does feel a bit pointless.
However, I do respect the devs dedication and love for their creation, and play the game for a while after each update.

I do get annoyed by the "this game is the best thing ever, it will keep you busy for like 100000 hours!!" When that's only true for a very tiny fraction of players.

[Hunter Este]

Yep, after years of updates and development, the game still suffers form the "wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle" mentality. There's "alot to do" but it's all extremely basic and unsatisfying.