For me, I’ve kind of figured out that I love the idea of the game more than the game itself. I played for the first time when the reviews for NMS first started becoming more positive.

On one level I kind of enjoyed it but not enough to keep me coming back regularly. Theres just too much to know when it comes to the knowledge base of the game. Felt like I was spending more time searching how to do everything rather than just playing the game.

If you’re from the US and you think it’s better, then let me remind you that it’s not:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/mar/07/juvenille-judges-cash-detention-centre

And if you think that’s too long ago, then maybe you’re not aware that AI surveillance tech is currently being used to monitor students in thousands of schools across the US. According to the AP, over 65% of alerts from the software are false alarms yet they still result in students being arrested and spending time in jail all because AI can’t understand the context of jokes.

https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/best-of-the-week/honorable-mention/2025/students-have-been-called-to-the-office-and-even-arrested-for-ai-surveillance-false-alarms/

So a few years ago, if you made fun of your vice principal online, a corrupt judge would throw you in juvenile detention and in 2025, if you crack some jokes with your friends online, AI sends the goon squad to arrest you.

So much freedom…

I guess if you’re a student in the US these days you need to have a dark sense of humor since you never know if your school will be the site of the next mass shooting.