Summary
Space can be a lonely place, andNo Man’s Skytypifies that. Itsvast, expansive universeis often devoid of other humans, giving the game an authentic interstellar experience.
There are the odd occasions when you’ll run into a fellow traveler, but communication is often more limited to Communication Stations or Comm Balls, as they’re known by players.
The game’slatest expedition, The Cursed, however, has highlighted a need among the community for these items to be switched off during certain parts of the game because, as is so often the case, they’re being abused.
“Sean, Get Rid Of Comm Balls For Real”
Comm Balls allow players to leave little messages for their No Man’s Sky compatriots, a cute idea in principle, especially when you stumble across one on a distant planet. However, during expeditions, when players are all required to visit a focal location, there’s a major spam issue, with the latest expedition exemplifying the issue.
Players are dropping Comms Balls in the same place, leaving a mess of items in what is supposed to be one of the game’s creepiest missions to date. TheReddit postembedded above is one example of how bad things have gotten, and given that the expedition is less than 48 hours old, the issue is likely only going to get worse.
This has led tocalls from the communityfor the Comm Balls to be disabled during missions like The Cursed.
One playersaid, “I just want the ability to disable comm balls”. Anotheradded, “Nobody cares to see political messages or hateful rhetoric clogging up the area when they are trying to escape for a little bit and enjoy the game.”
With the US election coming up, political messages are rife, with a player sharing, “The first thing I saw booting up the latest expansion was ‘TRUMP 2024’. Very immersion breaking.”
Given how goodHello Gameshas been at adapting to player feedback, it’s likely this message has been taken on board. Here’s hoping it’s rectified by Expedition 17.
No Man’s Sky
WHERE TO PLAY
Lose yourself in a vast sci-fi odyssey as you explore a near-infinite, procedurally generated universe.
Set out from the edge of the Euclid galaxy and carve out your own interstellar existence in a vast universe teeming with life, danger and near-endless mystery.
No Man’s Sky is a hugely-ambitious, heavily-stylised, sci-fi adventure that spans entire galaxies all brought to life with procedural generation. Travel through an endless array of increasingly diverse and dangerous star systems, prospecting for rare materials, trading with alien life, populate planets and searching for clues to the meaning of the universe’s mysterious existence.
How you survive is up to you. Assemble entire fleets of dreadnought-class freighters and tear across the universe; build sprawling habitable bases across planet surfaces, beneath the ground or under the ocean; buy and upgrade your own weapons and star ships and do battle with outlaw space pirates, hostile alien fauna or the mysterious sentinel fleets.
The universe is yours to explore - trillions upon trillions of planets, waiting to be discovered.
