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No Man's Sky Under Investigation For False Advertising (polygon.com)
No Man's Sky is one of the most talked about games this year. The game sees the protagonist explore the space and experience uncertain places. But its controversial promotional material may also have played an instrumental role in making the title a sleeper-hit success. Polygon reports: No Man's Sky's promotional material has come under fire since launch, and it's now the subject of an ongoing investigation. The U.K.-based Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) confirmed to Polygon that it's received "several complaints about No Man's Sky's advertising," which angry customers have criticized as misleading. "I can confirm we have received several complaints about No Man's Sky advertising and we have launched an investigation," the ASA told Polygon. A representative for the ASA declined to comment on the particulars of the investigation, but a thread on the No Man Sky's subreddit details some of the most prominent issues Steam users have with the game's store page, which they passed on to the organization. Screens and video on Steam suggest a different type of combat, unique buildings, "ship flying behaviour" and creature sizes than what's found in the actual game itself. The store page overall has also been criticized for showing No Man's Sky with higher quality graphics than can be attained in-game.
Long overdue to start making these game companies follow the same truth in advertising laws other companies have to obey...
> 2) Grammer??
I think you mean Grammar. Pot meet kettle.
Sorry but no. There's a shitload of videos and text which show without a shadow of doubt that promises were made and left unfulfilled. people bought the game based on the information at hand which was more than misleading. Misleading is when you hint something, which proves to be less that was was alluded to. Like "Big Trunk", which is misleading because it has no frame of reference (and even so, it's stretching things), But Sean Murray specifically said there will be some sort of multiplayer, that ships will handle differently based on their looks, that NPC factions are warring in space, that you can land on asteroids, that you can grief other players ("A little bit, yeah"), and so on. Those were ALL captured on video and available on Youtube and other channels.
It was a big fat web of lies and deception and it was only a matter of time until shit hit the fan.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
Anyone? Even people who put 100+ hours into the game? It shouldn't take that long to determine that the game doesn't live up to expectations.
Oh my dear god, not this all over again? We discussed this here already, and it's been discussed why that's wrong. Please go back to the prior discussion and read about it.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I've got about 140 hours in on PC, and I may be at the crest of what I can do. I've got my suit and tool and ship maxed out for inventory, with suit and ship maxed out with upgrades. Some 20,000,000 units in the bank. Learned 2 of the 3 alien languages (halfway through the last one, by now). I'm pretty much down to achievements at this point, and jumping from system to system. Visually, it's got a lot of appeal. It's pretty soothing to play -- a bit like "Endless Ocean". I didn't really expect to get great spaceflight mechanics or anything like that. I pretty much grind out on burglarizing Operations Centers and Manufacturing Facilities, looking for new tech blueprints to make a handful of technologies and materials I don't already have ... and learn that last language. It's beginning to get a little dull.
So what's it missing?
.. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
Oh my dear god, not this all over again? We discussed this here already, and it's been discussed why that's wrong. Please go back to the prior discussion and read about it.
Really? You're not going to bother explaining that?
Well, in any case, for people who don't want to go hunting for earlier, unmentioned discussions, here's the gist of it:
It's not abnormal for games to put content behind gates. You don't get all the weapons on the first level of Doom, you have to go through earlier levels to get to later levels, you unlock powers as you play through, that general idea. No Man's Sky initially appears to be following this pattern: your first planet has plenty of resources for the survival aspect, but you need to leave and go out into space and visit other planets to unlock new tech and get new ships. There are two content paths (follow the path of Atlas or reach the center of the galaxy) that you can take to do this. Each path supposedly takes 40-60 hours of gameplay to complete.
Problem: What I just said about needing to leave and go out into space? Turns out, you don't. You can grind up just about everything on your first planet. (There's an exception - alien languages - but it's completely meaningless. Each planet is tied to one of three alien races, so you'd need to grind on one of each to max literally everything.)
Now you'd assume - and a lot of initial looks did - that the first planet intentionally had bountiful resources to ensure you didn't get screwed when you start the game. The logical assumption is that as the game progresses and you travel towards one of the two goals, the planets become more hostile and more resources become available to offer new tech and new features.
Nope. They don't.
About the only way to verify that, in fact, the content promised really is missing is to put a good 40-60 hours of gameplay in. I made it about 10 hours (although Steam says I played for 20, probably due to tech issues and AFKing) before giving up on the planets ever being any different from one another.
No Man's Sky is one of those games designed to provide just enough gameplay experience to get you past the refund cutoff before revealing that's all there is.
It was false advertisement.
Example: Sean Murray showcased some planets during live gameplay, said to be "random planets from the game" and after analyzing the game files, people have discovered those planets as statically scripted ones, left in the game files.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
The Steam Page STILL shows screenshots of stuff not in the game. That monolith you see on the Steam Page screenshots? Not in the game. The big space battle? Not in the game. The nice colors? Not in the game. The huge animal in the screenshot? Yes, you guessed it... not in the game.
Oh and all screenshots there are from a scripted static planet which people have found in the game files. There are three such planets in there.
...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)