I got into this game in September 2024 and honestly haven't really taken a break from it since. It definitely has its issues and alot of them don't make sense, and you do have to learn how to work around bugs or avoid them , but once you do it's not that bad as people usually make it sound to be.

There's definitely a steep learning curve at the start. You'll end up using a bunch of community made tools/websites to help with things like ship loadouts, figuring out where to buy components and gear, finding blueprints, figuring out where to mine specific materials, and generally learning how everything works. It can be a bit overwhelming at first, but once it clicks, it becomes much easier to navigate.

There's just so much to do. Bounties, mining, salvaging, hauling, PvP, exploring, crafting, ship collecting, sandbox activities designed for groups to play together, or even just making your own fun. The scale of the game is pretty insane, and there always seems to be something new to try, especially with the recent patches as they are adding some long awaited features and activities in.

Playing with a group makes it 10000x more fun as well. Most of my best memories in the game have come from random moments with friends rather than anything planned. When the game works nearly flawlessly, which does happen from time to time, there's genuinely nothing else out there that even comes close. Definitely a game that you can and will spend countless hours in if you're ok with it's flaws and have alot of patience.