I'm sorry, I can't take another thread with the same questions
Thank you for this. I'm convinced the drive-by "game play?" posts are nothing more but trolls at this point, but you're doing a good deed by providing this information to those that might genuinely need it.
I should probably just mind my own business, but it's frustrating when you see this sort of "so, what's in it for me?" reaction from people who don't know how to research or use their imagination. Like every game has to prove its worth to them through objectives and goals and waypoints and rewards. Like every game has to conform to a formula...
Even if NMS was just a "walking/flying simulator" (which it clearly is not), I believe that would be enough for the majority of people who are genuinely excited for it. Everyone else who expects the game to meet their restrictive standards of what a "game" comprises, or people who are just itching to say "I told you so" once the core game is released - I don't think those people are worth the time and effort. Like that very thorough post states, it won't be a game for everyone, and there are plenty of space/sci-fi games coming out to suit other tastes.
If you're someone coming into a NMS just to scoff at a trailer and say "what do you do?" or "lol pop-in", please do a bit of searching around first. There's plenty of info out there if you're seriously questioning the content, and if you're not serious, then you're not impressing anyone with your terrible observational skills and/or humour.