You hit the nail on the head with your explanation. And I fully agree, played alot of Elite Dangerous when it released but the game loop got boring really fast. I also don’t know how many times I’ve started a Minecraft server with friends, only for us to abandon it after playing on and off for a couple of days.

The same in NMS, tried to make the game more enjoyable by playing with friends, but just the same as with Minecraft. You really need to find or define your own goals you want to achieve. But nowadays with everyday life and a limited amount of time to spend gaming, I tend to gravitate more and more towards more linear/story based games and less sandboxy ones.