They didn't add 'follow the cam' to the Astroneer, so i do not feel any sorrow for them.

Goobers tried to turn their survival sandbox into a live service adventure game. 0 IQ move

What does that mean? Like your character going where you look?

I wanted to do some crafting so I started up astroneer and was so disappointed at how online it all is now

Yes! For casual players it's a must. At least for me. So i bought the game and cannot play, movement makes me angry :)
Other people also asked for that feature (btw implemented in game - at very beginning it works!) and creators just, you know, too busy to listen.

I started playing this with my girlfriend recently. We haven't bought any DLC.

The number of major bugs we've run into has me baffled that this game has DLC at all. The base game needs work before anything else is added.

A few highlights:

• We were driving a tractor when it just vanished. I looked at my girlfriend's stream and saw that her landscape was entirely different from what I was seeing as the host. From what I've read, this bug has been around for years, and there's no workaround, so we basically can't be in those areas without significant frustration.
• Another one: beacons appear randomly on her screen, and if she clicks them, one gets taken from my backpack no matter where I am.
• There are also a lot of geometry issues, and problems that make me question how much gameplay testing was actually done. Having to turn on all the engines on every planet is a bit much.

I know this is a wider industry problem: no fixes, only features. But this is the result. You make a game with great potential, and it falls over because it's built on a crappy foundation.

Can you give me an example game that does this? I don't think I understand the difference between that and auto run (which is in the game). How do you stop moving if it goes where you point? How would you pick stuff up and place it?

Honest questions, not trying to be snarky!

Like minecraft - you go where you looking at. Moving and camera on the same controls. My kids pretty good at separate controls - like Astroneer or Roblox - where moving and camera are independent, but for me it's too much :)

I GET IT NOW. Why did that take me so long lol

I wouldn't say it's outright better and I definitely prefer the separate controls but I can see why people would hate it. I probably don't mind it because one of the first PC games I got into was an MMO

The thing is - older people or just casuals like me can't do separate controls, so for those follow the camera is only option, better gamers - i mean younger, better reaction, coordination, more competitive - can do both. But Astroneer looks like casual slow sandbox where you just chilling and building your bases - and controls have only for competitive users.
I'm a bit exaggerating in a hope to explain main idea :)

Oh yeah, no offense intended at all! I remember struggling to learn the controls in that MMO but once it clicked, I couldn't go back. It feels essential in an MMO but an unnecessary thing to force players to use in a game like Astroneer.

Have you played recently? I looked it up and apparently there's a setting for "Hold to orbit camera" which might do it. I'd be happy to confirm when I get home from work if you don't have it installed to test

I think i have it installed, not sure. Now i'm diving in Hytale. Hytale gameplay is also game is not for me - game for warriors or hunters - but i found it's interesting try to outbuild my problems. I just build walkways in the sky and reaching areas much too far for my copper armour :D

You play Valheim at all? If not (and you use a controller*), it might be up your alley. You go at your own pace and while combat IS required to progress, you can spend 99% of your time just building (even without create mode enabled).

My friends (all adults, some parents) and I have been playing again and we've spent most of our time - both when we're online together and alone - just building.

• Caveat: I don't think there's a way to force a fixed camera when using a mouse. I can try tonight

Valheim mobs is pretty scary :D I spent a lot of a lot of time in No Man's Sky relaxed mode, till they broke contrast - gamma - brightness in space stations. Now they look so ugly! Looks is a big part of that game, it helps like meditation for eyes - and ugly indoors. It's interesting case - remove possibility to tune up brightness, contrast and gamma then break without a fix. How they plan to survive years in business without listening to players? (They famous for everlasting bugs and glitches)