Bored - am I missing something?

I'm a brand new player with about 12-14 hours in Starbound. I'm currently in a near full suit of Tier 2 Armor but I'm feeling very discouraged. So far the only thing I see I can do is get better gear. I don't see any bosses, combat, or exploration that particularly interests me. I know Starbound is more about exploration and building than Terraria which is about combat and bosses, so I came into it with an open mind. But, the caving and exploration feel really bland compared to Terraria. So far it feels like a massive grind without a clear end goal. The intergalactic travel seems lame because of the sheer repetitiveness of the terrain in various planets. The caving isn't nearly as satisfying as it is in Terraria or Minecraft, and the ores don't seem to be used for much besides armor.

I was looking at some old threads on Reddit and here and it seems like others agree(d) that Starbound lacks endgame content but those posts were old, like from pre-release. Is there any actual endgame content right now?

 

There is a clear end goal, The story quests do build up to some good boss fights and interesting instanced dungeons, they also unlock new shops and npcs. I think as far as endgame goes the game is pretty solid. Post-game on the otherhand is currently a little weak as unless your drawn in by the art style and building, there just isn't anymore giant monsters to kill. Actually there are giant monsters to kill but the challenge there falls more into the "hunting them down" category then the "challenging boss" category. Also fossil hunting if you want to set up a strange space museum.

As for gear its pretty much a linear increase in power up until the fifth tier, then you get to make some choices. the real combat variety comes from weapons, EPP augments, pets, and collars. Adding to that the buffs you get from high tier foods be absurd. unfortunately at tier 2, I don't think you have access to make anything particularly interesting other than a slightly better watering can. Although weapon drops should start getting more exotic soon. Especially once you start finding unique weapons that have their own special effects.

As for planet variety it is... well... random. Sometimes you find a desert planet and all it is is miles of sand in every direction. other times it has a good mix of settlements and mini biomes that spice things up. Once you get enough pixels Pick up a hover car and you can quickly scour the surface of any planet for interesting adventures. Until you get to the ones covered in lava and poison at least.

I would say the most fun in the game is finding new things. as your only at tier 2, you should have a lot of new things to look forward to.

Lastly If nothing seems to really do it for you as of yet, consider browsing the modding section, I solidly recommend freedom of movement and better dash as it makes dashing and jumping the game feel SO much better.

 

If you're bored.. try hiring some crew members in your ship.
Try to colonize a planet...

And stop comparing it to other games /terraria.
.I see lot of people comparing this two and it's always the same comparisons and such.

If you always compare games... then you're not playing right.

 

A mother brought her child to a beach, gave him a few buckets with different shapes, a few other sand tools with different purposes, a fishing rod, and different kind of stuffs you can play on a beach. Yet, the boy bring along his favourite toys that he loves to play everyday.
After a while, the child gets bored playing his toys. He took a glance at the buckets and the sand tools, and complain to his mother that he wants to go back home since it's boring there.
The mother was not very pleased, as if the child gets the wrong idea when the boy was happy to go to the beach when she first told him.

Well, you see, sandbox games usually don't have a goal, or it just has a persuasive goal that you can complete, but never forced. They are more of a game on how do you want to play it more than a game on how do you complete it. That being said, if you are lacking in imagination, or even some form of role-playing sense, you'll get bored of these kinds of games real quickly.

What I'm trying to say is, try out different things. Like fishing, build a farm, build a colony, raise animals, build some comprehensive wiring systems, etc. If you are only interest in mining ores and making the maximum usage out of them then yes, Starbound isn't really the best one in this scenario, but Starbound has more than just that which you could try them first at the very least.

Lastly, Frackin' Universe is going to spice up the variety of biomes you'll see in the games since it introduces quite a number of structures, new blocks, and the likes. It also provides a hell lots of new stuffs to craft, including new armours and weapons, and make some of the original recipes a little more complex yet reasonable and logical than ever, which utilize a lot of the existing ores and the new ores that came along with the mods. To be honest it's quite overwhelming at first until you get the hang of it since it involves a few touches on the chemistry side (ie : You get hydrogen and oxygen from extracting water), so I guess it'll somewhat fix your issues on the bland progression of crafting in Starbound.

Hope you can enjoy Starbound though! Otherwise, I hope that your short journey in Starbound is worth the money you paid, in your own opinion at the very least (-touch wood-).

 

I think your really underselling the amount of content in the game right now. It actually does have a goal, and you are really rewarded for pursuing that goal. There are plenty of challenges to face and goals to reach without building more than a functional house.

Also because I forgot to mention before cave exploration and mining Really opens up once you upgrade your matter manipulator. With time it becomes an absolute breeze to terraform your perfect farm/homestead.

 

Uhmmm...

Yes, it does, which is a persuasive one. Highly persuasive though, considering some of the shops in the outpost can be only accessed after you cleared some missions.

I agree, but building is one of the main reasons that the Starbound players choose to stay so it's hard to not emphasize on that.