Hello Games did lie:Hello Games did a lot of things more than FDEV in their game. Still you will find people defending FDEV saying "oh but Hello Games lied", "NMS is an arcade game", "you can't compare the two games", "...bla bla bla"
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/4y1h9i/wheres_the_no_mans_sky_we_were_sold_on_a_big_list/
I think NMS shouldn't be described as an arcade game, but its flight model is awful.
And the reverse of "Hello Games did a lot of things more than FDEV in their game" is also true - Elite has:
- VR support and multiplayer from the beginning
- extensive flight model
- PvP
- player factions & warfare
- large-scale conflict (Powerplay)
- dynamic economy
- years of lore stories and community goals
- vast ship and loadout customisation
- huge variety of weapons and effects
- instances support 100+ CMDRs
- orbital mechanics
- realistic star systems and constellations
- ship-launched fighters
- multicrew
- alien "enemy" spaceships
- server-stored saves (no savegame-editing)
- multiplayer fleet carriers
- player-controlled markets
- multiplayer refueling and repair