This dev announcement has inspired emotions
Second to orgasm
Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpe7ULtkYbU
THANK YOU FDev for adding much needed realism and immersion to the game. The degree of emergent gameplay that will evolve from this new survival element feature alone will be invaluable to exisiting game mechanics i.e. likes of SAR, FR, player agency in mining/trading/exploration/combat tactics, PvE and PvP on foot/in SRV planetary exploration, CGs and 'Goid stalking Xenophiles & Xenophobes alike.
Heck, even the PvP ganker/griefer faction will be worshiping FDev after this update next year
#MindBlown
edit:
UPGRADED PLANETS SOME OF WHICH MAY HAVE RNG VEGETATION
NMS MANUAL HELD SAMPLER & ANALYSIS TOOL
REVAMP OF EXPLORATION CAREER TO PERMIT SALE OF ALIEN DATA BY SAMPLER TOOL TO STAR & PLANETARY PORTS
ICE WORLDS
ICE WORLDS WITH CRYOVOLCANISM
UPGRADED ROCKY PLANETS WITH ACTIVE VOLCANIC SEAS
Imagine being an explorer in the black for the last 30 real life calendar days. Your Asp X is bloated with 1st time discovery finds of alien plant life. Made your last scan before heading back to the nearest 100ly+ starport. You're heading back to your ship when you get jumped by some really ed off 'Goid. Who didn't care for the fact you were trespassing near one off their shipwreck artifacts. You engage them on foot, with no back up support for hundreds of light years. Will you survive this deadly encounter and become a reknown explorer? Or will you be making the walk of shame to visit the dreaded rebuy screen?
Fair play, you're a glass half full type.
When my cynical self hears "thin atmosphere", it means lore justification for limited planet subset and unremovable suit, not survival gameplay. Upgraded planets is good but a past feature which should have been delivered outside of the expansion (remember that icy planet upgrade?), manual held sampler means new control bindings for the main gameplay loop (point, click, more to next rng spawn, add to the list of things you cycle through to sell at next station), and cryovolcanism means blue geyser (got fooled once, I'm not buying hype this time round).
Walking is good and will provide a great sense of scale in itself, and the planetary upgrades are welcome if overdue. Can't say anything in the rest sounds new of exciting. Before you'd use the SRV to scan/shoot rng rocks, now you'll be on foot to scan/shoot rng plants. Yippee. But then, I never understood how fumaroles were anything but a practical joke. I must have missed the active volcanic sea as I didn't see nor hear anything about it. That I'd love to see, but again, got fooled once with "volcanism", so until I see it proper...
Looking forward to the rest of their previews, but this one? Meh.