Immersion is an integral part of the game. I wish we had more of it. Although it seems we keep losing more and more sim and immersion with each update recently, so maybe you'll get your wish come true at some point
The thing is, people get immersed by different things. In real life, I don’t spend my time running across parking lots (unless it’s raining). I
do sprint across that frelling volume because there’s no
gameplay to engage in there. Crossing that volume, to me, is an unnecessary timesink, something that would frequently be skipped over in other games.
It would be different if that volume of space had gameplay value. The ability to
repair your ship in an alternate reality where fixed the cost curves of ships and modules rather than dial credit rewards up to eleven. The ability to inspect your ship for sabotage due to mission wrinkles. Docking bay officials, honest or corrupt, to interact with, based on owning faction’s states. Internal station factions who may want to meet with you.
It’s that wasted
potential for gameplay I see every time I have to cross that empty volume that breaks
my immersion. A docking bay should feel like a gateway to adventure in a station, not a volume of space that needs to be crossed as quickly as possible to access what is essentially a 3D menu system you need to traverse just as quickly to get on with the
interesting portions of your Commanders’s life.
I have no problems traversing settlements because there’s gameplay to be had there, even if I choose to ignore it because I may not want to deal with the consequences. Same with Supercruise: plenty of gameplay to be had there, should I choose to engage in it. Both volumes also allow for skillful traversal to get to my destination
faster if I so choose, or in the former case, get there
stealthily.
But that docking bay and concourse? They’re firmly in the uncanny valley of game environments to me, and that breaks my immersion.
