My first thousand hours I acted like a long haul trucker in my hauler. That was back when you only got one ship and choosing the right type made a difference. I think you need a big imagination to do much role play nowadays.

Everything comes pretty easy so no real struggle and no big decisions to be made like in the initial game.

It seems like roleplaying means different things for different players. Some will tell you that if there is no companion with romance and different dialogue options like in Mass Effect, it is not roleplaying. But I prefer Skyrim version of sandbox with tools you can use to choose a role in the world. As different races, different guilds to join, different specific quests tied to some possible roles, taking sides like in Civil war quests series, etc.

So in NMS it would be trading/farming/outlaw tasks /mining/insect exterminator. But sadly I agree that mostly it still doesn't feel that way and you have to use a lot of imagination.

Btw I would never want to RP Sims series - I need some settings which is not from the world around me, and cool graphics to start with, so for me it is just quite boringlife sim, not imagination of doing something interesting in the world you could never experience in real life.

I'd like to hear some ideas too. New to the game and struggling to find a play-style or "role" to play.

I'm generally very objective-oriented as well. I'll be playing an RPG where something like alchemy feels "tacked on" ... meaning it's not actually necessary to complete the game/story... so I just won't mess with it.

When it's one system like that it's no big deal to just ignore those ingredients and that process. However, so far it feels like just about everything in NMS is like that. Seems like very few things are actually "useful" ... most are components of better components of better components that you eventually sell.

Don't get me wring. I appreciate "player agency" and freedom to pursue different paths to $$$ and there's nothing wrong with that. But for an "objective-oriented" person like me, well, if farming, cooking, producing, combat, exocraft, fleet/settlement management, etc. are not literally "necessary" to complete the story ... I have little motivation to engage with these game mechanics/systems.

So, while I don't consider myself a "role player" ... it seem like I need to learn to really enjoy NMS! OP's Skyrim reference strikes a chord too ... I tried Skyrim and threw in the towel for these very reasons. That said, I'm finding NMS interesting enough that I actually want to figure this out.

Used to roleplay as a Donut Seller now I just roleplay like an explorer

Its interesting that you say this, because I definitely RP while playing NMS.

Essentially, I acted like I was a human (which you sort of are) waking up from some space disaster to find yourself utterly lost, just like Artemis, which gave a nice parallel to the actual story as I went through it.

My first planet was with the Vykeen, and so I always had a special attachment to them. My settlement is Vykeen, my captains and squadron are Vykeen, and I speak it the best.
I also took note from their culture, and the role I put myself into was SPACE EMPEROR

I sailed from system to system, planting a large, dominate base somewhere in each system I discovered, and linking them all around a cluster, so there was the little floating collection of cities I'd built out in space. Then when I was sent across the galaxy via atlas magic, I started a new empire over there, and then slowly created a highway through space of other linked systems which united the two separate empires.

I've largely entirely ignored expeditions, quests, all that jazz. I would make defendable bunkers, or sprawling luxury towers, or underwater research labs, and some would just be little cities or communities.
I love it.

My role is a test subject trapped in a virtual reality simulation of a completely fictional universe. And all new universes (new games) are newer Iterations of that universe.

I don't really role play in NMS, or not much. But I do often pick a theme of sorts in a save. For example, in one save I chose to be a pirate. Pirate freighter, all pirate frigates, got a whole lot of my gear by attacking freighters, etc. In another I opted to do as little as I could on planets, doing as much as I could in space, on my freighter, or on space stations, In another I chose to explore, reaching both the inner and outer limits of the galaxy. Pick a goal for a save and go for it.

New goals often come from new expeditions. That's were the all in space freighter goal came from.

Originally posted by Horror Pigeon:

I'm not even good at role-playing. not in skyrim, the outer worlds, subnautica, etc. if I knew even how to role-play I would probably be enjoying the sims 4

nms, I look for objectives. when I decided to farm fungal spores, mordite, and echinocactus I did not feel like a farmer. when I look for the underground rares it's to get nanites

though I do enjoy naming planets and systems somewhat appropriately

what else is there?

This... is a surprisingly deep question, and I thank you for it. Based on the criteria you've specified, I can think of a couple ideas for you.

You can use your freighter to RP you're a Research and Development Fleet that travels the universe in search of furthering knowledge of all things, and building experimental techs you either develop or find along the way!

You could go dark and be a pirate, attacking innocents all over the universe for profit.

You could travel the universe buying and selling commerce items to RP a trader.