I believe the base building and fleet management additions Sean mentioned is because it's simply what a LOT of people have been asking or expecting to be in the game from day one.
A lot of streamers spend a lot of time on a single planet, and I saw many mentions of "I wish I could store this here" and stuff like that.
Sean pays very close attention to such input, especially from testers. He said on the stream that they changed the planet rotation thing because testers where getting very confused.... that's what you get when you sell your space game to console people.
I would love to own some freighters and a base, really. As long as the base building is not half-assed like in Evochron series of games, for instance, where it seems the feature was thrown in there just so it could be on the game's description...and, at least the last time I played, when building a base you don't even own it. The faction you build in owns it, and all you get is the same discount you can get anywhere by having a license on a station.
So I'm excited for base building and fleet management, but I really hope that their implementation of it gives the player a feeling of ownership and control, other than "I'm just spawning this space-tent prop here and it will function exactly like any other npc space-tents".
I also expect that this takes at least 3-4 months, because I think if Hello Games keep up the sort of crunching-pace they have at the moment, employees will start dying.
-snip-
About building and exploration and what could be at the center of the galaxy: I agree completely. I don't completely know how it fits on the game's lore, but I'm 98% sure of what's there and why.
I also don't think it's the perfect game or anything, just a perfectly fun game. If I can enjoy Starbound (and I hate many things about it, along with Chucklefish), I definitely can enjoy this. I also remember enjoying Rodina (which is basically the same gameflow).
I just wish the price tag was like, half of what it is - because I may be really happy with the launch and everything, but it still feels like a VERY, VERY overpriced indie game. It makes it impossible for me to make my friends to buy it, and I also think this could hurt the game on reviews since people will treat it like the AAA game it's priced and marketed as.
In other words, if this wasn't spot-on a kind of game I always wanted to play (especially after I played the lackluster Spore Space Stage), I'd probably be among those who don't get the excitement and all the 'vibes'.
About going fast while flying low, I've seen some people do that and it seemed okay, especially post-patch. And I did see some people bumping into terrain. I think it works a bit like X Rebirth in which the ship will avoid collisions for you by sticking/hovering over the surface (and walls, IIRC), but if you keep pushing towards the obstacle, this protection is overriden. Mind that I haven't played the game, but that's the impression I got from all the streams.
Oh..and post-patch the planets and stuff looks SO much better. I've seen places that reminds me of Venus, some that reminds me of Mercury, scary places, dead places.. I also felt really satisfied with the difficulty on certain types of planets where Sentinel activity and behavior is..different. I still wish they were smarter somehow, but I think the smart AI is present on actual military drones after you cut through the scouts.