Firstly I'd like to say that I am certainly a chucklefish fan. I enjoy the latest games; Starbound and Stardew. Starbound is an amazing game and I love it so so much but there is one hiccup. The main quests feel like a chore to do, yes, they do get the player exploring new planets and discovering new things but it's so tedious and repetitive. The actual missions, on the other hand, I enjoy quite a lot. The final boss is probably my biggest issue though, from the beginning it's mentioned and that's really all until you reach the end of the quests. It doesn't feel threatening and it doesn't affect your gameplay if you ignore it. With that said, what I propose is a 'Corruption/Crimson'-like effect. Except unlike Terraria where it's portions of your limited island, instead it is whole star clusters at a time, this can (should) be witnessed in action on your ships navigation console. Certain rare items could be found on these Extremely dangerous planets, some even that are needed straight from the early game. These planets would look like the final boss's 'planet' with creatures and all. Q: So how do you 'cure' these planets? A: Well with a terraformer of course! But don't forget, just like terraria The Ruin can also be farmed so make sure not to get rid of all of it! Q: What happens if I do get rid of all of it? A: Well maybe, JUST maybe there might be cultists, or an egg, or some sort of cloning machine that could be used to respawn the ruin for yourself. Make sure to feed it or else it might just eat your planet. (Devs I would make respawning The Ruin a risk and difficult task. If you are raising it, It MUST be hard, not once a day sort of thing but more like before you even spawn it you must bulk collect as many resources as you can to be constantly nurturing it. If you use the cultist approach make it difficult, gain their trust, collect wickedly rare ingredients, don't make it so easy.) Possibly another way to do it is The Ruin consumes lively planets and excreates a barren husk of a planet. This would be irreversible but at the same time is how to get yourself your own barren planet to build on. (If you went this way I'd make barren planets not spawn unless "RUIN SPREAD" was turned off) Solutions to stop the effect of The Ruin is to complete the quest line by killing it. Thus giving the players a reason more than just to get it out of the way. It always makes the universe feel more active than it does right now which besides viewing inside a solar system is not that much.
