“I know some people don’t like the way I roleplay,” SGX said to Kotaku, “but do you get angry at actors on screen when they play EVIL as part of the character?” In a two hour video titled “A BIG MESSAGE TO THE NO MAN’S SKY COMMUNITY,” SGX reiterated this point numerous times: he’s just roleplaying, and the people who are criticizing him and reporting his channel are the real bullies and harassers.

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“Criticising me all over the internet as a personality is a thing that they should be ashamed of as a community!” he told Kotaku. “And driving people into reporting me and my channel and trying to shut me down! That is the true face of the community!”

Lillihop said over DMs that the No Man’s Sky roleplaying community members that she knows are “livid” at getting used as an excuse for SGX’s actions. One such group, the Collectors, roleplay as antagonists against the Galactic Hub; they addressed the situation by tweeting their definition of roplaying: “players assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories and determine the actions of their characters according to a system of guidelines. Within the rules, they may improvise freely; and shape the game.” They added, “SeriusGamerX brings us amateur hour.”

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Despite the blowback, SGX did not say he has any intention of playing the game any differently. “For me in roleplay there has to be a freedom of choice! If I’m playing the evil guy, then I have to be evil guy also in the game!” he said. “Actual roleplay involves gameplay too. And if that means messing with people around a little bit, then that’s what it is.”

Lillihop isn’t going to let a little piracy stop her from running her civilization and building new bases. “At this point, I’ve moved from the coffee cup base I’m known for [that SGX is threatening] and relocated. He can take the base, but he won’t take the Cafe,” she said over DMs. She described the No Man’s Sky community as a country that the players who participate in civilized space inhabit and, ideally, work together to protect. “We’re the protectors of dreams,” she said. “I guess when you see this simulation as an extension of your own world, you become passionate about it and want to see it thrive and blossom.”

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“Hello Games may never know my name, but I love what they’ve given me and my simulated world full of travelers the world over that I adore,” Lillihop said. “I’ll always protect this, and I’ll always support it. It’s truly my home away from home, and I thank them so much for that.”