Animal riding just adds to the whole "Animal Crossing in Space" I believe Star Citizen is aiming for.

I see all those vehicles and ships and I always think "sure... but why should I need to build any of those?" You really need to enjoy mining stuff with your omnitool to enjoy NMS I guess.

For me, the game needs a sense of purpose to justify all the grind, because just aimless flying to procedural planet #76632 doesn't work for me.