My friend introduced StarMade to me, my guess would be he found the game via Youtube.
He then set up a server and we started playing. I grasped the concept of building large things fairly slow, "build a ship we can walk in!" -> "what block does that?" Nonetheless, I ended up playing through the night, wandering from store to store, buying any hull (and other) blocks I could find, slowly building up a ship that back then felt enormous. The truest sensation of limitless space to explore, in your own ship that you have to maintain in order to survive, is what got me hooked.
In the days following that night I learned more and more about all the features, including basics of system efficiency and catalog. All the knowledge robbed away that first night's unique fascination that I haven't since felt again. Days, weeks, months, soon a year? While I still enjoy building ships, at times I yearn for that initial wonder of wandering through the endless space, not knowing what I'd find if I just went far enough, while also desperately scavenging scarce resources to survive. This is the experience I once more wish to feel in StarMade.
Funny enough, the friend soon lost interest and stopped playing. The lack of content drove him away, while I had my love for spaceships to keep me going even without any real goals to achieve or adventures to experience. Nowadays I keep playing for the social touch, waiting for patches.