As for the sense of scale, I'm not sure rocks and trees would help much. A small rock is very much like a big rock. Plants and trees are much more useful in that regard. But even there, our sense of scale comes from our familiarity with Earth. We know how tall trees are, we know how haze affects distant objects,... That experience wouldn't translate on planets with much taller/shorter trees, thicker/thinner atmosphere, ...
Thanks for the response
! Having any objects scattered around the planets will help a lot with scale (I'm talking about VR) its not about what the objects are its about composition i.e. big things in relation to small things. contextualizing the player in the environment makes a huge difference for emersion.
If this is just made for star gazing then I think its a huge missed opportunity I think the coolest feature of this game is the overwhelming sense of scale you get moving from planet to solar system to galaxy, its overwhelming, scary and gives me existential feelings I've never felt before this is not about stargazing anymore if thats what they set out to make this is a piece of art.
This is something that no mans sky just cant do with the loading screens they have, having those small objects will push the scale even further. this is also just my opinion so there is that. and who TF am I.