Starfield discussion thread

[Frag_Maniac]

I honestly think the majority of quests have been pretty solid. Some were even quite good. The problem is there's too few of them, at least it feels that way.

Exactly my sentiments. Even though Mass Effect didn't have space battles, I do recall there were quite a few quests that were multi tiered, lengthy, challenging, and very emotionally driven, some even with very haunting environments. This game by comparison ends up feeling like you've wasted a lot of time as you said.

 

[Divide Overflow]

Bethesda really missed an opportunity to leverage procedural generation and other mechanics to make NG+ games look, feel and play differently.

 

[thesmokingman]

My play-through was interrupted around the 40 hour mark and I feel disconnected from the game and the character I created. I've opened it up a few times but feel like I'm missing something.

Unfortunately, I still remember enough that I don't feel like starting over at the moment. I guess I need to give it some time and then give it a go again.

I'm kind of there with ya. I don't feel connected to the game and find it hard to muster up the desire to start a new game.

 

[Vayra86]

I wouldn't call it lackluster though. The fact that I'm still playing and is thinking "ohh look another thing to do" says it is a good game, but the fact that i afterwards can't really recall anything says it's a bad game. I enjoy it, but I'm not sure why.

The gameplay loop still works right, that's what you're getting I think. You got into a loop and it is a satisfying one for whatever reason. At some point it doesn't really matter how the loop works internally, you're just enjoying 'the thing' for doing it.

I totally get that, been there with Bethesda's games a lot. Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout 3 all did that for me. A few hundred hours, too, each game. Since Skyrim I've not found it again, or at least not convincingly. In FO4, I found it but there is so much off with that game (also graphically) that I just couldn't keep it going and it lacked the atmosphere of 3, tried to be funny too much for my tastes rather than grim and post apocalyptic. In FO76, I found it again but when the scaling stopped, it was quickly lost against its online issues. In Starfield, I never really found it. But I didn't take the patient approach with that game either. The formula I think went stale for me, and the execution in Starfield isn't strong enough to keep me going. The loading screens, the limited scope of stuff, the systems that aren't fleshed out, and the combat, are all kinda difficult to swallow. If space combat was actually engaging for example, I think I could have found the thing again, even despite the rest being same old.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

This is the ship I've settled on for my new method of getting through non Starborn alliance NG+ runs, which is the only way you can keep leveling up all powers. It's not only a very capable ship, but cheap to build. So much so that you need only do the first part of the UC Vanguard questline, Grunt Work (which unlocks the power efficient Vanguard Obliterator Autoprojector). As long as you diligently scavenge during the artifact collecting, and the Mantis quest to get the Razorleaf, you will not have to do high paying quests, such as the lengthy Crimson Fleet one.

This ship uses only two weapon groups, six of the aforementioned Class A VOA, and 4 of the Class B PBO-175 Auto Helion Beam. A major strategy change as well is I no longer take Andreja and Barrett for their level 3 particle weapon skills, but instead take Omari Hassan and Vasco for their level 3 and 2 Shield Skills. This combined with using the 1125 rated Class B Warden SG-400 Shield Generator, which uses 2 less power than the 1450 rated shield, means I can run my guns at full power and still have enough for full (100) Shield power, and 100 Engine power.

I use the Class B 104DS Mag Inertial Reactor, which is rated at 39 power output, but with my Piloting skill maxed, it puts out 40. You Can however reach over 50 power output if you max your Aneutronic Fusion skill, but I find it's not necessary. Even the non allied Starborn fight is pretty easy with 40 power, even on Very Hard mode. The cost of building this ship is 216,666 credits, and why I nicknamed it Razorbeast. With Particle Weapon Systems skill maxed these guns output a combined 1222 DPS! Swapping Stroud cowling for Nova means no weapon plates needed.

 

[Space Lynx]

now I wish Todd would look at this and be like you know what, I am going to make this into a No Man's Sky type comeback story, but we all know he won't, cause he got the yacht club lifetime membership and cashed out with this game. I don't even blame him really, just sad to see passion die.

 

[Sithaer]

That 'beta' patch is also out on gamepass now.
Tried it just now and it boosted my overall fps by 15-20 or so + I can see way higher CPU utilization than before.
For example in Atlantis I've barely had 40-45 fps with the same settings+ DLSS mod on quality. 'Digital Foundry's optimized settings basically'
After the patch with the same settings + using the ingame DLSS on Quality '20% sharpening':

 

[Lost_Troll]

You don't say........

 

[Frag_Maniac]

You don't say........

View attachment 322690

Over 8000 ammo for a sniper rifle? I've never seen a need for that much.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Not going to read through 63 pages here, but Starfield always struck me as a bland Mass Effect without the strong space opera elements and the reason Bethsoft has been working on it as a concept and in practice for so long is that they just couldn't get the feel of the game to gel.

Fallout is Fallout and basically oozes style from every pore and Elder Scrolls is Bethsoft's baby.

Starfield Vanilla, as far as I can tell, is about as ho-hum and bland a base game as is possible. Hopefully it serves as a solid platform for a couple DLCs to really flesh out the world and systems, and in 3-4 years I'll be able to pick up a GOTY edition with tons of good content for $10.

 

[Nathaaab]

Not going to read through 63 pages here, but Starfield always struck me as a bland Mass Effect without the strong space opera elements and the reason Bethsoft has been working on it as a concept and in practice for so long is that they just couldn't get the feel of the game to gel.

Fallout is Fallout and basically oozes style from every pore and Elder Scrolls is Bethsoft's baby.

Starfield Vanilla, as far as I can tell, is about as ho-hum and bland a base game as is possible. Hopefully it serves as a solid platform for a couple DLCs to really flesh out the world and systems, and in 3-4 years I'll be able to pick up a GOTY edition with tons of good content for $10.

Starfield in indeed bland and non-offensive to be mass sold to consumers despite being very 'meh'. I don't want to be that guy that comes in a SF thread to just sh*t over it but it's further proof imo at how downhill Bethesda has been going for years; as a fan of the original Fallout games, the new games are just terrible (the show is also shaping up to be). I can't tell about TES, but i've heard similar things.
The DLCs would have to be REALLY good to make me want to play it, especially when there are games like Squadron 42/ SC in development and in a similar setting.

 

[Space Lynx]

Starfield in indeed bland and non-offensive to be mass sold to consumers despite being very 'meh'. I don't want to be that guy that comes in a SF thread to just sh*t over it but it's further proof imo at how downhill Bethesda has been going for years; as a fan of the original Fallout games, the new games are just terrible (the show is also shaping up to be). I can't tell about TES, but i've heard similar things.
The DLCs would have to be REALLY good to make me want to play it, especially when there are games like Squadron 42/ SC in development and in a similar setting.

I think this type of game is best waiting for the expansion to be out, plus several patches, plus mod development. I enjoyed the 20-30 hours I played but quit early on, but I haven't touched it since launch, I will 100% be enjoying a full play through in a year or two though. Whenever the expansion comes out. A full story play through, mess around with some mods, then quit it and move on to next thing.

I do this with a lot of games nowadays, not just Bethesda, hell I just loaded the Ezio trilogy on Ubisoft yesterday, having a blast since these games run at 160+ fps on modern systems, so smooth vs the original experience when they came out.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Not going to read through 63 pages here, but Starfield always struck me as a bland Mass Effect without the strong space opera elements and the reason Bethsoft has been working on it as a concept and in practice for so long is that they just couldn't get the feel of the game to gel.

Fallout is Fallout and basically oozes style from every pore and Elder Scrolls is Bethsoft's baby.

Starfield Vanilla, as far as I can tell, is about as ho-hum and bland a base game as is possible. Hopefully it serves as a solid platform for a couple DLCs to really flesh out the world and systems, and in 3-4 years I'll be able to pick up a GOTY edition with tons of good content for $10.

In my opinion (disclaimer. I bought the premium edition and played around 300 hours), Starfield is a great IP, and a great game. I enjoyed playing it, but by the time I reached level 90, there was nothing left to do. I also had gone through the whole set of NG+ runs and obtained the Venator suit, ran into one or two of the alternate realities as well. The problem, IMHO, is that Starfield needs a lot, and I mean a lot more content. They need to release more habitable and settled planets, add new questlines, new companions, and improve certain mechanics as the game develops onward. Even the aforementioned NG+ mechanic needs more flavor and more variety, with some more meaningful differences between them.

 

[Space Lynx]

Well, it's finally happened. Entered Mostly Negative as of a few hours ago, and dropping fast... I bet it will be Mostly Negative "All" and Overwhelming Negative "Recent" by end of January. I wonder if Todd Howard is going to redeem himself like No Man's Sky team did, or if he just cashed out and has joined the yacht club. lol

 

[Dr. Dro]

Well, it's finally happened. Entered Mostly Negative as of a few hours ago, and dropping fast... I bet it will be Mostly Negative "All" and Overwhelming Negative "Recent" by end of January. I wonder if Todd Howard is going to redeem himself like No Man's Sky team did, or if he just cashed out and has joined the yacht club. lol

View attachment 326864

It's certainly not worthy of such a low score but people are running a full scale hate campaign on it right now. I hope that they do go the NMS way though.

 

[Lost_Troll]

I wonder if Todd Howard is going to redeem himself like No Man's Sky team did, or if he just cashed out and has joined the yacht club.

I do not think he will cash out as WCCF just had an update about another major patch next month and some of the future plans for the game (LINK). Their lead designer also posted a few weeks ago on the complaints with the game play (LINK).

I think with updates and some new light content coming every six weeks, as well as the new expansion, I think the game will get better over time.

 

[Frick]

"Really tried to love it but I just can't, the blatant procedural generation just absolutely kills the game for me." 64 hours

"This game shows how the great Bethesda has fallen. The shooting gets a little bit better, everything else takes a nosedive. This is nothing more than a sad shell of game coming from a studio who we know for a fact could do so much better." 76 hours

"I could recommend this if it was $10" 121 hours

This is something that is kinda mystifying to me. "This game sucks" but you play for 100 hours? It's baffling.

 

[Vayra86]

"Really tried to love it but I just can't, the blatant procedural generation just absolutely kills the game for me." 64 hours

"This game shows how the great Bethesda has fallen. The shooting gets a little bit better, everything else takes a nosedive. This is nothing more than a sad shell of game coming from a studio who we know for a fact could do so much better." 76 hours

"I could recommend this if it was $10" 121 hours

This is something that is kinda mystifying to me. "This game sucks" but you play for 100 hours? It's baffling.

Not at all. These are fans. They clearly wanted Starfield to be better. They persevered through all those hours and still didnt find what they sought in the game.

I fully agree with those reviews and the negative score. The game is shit, and clearly one of the worst iterations of a Bethesda open world clone. It lacks a real open world and retains all of Creation Engines bad things. New systems (like ship building) are incomplete and feel detached from the rest of the game.

 

[Onasi]

I think that with Starfield we will see if the lack of passion and interest that I am seeing currently leads to the game being abandoned as a modding platform. Yes, not releasing the CK right away and messing with some file structure already puts a dent in it, but I think that it will be the lack of enthusiasm that kills it. I see no way that SF gives birth to projects the scope of Enderal, Skywind or Fallout: London. Or the entire decades of work that went into and keeps going into Tamriel Rebuilt.

 

[Dragam1337]

I find that there are things to like about starfield... but it's not at all at the same level as fallout or elderscrolls. Feels very generic compared to that.

For me it's kinda like mass effect andromeda vs the original mass effect trilogy.

 

[Frick]

Not at all. These are fans. They clearly wanted Starfield to be better. They persevered through all those hours and still didnt find what they sought in the game.

I fully agree with those reviews and the negative score. The game is shit, and clearly one of the worst iterations of a Bethesda open world clone. It lacks a real open world and retains all of Creation Engines bad things. New systems (like ship building) are incomplete and feel detached from the rest of the game.

Surely they thought the game was good for some of those hundreds of hours. Do you spend 50 hours playing something you don't want to play?

 

[Onasi]

Surely they thought the game was good for some of those hundreds of hours. Do you spend 50 hours playing something you don't want to play?

Yes. It’s the only way to be completely confident when trashing it.
But in all seriousness, I could see how someone bought the meme of “it gets better on NG+” and kept playing in search of the fun only for it to never arrive. Hell, I remember finishing Final Fantasy XIII since people told me it totally gets better when you reach Pulse. It didn’t and even if it did - it was like 40 hours in.

 

[Vayra86]

Surely they thought the game was good for some of those hundreds of hours. Do you spend 50 hours playing something you don't want to play?

Yes, that is precisely what the earlier comment speaks about, at length. You might not believe it, well believe it. I've been there myself a few times now, except with Starfield I knew what I was getting into so I just cheated my ass out of everything I didn't like. Such as the whole game economy and pseudo progression. Fuck that. Give me levels and skill points, I ain't spending a second farming nonsensical bullshit in a game of broken mechanics only for things to scale along with me. Straight to end game 'experience'... which is in this game identical to the first five hours, apparently. I liked building a class C ship to see how far the builder would stretch. Done. Built another few ships, and that's all it wrote. Absolutely everything else in the game is just not fun.

But if you're on a console or a n00b, you can't do that. You're stuck doing tens of hours of chores to get something half decent running around. You do every side quest to get XP. Etc. I just went for all the nice things the game was supposed to offer. It was still dreadful. One of those games I am very happy to not have paid for, and I'll never touch it again most likely, unless some total overhaul manages to actually make a game out of it.

Similar things can occur with books, right. You start. The first chapter is meh, but surely it'll come. It'll get good. You work through another few dozen pages. Suddenly you're halfway, and now, the story still isn't great, but you're invested. You don't want to throw away the hours spent. Is this having fun? Is this reading a good book? No, its salvaging it, for what its worth, but you still waste many hours doing so.

 

[Vario]

Surely they thought the game was good for some of those hundreds of hours. Do you spend 50 hours playing something you don't want to play?

Sunk cost fallacy. Same reason gamers force themselves to play a backlog as punishment for being profligate during steam sales.
I don't do this personally, if the game looks like shit at 1 hour in, I refund it. Consequently, I only end up buying and keeping maybe two or three new games per year.

 

[720p low]

Good friend of mine asked me to care for his pets over the holidays while he was travelling, and invited me to use his PC if I wished. I started a fresh game of Starfield, and I guess I put about 25 hours into it over the week. As soon as I possibly could, I ditched the main quest, along with all of the companions and the robot. Just started to explore a bit, and see if I could get into some trouble.

As I soon discovered, so many of the various structures and facilities are not only copy and pasted, again and again, but I reached a point that I knew precisely where an enemy would be as I cleared an area, right down to the way they would be facing, and seemingly even if they would be male or female. The very same items in the very same places, over and over. Anyone who has played the game surely knows what I mean.

Apparently while developing this title, no one enforced any sort of common sense with regard to the believability and practicality of these various human outposts. There is simply no proper recognition given to the various hostile environments portrayed in the game. Buildings with a very definite 'shirtsleeve environment' interior, but no airlocks present at the entry points. Shelters sometimes not only have no restroom facilities, but not even any beds. And, it's -205° C. on a moon with no atmosphere, and apparently the locals like to just lounge outdoors, drink beer from a bottle and eat toast, judging from what you find at these locations. Stupid stuff...

These are fundamental gaffes for a science-fiction game. Inexcusable, unforced errors. Very early in development, somebody should have started swinging the axe over this nonsense. The repetition the game undeniably displays isn't necessarily a deal-breaker. But, the hard-to-ignore disregard for immersion most definitely is. At least for me.