bethesda announces game concept.
people freak.
bethesda announces game. 
people hype.
bethesda starts hyping the game.
people go fucking nuts hyping the game as a result. their social media team plants those seeds to make it look organic.
a year or more of speculation occurs.
todd howard being his little schmuck self comes out and boasts about their new game.
people lose their god damn minds.
whispers of shitty gameplay start occurring closer to launch.
the masses tell those people to fuck off how could they know, dishonest review etc etc.
the big names in game reviews all review it and give it out of the park amazing reviews.
people go batshit crazy. people are out in the streets killing their parents for a chance at the new bethesda god game.
the game is released and is somewhat playable but jesus fuck is it lacking, it’s buggy, and every character looks like they’ve been updated from skyrim graphics of yore. the story sucks. the game play is empty but goddamn is there a lot to explore.
everyone rushes in like a madman.
everyone realizes the gameplay sucks.
people start bitching.
others say “oh don’t worry, DLC and user created mods will fill the game out nicely.”
years pass.
the unpaid modding community pours their heart and soul into making the game not fucking suck.
after all the DLC has come out (all with mostly positive or mixed reviews on steam) the game will go dark for a year or so.
todd howard wakes from his capitalist vampire coma needing fresh life force. the blood money of his unsuspecting idiot fans.
todd howard makes it into the office and says we could make a new game or we can milk this game for the next decade and a half. quick come up with names to rerelease the game under. game of the year edition. complete edition. master edition. elite edition. remastered. remastered complete. anything works!
over the course of the next three decades, todd howard is fed the blood of bethesda’s fan base.
he is swollen, like a fat tick upon his harkonen throne, waiting to burst.
“the people. they call for a NEW game”, he says, a devilish sneer contorts his face.
and the cycle continues.
and these fucking idiots. every goddamn time.
This comment is better written than the game itself.
That comment or this comment?
Yes
If you like Bethesda games, you’re gonna like this one. If you don’t like Bethesda games, you’re not going to like this one. I don’t know what else to tell you, bud.
Don’t mistake the bitching of a vocal minority of lemmy/reddit posters and YouTube influencers (who bitch primarily for clicks) as “everyone”. There are actually a lot of people who like these games - myself included - and a lot of them aren’t on any sort of social media. I loved vanilla Oblivion, Fallout 3, Skyrim, and Fallout 4 and love modded versions even more. I’m having a blast with vanilla Starfield right now - easily dozens of hours over the long weekend. And I’ll probably love modded Starfield even more as well.
Sixteen times the comment!
This is one of the greatest comments of all time
Str8 facts
I don’t get it.
People wanted another Bethesda game.
They got what they wanted.
I said in 2008, after playing the first Fallout game by Bethesda instead of Black Isle: “Only Bethesda could manage to make a post apocalyptic prostitute boring.”
They’ve always been boring, they’ve always had ugly character models, and the writing has always been bad. You get what you paid for. A Bethesda game.
As an enjoyer of both Oblivion and Morrowind I’m going to say that I think it’s more likely that the people at Bethesda who were key at making their past games good have either been promoted beyond their positions of expertise or simply left for greener pastures. Bethesda hasn’t always been trash, and people are quick to forget transgressions from nearly a decade ago (yes! It’s been that long!)
It’s been 21 years since Morrowind, and 17 years since Oblivion. Been longer than a decade. Two in Morrowind’s case. I would put Morrowind down as “peak Bethesda,” and their games have been slowly turning to crap since. I agree, I think they lost a lot of key players who worked for them, and they’ve never been able to regain their footing.
I’m fine with their writing and their overall gameplay. It’s just that they managed to make space feel boring and tiny. All those little areas in-between the loading screens really don’t feel like a vast space opera at all.
Also I wish they would just invest into some new game mechanics. Proc gen planets look great and exploring them could have been so much fun 🥲
Yeah one of the best parts of the game, the planets look great. There’s just not much to do on them.
Thanks Todd Howard 🙏
“He can’t keep getting away with it!!”
I think the fundamental problem is that people had different expectations for a game set in space, both because Bethesda stoked them (all of that talk of having the idea decades ago / first new franchise in however many years / Microsoft bought the company just to get it as an exclusive / etc) and because after No Man’s Sky people kind of expected that with their budget / resources they would manage to fix that game’s problems and create something richer + more seamless.
In retrospect, if they’d simply sold it as “Skyrim in Space,” admitted to the limitations up front - same underlying engine, limited amount of variety to procedurally-generated content, loading screens instead of seamless takeoff/landing, etc - and not pretended that it was something new, the response would have probably been much more uniformly positive.
after No Man’s Sky people kind of expected that with their budget / resources they would manage to fix that game’s problems and create something richer + more seamless
That was basically what I hoped for. NMS type game, but with Skyrim/ fallout level modding, stories, quests and deeper meaning to it.
And with better procgen. They have the manpower and expertise to do that.
I haven’t bought the game yet, waiting to see the initial responses. Now… I’ll probably pick it up on sale sometime, when bugs are fixed and there’s solid mods.
Honestly I still think waiting to buy a Bethesda game is smart if you aren’t a huge fan or something. Skyrim was pretty crap at launch and all the praise it gets now is mostly referring to Skyrim well after launch when patches and mods turned it into something good.
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They’ve always been boring
Strongly disagreed. Pre-Oblivion their games were great. Hoping for a return to engrossing stories taking place in a rich, expansive universe was not entirely unreasonable.
Morrowind was their best, but I would say 21 years on, it’s really tough to be like “Yeah, this time they’ll get back to their roots.” No, it’s time to move on. All the people who made those games what they were have retired, moved on, or died.
I’d recommend you go back and read some critical reviews of Arena and Daggerfall. The complaints are exactly the same: the graphics engine is out of date, the characters are lifeless, the writing is just okay, the story is shallow, etc. Bethesda has scaled back the RPG mechanics since Morrowind, for sure, but their games ultimately have the same Bethesda DNA, for better or worse. For what it’s worth, I’m enjoying Starfield at launch much more than Fallout 4 even now, updated, expanded and modded.
My friend, I don’t need to go read the video game history about Daggerfall: I wrote some of it. :)
And I stand by my statement. That game was the height of storytelling that came out of Bethesda in a bunch of small but important ways, although Morrowind is not far behind, in a somewhat different fashion. And there is a definite shift in the series from the moment Ted Peterson left the team. Patently, not a shift I am personally very fond of, but to each her own.
I can’t remember all that well, I was a child at the time, lol. I go back to Morrowind once in a while, and I do find the writing to be more immersive, as opposed to the more recent games where it’s a series of linear, ham-fisted novellas. So far, Starfield seems much improved over Fallout 4 or Skyrim in that regard, but I’m not all that far in.
Not always, n’wah
Skyrim is literally one of their worst-written games and only has a saving grace of a wide open world that is interesting to explore.
Personal opinion, Morrowind was still boring, but had the best writing, best style, and required the most from the player. Morrowind was peak Bethesda and that was over 20 years ago.
My wife, a couple friends, and I have all put a ton of hours into this game and absolutely love it. I put several hours into the shipbuilder alone. Every hand built sidequest I run into feels like a TNG episode. And I love the kinda Becky Chambers / Star Trek-style utopia with mystery and drama theme they’ve got.
This is the most Bethesda game they’ve ever made, for better of worse. It doesn’t hand hold you. There are plenty of times where I’ve looked at my quest log, found nothing i could do except the main quest, and then decided just to jump to a random system - only to get pulled into some crazy new adventure for a couple hours. You’re supposed to be an explorer, if you put even the smallest effort into exploring, you will be rewarded.
A lot of people complaining were never going to like this game or any Bethesda game and I don’t know what to do with those people. The amount of constant negativity on the internet makes me really appreciate stories like TNG and writers like Becky Chambers and Cory Doctorow, because they’re so positive and affirming and optimistic and when they criticise, they also offer solutions. And this game really scratches that itch for me.
And after almost 40 years of life dealing with the constsnt cycle of negativity and hatred and anger and frustration and drama, on the internet, a global scale, and in my own life…I’m just tired. I can’t play games with “edgy dark stories” anymore. I can’t go back to New Vegas because its bummer after bummer. And i know a lot of people thrive on that “scortched earth” bullshit but I just can’t anymore.
I just…wanna sit down and play a game. And maybe one where everything is okay for once. And this is that game for me.
I don’t get the hate, fuck 'em. I’m absolutely loving the game, it’s exactly what I wanted and more. In fact, I get the same feeling I did playing Skyrim, you’re doing some side mission, then you see something absolutely stunning. Earlier I was on some grey barren moon looking for resources, I look to the right, see the red planet, it’s ice caps, and other two moons with the milky way behind them.
I like the TNG comparison. The side missions are so much better than in other Bethesda games I’ve played. Even little interactions with the NPCs or little events and conversations that just happen as a part of the world and not some quest. Love it.
Man that last quest for Sarah was a such a TNG moment. Overall the writing in this game is a cut above most - that quest was sort of an obvious twist, but it was executed really well. I find myself wishing the animations could keep up with the writing and voice actors sometimes, but we can’t have it all.
Are you hoping for cut scenes with specially rendered segments? Because I hate that stuff and would rather see animations built within the game world, like we have in most of these Bethesda games.
Cut scenes ruin games for me. It’s why I never finished a Mass Effect game.
No, just more emotion in the animations. You know how real people will sort of look up & to the left or something, maybe put their finger or hand up if they’re trying to remember something? Or they’ll look around and move their head a little, scratch their chin, etc. if they’re thinking. Or they’ll scrunch their eyebrows up and look at the ground if they’re sad?
That kind of thing.
The eyes are always looking at the player as well. Kind of makes them look psychopathic.
Why are people pretending the game isn’t getting glowing reviews? Is the Bethesda hate circlejerk still going on?
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Yep, he just added a few panels because he didn’t want to look like an idiot.
Oh no I’ve been found out 🥹
It didn’t come out on PS5.
I like the game, but reviews are pretty unreliable these days. Cyberpunk 2077 also got a load of 8/9/10s on release and that game ran like shit and was full of bugs.
I don’t understand why is it popular to shit on Bethesda games? Just don’t play it if you don’t like it. At least it has no microtransacrions or Battle Pass nonsense.
Bethesda games tend to have awful writing, released with an unacceptable amount of bugs, and not having micro transactions and a battle pass shouldn’t be praised, it must be the standard.
Right now it needs to be praised so it becomes the standard.
When will you learn the only thing that gets results is buying or not buying them? Fucks sake. It’s capitalism, if you buy shitty product more shitty product gets made.
It is the standard, idiot fucking gamergoblins dumping their wallets out saying “GIVE ME ADVANTAGES” are the assholes thats are trying to change the standard.
So it should be praised as it currently isn’t the standard in the gaming industry. But hey, let’s shit on it so we can totally tell the industry that this is the wrong path and micro transactions are the way to go!
I expected it to be buggy. I have not yet encountered a bug in my first few hours.
That being said, there’s lots im not liking about it so far.
I had Vasco become a part of the door to the cockpit. I couldn’t enter. I had to leave the ship and hit the specific ‘to cockpit’ button for a few hours because reloading didn’t save him from his torment. Only bug I’ve had but was weird lol.
Vasco quite frequently blocks the door everywhere for me, but at least I have been able to push my way through so far. He’s like my Golden Retriever in that respect so I am used to it from real life.
Real sad that Vasco isnt a full companion. Had so much potential there, instead, all he is is a glorified tutorial escort for the start of the game, and graduates to annoying barricade for the rest of it.
When this is the first meme I see a community make. I know the game is mid as fuck.
you guys really think it’s boring? :/
People are weird when it comes to Bethesda. If you like Bethesda games, you’ll probably like this one. I haven’t gotten to play myself yet but watching friends who have it it looks fun. Does it look 10/10 GOTY? Not really. But it looks full* of fun stuff.
I think in some way all Bethesda games can feel ‘boring’, but kinda in a good way? Like sometimes you’re just wandering a city with no real goal. It isn’t thrilling or adrenaline pumping, but it’s cool and immersive. Some people find that kind of slower pace boring. I think it’s cool. Not everything gotta be full throttle all the time.
*edit
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LOL yeah i missed that one. Not even really a huge fan I just try to temper expectations goin in
I think they’ve been putting out very similar games since like fallout 3. If that’s what you are looking for, it’s fun. People for some reason seem to put unrealistic expectations on things. I assume this game is just improved graphics fallout 3 in space. Which isn’t a bad thing, but if you expect a revolutionary game you are in for disappointment.
Bethesda hasn’t really changed their formula, so if you’ve played Skyrim or Fallout 4 you quickly fall into the ‘quest marker->dungeon->vendor->crafting’ loop and the game stops being stimulating
At this point I don’t trust anyone. Reviewers obviously paid off to give positive reviews, but then just as annoying is all the pure anti Bethesda hate here. I don’t trust anyone to separate their Bethesda love/hate from the review of the actual game.
I think there was one review that was like “it’s a sci Fi Skyrim in space” and that sounds like it’ll be the most accurate.
sci Fi Skyrim
Shit bro that’s all you gotta say.
I’m a basic bitch like that I like my Bethesda kiddie pools.
For me this is the first Bethesda game I’ve played (other than a few hours of Skyrim but I didn’t get far), and I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit. It’s not a perfect game, probably not even my game of the year, but I’ve been finding myself wanting to play it over all of the other games currently in my backlog.
I really don’t see what the hate is about, Bethesda promised space Skyrim, and that’s basically what we got.
I think it’s fun, but I’m a run and gun kind of guy. So I’m having a blast shooting dudes in the face. The shooting is much better than Fallout. I LOVE fighting in the zero gravity arenas. It’s so cool like floating between pillars and headshotting a guy off in the distance and his body is now bopping around. Those are so rare though. Idk how I can find more.
But overall I find the game frustrating outside battles. It’s like death by a thousand cuts though. There’s no one thing that’s egregious but there’s just stacking outdated design choices that continually build up. The games indecision around flying your ship being an easy catch all for the multiple failures in making your ship mean anything outside of battles and the map system. For the love of God fix the slide, you slide like 2inches. There’s also a constant battle with backing out of menus. Idk.
But then I find some spacer trap house and have a good time blasting away. Excited for when I can actually can craft bespoke weapons.
Apparently id software helped with the shooting part. They are the best in town for it, I am not surprised that it’s improved compared to fallout games, that have pretty bad shootings
Yea menu navigation is terrible, lack of explanation on how to do anything is confusing, basically no map isn’t great. I’m about 10 hours in and enjoying it, but could have been a lot better.
Also, maybe it’s just me but I can never tell if I’m buying or selling to a vendor and end up totally messing it up and needing to reload multiple times.
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“not a failure” I called it frustrating and death by a thousand cuts. Just because I don’t screech failure and send Todd Howard death threats doesn’t mean I’m not being critical of the game. Get some reading comprehension and don’t set the bar at hyperbole. Saying the thing you do 75% of the time is fun isn’t calling it a rousing success either by any means.
I somehow entirely missed the hype around this game and came across it again only accidentally on early release day when looking at some other sale on Steam. Been playing it and it seems fine to me in a vague Skyrim-in-space sort of way, which is all what I was expecting from a Bethesda RPG.
The world seems alive enough and there are plenty of side-quests and amusing / interesting things to discover. Now suddenly I have been coming across a bunch of posts everywhere where the game is supposed to be terrible or something. Still seems fine to me, but maybe I have lower standards after decades of gaming. shrug.
Its fallout 4 in space.
But with a worse interface and a lot more menus that are annoying to navigate.
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If my therapist and my dealer both failed at getting me to do tgat, what chance you think you have?
Tgat? Is that an acronym of "Toke, grin, assess, twerk "?
I literally spent my entire Labor Day weekend playing this game so anybody that says it’s boring I’d really don’t understand what they’re talking about
So how much R is in this RPG game? Is there any character customisation? Like at least Skyrim-level (which is already a pretty low bar to conpare to)
More than you expect but somehow still less than you want. Just look at the beard options and that will describe the whole game experience so far.
I didn’t play starfield but watched around 2 hours of gameplay. The story was kinda nonsense, the gameplay I can respect but I know it wouldn’t be for me. Like everyone says it’s fallout in space, but it seems like it takes itself much more serious
With how many call backs, jokes and references I’ve seen in the main plot: it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Half of the jokes have been directly related to the lack of dialogue options and having a silent protagonist.
I wish it took itself more serious. It’s tongue in cheek non stop but the jokes rarely land.
Fully agree. Lots of jokes; they’re not very funny, tho. IDK… Maybe it will get more interesting the further I get. I still wanna check out Neon (the cyberpunk city) and do deep space exploration (can’t even get out there yet). I’ve been to a museum ran by the Starship Troopers faction that gives a ton of exposition on the lore and it was a chore to stay awake through all that.
Me as fuck. Though I just keep it to myself instead of trying to ruin my friends’ enjoyment.
Is the performance difference big if you play from HDD or SSD?
There should be no performance difference. The only difference should be in loading screens and possibly pop-in from streamed assets.
Is the game generally demanding, though? Don’t exactly have a top of the line setup.
I have a 2070 Super and am running it well.
extremely, based on the testing by gamersnexus and hardware unboxed. even a 4090 can only get you 90-100 fps on ultra without upscaling (of which only fsr 2 is present, which is generally horrible in terms of image quality). performance drops off accordingly, if i’m not mistaken you have to drop to medium on a 3060 to get 60fps at a render resolution of 1080p.
based on the numbers we’ve seen, i wouldn’t recommend high settings on anything but a 40-series, on which you probably want both dlss and framegen (for which you’ll have to install a mod, thankfully those are already out). the combination of those two gives you a clean doubling in performance, although latency doesn’t improve compared to native rendering. on older nvidia cards, you’re stuck with regular dlss, and scaling down render resolution unfortunately doesn’t have anywhere near as pronounced of an effect on nvidia as it should be based on current testing.
amd cards have anomalously high performance in this game (which is kinda sus tbh), they generally perform on par with the nvidia gpu a tier above them (so an amd gpu that normally matches the 3060 would perform like the 3070 in starfield – or rather, given the lackluster visual quality, the 3070’s performance is currently pushed down to the 3060’s level, while amd is unaffected by this). there is also no raytracing in the game yet (even though we know they worked on it because they hired for that role, and because it’s 2023) so at the moment if you have an amd card you’ll have a great time in starfield, performance doesn’t suffer the same limitations, and the technologies you would miss out on aren’t implemented yet.
on the intel side, however, the game doesn’t run at all. most of the time you won’t even get to the menu, and if you do, rendering is completely borked. it is unclear yet if the issue is with bethesda or intel, but given that it’s an amd-sponsored game, the charitable interpretation is that they didn’t test on intel hardware at all or give intel any time to fix stuff, and the less charitable interpretation is that they’re intentionally locking out intel cards.
I’m on a 6700xt. I run the game at ultra and I’ve never had an unplayable dip at 1080p. worst i’ve had is like…40s in New Atlantis. Which is fine for ultra across the board for a non-combat area. N
yeah, that sounds like the amd performance thing. it doesn’t run anywhere as well on nvidia or intel, which, according to the steam hardware survey, is about 84% of gamers
Oh well. Sucks for nvidia card owners to finally experience what AMD card owners have had to deal with forever.
I’ve seen posts elsewhere that say 5min+ loading screens on HDD that tried to install it to their HDDs. game does a LOT of asset streaming.
