Starfield's Problem

[The Seventh Son]

I got over 100 hours in Starfield, so unlike most of the criticism people give around here, this is based in experience.

The problem with Starfield is: It has no flavor.

The game is set 300 years in the future, and uses technology that very well could exist today. Whoever decided to:

- Not have sapient aliens (Va'Ruun should have been Aliens, change my mind)
- Not have technology so advance that it seems like magic to us.
- Have Robots look like the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Mars rover
- Have ships that look about 20 years away from current ships
- Make the Terrormorphs a threat that "ended" before the game starts
- Make mechs outlawed
- Make Va'ruun inaccessible (until the first DLC but still)

Really screwed this game over. What we're left with is a game that feels like space travel 20 years from now, but is some how 300 years from now. Everyone speaks English, accents are random, and nothing except the main story has any real sci-fi feel to it.

I mean even places that could have had flavor, they stopped short. Look at The Mantis. What Bethesda did with The Silver Shroud in FO4 was amazing, one of my favorite playthroughs. I'm about 40 hours into my "Mantis" playthrough and I've only seen two references to the fact that I'm The Mantis. Or a quest takes you to fight a whole bunch of mech pilot outlaws hiding in a mech factory, and they decided not to have a mech boss?

Without any flavor, we're really just left with the base game, which has all the same flaws that every bethesda game has. Which the playerbase is fine with, because the worlds are interesting.

Literally there's only 2 things interesting about Starfield: It's in Space, and the Starborn. Everything else just feels like Fallout, without the "retropacalypse" flavor.

[Zero McDol]

Personally, I wouldn't call it a Starfield problem myself, as the game simply is what it is. I'd call it a problem of expectations.

Expectations of aliens, in-which there are aliens but just not intelligent. Expectations of advanced technology, which there is advanced technology like grav drives, that are very far past what we're currently capable of. Etc.

In the end, it's a artistic design choice, but that in itself is just what it is and not necessarily a problem.


About the only design choice that I feel doesn't fit with Starfield vs the future that is being presented, is using 2024 dialog in a game that is set 300 years in the future. For me, it's odd, but it is what it is. Most futuristic sci fi movies that I've seen don't have this issue, as the dialog feels well, futuristic in some way shape or form.

[Macronomicus]

Originally posted by Zero McDol:

Personally, I wouldn't call it a Starfield problem myself, as the game simply is what it is. I'd call it a problem of expectations.

Expectations of aliens, in-which there are aliens but just not intelligent. Expectations of advanced technology, which there is advanced technology like grav drives, that are very far past what we're currently capable of. Etc.

In the end, it's a artistic design choice, but that in itself is just what it is and not necessarily a problem.

About the only design choice that I feel doesn't fit with Starfield vs the future that is being presented, is using 2024 dialog in a game that is set 300 years in the future. For me, it's odd, but it is what it is. Most futuristic sci fi movies that I've seen don't have this issue, as the dialog feels well, futuristic in some way shape or form.

Agreed, but I think its appropriate. Humanity destroyed its own world, set out, then destroyed itself again with the colony wars, its 'arrested development' with the exception of those who really went far out on their own like Va'ruun who became very unique, most people are stuck in the low end of the primordial soup so to speak, the great creativity of Earth in its glory days is what they have to draw on, since they've not advanced much since then, neither on Earth, nor out beyond.

Science tends to sit outside of humanity in its little areas making advances, so we did get more tech, but the abject failures of politics, religion, & civilization in general are still abundant. So with all that in mind, the lore of the current time-frame fits quite well, tragic & desperate short brutal lives, knowing there's more, wanting more, yet too few putting in the work to truly evolve, its the story of humanity, yet only a few brave souls are the only ones to pull us forward.

As for intelligent aliens, they created the Unity, & will we be hearing more about that in future DLC im sure of it, even if its not the Unity aliens, there will likely be others that come about, the writing is on the wall, all the setup is there for it, at least seems as such.

[IEATFETI]

the CORE of the game is flawed that why starfailed failed so badly, i have no hope for TES 6 or fallout 5. I can give you a list of things on why the game is bad but becasue that list is so long ill give one and think about what i say.
A space exploration game in which you can play the ENTIRE game with out ever having to walk onto, fly said ship and land ship. THE ENTIRE GAME can be completed this way.

[Sistermatic™]

I stopped at these 2.

Originally posted by The Seventh Son:

- Not have technology so advance that it seems like magic to us.
- Have ships that look about 20 years away from current ships

Pssst... we're doing gravjumps in ships the likes that have never been built before.

[Mooman]

All that can be summarised as the problem being caused by 2 people.

When your team is over 400 with managers for every 7ish people this is the result. A disjointed mess due to poor communication.

Also when progress is halted because one person has to make a decision and isn't available... the real miracle is anything was released at all.

[Macronomicus]

Originally posted by Sistermatic™:

I stopped at these 2.

Originally posted by The Seventh Son:

- Not have technology so advance that it seems like magic to us.
- Have ships that look about 20 years away from current ships

Pssst... we're doing gravjumps in ships the likes that have never been built before.

Right? lol its only been a couple hundred years, most of which was taken up by destroying Earth, colonizing, & worthless infighting of the power hungry infesting the factions, its a wonder any progress has been made at all. Grav jumping is a dream come true though, imagine slugging thru the systems without it lol... not gonna happen, we'd end up like that generational ship with those poor fools that ended up at Paradiso lol.

[Mr Fox]

I think in part its part of the world itself, its not a perfect world, mankind came so far and yet still has so many flaws, the world in game reflects that. But i would like to see aliens at some point for sure.

[ƬᗩԲԲվ]

Imagine if this game had at least 4-5 alien races, each with their own passives and abilities. Maybe one that is unplayable until you go through the unity.

Excluding alien races for whatever reason was just plain stupid.

[major tom]

you nicely summarized the problem. i do not get what the game has truly to offer or has innovated compared to fo4 or skyrim. other games introduce the space feeling better and starborn is a weird try to imitate dragonborn in space-related way with a simpilfied lore to get the game released and to make money as soon as possible. paid mods followed with priority as a logical consequence before offering a full working modding tool. the lack of basic content? loading sceens? missing space feeling? what has been changed since release and had a measurable impact?

[Sistermatic™]

Originally posted by Macronomicus:

Originally posted by Sistermatic™:

Pssst... we're doing gravjumps in ships the likes that have never been built before.

...we'd end up like that generational ship with those poor fools that ended up at Paradiso lol.

I'm wondering if that's what OP meant by saying 'Have ships that look about 20 years away from current ships'? Did he mean the Constant - which departed 2140 - which makes it at least 100 years from 'current ships' given the closest thing we have to that is a metal tube with 2 winglets - that blows up a lot.

[Sistermatic™]

Originally posted by ƬᗩԲԲվ:

Excluding alien races for whatever reason was just plain stupid.

Fermi facepalmed.

[The Seventh Son]

Originally posted by Macronomicus:

Originally posted by Sistermatic™:

I stopped at these 2.



Pssst... we're doing gravjumps in ships the likes that have never been built before.

Right? lol its only been a couple hundred years, most of which was taken up by destroying Earth, colonizing, & worthless infighting of the power hungry infesting the factions, its a wonder any progress has been made at all. Grav jumping is a dream come true though, imagine slugging thru the systems without it lol... not gonna happen, we'd end up like that generational ship with those poor fools that ended up at Paradiso lol.

-ONLY- a couple hundred years? I'm 37. Do you know how different today is from when I was 13? How different cars look? Portable phones didn't even exist. Even smoking cigarettes has changed. 200 years ago we were churning butter and dying of diseases that are extinct today, Vanilla was considered an exotic spice and now it's considered a basic flavor. 200 years is such a long time, and I've learned that I was actually wrong and it's 300 years. Which is even longer.

What's more, war encourages technological advancement. Most major technological advancements have been made due to wars or military scientists. The Internet was originally made for the military, for example.

[Ravnhood]

Hey, people are really passionate about the tv show Firefly, and that show is awful. I like Starfield okay, but the fanaticism that surrounds Firefly is wild. Terrible writing, bad set and wardrobe design and some of the most awkward acting of the last forty years. Starfield is a small miracle in comparison.

[Wade]

I really didn't get an impression that Starfield is set 200 years in the future. This game is a really strange mix of uninspired and poorly conceived ideas that don't make any sense. On the one hand you travel with magically unlimited fuel everywhere across galaxies with just 1 click and then in a second you are at your destination. On the other hand those space ships at launch raise huge smoke and fire, as if they were a Saturn V rocket from the 60s of the 20th century. The lore is non-existent and weapons set in 200 years in the future look like they are bought from today's central Texas gun store. I personally don't care for aliens because humans could be much more interesting anyway, but in Starfield you only have 2 types of enemies that look completely generic and very similar. No sign of the many interesting factions that were in Fallout 4, for example.

[Ravnhood]

Originally posted by Wade:

I really didn't get an impression that Starfield is set 200 years in the future. This game is a really strange mix of uninspired and poorly conceived ideas that don't make any sense. On the one hand you travel with magically unlimited fuel everywhere across galaxies with just 1 click and then in a second you are at your destination. On the other hand those space ships at launch raise huge smoke and fire, as if they were a Saturn V rocket from the 60s of the 20th century. The lore is non-existent and weapons set in 200 years in the future look like they are bought from today's central Texas gun store. I personally don't care for aliens because humans could be much more interesting anyway, but in Starfield you only have 2 types of enemies that look completely generic and very similar. No sign of the many interesting factions that were in Fallout 4, for example.

There's tons of lore, but you have to seek it out and read the books and tablets.
Regarding fuel consumption, there was some sort of fuel usage planned, but I think bethesda said it was too burdensome to the gaming experience and just got in the way. I don't remember what it all was, but it was brought up prior to release. I think we are just meant to assume that fueling happens every time we get planet side or dock somewhere. I don't know. It isn't perfect.