Starfield Pre-Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Tenured professor of theoretical magics sounds like a sweet gig.

Alternatively: 'I told them I have a theoretical degree is conjuration'

The archmage in Morrowind is one of those who got kicked to the boonies just to get rid of his annoying yet powerful ass.

• credentials:
  • "[Tiram Gadar's Credentials has been added to your inventory.] I'm sure I have them somewhere around here. Ah, yes, here you go, %PCName. A letter from Ocato himself."
  • "I have already given you Tiram Gadar's credentials. They should assure you that he is a Dunmer of the highest character."
• Disappearance of the Dwarves
  • "It's a simple task, surely. Just go to some ruins and... erm... and find out what happened to them. Maybe some people here in the Mages Guild can give you some clues."
  • [Disposition +25.] "Oh? Let me see these books, %PCRank. Oh, yes, of course. This "Egg of Time" is quite obvious... in its... um... descriptions... of the things... that happened. Yes, of course. It is all quite clear to me. I would prefer that you wrote a report that... um... simplified your findings, but I trust that you have indeed solved the mystery."
  • "Well, I'm glad that the mystery is solved at last. Next time the Arch-Mage of Almalexia visits, I'll really have something to brag about.
• Telvanni spy:
  • "Why, no, %PCName. There are no Telvanni spies here. And I would know if there were. I'm the Archmage [sic] after all. Tiram Gadar, my Dunmer advisor, keeps an eye out for spies and that sort of thing."
  • "Why, no, %PCName. There are no Telvanni spies here. And I would know if there were."
    • Truth; Tiram Gadar is a Telvanni spy. [Disposition -5.] "What?! Frankly, I don't believe you. Tiram Gadar is my most trusted advisor. And I've given you his impeccable credentials. Ranis Athrys might believe such baseless accusations, but I am far more sophisticated." Goodbye
    • Lie; Ranis Athrys is a Telvanni spy. "What? I thought she hated them after what they did to her parents... But I have heard she was trying to intimidate rogue Telvanni to join the Guild. Tiram Gadar mentioned that the Dunmer are quite upset over some of her actions. I will have her expelled immediately."
  • "It seems you found the spy, %PCRank."
• Tiram Gadar:
  • "You killed him, %PCName. While he was not truly a member of the guild, no one admires your actions."
  • "He's been of immense assistance, %PCName. He helps me see the Dunmer side of every decision I make, and he came with the highest credentials."
• Peacefully Becoming Arch-Mage
  • "What? You have a letter for me? Well, hand it over."
    • Here it is. "Interesting. This letter says that I am to make you the Arch-Mage and retire. I do not know why Ocato would lose his faith in me, but I will do as he asks. But I will watch over you, %PCName, and make sure you do not betray the high principles of the Mages Guild."

• "Trebonius gave you some duties? Last year he asked me to dig a tunnel to the mainland so the Telvanni couldn't interfere with Imperial trade. I just tell him it's progressing according to schedule." --Malven Romori, Mages Guild Wizard
• "I don't care what he asked you to do. The best thing for all of us is to ignore that Scuttlehead. Last year he asked me to learn the language of the Silt Striders so we could question them about who they took to different cities." --Sirilonwe, Mages Guild Conjurer
• "The Guildmaster? Well, he's certainly a powerful Battlemage, but what has he accomplished? I wish the Guild were led by someone who showed more respect for scholarship... Especially with all the interesting things to study here in Vvardenfell." --Edwinna Elbert, Mages Guild Wizard
• "Ah, the current Guildmaster. It is rumored that he was promoted to his current position to get him out of Cyrodiil. It is one of the weaknesses of the soft-skins. They can have power without wisdom." --Skink-in-Tree's-Shade, Mages Guild Master Wizard
• "Imperial s'wit. He knows nothing of the Dunmer and even less of politics. When you're speaking with him, just nod your head and smile and then forget everything he said." --Ranis Athrys, Mages Guild Wizard
• "We get along rather well. He is always willing to listen to my advice." --Tiram Gadar, A Telvanni Agent spying on the Mages Guild
• "The other day he asked me to build a new Anumidium for Ocato since the original seems to have been destroyed in all those troubles in the Iliac Bay. I don't know what he asked you to do, but my advice is to try and ignore him." --Janand Maulinie, Mages Guild Journeyman
• "Has he given you any duties? He asked me to chain an army of dreugh to the Foreign Quarter Canton and have it towed to a more reasonable climate. Just between you and me, I don't think he's the best candidate for Arch-mage. I'd take that lizard Skink in Sadrith Mora over Trebonius any day." --Craetia Jullalian, Mages Guild Apprentice
• "Did he give you any duties? Oh, that's not so bad, I guess. He asked me to make an inventory of all the plates and bottles in Vvardenfell. I'm never going to get in done in time." --Flacassia Fauseius, Mages Guild Apprentice

 

[luj1]

105 pages...

Remind me again, what is the appeal of Bethesda games? Shit combat, shit graphics, shit writing, shit character development, shit C&C, shit world-building, shit exploration.

Morrowind had one of the best world-building and exploration ever.

It was their last PC game and will never be repeated again.

Skyrim on the other hand is the worst turd in the history of gaming.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Meh, Morrowind was shit too, just not as much shit as Skyrim. Morrowind was half-decent at writing (the plotlines, etc, but the dialogue wiki-style shit), and it was huge, but everything else was utter shit. One of the shittiest combat systems in history of RPGs, ugly as hell graphics, dead-feeling world because no voice-overs, no NPC behavior, no day/night cycles, and exploration was overrated too because there was a ton of copy-pasting. A few types of PoIs copy-pasted hundreds of times. Once you've seen one Daedra shrine or Cave, you've seen them all.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

no day/night cycles

you never played morrowind did you?

exploration was overrated too because there was a ton of copy-pasting.

Breath of the Wild, Witcher 3

porky...
your posts are not even good as bait man

why do you try so hard?

 

[Harthwain]

The game kinda aknowledges that the standards for becoming Archmage at Winderhold aren't all that high.

That's an understatement. Even if I were to buy this argument, it still shouldn't allow you to go so high in the hierarchy by only knowing a one basic spell (maybe two, if I am mistaken). The Mage Guild in Skyrim is simply an excellent example of bad design (if there even was a design behind its implementation to begin with. It sounds like an afterthought, with fits the mage class getting the shortest stick out of all "classes").

yeah but i also half expect that you can be the grand poobah of the thieves guild without stealing anything

To some point you can progress the Thieves' Guild storyline by failing quests, after you join the guild (yes, one guy actually tried this out). It's just as stupid as the situation with the Mage Guild. "You failed to accomplish our Very Important Tasks™ more than once, but have another one!". And "failed to accomplish" means "you completely wrecked everything", not just "you achieved nothing" kind of situation.

 

[Zombra]

The game kinda aknowledges that the standards for becoming Archmage at Winderhold aren't all that high.

That's an understatement. Even if I were to buy this argument, it still shouldn't allow you to go so high in the hierarchy by only knowing a one basic spell (maybe two, if I am mistaken). The Mage Guild in Skyrim is simply an excellent example of bad design (if there even was a design behind its implementation to begin with. It sounds like an afterthought, with fits the mage class getting the shortest stick out of all "classes").

yeah but i also half expect that you can be the grand poobah of the thieves guild without stealing anything

To some point you can progress the Thieves' Guild storyline by failing quests, after you join the guild (yes, one guy actually tried this out). It's just as stupid as the situation with the Mage Guild. "You failed to accomplish our Very Important Tasks™ more than once, but have another one!". And "failed to accomplish" means "you completely wrecked everything", not just "you achieved nothing" kind of situation.

I think all of this comes back to one core issue, which seems to show through more and more the bigger and bigger Bethesda games get: committee design. The Mages' Guild stuff clearly was not all conceived by one person. Neither was the Thieves' Guild, nor probably any of the other major quest chains. Possibly one person did an outline and scattered note cards around like clouds of bats, to writers who did one quest each, and there wasn't enough communication or oversight to make sure it all fit together. Probably some lowly dink was assigned the task, "Make getting into the Mages' Guild interesting, there shouldn't be bums just walking in" and they were like, "Oh ok, well how about a test of spellcasting powers as a kind of hall pass?" without ever realizing that every warrior character also has to go through there as part of the MQ. Then once that was done no one bothered to review it all and correct it. Check the credits of 10000 names and I bet you'll never find anyone at Bethesda in charge of "Continuity".

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

no day/night cycles

you never played morrowind did you?

I completed it with one of the expansion packs. And it had no real day/night cycles ala Gothics/U7 for NPCs.

exploration was overrated too because there was a ton of copy-pasting.

Breath of the Wild, Witcher 3

porky...
your posts are not even good as bait man

why do you try hard?

Because unlike you, I have played a lot of games, and know what I am talking about. Morrowind is shit. Deal with it, bre.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

no day/night cycles

you never played morrowind did you?

He also claims that Morrowind has a "dead-feeling world because no voice-overs", even though there is in fact voice-acting for various idle comments by NPCs as well as a much larger number of greetings when the player-character approaches them (and also for combat or theft-related actions). UESP lists only a portion of them: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Generic_Dialogue_Voiced

"Seen any...elves? Ha, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, ha"

 

[NecroLord]

Alternatively: 'I told them I have a theoretical degree in conjuration'

Nice.

 

[luj1]

dead-feeling world because no voice-overs

Kill yourself

 

[NecroLord]

no day/night cycles

you never played morrowind did you?

He also claims that Morrowind has a "dead-feeling world because no voice-overs", even though there is in fact voice-acting for various idle comments by NPCs as well as a much larger number of greetings when the player-character approaches them (and also for combat or theft-related actions). UESP lists only a portion of them: https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Generic_Dialogue_Voiced

"Seen any...elves? Ha, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, hah, ha"

Who honestly cares about voice-overs?
Hearing the dunmer say "You N'wah!" or "Die fetcher!" never gets old.
Voice acting was minimal, which was great for the old Elder Scrolls games.

 

[Silverfish]

If not for an abundance of voiceover, how else would I know that Skyrim belongs to the Nords? Checkmate, Todd deniers.

 

[luj1]

Who honestly cares about voice-overs?

People who missed the RPG Renaissance. They started playing on Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Witcher when VO exploded. Plenty of those people here, you can smell them from miles away.

Voice acting was minimal, which was great for the old Elder Scrolls games.

Voice acting *should* be miminal. It is one of the biggest declines in gaming. The more voice acting you have, the more streamlined game has to be and with less options.

NwN did it best. Only important MQ lines of crucial NPCs were voiced. It was a mistake to have everything voice acted.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

And it had no real day/night cycles

>game has a time system where hours affect gameplay and days are gradually succeed by nights (plus a weather system to really sell the whole package)
>porky: there's no day/night cycle

Honestly at this point I am both curious and hesitant to ask you, just what the fuck do you even consider to be a "real day/night cycle".
Because I know your mental gymnastics will be both hilarious and cringe...

Because unlike you, I have played a lot of games, and know what I am talking about.

Sure you do buddy.

 

[ArchAngel]

And it had no real day/night cycles

>game has a time system where hours affect gameplay and days are gradually succeed by nights (plus a weather system to really sell the whole package)
>porky: there's no day/night cycle

Honestly at this point I am both curious and hesitant to ask you, just what the fuck do you even consider to be a "real day/night cycle".
Because I know your mental gymnastics will be both hilarious and cringe...

Because unlike you, I have played a lot of games, and know what I am talking about.

Sure you do buddy.

Do NPCs leave their shops and lock them at night?

 

[Butter]

You can tell he's played a lot of games by the way he constantly refers back to The Witcher 3 and Breath of the Wild.

 

[Delterius]

And it had no real day/night cycles

>game has a time system where hours affect gameplay and days are gradually succeed by nights (plus a weather system to really sell the whole package)
>porky: there's no day/night cycle

Honestly at this point I am both curious and hesitant to ask you, just what the fuck do you even consider to be a "real day/night cycle".
Because I know your mental gymnastics will be both hilarious and cringe...

Because unlike you, I have played a lot of games, and know what I am talking about.

Sure you do buddy.

Do NPCs leave their shops and lock them at night?

why would they, it would take a massive thieving skill to take items even when people aren't looking

 

[Late Bloomer]

Just when does this game release?

Hogwarts Legacy = February 10th 2023 (Even if Starfield was ready, I seriously doubt they or anyone else wants to release in the same hemisphere as this juggernaut)


Both of these games are under the Bethesda/Zenimax brand.

Redfall = May 2nd 2023 (I know its not competition but it is another Bethesda game thats quite high profile and is 70 dollars)
ESO Necrom = June 5th 2023 (Also no direct competion but its Elder Scrolls)

Any thoughts on the possibility of a March/April release?

 

[Norfleet]

yeah but i also half expect that you can be the grand poobah of the thieves guild without stealing anything

As if you would not steal things in a Bethesda game.

why would they, it would take a massive thieving skill to take items even when people aren't looking

Y'know, unless they can't look because you put a bucket over their head. NPCs don't understand object permanence.

 

[Nifft Batuff]

This will be one the last high budget im-sim RPG ever released. After that, there will be nothing. We need to savor it as long as possible.

 

[notpl]

Just when does this game release?

Hogwarts Legacy = February 10th 2023 (Even if Starfield was ready, I seriously doubt they or anyone else wants to release in the same hemisphere as this juggernaut)


Both of these games are under the Bethesda/Zenimax brand.

Redfall = May 2nd 2023 (I know its not competition but it is another Bethesda game thats quite high profile and is 70 dollars)
ESO Necrom = June 5th 2023 (Also no direct competion but its Elder Scrolls)

Any thoughts on the possibility of a March/April release?

The marketing for this game hasn't even really started yet. No way it's coming out before the end of this year.

 

[Gargaune]

The marketing for this game hasn't even really started yet. No way it's coming out before the end of this year.

No, that's unacceptable. Todd, I require you to advance your schedule and complete the game sooner. Next week would be ideal, but if you feel that's too hasty, I will allow an additional Next Friday until February 10th. Thanks in advance.

 

[Zombra]

The marketing for this game hasn't even really started yet. No way it's coming out before the end of this year.

Am I remembering wrong? Seems like Bethesda never really does a ton of previewing.

 

[Gargaune]

Am I remembering wrong? Seems like Bethesda never really does a ton of previewing.

Jokes aside, Todd's gone on record as preferring short publicity lead-ups somewhere in that recent Fridman interview and Fallout 4's blistering 6-months marketing was apparently the minimum the publisher would let him get away with. Starfield, what with the post-MS acquisition delay and all, has been out in public for a while now, so I could see Bethesda swing for a release date a couple of months out from Todd's upcoming showcase, though there is some wishful thinking on my part there.

Speaking of, have they marked the calendar for our date with Todd?

 

[Late Bloomer]

Speaking of, have they marked the calendar for our date with Todd?

Not yet.