Starfield Thread - now with Shattered Space horror expansion

[Grampy_Bone]

Anyone found any system that's particularly suited for base building? Are there any quests associated with outposts at all?

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

Playing this after my recent offensively bland Starfield experience reminded me how little one needs to set a proper atmosphere and tone.

 

[Darkwind]

The Ryujin Industries questline is absolute garbage so far. The first dozen or more missions are tedious fetch quests that have you going back & forth between systems. "Go get this from so & so. Go plant this object. Go do something over here and come back." Endless load screens for boring fetch quests. And I don't mean go to the other part of the city. You are crossing star systems for this shit.

It is trying to 'look the part' of Cyberpunk 2077 with the city literally called NEON but its all smoke & mirrors.
You are not some up and coming futuristic corpo, you are a fucking errand boy and it doesn't appear to be getting any better. I "graduated" to second tier quests and its the same "fetch this" stuff so far. I hope the other faction quests are not this lame.

Lastly, who is the leadership of Ryujin Industries? Dyke masculine short haired turbo bitches. At least we moved on from nappy haired nigresses and they are marginally attractive but its all corporate short haired HR ladies all the way up the ladder. These are NOT the same woman but you'd never know if not for the subtitles:

 

[DeepOcean]

One thing I'm curious about is the strange reception of the game between the normies, my canary is MrMattyPlays, if he doesnt like a Bethesda title, that means big problems with the normies and... gasp, horror... he doesnt love a Bethesda game... man, that canary is dead, methane exploded and Todd is buried on the same temple as your companions on NWN 2 OC.

I think Bethesda made a few huge mistakes:
1 - They selected the Star Trek librul utopia for a setting but didnt add hostile intelligent aliens.
2 - They overcommited to this NASApunk aesthetic but their design beyond creating some boring looking ships, didnt achieve a design that call upon pop culture tropes nor is powerful enough to be memorable as an original piece.
3 - They also didnt get a design that call upon the collective zeigeist, Fallout is about America that is the most influential western country, Skyrim is about you being a fantasy viking on some nordic fantasy land that also has influence on western culture. There is very little to grab and relate to on a rootless librul utopia.

Okay, AAA safe space, ESG farming, no controversy, it is Star Trek librul utopia, Fukuyama end of History or lower ESG score...

Fine, you know, Chris Roberts is a scammer, however, he is a very competent scammer, he is really good on what he does, he looked to normie nerd fools... NASApunk? Get the fuck out of here. There is the Blade Runner planet, there is the Microsoft Planet, there is the Cyberpunk planet, there is the Pirates in Caribean Space station, there is the Star Wars, Bespin planet. All space ships look like sexy fighter craft or sexy trucks in space.

 

[Zeriel]

Anyone found any system that's particularly suited for base building? Are there any quests associated with outposts at all?

There's a bunch of content locked behind them, basically anything you can think of you already want/use like weapons or items. Or well... I guess you can use NPC terminals that provide crafting & research, but realistically you're going to want to do that at your own base that generates resources, etc. Outposts are essentially Skyrim's version of the crafting/enchanting skills, and also tie into the trading side of the game.

Regarding the other posts, while it's busywork, and I don't like the procgen structure of the game, I want to point out that it's not technically true that random planets are pointless. You have the survey system. So if you don't hate that side of the game, there is a reason to do it. Just not a reason to explore to find cool sites, it is purely to survey things.

 

[Lemming42]

It's definitely a problem that there's not really anything visually or thematically you can point to as being pure Starfield, in the same way that everyone recognises the design of the original NCC-1701, or the sight of a lightsaber, or the Quarian body-suits.

With an all-new setting like this, you really need to stand out. Taking Star Trek again, there's elements that even people who don't watch the show will recognise, because they're so distinctive - the bright gold/red/blue uniforms, the physical appearance of Vulcans, the Constitution-class ship design, phasers, transporters.

When my brain goes to "Starfield", the only thing I'm getting a mental image of is Sarah, and that's because throughout the whole game my character's head has been forcibly jerked back to look at her when she interjects in dialogue.

No cool ships, even. They all look very reminiscent of ships from FTL, which I think Todd cited as an inspiration. Which is funny, because everyone who's played FTL remembers the Kestrel, while I don't think I could draw the first ship you get in Starfield from memory.

 

[Zeriel]

One thing I'm curious about is the strange reception of the game between the normies, my canary is MrMattyPlays, if he doesnt like a Bethesda title, that means big problems with the normies and... gasp, horror... he doesnt love a Bethesda game... man, that canary is dead, methane exploded and Todd is buried on the same temple as your companions on NWN 2 OC.

I think Bethesda made a few huge mistakes:
1 - They selected the Star Trek librul utopia for a setting but didnt add hostile intelligent aliens.
2 - They overcommited to this NASApunk aesthetic but their design beyond creating some boring looking ships, didnt achieve a design that call upon pop culture tropes nor is powerful enough to be memorable as an original piece.
3 - They also didnt get a design that call upon the collective zeigeist, Fallout is about America that is the most influential western country, Skyrim is about you being a fantasy viking on some nordic fantasy land that also has influence on western culture. There is very little to grab and relate to on a rootless librul utopia.

Okay, AAA safe space, ESG farming, no controversy, it is Star Trek librul utopia, Fukuyama end of History or lower ESG score...

Fine, you know, Chris Roberts is a scammer, however, he is a very competent scammer, he is really good on what he does, he looked to normie nerd fools... NASApunk? Get the fuck out of here. There is the Blade Runner planet, there is the Microsoft Planet, there is the Cyberpunk planet, there is the Pirates in Caribean Space station, there is the Star Wars, Bespin planet. All space ships look like sexy fighter craft or sexy trucks in space.

NASApunk honestly could have worked if they committed to it relentlessly. They didn't though. It exists as a minor artistic flourish here and there, but there's nothing "realistic" about the gameplay of spaceflight, it isn't a spacetruck simulator, you don't even refuel despite the game seeming to indicate fuel is a mechanic (it isn't, it just dictates how far a particular jump can be, etc).

It's a classic case of "playing it safe" and pleasing no one. Honestly Bethesda has been on this trajectory for a while, they seem to have lost an understanding of what made even their most dumbed down games like Skyrim fun and attractive. The warning signs were there with Fallout 4, and while I was overly pessimistic in predicting that Starfield would be even more stupider and streamlined, it is not, it is also not a return to form.

Maybe having the focus of being a TES game will make TES 6 better, but who knows.

 

[Frank Capicoli]

This is the most generic, sterile game I have seen since pillows of eternity.

Everything is as inoffensive as possible. The shooting feels worse than the previous Fallout title, given what little entertainment it had from turning your enemies into a red mist is absent from this game.

If I ever need a sleep aid I now have the choice between cottonfield or pillows of eternity.

 

[mediocrepoet]

When my brain goes to "Starfield", the only thing I'm getting a mental image of is Sarah, and that's because throughout the whole game my character's head has been forcibly jerked back to look at her when she interjects in dialogue.

I think you have a good point about art and design overall, but this stood out to me. Bleagh. That chick looks like Gollum when she's in motion.

 

[Inhabitants of Khorinis]

Anyway, why are codexers kneeling before black people in the game to get those weird screencaps? Didn't know you guys are into that.

 

[DeepOcean]

NASApunk honestly could have worked if they committed to it relentlessly.

There is this space ship tactics game that I really liked, Nexus: Jupiter Incident, really recommend, Starfield reminds me of the beginning of that game before the aliens show up. You know, if you go NASAPunk, make space stations look like akward container haulers with flimsy looking oxigen tanks and solar panels, make space travel be an effort on itself, most colonists are fighting to survive with primitive tech, humanity survival at any cost and how living on different planets would create different cultures in time, try a "realistic" world building like the Expanse.

It could work if they gone all the way in as you said, NASAPunk done well would require heavy work but the last time they gone all way in in world building was with Morrowind. I would go as far to say, this Bethesda, that actually exist now, never did serious world building. Pajeet wasnt paid enough for that.

You know, modern Bethesda seems to not care much about world building and dont realize they used the Fallout lore that was extremely appealing on itself and western fantasy tropes to do the heavy lifting for them on the last 20 years, so people could easily fill the blanks. If you do a new IP, and to make it even harder for you, on a space based setting, you need to or either skillfuly tap on a cultural baggage that already exists or do a serious job at world building, seems they done neither. You cant count on automatic relating.

Also, people tend to associate setting details with strong characters, Star Trek works because the characters are fun and interesting so the impression they generate end sinking in on the world builng itself what makes it even more relatable. However, making strong characters isnt a Bethesda strength at all. It seems to me, they gone out of their depth without realizing what they are missing after 20 years, counting on the Bethesda "magic".

 

[Zarniwoop]

I must admit I am rather envious of those indulging in Todd's MAGNVM OPVS but my system is starting to run its course. Would you guys be willing to support a gofundme to help build a monster machine to tackle the beast that is STARFIELD?

A Steam Dick can run it just fine.

 

[Tihskael]

I told you motherfuckers that Todd would herald the cRPG renaissance. This is it you sons of bitches.

 

[sebas]

There's already a team working on a 40k mod. Give it some time, the dykes shall be purged.

 

[Hirato]

My dad just gifted me the game. I guess I have to play it now.

 

[Levenmouth]

My dad just gifted me the game. I guess I have to play it now.

It's honestly not bad and has a decent variety of things to do.

 

[Immortal]

One thing I'm curious about is the strange reception of the game between the normies, my canary is MrMattyPlays, if he doesnt like a Bethesda title, that means big problems with the normies and... gasp, horror... he doesnt love a Bethesda game... man, that canary is dead, methane exploded and Todd is buried on the same temple as your companions on NWN 2 OC.

I think Bethesda made a few huge mistakes:
1 - They selected the Star Trek librul utopia for a setting but didnt add hostile intelligent aliens.
2 - They overcommited to this NASApunk aesthetic but their design beyond creating some boring looking ships, didnt achieve a design that call upon pop culture tropes nor is powerful enough to be memorable as an original piece.
3 - They also didnt get a design that call upon the collective zeigeist, Fallout is about America that is the most influential western country, Skyrim is about you being a fantasy viking on some nordic fantasy land that also has influence on western culture. There is very little to grab and relate to on a rootless librul utopia.

Okay, AAA safe space, ESG farming, no controversy, it is Star Trek librul utopia, Fukuyama end of History or lower ESG score...

Fine, you know, Chris Roberts is a scammer, however, he is a very competent scammer, he is really good on what he does, he looked to normie nerd fools... NASApunk? Get the fuck out of here. There is the Blade Runner planet, there is the Microsoft Planet, there is the Cyberpunk planet, there is the Pirates in Caribean Space station, there is the Star Wars, Bespin planet. All space ships look like sexy fighter craft or sexy trucks in space.

All woke pandering aside.. This NASA punk aesthetic is just soooooo boring and such a huge turn off aesthetically.

It's actually so bad that I am almost positive a hack like Emil came up with it.. additionally, my own head larp tells me that about half way through development they sort of regretted it.. but it was too late and so that's why they started sprinkling more and more fantasy, space cowboy, cyberpunk, space ghost shit in.

Also the lack of intelligent life other than humanity.. and just in general the lack of interesting shit is just a huge missed opportunity. You have to be the biggest autismo in the world to think "Wowww... more NASA trivia!!" is fun and exciting after 60 hours.

Star Trek and Star Wars capture that wonderment of seeing alien architecture or alien worlds.. whereas this is just more of the same boring ass apple stores and shipping crate homes. As if the entire universe is built out of modular NASA space station components.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

All woke pandering aside.. This NASA punk aesthetic is just soooooo boring and such a huge turn off aesthetically.

It's actually so bad that I am almost positive a hack like Emil came up with it.. additionally, my own head larp tells me that about half way through development they sort of regretted it.. but it was too late and so that's why they started sprinkling more and more fantasy, space cowboy, cyberpunk, space ghost shit in.

Also the lack of intelligent life other than humanity.. and just in general the lack of interesting shit is just a huge missed opportunity. You have to be the biggest autismo in the world to think "Wowww... more NASA trivia!!" is fun and exciting after 60 hours.

Star Trek and Star Wars capture that wonderment of seeing alien architecture or alien worlds.. whereas this is just more of the same boring ass apple stores and shipping crate homes. As if the entire universe is built out of modular NASA space station components.

I agree, but again, the fault isn't the idea of a human-only setting alone.

It's the fact that Bethesda doesn't know how to write an interesting human-only setting.

SMAC (before the expansion pack) was human-only, yet it had varied factions with radically different cultures. EVE Online was human-only for a long time too iirc. Firefly and a few other shows did it too, as did several books.

But Bethesda can't make varied, unique cultures because of rainbow Diversity mentality, where all races have to be represented equally everywhere. You can't have white-only Russian colonists, French colonists etc. You *might* be able to get away with a black-only colony, but with the amount of blacks in the game, it would probably escape notice that this is what it was. So, everything ends up being the same shade of multiculti the galaxy over.

And even if they could rise above these limitations, there seems to be a definite lack of writing talent on their team. I highly doubt the people who seem to be ripping off a mix of Assassin's Creed's alien subplot and Contact are going to manage to write compelling factions. Just look at the pseudo-Cyberpunk corpo faction they tried above.

But again, I agree this was a missed opportunity for them. They should have known their limitations and made Tamriel in space or something.

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

AHAHAH

 

[ferratilis]

When you take off all your clothes, your companion will react to it. Well, Sarah does, at least. "Wow, you must be freezing."

 

[Konjad]

My dad just gifted me the game. I guess I have to play it now.

Report family abuse.

 

[processdaemon]

They should have known their limitations and made Tamriel in space or something.

This would genuinely be 10x better than Starfield, I'm imagining Khajiit hawking moon sugar on the actual moons and Dunmer ships coming up just to say 'n'wah' and flying away.

 

[Vic]

If I ever need a sleep aid I now have the choice between cottonfield or pillows of eternity.

I am indeed playing starfield before bed

 

[Vic]

metacritic user score is also starting to get positive after the initial review bombing

I still see the potential with a DLC like Skyrim’s vampire DLC which introduced vampires in the otherwise boring/generic setting.

A DLC which might introduce an evil alien race that is threatening to destroy the Settled Systems would be a big improvement imo.

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

I would rather like more they expand the idea of the alternative universe now that was cool.