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3 Lessons Bethesda Needs To Learn From Starfield's Failure

Danish from eXputer: "After Starfield's disappointing reception, Bethesda needs to learn some important lessons to avoid the same mistakes."

phoenixwing775d ago (Edited 775d ago )

what they should learn: you need a new engine to make all the boundless worlds you proclaim to have and need to curate the content.

what they will actually learn: Just keep making elder scrolls and fallout because their fans are too complacent or dumb to realize there's too many loading screens (and they should demand better) and it's ok because they're on a grounded world so it's not as blaringly obvious as starfield that their engine is crap in this day and age.

tldr: engine is outdated but they won't fix it they'll just avoid space games

The_Hooligan775d ago

Also, they know that the modding community will fix issues and make the game better. I don't play on PC but I've seen some of the work these modders do, and it's pretty amazing. Not only for Bethesda games but for games in general.

Cacabunga774d ago

Stop overhyping meh looking games so much to begin with..

Yi-Long775d ago (Edited 775d ago )

Not sure if 'the engine' was the cause of the problem for why Starfield failed.

Seems to me that what Starfield had to offer just wasn't very interesting, in terms of locations, characters, story, and perhaps even core gameplay ...

If those are your main issues, then it doesn't really matter all that much which engine is running the show ...

Not saying they shouldn't upgrade/change their engine btw; Clearly they should, but even if they had used a brand new top-of-the-line modern-gen engine with all the bells & whistles, Starfield would still have its fair share of problems.

ES/Skyrim and Fallout both have interesting settings/locations to offer which are fun to explore and discover, plus there are clear stories that are told within that setting and characters you meet, etc.

In comparison, Starfield might offer 'more' in terms of size/locations, but is it actually interesting? Or is it just predictable, by-the-numbers, stale, unimaginitive western sci-fi stuff which we have already seen over and over again ... ?

FinalFantasyFanatic774d ago

I think they were too ambitious, if they had reduced the scope of the game to a small solar system, (or multiple solar systems), they could have jammed more content into those limited play areas instead of having 100s upon 100s of dead planets with nothing to do on them. That would also give them more time to work on other aspects of the game (like bug fixing and sparse content), over a thousand planets sounds cool until you actually have to make them and put something interesting on most planets.

Abear21774d ago

Yup 100% this, their engine can barely handle a frigging ladder, that’s why there’s so many ramps everywhere in their games!

The day we see characters actually step on stairs or a rung on a ladder in a Bethesda game will be a cold day in hell.

-Foxtrot774d ago

Oh yeah. Shit. The ladder situation.

I completely forgot about that, I remember them talking about this in 2010

https://www.ign.com/article...

Even Morrowind didn't have them

22 years on and they still don't have ladders in their games, that's f******* insane man.

FinalFantasyFanatic774d ago

Imagine making multiple games but having to find ways around making ladders because your engine can't handle them, limitations are one way to inspire creativity, don't think it helped them in this case though.

Profchaos774d ago

Yeah the game had a lot of physics and that was great but agree that it was far to bogged down with loading gates of they had pulled off the whole seemless traversal it would have been far better.

However for me the need to jump around menus constantly hurt the game far more than loading gates.
Looking at fallout the game design handled the rpg elements far better with the pipboy they made menus and inventory part of the lore which felt far better.

After 4 hours of gameplay and still having tutorials pop up it was just to much and it may have been because I just spent 100 hours playing Zelda games before jumping into starfield but a good rpg in my mind makes as much of the gameplay initiative and rewards discovery rather than telling you what to do every five minutes including my biggest pet peve guided tutorial menus I hate them the whole now click a on theis page spend the stat point here etc starfeild had far to many of them.

In short of the game systems are so over complicated that you need to interrupt the players game every few minutes you failed at game design

FinalFantasyFanatic774d ago

I like how in BotW/TotK, they give you the basics, but leave you to work everything else out on your own, which leads to a lot of dumb experimentation on the player's part (I'm playing TotK now after finishing SS, lol). I would not be able to handle being blasted by tutorials in that game no matter how helpful.

Extermin8or3_768d ago

The engine needs updating because realistically loading screens in the next elder scrolls aren't acceptable. Maybe one short loading screen when like you leave a city or something but realistically in 2020's that shouldn't be needed. Assassin's creed has been able to do it without loading screens for years now, harry potter could do it, the Witcher does it so on and so forth. Hell no mans sky manages without loading screens.... Cmon.

phoenixwing768d ago

I agree. This gen has at least ushered in little to no loading. all Bethesda games share loading screens and are at odds with it.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 768d ago
Futureshark775d ago

Perhaps not rely on mod support to fix their games so much?
Under promise and over deliver, rather then the other way around.
Don't hype games with phrases like 'it just works'.

bleedsoe9mm775d ago

Starfield was fantastic keep doing what you do Bethesda

Gamingsince1981774d ago

Yeah people like you are the reason people go on "got latent" shows when they can't sing to save their life because people don't tell them the truth and they embarrass themselves

774d ago
Gamingsince1981774d ago

@sufucage Yeah ok alt account 🙄

774d ago
jjb1981774d ago ShowReplies(3)
Gaming4Life1981774d ago

Yea starfield is great and it will only get better. I can't believe people are still trying to hate this game.

anast775d ago

- Don't spend a ton of money on stupid live action trailers.

- Go back to what made Marrowind and New Vegas fun.

- Keep Todd from marketing their games, it makes them look incompetent. If he actually spent 25 years on Starfield, they don't have the ability to make a decent game.

- Get new "creative" direction.

- Get new writers.

- Fix the combat.

- Use new tech.

- Don't rely on AI.

badz149775d ago

They didn't make New Vegas

anast774d ago

They need to learn from it, since they have the IP.

774d ago Replies(1)
EazyC775d ago

I honestly think the jig is up unless they seriously reevaluate what exactly they bring to the table in the RPG space.

I know it wasn't "their" game, but it would do them a world of good to have a long hard look at what Obsidian achieved with Fallout: New Vegas using their tools, and why that game is so beloved as a first-person RPG.

Show all comments (67)
20°

Starfield Update 1.000.004 Released on PS5 to Mitigate Crashes; Players Still Reporting Crashing

Starfield on PS5 has just been updated to 1.000.004 to fix crashing issues, but players are reporting it didn't take.

90°

Starfield Was the Best-Selling Game in the US Following PS5 Release

Senior Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana Mat Piscatella has revealed Starfield was the best-selling video in the US based on dollar sales for the week ending April 11th.

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vgchartz.com
jznrpg24d ago

For the week that nothing else of note launched.. I’m sure it will sell some copies but look at what released that week

24d ago Replies(6)
z2g23d ago

It’s not a requirement to buy games every month or whenever one is released. I don’t think people are going to spend $70+ on something they don’t care about.

GotGame81824d ago

I have talked about not being able to get into this game at launch. I still haven't given it another go, even though I think it looks great and has come a very long way since launch. Some people just want it to fail, even if it is a great game. I know why, we all do.

Starfield didn't just have the best sales for a week, but it was pre-ordered on PS store, with very nice numbers. I really need to start it again, on my PS5 though. So I can see how it is now. It has had some major updates.

I am looking forward to it all over again now.

Huey_My_D_Long24d ago

Its not that people want the game to fail. Its that Bethesda wont ever improve their games if you guys keep calling slop like starfield great games. Pure as that. Formulaic, chasing the trends, slop.

Like Bethesda has fallen off since FO4.

Ive a PC 4070, no interest in Starfield since the beginning since despite Bethesda owning some serious FPS legacy within their ranks...They just like seem to hate good shooting mechanics.

I dont see whats the appeal and thats ok. But how can you guys call it great? By what metric? The story? The Gameplay? The package all together? Hell I'm enjoying Crimson Desert, but I've got my issues with some design choices, but I do think the game is better as a whole than its individual parts. Is that the case for Starfield?
To be honest alot of you starfield stans dont make a great case for yourself, since I've never heard a starfield say what it is they enjoyed about it other just it being another Bethesda game that feels familiar yet new to them. Yall dont make the case on whats so great about starfield that keeps you coming back.
What does it do that makes it great that everyone like me is missing?

Like I wanted to like the Starfield, but after seeing its first trailer, it pretty much came out like I thought it was. Bethesda has been coasting off prestige for years now. and honestly starfield is proof of that.

CrimsonIdol23d ago

I'm fine with the game being janky Bethesda-core etc. For what it's worth it's more polished than previous games have been and the shooting mechanics are fine, feels pretty good even.

What I'm not fine with is it just being completely dull in every way. Even if they managed to resolve the structure of the game constantly sending you back and forth through maps and loading screens it's still going to be dull. The original The Outer Worlds did Fallout in space better, and that was hardly perfect (I haven't played the second one so I can't comment on that). At least The Outer Worlds had some interesting characters, enemies and locations. Starfield has none of that. They can argue that it's more grounded/going for realism or some nonsense (yet it's still doing Star Wars/Firefly style space travel) but it's fundamentally dull.

I dropped loads of money on a copy of this game at launch and I've no desire to get my money's worth out of it, I pretty quickly cut my losses and moved on. I don't know what happened to the writers for Bethesda, I presume they all moved on and have since been replaced by Jenny from accounting.

sweatyrich23d ago

I agree with @CrimsonIdol
I played the game to completed, but it's version of NG+ simply didn't appeal to me, so I never went back to it.
There's base-building, but it really serves no point, other than, there's base building. If you're into that, you have it, but I didn't touch it at all, as it wasn't part of the story ... At all.

The main character models are "ok", but the NPCs are just bad.

And IMO, people shouldn't be OK with a Bethesda game being janky. They're a big company, and should be jank-free by now!

MrBaskerville23d ago

I've given it another go and with the new more modular difficulty i managed to balance it a bit like Stalker 2 and it has been a lot more enjoyable this time around. The free roaming in space also helps a bit. Still prefer older Bethesda games, but it's growing on me
ever so slowly.

Jin_Sakai24d ago

Curious gamers. They’ll soon find out soon enough how trash it is.

Reaper22_23d ago

I dont think so. The games has been well received on PS5. Getting good scores too.

Jin_Sakai23d ago

Digital Foundry showed how bad the game runs even on PS5 Pro and crashes. It can’t even hold 60fps and not a looker to begin with. 🤷‍♂️

Grilla23d ago

I found out. I loved FO4 and wanted to judge Starfield for myself. I should have waited for a sale.

Putte24d ago

It's still as Bad as it was on Xbox. Of cause some playstation user's are curious and because there is a lot of them then the sales are gonna be somewhat okay for small time period. But still a very sad story what starfield turned out to be. Maybe the biggest disappointment in my gaming life.

Show all comments (34)
40°

Starfield: Free Lanes Trophy Guide & Roadmap

The Free Lanes update has arrived! Earn every Trophy in the DLC with the help of our Free Lanes Trophy Guide & Roadmap!

Read Full Story >>
daynglsgameguides.com
phongtro123_com24d ago

Solid, practical guide overall. The roadmap structure makes it easy to plan a clean run, especially by separating missables from cleanup. I also like that it flags potential grind points and suggests when to tackle them.

A couple of things that could make it even stronger:

Clarify any missable trophies/achievements more explicitly (and whether manual saves are recommended before certain choices).
Add estimated time for 100% completion and note difficulty settings if they affect progress.
Include brief build/loadout suggestions for tougher segments or challenges.
If applicable, call out any bugs or tracking issues in the update that players should watch for.

Overall, helpful for both newcomers and completionists, just needs a bit more detail in a few areas.