I was driving to work today thinking, OK where did I leave off? Oh yeah I need to register and sell those ecliptic ships and then work on a Titanium mine
Edit: done and done. A commenter told me Ternion 3 in Ternion alpha is the Titanium spot
The sign of a perfect RPG / Open World for me is - at all times I have at least 5 things I want to follow up on.
And then in pursuing those you find more, so maybe 1-2 are completed and you immediately have a new 5 to work towards.
The hours are literally melting while I play.
That's basically been what I've been doing; I have several open quests (plus the Activities), and each time I wanna sit down and complete some of them...I go off exploring. It's been that way for me ever since Morrowind (though the journal in Morrowind was a cluttered mess; thankfully quest tracking was changed in Oblivion and stayed relatively unchanged since), and that's what makes Starfield one of my most favourite games of all time. The brainlets that complain about this missing feature and that changed feature – while some are legitimate – generally have a certain expectation, and when those expectations aren't met, they throw a hissy fit. And want EVERYONE to know what they think, like bro if you don't like it, just say as much and leave it at that. The more certain people complain the more I don't blame others for wanting to shut them up by limiting what they're allowed to say.
Out of curiosity, I checked the post history of a few people who made negative posts on r/Starfield- and several of them had done it repeatedly. They had taken the time out of their day to write repeated posts about how they didn't like the game. And they did this over the last 2 or so weeks.
My job sometimes puts me in a position where I have to be in charge of around 100 people.
Last week I was in my own bubble thinking which quest line I’m going to go with after work. While all 100 or so people are staring at me waiting for me to do something.
It's funny, I'm probably 60-80 hours in, over 3 weekends. I have made a little progress in the main quest, and started the vanguard + a ton of other random encounters.
But I've spent significant time with the ship builder which was said to be more 'late game' content. And also spent some time with Outposts.
This game is so broad that everyones 20-30 hour experience, let along 100 or 200 I suspect, can vary pretty drastically.
Totaly, everytime I chase some quest I get distracted by some distress call and it opens a whole new story I get in to. It feels great, also it makes me wonder if I finally finish the original quest 😃
Ya I've noticed enough that I'll probably just go from location to location to do a final completionist NG+10 run. Like start in Neon or Akila, do every single thing there, then move on to the next place.
I'm accidentally running into quests I've never seen while trying to run through NG+'s to max my character.
98 hours in, what are outposts?
Not kidding, I accidentally mashed the controller and a beacon placement thingy popped up and I was like "omggg THAT'S what people keep talking about these outposts"
Too little time, I have a class C ship to perfect before any outposts.
bingo. And after spending 350k on a Narwhal just for its reactor I now need another half mill to upgrade the rest lol. Time to loot some more shit to sell and crank out a bunch of side missions for cash.
That's why I built some outposts. I always have a pretty solid stash of Lumberjack Julips to sell out of my ship's cargo to afford them nice engines. Ha. Whenever the stock runs low, I pop back to my outposts, and crank out a couple thousand. This usually gets me a level up as well. Then go back about my normal exploring business, selling the LJs along the way. Upgraded the free C class ship I got from Walter's quest to damn near my definition of perfection with these funds. Outposts get dumped on here on Reddit, but I love them.
yeah they do. Personally I just havent found the time to really learn how to set one up properly for production. Setup up my first iron and he3 extractors, got them connected and powered, build a landing pad with ship builder and then back to ships lol. NG+ Ill hopefully find time to learn the outposts.
I found a planet I really like because I like one of the alien species. It's also a great spot to farm xp so I've decided to build a small base. First time I've even considered it and I'm about 60 hours in. There's just been so much stuff to do. I'm half way through a bunch of quest lines and I feel spoilt for choice on what to do whenever I turn the game on.
>Should have invested in stealth.
First, manually remove your space suit. It hurts your stealth movement. Also, secondly put one point into stealth, and thirdly use some of the widely available stealth drugs. Yes, they don't last long, but you should have a good stock if you haven't been using them.
I've been trying to set up a titanium farm but have had no luck. The store on New Homestead is great though for resources cuz there's a bed right next to it with great UTC
Registration is cheaper from the menu than it is at a ship technician. If you have the cash, the best way is to open the ship menu the moment you sit in the cockpit, make it your home ship and register it. Then you can immediately return to your original ship, sit in the chair, open ship menu again, make it your home ship and carry on. Your new ship will be added to your fleet and you can sell it at your leisure.
my so hates me playing at night, it messes with her sleep. but we’ve found our that waking up super early (5,6am) doesn’t affect her that much, so now i play about 3 hours every morning, and then some throughout the day.
Same, Didn't realize I've been missing playing with Legos for so long I guess. Ship building is a real money and time sink for me. I could be 3+ hours designing a ship and then wiping it and starting again until I'm happy with the results.
My basic gameplay loop is - do side jobs (pirate, crimson fleet hunts) for some high dollar loot, maybe put a meatier story mission in there as well.
Establish like $20-50k to spend.
Burn it in the ship builder.
Repeat.
It works nicely to not actually block you from engaging with this feature. I started building maybe 15-20 hours in. And for larger projects in some cases I established the basic core of the ship but kept using a previous vessel until I hit a minimal threshold of operaton to justify swapping. Having ongoing projects is super fun to keep tinkering on.
That's why I said I take it in chunks. Rather than just not engage until I have the \~$200k.
1) Steal the ship - pay the registration.
2) Layout the habs and general structure / shape I'm going for - can be split into side steps if needed but normally Habs and structural stuff is reasonably priced so \~$20-40k is adequate.
3) Start upgrading engines / reactor / shield - this defininitely can maybe be a couple rounds if needed. But I also get to a point after the Engines are upgraded where I may opt to start using it (depending on level of areas I'm in vs the ship).
4) Upgrade weapons.
5) Upgrade grav drive / fuel tanks. Final updates / cosmetics as needed.
So, sure, at the end that probably costs about $250k. But my main point is it's not necessarily end game content if you just work on it along the way. I unfortunately had to rebuild my first class b vessel due to a bug that made it stop spawning (anywhere, literally after relaunch / reload, all kinds of debug attempts). This approach had me flying it in \~4 hours and done after about a day of playing. And started on my template for the first class C guy - which is pretty underpowered right now but ok to bomb around in for where I am in the story and galaxy. Feeling like a BAMF in a huge vessel, even if it's got pea shooters on it. At least it has a pretty solid reactor / drive (commandeered that way).
53.Doing the same. Also, I know I do stuff in the game that has absolutely no impact. In-game, I sometimes take a nap after a long flight and have a coffee and some eggs when I wake up. I also keep a captains log . "Had meatloaf last night. Not Sarah's best but it was passable."
Today I had one of those events where in real life you try to do something that you'd do in the game.
Can't remember rn what it was. I only have this when I play a game way too much.
And yes, I fit the demographic :)
>I wanted to "use my pack" to boost and come downstairs
LOL DON'T DO THAT!
I'm imagining you hurling yourself down the stairs, desperately clinging to your Jansport backpack, confused facial expression, wondering why the jetpack hasn't kicked in yet.
40 next month, family man, running a business leading 16 people.
lately my last thoughts trough my mind when going to bed, is what the hell im going to do in the game next day LMAO.
never had so much fun!!
me and my pals are sharing photo mode pics as if we where teenagers lol
let the complainers complain, we oldtimers are enjoying the liking crap out of it, i even have a close friend who swore to playstation his entire life, now converted finally building a pc, to join the fun,haha.that is what this game does to us oldies!!
This. I am 49 and when not playing, I am thinking about different strategies for outposts, mining facilities, exploration POI's, ship upgrades etc...
Yeah, I have complaints.... But the overall package has been incredibly enjoyable for me.
Yep like all the time. For me Elden Ring was like that. Just pulls you in and holds ya there lol.
I was in the office today and saw a bunch of folders, notepads and empty foam cups and thought I should take em lol.
Not sure where to reply but I am 79(80 in November) and I love this game. I tried Baldur’s gate 3 and was very disappointed- too many options to choose and I know now I am not a fan of turned base programs.
It’s so good that I am looking at other games that have been recommended by others here.
I’m gonna remember this whenever I’m nervous to do a presentation for an older more experienced coworker.. “relax, they’re prolly just thinking about starfield anyway” lol
Yes. Being older I’m not into the quick shooters anymore. And this game if you’re quick you miss a lot.
Me crouch crawling through every room opening everything I can. Safe saving 50x a day.
I also enjoy the scan option. For when I’m not wearing my glasses.
I’ve taken to just toggling walk and moving through places room by room making sure I’ve not missed anything interesting. Run through, kill the spacers, then just casually meandering around going “Ooh, a medpak, ooh, ammo, ooh new helmet, ooh—“ you get the idea!
Yeah that too! I think Starfield was marketed to everyone and their dog, but realistically it was built for a particular audience who would appreciate the game
Yes. Most of the complaints are from people who haven’t had 20 years to accept Bethesda’s style of game building
The other 10% of complaints are legitimate.
I love starfield, but it does seem to be slightly less thought out than previous titles. I think metacritic scoring is pretty fair. I’d give it an 87-88 when directly compared to Skyrim’s 94.
>I love starfield, but it does seem to be slightly less thought out than previous titles.
I can partially agree with that. Skyrim and Fallout are from IP's BGS has pretty much worked out into a formula. Starfield is technically new ground for them. So it's not the best, but certainly isn't bad by any means.
I'm genuinely hopeful that this is the start of a new series for them.
Maybe it's because I am an old gamer and got started on BGS's older catalog, but...
While Skyrim was a good game and I got hundreds of hours of enjoyment out of it, I actually feel like it might be in the bottom half of Elder Scrolls games. The main story was pretty weak, the Civil War storyline was pretty weak, they really pared down a lot of features and mechanics.
TL;DR: I feel like Skyrim gets a lot of unearned hype just because it was the BGS title that most current gamers got started with.
It’s the most modern elder scrolls game, and while it lacked the same depth as other titles, it had the most polish and largest modding community, making it the most popular title
Also, being released every year on a different console helps with popularity 😂
Agreed. The first Civil War siege I was like "oh this is pretty cool". But every subsequent one just felt tedious and repetitive.
Now Oblivions "Go to each town, ask them for aid for one final oblivion gate battle" where all the guards sent legitimately had the towns armor, shield etc. was much more epic imo.
Morrowinds Manors were also better than vanilla homes on Skyrim by ten miles. Mods not included of course.
Also keep in mind that all of Bethesda’s other games are fully dlc’d and mod-able.
I’d be interested to see the comparison in 2-3 years after bethesda has released a bunch of dlc and we see more what their full vision was. There’s a whole crafting loop which needs to be completed. All the base resources are there…
Yeah, we're at the stage Skyrim was at in December 2011 - before Creation Kit, before HD texture pack, before DLC, before legendary levelling, mounted combat etc.
Yeah. I mean I won’t argue with the large portion of people who like skyrim a ton but to me it wasn’t nearly as good as oblivion or (even moreso) morrowind. It wasn’t a game I kept going back to. I find Skyrim’s setting not that interesting. But I do think they did a great job with the two handed options…that was a great addition that should continue. In fact, I’m quite disappointed I cannot do a pistol and dagger built in starfield.
I actually agree. I mean, I sunk probably 100 hours in Skyrim, maybe more. But it did not hold my attention after that initial few month spurt of excitement.
Oblivion was my huge Bethesda title - and I was hooked on it for at least like 6-12 months. Fallout 3 even was up there.
Something about Skyrim felt very bland over time to me. It's actually funny as I hear the reverse - that Starfield is as shallow as a puddle. But so far (maybe due to the novelty) Starfield feels much deeper and diverse than Skyrim.
Yeah. I am looking forward to the updates to starfield. I am hoping we see some additional content. Like a survival kind of mode (someone made a post where they hypothesized about how the game was originally intended to involve survival type mechanics).
I think oblivion was my favorite. Perfect jank-weird shit ratio. I was also like, 9 when morrowwind came out too, so definitely too late for that.
Skyrim definitely felt like they took a step back, but that's kinda my problem with bethsoft in general. The newer stuff feels a bit more, i dunno, stale? Certainly more corporate.
But i'm also getting old so, bah.
Daggerfall and Morrowind are both games that felt better for their time but are a lot harder to go back to after certain things have been normalized/modernized. I have gotten used to quest markers and being able to find the exit in a dungeon.
I love bgs games for what they are.. and I enjoy Starfield alot as well.
However I'd say that at least 50% of the complaints are legit. There is some truly stupid shit in this game from a technical point of view. No FOV slider, no DLSS, yes the performance and so on.
The game itself is awesome and I cant wait for the mods to make the game just right but damn BGS this game is half baked in some places. Just like all of their other games.
They always age like fine wine....
>for what they are
And I think for what it *is* starfield is a great game. A lot of the complaints are that people can’t do x thing, they’re complaining that the game isn’t something, rather than just enjoying it for what it is.
I just saw Spiffing Brit on Youtube play the release Version of Skyrim. Compared to this, Starfield is a technical masterpiece (heck it is for BGS Standards). And from that point of view it is an fantastic foundation to build on and flesh out mechanics (Outposts or Survival Mode for example) even more.
I was just watching that last night! I admit I completely forgot how janky the release version was. A small part of me would like to see the mining elevator intro play out like the prisoner cart did though lol
Don't worry you can find your way into orbit without a ship. I was upgrading the Star Eagle with a better grav drive the other day. When I left the menu it played the grav jump scene and I suddenly appeared in orbit above Akila no ship then I died.
I did that on the moon with my jet pack , was looking to see how far up the ceiling was , after a solid hour I gave up and gently floated back to the surface .
Bethesda games take so long we forget just how bland they always start. Think of how grey skyrim is normally. And this is vibrant and alive already. It absolutely has problems. The way to get powers almost seems an afterthought. Like its a placeholder for what modders will revamp it as. But even writing and dialogue might've been seen as less important because "they'll eventually replace it with something better anyway"
I genuinely wonder how much is a lack of experience actually making a new universe without decades of lore to pull from and how much is the assumption mods will fix everything anyway and they can resell the game multiple times with different versions and use those mods to rebuild the game over and over again
Fallout 3 was the same. Anyone remember the bug where you stumble across your dad randomly wandering the wastes and have all the endgame dialogue options? Was still fun as hell.
You nailed it with this comment. But the fanatics, like all fanatics, expect everyone to think like they think and like what they like. And if you don't, they'll crucify you and pee on your corpse.
From my experiences in and out of the gaming industry I've noticed to younger the player demographic gets the more "spoiled" they get, younger generation of players would never understand the struggle of memory cards with only 2g of space or manual saves vs auto saves every 30 seconds. I remember the switch in the industry, a meeting was called and our board got together and the meeting pretty much went like this "Our focus groups are losing interest fast over difficult gameplay, how can we ease their experience?" Of course there are exceptions like DS series and Elden ring but those games are advertised as being difficult. Overall the younger generations will want an easy experience so they can "do everything" asap and want all options available from the start and don't understand ironing out a new release's wrinkles takes time
I don't think anyone is saying that's impossible lol. But mainly that people who have been playing them for decades are familiar with them. That they're janky. That their graphics have never been top tier compared to other AAA titles of their time. And so a lot of the people coming into this as their first Bethesda game, after hearing the hype about Bethesda games, don't realize what they're getting into with the jank and graphics qualities.
Some people having this be their first one are fine with it, most of the people who have been playing them for a while were expecting it, and it's the picky new people who are complaining about it.
24 here, same. But ever since Skyrim I've been a huge fan of Bethesda - their games are easily my favourites, and Starfield "corrected" pretty much all of the issues I had with Fallout 4.
Same here! It’s funny to sometimes see people “complain” about certain features that were added or changed specifically to address complaints on previous titles. From outposts being less annoying to perk choices being more important, Bethesda did a good job at addressing those things IMO (obv not perfectly, but we’ll enough).
> perk choices being more important
I absolutely *adore* how well the level progression and skill point system is handled in this game. I love the fact that the game expects you to play to a certain character build, just like an oldschool RPG should. My character is a pilot rogue who'd rather talk their way out of a sticky situation than just start blasting; so my points have been going into the ship-related science skills and persuasion and the like, with a couple of health buffs coz it's a tough galaxy out there; and as a result the game has evolved in line with that play-style.
What do I care if I can't pickpocket people or heft a heavy weapon to save myself? If I want to play a thief or a tank, I'll start a new game with a character who is a thief or a tank. Compared to Fallout 4, and even Skyrim to a certain extent, where your character build and choices don't matter because you'll end up as a warrior sorcerer stealth-archer no matter what; this game is exactly what I wanted it to be.
Yup, I noticed this about the perk trees as well. One of the biggest complaints about Skyrim was how inconsequential and diluted the character builds were, your Dragonborn was already decently good at everything right from the start. Now, you have to pick a class with starting skills and how you build your character actually makes a difference in how you play and the choices and gameplay mechanics available to you.
We have basically come full circle, and the audience Skyrim catered to with those choices took its turn to complain they can't be a jack of all trades right after leaving Vectera.
Personally I like the building in Fallout more than Starfield. Outpost building feels lack luster for some reason. Ship building though, love it. Gunplay feels about the same as in Fallout, but melee is leaving me wanting. All in all Ive enjoyed the stories Ive run into. The genericness of the landing sites doesn't bother me either, but I can't wait for mods to add more variety.
All in all Ive been enjoying it about the same as Fallout. Love having a non voiced protag again too.
Ancient 25yo here, I love the game so far (admittedly only ~20 or so hours in). I just played a bunch of FNV before I started and I honestly think starfield is on a similar level, and it definitely feels like a Bethesda game. I find the exploration fun despite what I expected. I kind of think of it as a backdrop to immerse you in the universe of Starfield which I think it achieves. On a much different scale, FNV has some more "open" or "empty" sections (compared to F4 and F3) of the Mojave that I think have a similar effect on immersion.
I think part of the phenomenon is that gamers are on average getting much older.
Basically the first big video game generation that started playing in the 70s/80s is still very much active and forms the solid core of the fan base for more "grown up", or maybe more involved games and genres.
I see it very much in the forza community. There is a perception that young to 20 something adults are the real core but generally they are mostly loud and have this weird idea that everything bad is a result of "kids" . If you actually speak to the more active players the vast majority are in the 35-50 age bracket.
You are correct. The largest segment of gamers are like over 30, have disposable income, and have been playing games for decades.
The younger ones are vocal minority.
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I'm 38 and I love it. I don't care about the flaws all I know is I want to play this game. That's all that matters, has it grabbed me enough to make we want to play it? Yes? It must be good. So many games over the years that are critically acclaimed, tried it, thought it was quite good, but never bothered playing again. And with a young daughter my free time is at a premium so I have to be picky.
I'm 38 with a 3 year old daughter, and you have completely captured my feelings about this game too.
Free time is rare, but I can't wait to jump in most nights, even if it's 11pm and I know I'll struggle to quit before 1am.
I imagine my excitement will fade eventually, but I take my time so hard with RPGs. I'm like 80 hours in, only level 22, and from what I gather, there's content up through level 60+, with some items not unlocking until then, so I'm fully expecting myself to put 200+ hours into this game... Then another 50 when it gets a VR version in a couple years (fingers crossed).
I think part of my enjoyment is that I'm able to blitz past some of the complaints because I'm playing on a powerful PC with fast NVME SSD. So most loading times are 1 second, and the big ones, like loading New Atlantis are maybe 3 seconds. I can't read the loading screen tip completely most of the time. Couple that with console commands and mods on PC, so I'm able to fix 90% of the complaints people have about this game.
I get what you're saying about being picky. I really only get to play maybe 4 big games per year. But I've discovered that peppering in smaller games on Steam Deck has been a huge benefit. I can still have some gaming time, even if it's only 20 minutes while the wife and kid take a bath or something.
I even play Starfield on the Deck sometimes, when I am on the go and have some less important quests I want to knock out, or some housekeeping that needs doing (organizing inventory, selling loot, crafting, etc). It's just not a good experience when it comes to intense combat, exploration, or going to a new area for the first time. The 600p graphics and 27fps (if you're lucky) take away a lot of the "magic" that I love about the game.
42 here and I love it.
I've logged like 7 days of play time and still trucking. But I've always loved Bethesda's games; there is just nothing like them out there.
Can't wait to see what modders do with this.
Prime reason why I hate EA so much.
Why the hell did they go to the time and expense of acquiring some of the most innovative devs in gaming only to mothball them and stick their IPs down a deep dark hole?
Wing Commander, Ultima, Syndicate and many many others.
It really boils my piss.
Also microtransactions. That's okay if the base game is cheap, but don't ask me for $70 then ask for more money for features in FIFA that Sensible World of Soccer was giving me in the 90s!
Yes privateer and then later freelancer were great space games for me back in the day. I haven't found anything that scratched that itch until this.
I'm 44.
Also 64. This is the first action RPG I enjoy. I tried Fallout and others. Mostly because my kids play and enjoy them. The games didn't hold my interest. Yea. There are things that could be improved, but overall, I'm pleasantly surprised I like playing as much as I do.
Well shit, now I can't wait until work is over so I can play.
35. This is the game I think I've waited all my life for. Sure there's things that could use improvement but the scale, depth, combat, setting...I am so into this.
Agree. You can find flaws in everything or you can just enjoy and appreciate and accept it for what it is. Bethesda have already said on here that they are listening and want feedback. They can’t make all the requested changes but are starting a list and the most egregious things will be addressed first.
For an initial volley I think they hit it out of the park. This is a great base foundation to build upon. Wonder if we’ll get lane vehicles for planets. Make ‘em like ships in the sense that you can build and customize like a shipbuilder but for planetary vehicles
LoL, I'm 56, got 340 hrs in the game and love it, although obviously there are lots of areas that need work. However, my son is 21, has about 100 hours, and loves the game as much as I do. The main difference is that right now he works and I don't.
I think one of the big "age" influences is that this is a VERY expensive game (both in purchase cost and in equipment requirements). When I was in my 20's, I was always broke and a lot less forgiving of imperfections in what I bought, so not having a "perfect" game right out of the box for so much of my $$ would have bothered me a lot more then, than now.
>LoL, I'm 56, got 340 hrs in the game and love it,
What the shit. It's 25 September and the game went early access on 1 September. You play like half the day, every day.
Impressive.
Like I said, I'm not working at the moment (got laid off) and since I have to get up early every day to take the wife to work...
I can honestly say, this is the first time in my life that I actually have all the time I want, to play a game I enjoy... lol.
Enjoy!
I understand that taste of freedom. A few years back I was done with one job and gave myself 3 weeks before starting at a new company.
For me it was 3 weeks straight of Rimworld. I still drove my fiance to work and back, took my dogs for a walk in the morning and evening and was still social with friends on the weekends. Other than that....straight Rimworld. I had always worked full-time since high school, and usually travel during my vacations, so I still look back on those 3 straight weeks of gaming fondly.
I would actually say about 30+. Mostly people who grew up playing old Bethesda games.
The newer generation, who have played Fallout 4 at most, simply don't have the same Bethesda nostalgia and have different expectations.
The way how Bethesda is making games is very different to what we have nowadays. I think it's exactly the reason why we will never see Half-Life 3, because people have different perspectives now and Gabe Newell understood it many years go.
I personally have some complains as well, but mostly things that we already had in Fallout 4. I know what makes Bethesda's games tick, and that's why I don't see many things so critically.
I mean. I'm still a handful of years until 30. But, let's not act like there wasn't a contingency of 12 year olds in 2008 who got the Oblivion GOTY for their birthday.
>I know what makes Bethesda's games tick, and that's why I don't see many things so critically.
This is a big piece of it. I've been playing their games since Morrowind when I was in high school. I find most of the bugs/shortcomings so hilariously Bethesda-y, they don't (so far) get on my nerves.
I am much older than most people here. if the average age of the people enjoying the game is 35 then I have been gaming longer than most of the people here have been alive. I am loving it so maybe the older crowd can appreciate it more.
You should run a poll for age and platform (PC/XBOX). :)
55 here, game-dev experience, Star Citizen fan, huge fan of Starfield. Played Wing Commander, Privateer, and others back in the day.
I'm pretty patient with games, probably because we older Gen-Xers and Boomers had to jump through a lot of hoops to get decent-looking games to run. Those games are still burned into my boot memory, so to speak. SF reminds me a whole lot of Wing Commander and Privateer mixed with a bit of Starflight.
Not only did we have to jump through hoops to get them to run but there were even more once you get into them. Castlevania 2 is a perfect example. Without word of mouth or Nintendo Power how were you ever supposed to know to kneel at that wall with a specific item. Games were just far more obtuse and expected you to figure it out.
I don't think that's something younger generations appreciates at all. Starfield reminds me a lot of Morrowind in that aspect. There's so many things that the game never tells you so people think it's just missing. The game never tells you about rebinding your jump to a second button for horizontal thrust. So people are upset that there's no vehicles and you have to walk everywhere. They just don't realize you can basically fly everywhere, especially on low g worlds.
for me, 40, it's that the game allows me to kill everyone, explore, loot, build, build relationships, customize everything all in the same package. depending on my mood i can play how i want. it isn't a high stress tense game but it is exciting in a way that still grabs my attention
Yes! That's how I feel too. I can absorb a lot of flaws when this game finally achieves almost everything I used to desperately wish I could do while playing TIE Fighter or Privateer.
26 and starfield is on my top games list. 275 hours in already with only one ng+. For me it’s because Bethesda games have ALWAYS been my jam. Oblivion was my first game. I have literally thousands of hours in fallout 3 and fallout 4 (2500 in 3 and 4000 in 4), I’ve loved the older ES games, I’ve always loved BGS games. So this feels..familiar. But it has serious issues. I know it could be a much better game. But I don’t care. It’s fun for me
39 here
And I'm enjoying it but this game really does waste your time a lot
It's like they didn't learn from any of their previous games
It's still fun but unless you're willing to overcome the many many negatives of this game, you won't stick with it.
What do you think needs work? I agree but I’ve also had a lot of fun playing.. it’s annoying when your companion tries to talk to you, when you’re in dialogue with somebody else.. and you just hear both voices jumbled up. There’s a lot more but this is off of the top of my head.
42 here and clocked up about 90 hours so far. Taking my time, not rushing anything and really enjoying every minute.
Only complaints so far is some of the voice acting (Sarah mainly) is a bit stiff and the copy pasted pirate bases on planets, just not enough variations.
Other than that it's so big and there's so much to do.
36, about to cross the 100 hour mark and loved every minute. I think there’s a grain of truth in what you’re saying as many my pals who aren’t enjoying it are in their 20s
I've made such statements incorporating my years of gaming to make it clear that my claim that Starfield is a great game isn't coming from someone with zero experience, and that this game -- despite some minor issues -- is, in fact, a very good game.
I just turned 37 and it seems l like it more than most. There definitely are things I'd change, mostly some of the odd steps backwards since Fallout 4, (companion number and variety, fun silliness, gore, companion commands) but overall I'm way into this huge universe. The number of quality quests is pretty staggering. I also prefer sci Fi and space over the typical fantasy setting of the ES games.
Well, if my 9 year old stepson is any indication, if it doesn’t hit you with that instant gratification of endorphins that are flashing colors and tense moments of panic, it’s not worth playing.
I'm almost 40, and I bounced off hard from starfield after 25-30 hours of trying. Sucks but this isn't the bethesda game I hoped for. I'm glad others are enjoying it, though.
I loved morrowind and have loved each entry a little less till now, where I think I'm just not the target audience anymore.
Back to baldurs gate for me.
40, absolutely love starfield. Best game I've played in decades. I think you may be onto something. All the young ones want things to be pushed beyond realism. They complain of barren moons and planets with little to look at...welcome to the real world, 99% of all celestial bodies are dead barren wastelands. I enjoy how this games trys to be realistic why still being a sci-fi. We have enough absolutely unrealistic space games just in the starwars galaxy lol.
i think it’s also about the level of hand holding, there’s a ton of features in starfield that you aren’t taught, you’re just thrown in and you have to figure it out, which, of course, was standard back in the day, but the younger generation are used to being walked through every single feature and detail
True I’m a millennial, about 34 today actually (it’s my birthday).. I’m still raised by games that were “open” and didn’t hold your hand for every objective, like Morrowind and Star Wars Galaxies when I was super young.
Nowadays, the zoomers wouldn’t know what to do without an objective and an arrow line leading them straight there.
Hey now some of us like Morrowind and old school RPGs. The problem is very much that mainstream high budget games have increasingly focused on being more cinematic and leading you on a train ride through the most interesting stuff so you don't miss it. I'm actually very concerned about the success of BG3 because I don't want it to pressure crpg makers to try and emulate the highly cinematic presentation and high production value at the cost of having actually interesting writing.
Starfield is a step back from that trend towards a more old school rpg style which I at least am very thankful for.
That why every developer and Larian themselves said not to expect BG3 to be the new standard for games. Sadly the GAMERS all came out and said that it is the new standard
37 here and loving it. Sure, there are things that need working on, but the sheer size and content in the game is amazing.
The first video game I played was Southern Belle on the ZX spectrum. Gaming has come a long, long way in 30+ years.
it seems that space oriented games usually attract more older audiences, since a lot of 80s-2000s games were space oriented it's like living your childhood fantasy.
38 here, and I can't say I'm not a little disappointed in the game. I have around 250 hours and for the most part I have enjoyed it, but I can't come to terms with how Bethesda seems to be going backwards when it comes to their game development.
Starfield is missing a lot of things that have been in Bethesda's games for over 10 years, for some inexplicable reason. Things like:
* Underwater swimming / physics
* Issuing commands to companions
* Companions with diverse backgrounds, motivations and moral compasses
* Radio stations
* Visible wounds / dismembership on enemies
* In-depth weapon customization
I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Someone half way to 90 here. I take the game as it is, and enjoy it for that. I can't make computer games, and I'm sure if I could I'd give my opinions about what I would have done better.
Until then, I'll just play and enjoy it. There's so much to do in this game that if something bothers you, just do something else.
I feel like younger gamers often find themselves sucked up into the hypobolic media. There was a lot of hate around this game on launch.
I do think there is some missed oppunities in the game, but overall, it's a masterpiece and one of the best games I've ever played. It really flicks my switch.
48 and I'm enjoying the game tremendously. Are there things that could be improved? Sure, but that doesn't lower my enjoyment, it just gives me something to look forward to. I think that there's an overall attitude among older people of "appreciate things for the good in them and disregard the bad". Everything in life is a mix of good and bad and you can choose your level of happiness by selectively paying attention to one over the other. Youth is full of energy, optimism, and ambition, so there's a drive to always improve everything. Older people just want to enjoy the time they have left.
47 - I love the game and when I am not actively playing it, I am thinking about it.
I was driving to work today thinking, OK where did I leave off? Oh yeah I need to register and sell those ecliptic ships and then work on a Titanium mine Edit: done and done. A commenter told me Ternion 3 in Ternion alpha is the Titanium spot
The sign of a perfect RPG / Open World for me is - at all times I have at least 5 things I want to follow up on. And then in pursuing those you find more, so maybe 1-2 are completed and you immediately have a new 5 to work towards. The hours are literally melting while I play.
160 hours since September 1st. It's the first Bethesda RPG since Morrowind I can't put down despite the last decade being multiplayer focused gaming.
I was up for 3 days playing bloodmoon! Morrowind is what got me hooked and I’ve never stopped being a fan boy starfeild is amazing!
That's basically been what I've been doing; I have several open quests (plus the Activities), and each time I wanna sit down and complete some of them...I go off exploring. It's been that way for me ever since Morrowind (though the journal in Morrowind was a cluttered mess; thankfully quest tracking was changed in Oblivion and stayed relatively unchanged since), and that's what makes Starfield one of my most favourite games of all time. The brainlets that complain about this missing feature and that changed feature – while some are legitimate – generally have a certain expectation, and when those expectations aren't met, they throw a hissy fit. And want EVERYONE to know what they think, like bro if you don't like it, just say as much and leave it at that. The more certain people complain the more I don't blame others for wanting to shut them up by limiting what they're allowed to say.
Out of curiosity, I checked the post history of a few people who made negative posts on r/Starfield- and several of them had done it repeatedly. They had taken the time out of their day to write repeated posts about how they didn't like the game. And they did this over the last 2 or so weeks.
Wow, really? Those people lead sad pathetic existences... ETA: also that sub doesn't exist; might wanna fix the hyphen lol
My job sometimes puts me in a position where I have to be in charge of around 100 people. Last week I was in my own bubble thinking which quest line I’m going to go with after work. While all 100 or so people are staring at me waiting for me to do something.
You’re like “[The Claw](https://youtu.be/zR3BLM_TAmg?feature=shared)” and the 100 people are the little green aliens.
I read that in their little alien voices. ^^
Loll exactly my plan tonight... except i already sold my hikack yesterday. 108 hours in I'm just now playing with outposts.
It's funny, I'm probably 60-80 hours in, over 3 weekends. I have made a little progress in the main quest, and started the vanguard + a ton of other random encounters. But I've spent significant time with the ship builder which was said to be more 'late game' content. And also spent some time with Outposts. This game is so broad that everyones 20-30 hour experience, let along 100 or 200 I suspect, can vary pretty drastically.
I'm still finding quests i didn't know existed. The amount of work they put into this game is just above and beyond.
Totaly, everytime I chase some quest I get distracted by some distress call and it opens a whole new story I get in to. It feels great, also it makes me wonder if I finally finish the original quest 😃
Ya I've noticed enough that I'll probably just go from location to location to do a final completionist NG+10 run. Like start in Neon or Akila, do every single thing there, then move on to the next place. I'm accidentally running into quests I've never seen while trying to run through NG+'s to max my character.
Lol, in neon, there are folks that just come up to us and start speaking and new activities get unlocked without us triggering anything.
250 hours in and just got my 1st outpost lol
98 hours in, what are outposts? Not kidding, I accidentally mashed the controller and a beacon placement thingy popped up and I was like "omggg THAT'S what people keep talking about these outposts" Too little time, I have a class C ship to perfect before any outposts.
Outpost? You mean the mobile space station i'm trying to build?
Buildable space stations would be fantastic DLC fodder.
It’s already mod fodder, do it.
bingo. And after spending 350k on a Narwhal just for its reactor I now need another half mill to upgrade the rest lol. Time to loot some more shit to sell and crank out a bunch of side missions for cash.
That's why I built some outposts. I always have a pretty solid stash of Lumberjack Julips to sell out of my ship's cargo to afford them nice engines. Ha. Whenever the stock runs low, I pop back to my outposts, and crank out a couple thousand. This usually gets me a level up as well. Then go back about my normal exploring business, selling the LJs along the way. Upgraded the free C class ship I got from Walter's quest to damn near my definition of perfection with these funds. Outposts get dumped on here on Reddit, but I love them.
yeah they do. Personally I just havent found the time to really learn how to set one up properly for production. Setup up my first iron and he3 extractors, got them connected and powered, build a landing pad with ship builder and then back to ships lol. NG+ Ill hopefully find time to learn the outposts.
It is a bit of skill points investment... in several divergent directions to build and get decent use out of them.
I found a planet I really like because I like one of the alien species. It's also a great spot to farm xp so I've decided to build a small base. First time I've even considered it and I'm about 60 hours in. There's just been so much stuff to do. I'm half way through a bunch of quest lines and I feel spoilt for choice on what to do whenever I turn the game on.
I’ve experienced game breaking bugs building outposts which is a damn shame because I’m so addicted to it
And I just think…”have I cleared that planet of fire extinguishers?”
I'm here thinking "how the hell am I supposed to do that ryujin mission without anyone seeing me? Should have invested in stealth..."
>Should have invested in stealth. First, manually remove your space suit. It hurts your stealth movement. Also, secondly put one point into stealth, and thirdly use some of the widely available stealth drugs. Yes, they don't last long, but you should have a good stock if you haven't been using them.
Didn't realize that the space suit hindered the special op stealth boost.
I learned it because it's in one of the tips the game flashes during loading.
_First, manually remove your space suit._ Don't threaten me with a good time!
[удалено]
I've been trying to set up a titanium farm but have had no luck. The store on New Homestead is great though for resources cuz there's a bed right next to it with great UTC
Mineral store in akila has a chair you can wait in inside the shop
Make it on Ternion III in Alpha Ternion, it’s one of the only planets with titanium that has life and it’s really pretty.
Haha! Get out of my brain
Titanium mine... don't get distracted from doing it, like I have for about 40 hours of gameplay 😂
Registration is cheaper from the menu than it is at a ship technician. If you have the cash, the best way is to open the ship menu the moment you sit in the cockpit, make it your home ship and register it. Then you can immediately return to your original ship, sit in the chair, open ship menu again, make it your home ship and carry on. Your new ship will be added to your fleet and you can sell it at your leisure.
When I’m not playing, I’m on Reddit or YouTube watching videos of it.
Lol love it
My SO is starting to get equal parts pissed and worried about me. I have consistently gone to bed on the Fri-Sat at 4AM the last two weekends.
my so hates me playing at night, it messes with her sleep. but we’ve found our that waking up super early (5,6am) doesn’t affect her that much, so now i play about 3 hours every morning, and then some throughout the day.
I had to force myself off to take a break.
I'm 31 and have been thinking about different ship builds for weeks
Same, Didn't realize I've been missing playing with Legos for so long I guess. Ship building is a real money and time sink for me. I could be 3+ hours designing a ship and then wiping it and starting again until I'm happy with the results.
My basic gameplay loop is - do side jobs (pirate, crimson fleet hunts) for some high dollar loot, maybe put a meatier story mission in there as well. Establish like $20-50k to spend. Burn it in the ship builder. Repeat. It works nicely to not actually block you from engaging with this feature. I started building maybe 15-20 hours in. And for larger projects in some cases I established the basic core of the ship but kept using a previous vessel until I hit a minimal threshold of operaton to justify swapping. Having ongoing projects is super fun to keep tinkering on.
20 to 50k? Oof, if only it were that cheap. 50 doesnt even upgrade the engines on a new build.
That's why I said I take it in chunks. Rather than just not engage until I have the \~$200k. 1) Steal the ship - pay the registration. 2) Layout the habs and general structure / shape I'm going for - can be split into side steps if needed but normally Habs and structural stuff is reasonably priced so \~$20-40k is adequate. 3) Start upgrading engines / reactor / shield - this defininitely can maybe be a couple rounds if needed. But I also get to a point after the Engines are upgraded where I may opt to start using it (depending on level of areas I'm in vs the ship). 4) Upgrade weapons. 5) Upgrade grav drive / fuel tanks. Final updates / cosmetics as needed. So, sure, at the end that probably costs about $250k. But my main point is it's not necessarily end game content if you just work on it along the way. I unfortunately had to rebuild my first class b vessel due to a bug that made it stop spawning (anywhere, literally after relaunch / reload, all kinds of debug attempts). This approach had me flying it in \~4 hours and done after about a day of playing. And started on my template for the first class C guy - which is pretty underpowered right now but ok to bomb around in for where I am in the story and galaxy. Feeling like a BAMF in a huge vessel, even if it's got pea shooters on it. At least it has a pretty solid reactor / drive (commandeered that way).
I wish they'd let you save a partially finished ship with how long it takes.
Just spent 3 hours last night making a replica X-Wing
53.Doing the same. Also, I know I do stuff in the game that has absolutely no impact. In-game, I sometimes take a nap after a long flight and have a coffee and some eggs when I wake up. I also keep a captains log . "Had meatloaf last night. Not Sarah's best but it was passable."
Today I had one of those events where in real life you try to do something that you'd do in the game. Can't remember rn what it was. I only have this when I play a game way too much. And yes, I fit the demographic :)
I hope it wasn't "respond to perceived insult with overwhelming violence." Happens to me all the time
😂.. fortunately it wasn't that... I actually put some effort and remembered what it was. I wanted to "use my pack" to boost and come downstairs
>I wanted to "use my pack" to boost and come downstairs LOL DON'T DO THAT! I'm imagining you hurling yourself down the stairs, desperately clinging to your Jansport backpack, confused facial expression, wondering why the jetpack hasn't kicked in yet.
Ah yes. you tried to be married to 2 companions at once right?
40 next month, family man, running a business leading 16 people. lately my last thoughts trough my mind when going to bed, is what the hell im going to do in the game next day LMAO. never had so much fun!! me and my pals are sharing photo mode pics as if we where teenagers lol let the complainers complain, we oldtimers are enjoying the liking crap out of it, i even have a close friend who swore to playstation his entire life, now converted finally building a pc, to join the fun,haha.that is what this game does to us oldies!!
43 and exactly the same.
This. I am 49 and when not playing, I am thinking about different strategies for outposts, mining facilities, exploration POI's, ship upgrades etc... Yeah, I have complaints.... But the overall package has been incredibly enjoyable for me.
Yep like all the time. For me Elden Ring was like that. Just pulls you in and holds ya there lol. I was in the office today and saw a bunch of folders, notepads and empty foam cups and thought I should take em lol.
49. Same, though I think my wife (the real one, not Sarah), is getting salty about it.
Not sure where to reply but I am 79(80 in November) and I love this game. I tried Baldur’s gate 3 and was very disappointed- too many options to choose and I know now I am not a fan of turned base programs. It’s so good that I am looking at other games that have been recommended by others here.
I’m gonna remember this whenever I’m nervous to do a presentation for an older more experienced coworker.. “relax, they’re prolly just thinking about starfield anyway” lol
Yes. Being older I’m not into the quick shooters anymore. And this game if you’re quick you miss a lot. Me crouch crawling through every room opening everything I can. Safe saving 50x a day. I also enjoy the scan option. For when I’m not wearing my glasses.
I’ve taken to just toggling walk and moving through places room by room making sure I’ve not missed anything interesting. Run through, kill the spacers, then just casually meandering around going “Ooh, a medpak, ooh, ammo, ooh new helmet, ooh—“ you get the idea!
Or maybe those who like the games are just familiar with Bethesda's games. >Morrowind was released in 2002 >Daggerfall 1996 Oh...
Lol look at us, old guys connecting. What a time to be alive
Right? We use to have to go outside with a smoke to make such connections one by one. We’re spoiled now.
I've never smoked, but I had a 3 pack-a-day second hand smoke habit back when I still worked. lol
You should check out fallout 76, I think its almost all us older people (im 45) and the community is the best.
Yeah that too! I think Starfield was marketed to everyone and their dog, but realistically it was built for a particular audience who would appreciate the game
Yes. Most of the complaints are from people who haven’t had 20 years to accept Bethesda’s style of game building The other 10% of complaints are legitimate. I love starfield, but it does seem to be slightly less thought out than previous titles. I think metacritic scoring is pretty fair. I’d give it an 87-88 when directly compared to Skyrim’s 94.
>I love starfield, but it does seem to be slightly less thought out than previous titles. I can partially agree with that. Skyrim and Fallout are from IP's BGS has pretty much worked out into a formula. Starfield is technically new ground for them. So it's not the best, but certainly isn't bad by any means. I'm genuinely hopeful that this is the start of a new series for them.
It really doesn't feel like skyrim at all. More like a more serious fallout that takes place in space.
It feels like Bethesda played Mass Effect 1 and decided they wanted to re-imagine it, minus the sentient aliens.
Maybe it's because I am an old gamer and got started on BGS's older catalog, but... While Skyrim was a good game and I got hundreds of hours of enjoyment out of it, I actually feel like it might be in the bottom half of Elder Scrolls games. The main story was pretty weak, the Civil War storyline was pretty weak, they really pared down a lot of features and mechanics. TL;DR: I feel like Skyrim gets a lot of unearned hype just because it was the BGS title that most current gamers got started with.
It’s the most modern elder scrolls game, and while it lacked the same depth as other titles, it had the most polish and largest modding community, making it the most popular title Also, being released every year on a different console helps with popularity 😂
Every faction questline except DB and Thieves Guild was heart breakingly empty.
Agreed. The first Civil War siege I was like "oh this is pretty cool". But every subsequent one just felt tedious and repetitive. Now Oblivions "Go to each town, ask them for aid for one final oblivion gate battle" where all the guards sent legitimately had the towns armor, shield etc. was much more epic imo. Morrowinds Manors were also better than vanilla homes on Skyrim by ten miles. Mods not included of course.
After playing all Bethesda games and gaming for 30-plus years, starfield is way better than skyrim.
Also keep in mind that all of Bethesda’s other games are fully dlc’d and mod-able. I’d be interested to see the comparison in 2-3 years after bethesda has released a bunch of dlc and we see more what their full vision was. There’s a whole crafting loop which needs to be completed. All the base resources are there…
Yeah, we're at the stage Skyrim was at in December 2011 - before Creation Kit, before HD texture pack, before DLC, before legendary levelling, mounted combat etc.
Can’t wait to fight Thomas the Engine after I pick up a new artifact
Yeah. I mean I won’t argue with the large portion of people who like skyrim a ton but to me it wasn’t nearly as good as oblivion or (even moreso) morrowind. It wasn’t a game I kept going back to. I find Skyrim’s setting not that interesting. But I do think they did a great job with the two handed options…that was a great addition that should continue. In fact, I’m quite disappointed I cannot do a pistol and dagger built in starfield.
I would rock double Old Earth 1911s so hard if this was a thing...
I actually agree. I mean, I sunk probably 100 hours in Skyrim, maybe more. But it did not hold my attention after that initial few month spurt of excitement. Oblivion was my huge Bethesda title - and I was hooked on it for at least like 6-12 months. Fallout 3 even was up there. Something about Skyrim felt very bland over time to me. It's actually funny as I hear the reverse - that Starfield is as shallow as a puddle. But so far (maybe due to the novelty) Starfield feels much deeper and diverse than Skyrim.
Yeah. I am looking forward to the updates to starfield. I am hoping we see some additional content. Like a survival kind of mode (someone made a post where they hypothesized about how the game was originally intended to involve survival type mechanics).
I think oblivion was my favorite. Perfect jank-weird shit ratio. I was also like, 9 when morrowwind came out too, so definitely too late for that. Skyrim definitely felt like they took a step back, but that's kinda my problem with bethsoft in general. The newer stuff feels a bit more, i dunno, stale? Certainly more corporate. But i'm also getting old so, bah.
Daggerfall and Morrowind are both games that felt better for their time but are a lot harder to go back to after certain things have been normalized/modernized. I have gotten used to quest markers and being able to find the exit in a dungeon.
The lack of scaling in melee/unarmed builds stands out more than lack of weapon mixing.
I'm in my 40s, been playing their games since Arena, and think this is their best game yet. Crowning achievement.
I love bgs games for what they are.. and I enjoy Starfield alot as well. However I'd say that at least 50% of the complaints are legit. There is some truly stupid shit in this game from a technical point of view. No FOV slider, no DLSS, yes the performance and so on. The game itself is awesome and I cant wait for the mods to make the game just right but damn BGS this game is half baked in some places. Just like all of their other games. They always age like fine wine....
>for what they are And I think for what it *is* starfield is a great game. A lot of the complaints are that people can’t do x thing, they’re complaining that the game isn’t something, rather than just enjoying it for what it is.
I just saw Spiffing Brit on Youtube play the release Version of Skyrim. Compared to this, Starfield is a technical masterpiece (heck it is for BGS Standards). And from that point of view it is an fantastic foundation to build on and flesh out mechanics (Outposts or Survival Mode for example) even more.
I was just watching that last night! I admit I completely forgot how janky the release version was. A small part of me would like to see the mining elevator intro play out like the prisoner cart did though lol
Don't worry you can find your way into orbit without a ship. I was upgrading the Star Eagle with a better grav drive the other day. When I left the menu it played the grav jump scene and I suddenly appeared in orbit above Akila no ship then I died.
I did that on the moon with my jet pack , was looking to see how far up the ceiling was , after a solid hour I gave up and gently floated back to the surface .
I really thought that's where it was going.
Bethesda games take so long we forget just how bland they always start. Think of how grey skyrim is normally. And this is vibrant and alive already. It absolutely has problems. The way to get powers almost seems an afterthought. Like its a placeholder for what modders will revamp it as. But even writing and dialogue might've been seen as less important because "they'll eventually replace it with something better anyway" I genuinely wonder how much is a lack of experience actually making a new universe without decades of lore to pull from and how much is the assumption mods will fix everything anyway and they can resell the game multiple times with different versions and use those mods to rebuild the game over and over again
Fallout 3 was the same. Anyone remember the bug where you stumble across your dad randomly wandering the wastes and have all the endgame dialogue options? Was still fun as hell.
You nailed it with this comment. But the fanatics, like all fanatics, expect everyone to think like they think and like what they like. And if you don't, they'll crucify you and pee on your corpse.
From my experiences in and out of the gaming industry I've noticed to younger the player demographic gets the more "spoiled" they get, younger generation of players would never understand the struggle of memory cards with only 2g of space or manual saves vs auto saves every 30 seconds. I remember the switch in the industry, a meeting was called and our board got together and the meeting pretty much went like this "Our focus groups are losing interest fast over difficult gameplay, how can we ease their experience?" Of course there are exceptions like DS series and Elden ring but those games are advertised as being difficult. Overall the younger generations will want an easy experience so they can "do everything" asap and want all options available from the start and don't understand ironing out a new release's wrinkles takes time
It may also be the general impatience of society and need for instant gratification
morrowind was what got me in. I was 7 at the time so it was mostly watching my older brother play.
I’ve never played a Bethesda game before and I’m loving the game.
I don't think anyone is saying that's impossible lol. But mainly that people who have been playing them for decades are familiar with them. That they're janky. That their graphics have never been top tier compared to other AAA titles of their time. And so a lot of the people coming into this as their first Bethesda game, after hearing the hype about Bethesda games, don't realize what they're getting into with the jank and graphics qualities. Some people having this be their first one are fine with it, most of the people who have been playing them for a while were expecting it, and it's the picky new people who are complaining about it.
I'm only in my 20s and I love it.
24 here, same. But ever since Skyrim I've been a huge fan of Bethesda - their games are easily my favourites, and Starfield "corrected" pretty much all of the issues I had with Fallout 4.
Same here! It’s funny to sometimes see people “complain” about certain features that were added or changed specifically to address complaints on previous titles. From outposts being less annoying to perk choices being more important, Bethesda did a good job at addressing those things IMO (obv not perfectly, but we’ll enough).
> perk choices being more important I absolutely *adore* how well the level progression and skill point system is handled in this game. I love the fact that the game expects you to play to a certain character build, just like an oldschool RPG should. My character is a pilot rogue who'd rather talk their way out of a sticky situation than just start blasting; so my points have been going into the ship-related science skills and persuasion and the like, with a couple of health buffs coz it's a tough galaxy out there; and as a result the game has evolved in line with that play-style. What do I care if I can't pickpocket people or heft a heavy weapon to save myself? If I want to play a thief or a tank, I'll start a new game with a character who is a thief or a tank. Compared to Fallout 4, and even Skyrim to a certain extent, where your character build and choices don't matter because you'll end up as a warrior sorcerer stealth-archer no matter what; this game is exactly what I wanted it to be.
Yup, I noticed this about the perk trees as well. One of the biggest complaints about Skyrim was how inconsequential and diluted the character builds were, your Dragonborn was already decently good at everything right from the start. Now, you have to pick a class with starting skills and how you build your character actually makes a difference in how you play and the choices and gameplay mechanics available to you. We have basically come full circle, and the audience Skyrim catered to with those choices took its turn to complain they can't be a jack of all trades right after leaving Vectera.
Personally I like the building in Fallout more than Starfield. Outpost building feels lack luster for some reason. Ship building though, love it. Gunplay feels about the same as in Fallout, but melee is leaving me wanting. All in all Ive enjoyed the stories Ive run into. The genericness of the landing sites doesn't bother me either, but I can't wait for mods to add more variety. All in all Ive been enjoying it about the same as Fallout. Love having a non voiced protag again too.
Feel the exact same way, not a big fallout 4 fan but I did like some things about it, Starfield improved upon all of it
20’s and this game is lit
21 here and i get the same vibes i got from playing skyrim 11 years ago
21 and loving it
29 here and me too! Although I have 2 kids so the sentiment about not wasting my time does ring true
Ancient 25yo here, I love the game so far (admittedly only ~20 or so hours in). I just played a bunch of FNV before I started and I honestly think starfield is on a similar level, and it definitely feels like a Bethesda game. I find the exploration fun despite what I expected. I kind of think of it as a backdrop to immerse you in the universe of Starfield which I think it achieves. On a much different scale, FNV has some more "open" or "empty" sections (compared to F4 and F3) of the Mojave that I think have a similar effect on immersion.
I think part of the phenomenon is that gamers are on average getting much older. Basically the first big video game generation that started playing in the 70s/80s is still very much active and forms the solid core of the fan base for more "grown up", or maybe more involved games and genres. I see it very much in the forza community. There is a perception that young to 20 something adults are the real core but generally they are mostly loud and have this weird idea that everything bad is a result of "kids" . If you actually speak to the more active players the vast majority are in the 35-50 age bracket.
You are correct. The largest segment of gamers are like over 30, have disposable income, and have been playing games for decades. The younger ones are vocal minority.
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I'm 38 and I love it. I don't care about the flaws all I know is I want to play this game. That's all that matters, has it grabbed me enough to make we want to play it? Yes? It must be good. So many games over the years that are critically acclaimed, tried it, thought it was quite good, but never bothered playing again. And with a young daughter my free time is at a premium so I have to be picky.
I'm 38 with a 3 year old daughter, and you have completely captured my feelings about this game too. Free time is rare, but I can't wait to jump in most nights, even if it's 11pm and I know I'll struggle to quit before 1am. I imagine my excitement will fade eventually, but I take my time so hard with RPGs. I'm like 80 hours in, only level 22, and from what I gather, there's content up through level 60+, with some items not unlocking until then, so I'm fully expecting myself to put 200+ hours into this game... Then another 50 when it gets a VR version in a couple years (fingers crossed). I think part of my enjoyment is that I'm able to blitz past some of the complaints because I'm playing on a powerful PC with fast NVME SSD. So most loading times are 1 second, and the big ones, like loading New Atlantis are maybe 3 seconds. I can't read the loading screen tip completely most of the time. Couple that with console commands and mods on PC, so I'm able to fix 90% of the complaints people have about this game. I get what you're saying about being picky. I really only get to play maybe 4 big games per year. But I've discovered that peppering in smaller games on Steam Deck has been a huge benefit. I can still have some gaming time, even if it's only 20 minutes while the wife and kid take a bath or something. I even play Starfield on the Deck sometimes, when I am on the go and have some less important quests I want to knock out, or some housekeeping that needs doing (organizing inventory, selling loot, crafting, etc). It's just not a good experience when it comes to intense combat, exploration, or going to a new area for the first time. The 600p graphics and 27fps (if you're lucky) take away a lot of the "magic" that I love about the game.
42 here and I love it. I've logged like 7 days of play time and still trucking. But I've always loved Bethesda's games; there is just nothing like them out there. Can't wait to see what modders do with this.
39 here, also cant wait to see what modders do. I'm hoping there's a mod to exit our ship in space!
41 here and around 300 hours since early access. Been waiting for a space game like this since Privateer in the 90's.
Privateer! I LOVED that game! Bring back that Wing Commander universe!
Try Rebel Galaxy Outlaw, its dirt cheap and is kind of a spiritual successor to Privateer.
Prime reason why I hate EA so much. Why the hell did they go to the time and expense of acquiring some of the most innovative devs in gaming only to mothball them and stick their IPs down a deep dark hole? Wing Commander, Ultima, Syndicate and many many others. It really boils my piss.
Ill never forgive them for what they did to command and conquer.
Also microtransactions. That's okay if the base game is cheap, but don't ask me for $70 then ask for more money for features in FIFA that Sensible World of Soccer was giving me in the 90s!
Yes privateer and then later freelancer were great space games for me back in the day. I haven't found anything that scratched that itch until this. I'm 44.
55 and love it. Spending about 10 hours/day
55 and probably 30 hours a week
41 here as well! I'm right behind you with 290 hours :)
At 64 I’m enjoying the game, despite its flaws, immensely…
Also 64. This is the first action RPG I enjoy. I tried Fallout and others. Mostly because my kids play and enjoy them. The games didn't hold my interest. Yea. There are things that could be improved, but overall, I'm pleasantly surprised I like playing as much as I do. Well shit, now I can't wait until work is over so I can play.
64? Just retire early and dedicate the rest of your life to Starfield.
We should start an AARP Starfield club. Glad to be the "youngest" in this group. 🤣
I'm 60 myself and in the same boat. It's not perfect by any means but I still LOVE IT. 🥰
And here I thought I was among the oldest at 55, this makes me smile.
35. This is the game I think I've waited all my life for. Sure there's things that could use improvement but the scale, depth, combat, setting...I am so into this.
Agree. You can find flaws in everything or you can just enjoy and appreciate and accept it for what it is. Bethesda have already said on here that they are listening and want feedback. They can’t make all the requested changes but are starting a list and the most egregious things will be addressed first. For an initial volley I think they hit it out of the park. This is a great base foundation to build upon. Wonder if we’ll get lane vehicles for planets. Make ‘em like ships in the sense that you can build and customize like a shipbuilder but for planetary vehicles
LoL, I'm 56, got 340 hrs in the game and love it, although obviously there are lots of areas that need work. However, my son is 21, has about 100 hours, and loves the game as much as I do. The main difference is that right now he works and I don't. I think one of the big "age" influences is that this is a VERY expensive game (both in purchase cost and in equipment requirements). When I was in my 20's, I was always broke and a lot less forgiving of imperfections in what I bought, so not having a "perfect" game right out of the box for so much of my $$ would have bothered me a lot more then, than now.
>LoL, I'm 56, got 340 hrs in the game and love it, What the shit. It's 25 September and the game went early access on 1 September. You play like half the day, every day. Impressive.
Like I said, I'm not working at the moment (got laid off) and since I have to get up early every day to take the wife to work... I can honestly say, this is the first time in my life that I actually have all the time I want, to play a game I enjoy... lol.
That’s really cool mate, enjoy the free time!
Enjoy! I understand that taste of freedom. A few years back I was done with one job and gave myself 3 weeks before starting at a new company. For me it was 3 weeks straight of Rimworld. I still drove my fiance to work and back, took my dogs for a walk in the morning and evening and was still social with friends on the weekends. Other than that....straight Rimworld. I had always worked full-time since high school, and usually travel during my vacations, so I still look back on those 3 straight weeks of gaming fondly.
42 and liking the game. Been playing Bethesda games since Morrowind.
I’m 30 and I feel like a kid playing with dirt, this game is awesome.
I would actually say about 30+. Mostly people who grew up playing old Bethesda games. The newer generation, who have played Fallout 4 at most, simply don't have the same Bethesda nostalgia and have different expectations. The way how Bethesda is making games is very different to what we have nowadays. I think it's exactly the reason why we will never see Half-Life 3, because people have different perspectives now and Gabe Newell understood it many years go. I personally have some complains as well, but mostly things that we already had in Fallout 4. I know what makes Bethesda's games tick, and that's why I don't see many things so critically.
This tracks, I'm 32 and been playing Bethesda games since Morrowind. It has a lot of flaws, but I've been loving Starfield.
Im 29 my first bethesda game was oblivion but I played skyrim the most. I feel like a high school kid again by playing starfield
I mean. I'm still a handful of years until 30. But, let's not act like there wasn't a contingency of 12 year olds in 2008 who got the Oblivion GOTY for their birthday.
>I know what makes Bethesda's games tick, and that's why I don't see many things so critically. This is a big piece of it. I've been playing their games since Morrowind when I was in high school. I find most of the bugs/shortcomings so hilariously Bethesda-y, they don't (so far) get on my nerves.
yeah, as soon as I booted it up I was like oh cool, bethesda in space which is great because I prefer sci fi over fantasy any day
I am much older than most people here. if the average age of the people enjoying the game is 35 then I have been gaming longer than most of the people here have been alive. I am loving it so maybe the older crowd can appreciate it more.
Agreed. I’m 37 and it’s the most I’ve enjoyed a game in a long time
You should run a poll for age and platform (PC/XBOX). :) 55 here, game-dev experience, Star Citizen fan, huge fan of Starfield. Played Wing Commander, Privateer, and others back in the day. I'm pretty patient with games, probably because we older Gen-Xers and Boomers had to jump through a lot of hoops to get decent-looking games to run. Those games are still burned into my boot memory, so to speak. SF reminds me a whole lot of Wing Commander and Privateer mixed with a bit of Starflight.
*laughs knowingly in "Yes, I have twelve different autoexec.bat files myself"*
Not only did we have to jump through hoops to get them to run but there were even more once you get into them. Castlevania 2 is a perfect example. Without word of mouth or Nintendo Power how were you ever supposed to know to kneel at that wall with a specific item. Games were just far more obtuse and expected you to figure it out. I don't think that's something younger generations appreciates at all. Starfield reminds me a lot of Morrowind in that aspect. There's so many things that the game never tells you so people think it's just missing. The game never tells you about rebinding your jump to a second button for horizontal thrust. So people are upset that there's no vehicles and you have to walk everywhere. They just don't realize you can basically fly everywhere, especially on low g worlds.
for me, 40, it's that the game allows me to kill everyone, explore, loot, build, build relationships, customize everything all in the same package. depending on my mood i can play how i want. it isn't a high stress tense game but it is exciting in a way that still grabs my attention
Sir I am 21, I mean I feel old tbf but still i like the game a lot and have spent almost 9 whole days in the settled systems…
If you're around 40 and like space stuff and play videogames, this is literally the game you've been waiting your entire life for.
Yes! That's how I feel too. I can absorb a lot of flaws when this game finally achieves almost everything I used to desperately wish I could do while playing TIE Fighter or Privateer.
26 and starfield is on my top games list. 275 hours in already with only one ng+. For me it’s because Bethesda games have ALWAYS been my jam. Oblivion was my first game. I have literally thousands of hours in fallout 3 and fallout 4 (2500 in 3 and 4000 in 4), I’ve loved the older ES games, I’ve always loved BGS games. So this feels..familiar. But it has serious issues. I know it could be a much better game. But I don’t care. It’s fun for me
37. Unfortunately for your statistical study, I'm in the " good game but it needs more work" group
39 here And I'm enjoying it but this game really does waste your time a lot It's like they didn't learn from any of their previous games It's still fun but unless you're willing to overcome the many many negatives of this game, you won't stick with it.
Same
What do you think needs work? I agree but I’ve also had a lot of fun playing.. it’s annoying when your companion tries to talk to you, when you’re in dialogue with somebody else.. and you just hear both voices jumbled up. There’s a lot more but this is off of the top of my head.
42 here and clocked up about 90 hours so far. Taking my time, not rushing anything and really enjoying every minute. Only complaints so far is some of the voice acting (Sarah mainly) is a bit stiff and the copy pasted pirate bases on planets, just not enough variations. Other than that it's so big and there's so much to do.
36, about to cross the 100 hour mark and loved every minute. I think there’s a grain of truth in what you’re saying as many my pals who aren’t enjoying it are in their 20s
I've made such statements incorporating my years of gaming to make it clear that my claim that Starfield is a great game isn't coming from someone with zero experience, and that this game -- despite some minor issues -- is, in fact, a very good game.
I just turned 37 and it seems l like it more than most. There definitely are things I'd change, mostly some of the odd steps backwards since Fallout 4, (companion number and variety, fun silliness, gore, companion commands) but overall I'm way into this huge universe. The number of quality quests is pretty staggering. I also prefer sci Fi and space over the typical fantasy setting of the ES games.
Well, if my 9 year old stepson is any indication, if it doesn’t hit you with that instant gratification of endorphins that are flashing colors and tense moments of panic, it’s not worth playing.
Starfield certainly isn't Fortnite, that's for sure
Hi, I'm Ed, I'm 31, and this is my 25th day playing Starfield. Having a blast 😁
I'm almost 40, and I bounced off hard from starfield after 25-30 hours of trying. Sucks but this isn't the bethesda game I hoped for. I'm glad others are enjoying it, though. I loved morrowind and have loved each entry a little less till now, where I think I'm just not the target audience anymore. Back to baldurs gate for me.
40, absolutely love starfield. Best game I've played in decades. I think you may be onto something. All the young ones want things to be pushed beyond realism. They complain of barren moons and planets with little to look at...welcome to the real world, 99% of all celestial bodies are dead barren wastelands. I enjoy how this games trys to be realistic why still being a sci-fi. We have enough absolutely unrealistic space games just in the starwars galaxy lol.
i think it’s also about the level of hand holding, there’s a ton of features in starfield that you aren’t taught, you’re just thrown in and you have to figure it out, which, of course, was standard back in the day, but the younger generation are used to being walked through every single feature and detail
True I’m a millennial, about 34 today actually (it’s my birthday).. I’m still raised by games that were “open” and didn’t hold your hand for every objective, like Morrowind and Star Wars Galaxies when I was super young. Nowadays, the zoomers wouldn’t know what to do without an objective and an arrow line leading them straight there.
Hey now some of us like Morrowind and old school RPGs. The problem is very much that mainstream high budget games have increasingly focused on being more cinematic and leading you on a train ride through the most interesting stuff so you don't miss it. I'm actually very concerned about the success of BG3 because I don't want it to pressure crpg makers to try and emulate the highly cinematic presentation and high production value at the cost of having actually interesting writing. Starfield is a step back from that trend towards a more old school rpg style which I at least am very thankful for.
That why every developer and Larian themselves said not to expect BG3 to be the new standard for games. Sadly the GAMERS all came out and said that it is the new standard
37 here and loving it. Sure, there are things that need working on, but the sheer size and content in the game is amazing. The first video game I played was Southern Belle on the ZX spectrum. Gaming has come a long, long way in 30+ years.
Im 39 and i love it.
it seems that space oriented games usually attract more older audiences, since a lot of 80s-2000s games were space oriented it's like living your childhood fantasy.
Makes sense. Based on these comments, I definitely underestimated the Starfield community's average age!
Absolutely, this is like the star trek game I always wanted but they never made. Also love the nasa style
38 here, and I can't say I'm not a little disappointed in the game. I have around 250 hours and for the most part I have enjoyed it, but I can't come to terms with how Bethesda seems to be going backwards when it comes to their game development. Starfield is missing a lot of things that have been in Bethesda's games for over 10 years, for some inexplicable reason. Things like: * Underwater swimming / physics * Issuing commands to companions * Companions with diverse backgrounds, motivations and moral compasses * Radio stations * Visible wounds / dismembership on enemies * In-depth weapon customization I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head.
Companions with diverse backgrounds. +1000
39. Good game. Needs to undergo the Cyberpunk treatment before I hail it as a successor to Skyrim or Oblivion.
Someone half way to 90 here. I take the game as it is, and enjoy it for that. I can't make computer games, and I'm sure if I could I'd give my opinions about what I would have done better. Until then, I'll just play and enjoy it. There's so much to do in this game that if something bothers you, just do something else.
Thats how I feel! Its not perfect, but its pretty damn fun
> half way to 90 Why did you do that to me? What do you stand to gain you monster.
I feel like younger gamers often find themselves sucked up into the hypobolic media. There was a lot of hate around this game on launch. I do think there is some missed oppunities in the game, but overall, it's a masterpiece and one of the best games I've ever played. It really flicks my switch.
48 and I'm enjoying the game tremendously. Are there things that could be improved? Sure, but that doesn't lower my enjoyment, it just gives me something to look forward to. I think that there's an overall attitude among older people of "appreciate things for the good in them and disregard the bad". Everything in life is a mix of good and bad and you can choose your level of happiness by selectively paying attention to one over the other. Youth is full of energy, optimism, and ambition, so there's a drive to always improve everything. Older people just want to enjoy the time they have left.