Bethesda has been sending some of its employees to defend Starfield from its harshest critics on Steam over the past few weeks, but the responses are, according to some, so soulless that others think the company may be using ChatGPT to write them.
Here’s one example, where a user bashes Starfield for being “boring, empty, soulless,” and “unpleasant to play”:
Todd told me I’d be exploring space, not fast travel menus. You don’t really explore anything at all. You just teleport from desolate waste to desolate waste. Then your space ship sets down a 15 minute walk from the copy/paste POI you’be been fetchquested towards. Every chump space bandit has three health bars. Infinite empty planets to aimlessly wander across. Dungeons and caves don’t just have no rewards, they have no enemies. Dead-eyed NPCs blather at you with dialogue as wordy as it is boring. Quests range from tedious to nonsensical. Space combat is so disconnected from everything else that it’s practically a different game mode. The game’s design is so fundamentally flawed that I don’t think the modding community will be able to fix it. Every element of the game is disappointing, and on top of that it’s ugly. The only envelope this game pushes is the fidelity of its clutter objects.
Bethesda_FalcoYamaoka, who is supposedly a developer, gave the following response just a few days later:
Greetings,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review for Starfield!
We can understand your frustration with fast travel making the universe feel much smaller.
Given the immense size of Starfield, we felt it made more sense to be able to use your Grav Drive to jump to other solar systems. The option to fly freely among planets is still there, and you can travel from one planet to another and land without needing to open your map if you use your scanner. However, for an expedition like solar system traversal, jumping is necessary. Remember that fast travel also has its perks as you can do so quickly when trying to complete quests and will always be given visual of your ship launching and landing, thus being able to appreciate all the little details that make your customized ship look unique.
We are sorry that you do not like landing on different planets and are finding many of them empty. The intention of Starfield’s exploration is to evoke a feeling of smallness in players and make you feel overwhelmed. You can continue to explore and find worlds that do have resources you need or hidden outposts to look through.
To keep Starfield as dynamic as possible, NPCs are not fully scripted so weirdness can ensue sometimes. The goal is to make believable characters on the screen with realistic reactions to your character. NPC AI has been improved with the move to Creation Engine 2 that has radiant AI enhancements that allows for dynamic interactions within the game’s various environments.
If you feel that things are getting boring, there is so much more to do than just the main mission! There are many side missions where you can learn more about the people and story of Starfield. You can take time to explore various planets for resources and items. Break the law by smuggling and selling contraband. Build your own Outposts and Starships and customize them to your enjoyment. There are many things to do and you can visit our Discord for further ideas from other players: https://beth.games/3F1Jb0W
To provide feedback to development for Starfield, please feel free to submit your feedback using this form here: https://beth.games/45BDMKb
Never stop exploring!
Bethesda Customer Support
“Its obvious the devs aren’t gamers but ChatGPT,” replied one Steam user, while others had little more to say than “LMAOOOOOOO.”
And here’s another negative review of Starfield, which the player accuses of being “boring and overrated”:
There is a wide universe to explore, filled mostly with empty planets. I understand. They have to do that to sell you on the idea that this is a whole universe, but that doesn’t make the game more fun. You can land on any planet and explore the copy/pasted locations. You will see the exact same locations from one end of the universe to the other and everywhere in between. A hodgepodge of messy, slapped together mechanics. Bloated skill trees, “exploring”, crafting, base building, an RPG, an FPS, a space opera. Starfield doesn’t know what it wants to be. As wide as the ocean and as deep as a puddle. You can explore everywhere but why would you want to?
And here’s the reply from Bethesda_Kraken, another supposed developer:
Greetings,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review for Starfield!
We are sorry that you do not like landing on different planets and are finding many of them empty.
Some of Starfield’s planets are meant to be empty by design – but that’s not boring. “When the astronauts went to the moon, there was nothing there. They certainly weren’t bored.” The intention of Starfield’s exploration is to evoke a feeling of smallness in players and make you feel overwhelmed. You can continue to explore and find worlds that do have resources you need or hidden outposts to look through.
To provide feedback to development for Starfield, please feel free to submit your feedback using this form here: https://beth.games/45BDMKb
Never stop exploring!
Bethesda Customer Support
“Yea but this isn’t real life this is a video game. When we get full dive VR then that might be valid as it stands you are a clown,” replied one user.
“It is boring and I still do not like your game,” said another.
There’s no word on whether Todd might be jumping in to give a more human response, but Starfield is available for $69.99 on Steam for those who don’t want to go the Game Pass route.
A Digital Premium Edition of the game is also available for $99.99, although it’s unclear when the Shattered Space Story Expansion might be coming out.