Starfield - Fallout fallout that isn't ES6

I liked this enough, but I went into it knowing it was basically Skyrim In Space(tm). I had planned on doing the NG+ a bunch of times to get the best suit / ship, but might just end up using console commands.

This could've been fixed a bit by simply granting you upgraded powers for making it to the end again, rather than get all of the powers again.

Also my guy is missing one power, but looking that up I think I let the wrong companion died, but I hated them anyway.

I have had a thing where I with the new AMD drivers and the new Starfield update patch I not only have to delete the Pipeline.cache but also have to clear the DX cache or I start getting random crashes to desktop, without any kind of driver timeout/ windows event viewer/Game log recording the error. Once I see it count up the shaders at the start of the game, it will again be stable for quite a while until whatever happens.

Sylas said:

there's been no patch in the last week that I can see. Also there's been no change in the loading times since launch and now.

sounds like something on your end, maybe your ssd taking a shit? do you use NVMe?

I didn't look into NG+ or any of that stuff, or really any spoilers at all I went in raw. after about 70 hours I finally started progressing the main storyline Annnnd then the game killed my wife.

Spoiler

Looked it up afterwards I guess the game choses the companion you've spend the first and second amount of time with, progressing their story quest etc. Well Sarah has been my companion for the entirety of the game and the only one who's story quest I had done. Also married her before I even unlocked the other chick. Barrett was the 2nd by default even though he was only my companion for the intro quest and I had rescued him from the pirates.

I guess I could of chose to go to the eye to save Sarah but the way it was presented it was "let this shithead steal all the artifacts or fight him" so I chose to fight him and even though I kept killing him he would disappear at low health and spawn a bunch of clones. I guess either choice you make he doesn't actually steal the artifacts, your choice only determines which companion dies, the one who is injured on the eye or the one the game forces to be your companion for that mission (and thus they are with you at the lodge when word of the attack comes)

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I did the exact same thing you did. Except I totally save scummed, saved the correct companion and absolutely nothing else changed. I guess I shouldve spread around the companions more, because I only did Sarah's full questline.

NG+, like every other game, resets pretty much everything anyways.

Sylas said:

First time I flirted with her was at Sarah's funeral/memorial service lol.

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Since we're kind of talking openly about NG+, I'll go ahead and talk about my experience. Also Sylas I did an in-depth dissertation (under spoiler tag though so you would have skipped it) about how to cheat which companion dies, but if you're fine with it (Andreja > Sarah anyway) and particularly if you intend to continue to NG+, then don't worry about it.

First, I'm still pretty salty about NG+ even existing, because it makes my main playthrough feel like it had very little impact. But whatever, I decided to blast through to NG+10 and then just leave it there and live my final "life" so to speak. If a DLC urges me to start another run I'm likely going to be even more salty and pissy.

So far I've completed +7 (6 runs after the main one, as I'm assuming that the first NG+ is actually NG+2, since your powers become level II upon completion, but I suppose I should confirm that you get the best Starborn suit at the same time your powers hit 10, or if you have to actually start an 11th), and without doing temple runs I can do them in about 1.5-2 hours. It is boring as fuck, stupid, completely repetitive right down to where the digipick is placed so I can open the contraband cache without wasting time buying one before getting there, etc. despite Vladimir telling you they are all in different locations. I am even able to regularly steal a good ship (Ecliptic Claymore II or Va'ruun Revelation II) at the same location on the first artifact I hunt (I start from the bottom of the list and work upwards, so the mysterious cave one) which makes my fight against the 3 Starborn ships later a lot easier. Like velk, I've been just going with whatever weapons they give me or have in the basement, and since Phase Time levels without going to temples, it is ridiculously easy to kill shit even if they only gave me a combat knife. I actually make it harder on myself by stealing a ship because you have to kill like 10 guys and ammo is practically nonexistent if that is the first thing you do.

Anyway, so far I only got one different scenario upon returning to the Lodge. Not really worth spoilering because this shit is all over, but I'll do it just in case.

I'll freely admit, I'm just going to console command the power increases in once I'm done with all my runs. I'm not running temples over 200 more times. I think I will take a slight break this time and run the Crimson Fleet quest and side with CF this time around, just to experience it. Other than that, I've done the various options with the Hunter/Emissary, so I'm not sure what else I need to do differently. Sure, I could go on a murder spree or something, but why? So I can accumulate loot and/or reputation that will just poof when I go to the next universe?

What they *should* have done is let you enter the Unity on a temporary basis and then come back to your home universe when you are done. That way you would still feel like your main run mattered and wasn't completely worthless the moment you decided to NG+ it. You could go experience some variation of quest lines, accumulate artifact powers, etc. and then return "home." Honestly I think you should be able to bring your loot back too, but I could tolerate it even if you couldn't, because all your previous loot and outposts and ships would still be waiting for you. And hell, for those that didn't like losing a companion, give them the option to move permanently to a new universe where they can fix it. Otherwise, I just feel like they fucked up by completely deleting everything forever. Again, it makes sense given their storyline that you can never come back, but that doesn't mean it is a smart design decision. Maybe I'm in the minority though.

Speaking of losing a companion, since I haven't redone the main quest at all, does anyone know if being Starborn allows you to avoid the death the next time around? It sounds like you kind of hide that you are Starborn if you choose that option, but I can't imagine you don't use your knowledge to your own benefit ever.

Also, I'm pretty sure I'm a fag because I get a little bit sad saying goodbye to Andreja every universe, even if I've only known her for less than an hour.

The only power i got was the lift one you get as part of the main story and i never used it in combat.

Seems like bad gameplay design to me.

Sylas said:

honestly I just rolled with it. I mean this isn't like Mass Effect/early Bioware with great writing where i'm super attached to these characters. (ME2 i save scummed a bunch then finally looked up a guide on how to save everyone in the suicide mission, then had to go back to a way earlier save to fix rep with legion/talia)

I mean I guess the writing/romance is better than skyrim where all you do is equip a necklace and you can instantly marry any female you choose. I went through Sarah's questline because she was the only companion i ran with so the only one I talked to and thus had the option to do her questline. Eventually had the option to flirt a few times then bam we're married.

At the time Sarah was the only female companion, so I clapped her cheeks. the only other option was the faggot barrett. When I unlocked Andreja I started to feel a bit of buyers remorse and then Sarah died like 20min later. So now Andreja is my companion and i'm finally starting to unlock flirt options with her. First time I flirted with her was at Sarah's funeral/memorial service lol.

I spoiled myself a bit by looking up the NG+ stuff just because I heard there was some controversy around it and wanted to know when i was getting to the point of starting NG+. IDK it seems really interesting to me. This is coming from someone with 300+ hours in skyrim (PC) plus another 200 or so on Switch i'm actually looking forward to NG+. I get why some people don't like that approach but honestly the only other option like Skyrim is to fucking start a new save with a level 1 and have to redo everything again. This way you keep your powers/level/skills and get to play the game a completely different way without having to bang out 10k iron daggers on every toon like I did in Skyrim. holy fuck was that aids.

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I haven't finished the main quest but I have thoughts, having finally spoiled it for myself after 200+ hours of playing the game:

So NG+ mechanic effectively kills the Starfield Universe narratively. It should have been an option, something tucked off to the side in a hidden quest that you could do if you wanted to after you had exhausted all of the content in the current Starfield Universe, rather than the main focus of the MSQ. What is Elder Scrolls about? Its about, well, the Elder Scrolls and the things they say are going to happen but really its about the Empire and the Emperor and dragons and all the things contained therein. Its a rich world in which you can tell a thousand stories about various factions, the races, the lore, the mysteries, etc.

EDIT: Removing the spoilers tags because everyone needs to know this at this point; I am/was this game's biggest cheerleader but this is Inception horn level deafening bullshit.
[
What's Starfield about? The Starborn. THAT'S IT. That's the sum total of Starfield. The Temples, artifacts, etc? There are no answers here. You basically give yourself an Ouroboros stupid non-answer zen koan at the end that would make the folks who wrote Time Bandits feel bad and then a shittier version of the Fallout Slide show: I mean, lots of other stuff happens during your game play but nothing else matters; its all single track leading you back to the Unity and jumping through that gate again and again, effectively erasing your gameplay and choices for this entire game. No expansions, no continuations, no love interest, nothing. IN THIS UNIVERSE, YOU ARE DEAD.

With the Magic of saves, you can choose to not do this to participate in a future expansion, I guess. At some point, you can play through after 10 times and not make this choice and pick a universe to stick around in. WHAT THE HELL? THIS TIME I WON'T KILL MYSELF AND TRAVEL ON.

Whoever approved this as the MAIN STORY QUEST ending should be barred from writing AAA games. Where does the story go from here? No aliens? No intelligent life? "Who are the creators...terrestrial or celestial?" WHO THE F CARES? I will just go to another universe where it didn't happen that way an erase this choice as well.

Why not just let you start a new game with an existing character? Same thing but the story's not multiverse broken. This must have be conceived when Marvel/StarTrek/Multiverses were hot and BGS wasn't smart enough to see how quickly the idea was going to fade.
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My opinion of BGS has taken a huge nose dive. Did anyone really think through the consequences of this choice? Do they think they are going to "Space Magic" the consequences away? How do you work on something for that long and THAT is the story you decide to tell? I worry now for any future games from Bethesda.

rhinohelix said:

I haven't finished the main quest but I have thoughts, having finally spoiled it for myself after 200+ hours of playing the game:

So NG+ mechanic effectively kills the Starfield Universe narratively. It should have been an option, something tucked off to the side in a hidden quest that you could do if you wanted to after you had exhausted all of the content in the current Starfield Universe, rather than the main focus of the MSQ. What is Elder Scrolls about? Its about, well, the Elder Scrolls and the things they say are going to happen but really its about the Empire and the Emperor and dragons and all the things contained therein. Its a rich world in which you can tell a thousand stories about various factions, the races, the lore, the mysteries, etc.

Spoiler

What's Starfield about? The Starborn. THAT'S IT. That's the sum total of Starfield. The Temples, artifacts, etc? There are no answers here. You basically give yourself an Ouroboros stupid non-answer zen koan at the end that would make the folks who wrote Time Bandits feel bad and then a shittier version of the Fallout Slide show: I mean, lots of other stuff happens during your game play but nothing else matters; its all single track leading you back to the Unity and jumping through that gate again and again, effectively erasing your gameplay and choices for this entire game. No expansions, no continuations, no love interest, nothing. IN THIS UNIVERSE, YOU ARE DEAD.

With the Magic of saves, you can choose to not do this to participate in a future expansion, I guess. At some point, you can play through after 10 times and not make this choice and pick a universe to stick around in. WHAT THE HELL? THIS TIME I WON'T KILL MYSELF AND TRAVEL ON.

Whoever approved this as the MAIN STORY QUEST ending should be barred from writing AAA games. Where does the story go from here? No aliens? No intelligent life? "Who are the creators...terrestrial or celestial?" WHO THE F CARES? I will just go to another universe where it didn't happen that way an erase this choice as well.

Why not just let you start a new game with an existing character? Same thing but the story's not multiverse broken. This must have be conceived when Marvel/StarTrek/Multiverses were hot and BGS wasn't smart enough to see how quickly the idea was going to fade.

My opinion of BGS has taken a huge nose dive. Did anyone really think through the consequences of this choice? Do they think they are going to "Space Magic" the consequences away? How do you work on something for that long and THAT is the story you decide to tell? I worry now for any future games from Bethesda.

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That's pretty much exactly how I feel. It kills the desire to continue playing, because unless you actively decide never to progress, everything you have done and will do (aside from character growth) is pointless. In Skyrim you just kept doing random shit that you got to keep around. Install a mod to make a sweet fucking castle, spend days decorating it, go collect some shit you want to display in it, whatever, it will always be there for you to look at. In Starfield, thank God I never spent any time decorating the multiple homes I got from my perk or quests or just straight bought. To think I might have spent time doing that, only to have it all be deleted? Fuck off Bethesda. (Granted, until we get better mods I'm not sure why anyone would spend much time on housing, but my point still stands.)

Void said:

That's pretty much exactly how I feel. It kills the desire to continue playing, because unless you actively decide never to progress, everything you have done and will do (aside from character growth) is pointless. In Skyrim you just kept doing random shit that you got to keep around. Install a mod to make a sweet fucking castle, spend days decorating it, go collect some shit you want to display in it, whatever, it will always be there for you to look at. In Starfield, thank God I never spent any time decorating the multiple homes I got from my perk or quests or just straight bought. To think I might have spent time doing that, only to have it all be deleted? Fuck off Bethesda. (Granted, until we get better mods I'm not sure why anyone would spend much time on housing, but my point still stands.)

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lol, this (correct) line of thinking is why I can't stand multiverse things anymore. In movies with established lore, it's like directors playing make believe with dolls. In this game, it just undoes all of your looting, planning, creating and building.