{"id":39460,"date":"2023-11-28T12:11:47","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T12:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.xtremeservers.com\/blog\/bethesda-is-responding-to-negative-reviews-of-starfield-on-steam\/"},"modified":"2023-11-28T12:11:47","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T12:11:47","slug":"bethesda-is-responding-to-negative-reviews-of-starfield-on-steam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xtremeservers.com\/blog\/bethesda-is-responding-to-negative-reviews-of-starfield-on-steam\/","title":{"rendered":"Bethesda Is Responding to Negative Reviews of Starfield on Steam"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bethesda has taken the unusual step for a triple-A video game maker of responding to negative reviews of Starfield<\/a> on Steam.<\/p>\n

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As spotted by Project Zomboid developer Andy Hodgetts<\/a> and flagged in a tweet, representatives of the Microsoft-owned company have been replying to negative reviews on Valve\u2019s platform since early November amid Starfield’s \u2018mixed\u2019 user review rating of 69%.<\/p>\n

Many of the negative reviews echo common complaints with the sprawling space game, like this one<\/a> posted on November 6 from a player with 56 hours in Starfield.<\/p>\n

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, \u2018exploring\u2019, 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?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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This review sparked a response from someone called \u201cBethesda_Kraken [developer]\u201d, who signed off their post as coming from Bethesda Customer Support:<\/p>\n

Greetings,<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review for Starfield!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We are sorry that you do not like landing on different planets and are finding many of them empty.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some of Starfield\u2019s planets are meant to be empty by design \u2014 but that’s not boring. \u201cWhen 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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To provide feedback to development for Starfield, please feel free to submit your feedback using this form here<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Never stop exploring!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bethesda Customer Support<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s a pretty stock response, and quotes Ashley Cheng, Bethesda’s managing director, who uttered the phrase \u201cwhen the astronauts went to the moon, there was nothing there. They certainly weren’t bored\u201d in a New York Times<\/a> feature published ahead of Starfield\u2019s September launch.<\/p>\n

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Here\u2019s a more recent response<\/a>, again from the busy Bethesda_Kraken, to a negative review from a Starfield player with over 76 hours on record.<\/p>\n

The story is as generic as it gets and the gameplay gets boring. I wish there was a reason to even bother exploring planets and building outposts. Everything is fun until you do it once, then it’s all a repeating, soulless chore.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And here\u2019s the developer response, posted on November 27, the same day as the review.<\/p>\n

Greetings,<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review for Starfield!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can fly, you can shoot, you can mine, you can loot!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Starfield is an RPG with hundreds of hours of quests to complete and characters to meet. Most quests will also vary on your character\u2019s skills and decisions, massively changing the outcome of your playthrough. Try creating different characters with backgrounds and characteristics that clash or are oppositive of your previous character. You will feel like you are playing a totally different game. Put points in different skills from a character you\u2019ve previously created, and you are now faced with completely different decisions to make and difficulties to encounter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are so many layers to Starfield, that you will find things you\u2019ve never knew were possible after playing for hundreds of hours.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even after completing the Main Story, your adventure doesn\u2019t end! You can continue onto New Game+ to keep exploring Starfield and all that is out there!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Never stop exploring!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bethesda Customer Support<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Here\u2019s another example<\/a>, but this time from someone called Bethesda_FalcoYamaoka, who also signs off as from Bethesda Customer Support:<\/p>\n

Greetings,<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review for Starfield!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We are sorry that you do not like landing on different planets and are finding many of them empty.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some of Starfield\u2019s planets are meant to be empty by design \u2014 but that’s not boring. \u201cWhen 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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Starfield is an RPG with hundreds of hours of quests to complete and characters to meet. Most quests will also vary on your character\u2019s skills and decisions, massively changing the outcome of your playthrough. Try creating different characters with backgrounds and characteristics that clash or are oppositive of your previous character. You will feel like you are playing a totally different game. Put points in different skills from a character you\u2019ve previously created, and you are now faced with completely different decisions to make and difficulties to encounter. There are so many layers to Starfield, that you will find things you\u2019ve never knew were possible after playing for hundreds of hours.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even after completing the Main Story, your adventure doesn\u2019t end! You can continue onto New Game+ to keep exploring Starfield and all that is out there!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We are still actively working on this game and will be for a long time yet to come. If you would like to provide feedback straight to development, you can do so here: https:\/\/beth.games\/46e5g8E<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We want to make Starfield awesome for everyone who wants to venture out into it!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Best Regards,<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bethesda Customer Support.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here’s Bethesda_Kraken’s response<\/a> to a negative review from a player who couldn’t get over Starfield’s much-maligned loading screens:<\/p>\n

Hi there,<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thank you for taking the time to provide your review and we are sorry to hear that you were disappointed with encountering many loading screens while playing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While there may be loading screens in between fast travelling, just consider the amount of data for the expansive gameplay that is procedurally generated to load flawlessly in under 3 seconds. We believe that shortcoming will not hinder our players from getting lost in the world we created.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We would be very interested in hearing about your experience with bugs to see if we can assist: https:\/\/beth.games\/46e5g8E. After selecting your issue type, continue with \u201cNext\u201d at the bottom of the screen until you are at the ticket submission.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can send further feedback to development here: https:\/\/beth.games\/46e5g8E<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Never stop exploring!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bethesda Customer Support<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And let’s end with Bethesda_Kraken’s response<\/a> to a negative review that points out “having to fast travel instead of flying through space makes the game feel less of an open world game”.<\/p>\n

Greetings,<\/p>\n

Thank you for taking the time to leave a review for Starfield!<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Some of Starfield\u2019s planets are meant to be empty by design – but that’s not boring. \u201cWhen 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.<\/p>\n

To provide feedback to development for Starfield, please feel free to submit your feedback using this form here: https:\/\/beth.games\/45BDMKb<\/a><\/p>\n

Never stop exploring!
Bethesda Customer Support<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While indie video game developers respond to Steam reviews all the time, big publishers like Bethesda rarely get stuck in, which makes these responses, however robotic, noteworthy. Why would Bethesda bother? It may be trying to steer Starfield sentiment in a more positive direction, mindful of that troublesome \u2018mixed\u2019 user review rating. Starfield is currently the lowest-rated Bethesda game ever on Valve\u2019s platform (Fallout 76 currently has a ‘mostly positive’ user review rating of 76%, if you were wondering), and management will no doubt be keen to address that. Of course, there’s a risk that comes from responding to negative reviews, particularly when you use them to insist landing on empty planets isn’t boring.<\/p>\n

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I mean, you can reference that the actual moon is empty if you like and that astronauts who landed there did not find this emptiness boring, but there’s a big difference between landing on the actual moon and doing the same in a videogame \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

\u2014 Andy Hodgetts (@CaptainBinky) November 8, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n