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Come and chat all things Starfield with us in today’s RPS Game Club liveblogFrom 4pm GMT
From 4pm GMT
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda Game Studios
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda Game Studios
Hello folks. It’s time for the next gathering of theRPS Game Club! This month, we’ve been playing Bethesda’s mega space RPGStarfield, and we’ll be chatting about all your favourite/worst/merely mediocre moments, quests and stories from it later on today, Friday November 3rd, starting at4pm GMT / 9am PT / 12pm ET. We’re looking forward to it! So see you later on at 4pm sharp.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
15:53 pmUTCHello folks! We’ll be kicking off our Starfield liveblog in about ten minutes time. Bring your warm beverage of choice!
Hello folks! We’ll be kicking off our Starfield liveblog in about ten minutes time. Bring your warm beverage of choice!
16:01 pmUTCAll right, all right, let’s get this space party started. How did everyone find Starfield? Did you love it? Hate it? Punt it into the black hole of your back catalogue?
All right, all right, let’s get this space party started. How did everyone find Starfield? Did you love it? Hate it? Punt it into the black hole of your back catalogue?
16:03 pmUTCAs you might have seen fromwhat I wrote earlier on today, I want to like Starfield, but find it provides very little opportunities to do so. The combat is all right, the NPCs mildly endearing, but I can’t say I could muster much excitement for either its story or many of its sidequests.
As you might have seen fromwhat I wrote earlier on today, I want to like Starfield, but find it provides very little opportunities to do so. The combat is all right, the NPCs mildly endearing, but I can’t say I could muster much excitement for either its story or many of its sidequests.
16:04 pmUTCWith apologies to James, of course, our sole Starfield liker on the team.
With apologies to James, of course, our sole Starfield liker on the team.
16:05 pmUTCI’m getting a lot of that today.
I’m getting a lot of that today.
16:07 pmUTCI know you like itszero-G gunfights, James - was there anything else about Starfield that you particularly enjoyed/thought was actually all right, haha?
I know you like itszero-G gunfights, James - was there anything else about Starfield that you particularly enjoyed/thought was actually all right, haha?
16:09 pmUTCFor one thing also don’t have as much of a problem with the quests as a lot of other folk seem to have - numerically, yes, a lot of them are simple fetch jobs, but many others have that unexpected escalation that I always appreciate in BethRPGs. The kind where you grab a note off a dead pirate and end up raiding the lair of Space Batman, or you’re ordered to report to a commander on your first day of rangering and end up having to sprint out of an disintegrating spaceship full of exploding ATMs.
For one thing also don’t have as much of a problem with the quests as a lot of other folk seem to have - numerically, yes, a lot of them are simple fetch jobs, but many others have that unexpected escalation that I always appreciate in BethRPGs. The kind where you grab a note off a dead pirate and end up raiding the lair of Space Batman, or you’re ordered to report to a commander on your first day of rangering and end up having to sprint out of an disintegrating spaceship full of exploding ATMs.
16:12 pmUTC(It’s also entirely possible that I have simply forgotten how to have fun in a Bethesda game and I am secretly a cold, dead husk inside…)
(It’s also entirely possible that I have simply forgotten how to have fun in a Bethesda game and I am secretly a cold, dead husk inside…)
16:13 pmUTCI don’t buy the combat being crap either. Even with a basic boostpack you can get super-duper mobile and aggressive - I abandoned my initial stealth sniping build because it was usually more fun to launch over railings to shotgun people in the chest. I’m always being fed a healthy variety of new, viable guns as well, so I have good reason to mix up my loadout.
I don’t buy the combat being crap either. Even with a basic boostpack you can get super-duper mobile and aggressive - I abandoned my initial stealth sniping build because it was usually more fun to launch over railings to shotgun people in the chest. I’m always being fed a healthy variety of new, viable guns as well, so I have good reason to mix up my loadout.
16:14 pmUTCThis might be my problem. I’ve found a quite powerful long range laser gun and because I’m boring I just sit and snipe enemies from afar, haha. Maybe I should try one of the many shotguns I’ve picked up next time I go back in!
This might be my problem. I’ve found a quite powerful long range laser gun and because I’m boring I just sit and snipe enemies from afar, haha. Maybe I should try one of the many shotguns I’ve picked up next time I go back in!
That’s the penultimate mission in the Crimson Fleet chain, aka the one where you can choose to stay undercover or become a true pirate, aka the token mission chain that caters to psychopaths.
16:17 pmUTCJames Archer says:That’s the penultimate mission in the Crimson Fleet chain, aka the one where you can choose to stay undercover or become a true pirate, aka the token mission chain that caters to psychopaths.Well! I will persist with doing my evidence gathering paperwork and see it through to its conclusion. That does sound quite neat.
James Archer says:That’s the penultimate mission in the Crimson Fleet chain, aka the one where you can choose to stay undercover or become a true pirate, aka the token mission chain that caters to psychopaths.Well! I will persist with doing my evidence gathering paperwork and see it through to its conclusion. That does sound quite neat.
Well! I will persist with doing my evidence gathering paperwork and see it through to its conclusion. That does sound quite neat.
16:17 pmUTCSmoothShrek says:I’m glad some people are enjoying Starfield and I don’t think it’s trash game or anything, but after giving it a go for two evenings I just totally lost interest. I don’t have the desire or energy to play any more of it. I don’t begrudge anyone from finding joy in it (or most media, really), but honestly I’d rather play Skyrim or even FO4 if I have the Bethesda itch. Starfield just doesn’t do it for me. As much as I love space (confirmed Trekkie over here), the way it’s implemented in Starfield feels smaller and less interesting than the worlds of Skyrim or Fallout.
Ship combat was more fun than I was expecting, though. Gotta give it that.I can hear Edwin cheering from afar, reading this!
SmoothShrek says:I’m glad some people are enjoying Starfield and I don’t think it’s trash game or anything, but after giving it a go for two evenings I just totally lost interest. I don’t have the desire or energy to play any more of it. I don’t begrudge anyone from finding joy in it (or most media, really), but honestly I’d rather play Skyrim or even FO4 if I have the Bethesda itch. Starfield just doesn’t do it for me. As much as I love space (confirmed Trekkie over here), the way it’s implemented in Starfield feels smaller and less interesting than the worlds of Skyrim or Fallout.
Ship combat was more fun than I was expecting, though. Gotta give it that.I can hear Edwin cheering from afar, reading this!
I can hear Edwin cheering from afar, reading this!
16:20 pmUTCI will say, and this is very much related to SmoothShrek’s space travel complaint, that I wish I didn’t have to press Tab so often.
I will say, and this is very much related to SmoothShrek’s space travel complaint, that I wish I didn’t have to press Tab so often.
16:20 pmUTCThere isa lotof menu navigation, isn’t there?
There isa lotof menu navigation, isn’t there?
16:22 pmUTCI did really like the actual act of flying your ship around space, lowering the engine speed and thrusters in order to pull off sharp turns before flooring it again to catch up to whoever’s shooting at you.
I did really like the actual act of flying your ship around space, lowering the engine speed and thrusters in order to pull off sharp turns before flooring it again to catch up to whoever’s shooting at you.
16:22 pmUTCInnit. And they’re not fun menus, like Skyrim’s stargazing and Fallout 4’s squeaky cartoon skill tree.
Innit. And they’re not fun menus, like Skyrim’s stargazing and Fallout 4’s squeaky cartoon skill tree.
16:23 pmUTC…it’s also funny how it’s impossible to talk about Starfield - even if you like it! - without eventually coming back to Bethesda’s other series.
…it’s also funny how it’s impossible to talk about Starfield - even if you like it! - without eventually coming back to Bethesda’s other series.
16:24 pmUTCJames Archer says:Innit. And they’re not fun menus, like Skyrim’s stargazing and Fallout 4’s squeaky cartoon skill tree.Word. I won’t lie. I still don’t understand how to build an outpost.
James Archer says:Innit. And they’re not fun menus, like Skyrim’s stargazing and Fallout 4’s squeaky cartoon skill tree.Word. I won’t lie. I still don’t understand how to build an outpost.
Word. I won’t lie. I still don’t understand how to build an outpost.
16:26 pmUTCOh, me neither. Though that’s partly because, unlike in Fallout 4 (see, did it again), it’s not remotely clear what a lot of the building/crafting resources actually do? Like I’ve been playing for something like 40 hours and I have no idea if I have the gear to start an outpost because they all have names like “memory substrate” or “aqueous hematite”.
Oh, me neither. Though that’s partly because, unlike in Fallout 4 (see, did it again), it’s not remotely clear what a lot of the building/crafting resources actually do? Like I’ve been playing for something like 40 hours and I have no idea if I have the gear to start an outpost because they all have names like “memory substrate” or “aqueous hematite”.
16:27 pmUTCjuan_h says:My teenaged self would consider me spoiled.Yeah, I often wonder about this. I’m a good ten years younger than you, but I regularly think about what my gaming habits might be like now if I was still a kid. How many games would I have access to? How much time I’d actually spend playing them etc… They probably would be quite different to how I consume games now, even if I wasn’t playing a lot of them for work.
juan_h says:My teenaged self would consider me spoiled.Yeah, I often wonder about this. I’m a good ten years younger than you, but I regularly think about what my gaming habits might be like now if I was still a kid. How many games would I have access to? How much time I’d actually spend playing them etc… They probably would be quite different to how I consume games now, even if I wasn’t playing a lot of them for work.
Yeah, I often wonder about this. I’m a good ten years younger than you, but I regularly think about what my gaming habits might be like now if I was still a kid. How many games would I have access to? How much time I’d actually spend playing them etc… They probably would be quite different to how I consume games now, even if I wasn’t playing a lot of them for work.
16:28 pmUTCJames Archer says:Like I’ve been playing for something like 40 hours and I have no idea if I have the gear to start an outpost because they all have names like “memory substrate” or “aqueous hematite”.Hahah, this made me laugh. Like, a lot.
James Archer says:Like I’ve been playing for something like 40 hours and I have no idea if I have the gear to start an outpost because they all have names like “memory substrate” or “aqueous hematite”.Hahah, this made me laugh. Like, a lot.
Hahah, this made me laugh. Like, a lot.
16:29 pmUTCOne thing I’m curious about is whether anyone felt the effect of their backgrounds/traits at all? I’ve maybe had a handful of Xenobiologist-specific responses thrown at me, but they’re usually flavour-text options that merely provide more information rather than having a direct effect on the story.
One thing I’m curious about is whether anyone felt the effect of their backgrounds/traits at all? I’ve maybe had a handful of Xenobiologist-specific responses thrown at me, but they’re usually flavour-text options that merely provide more information rather than having a direct effect on the story.
16:30 pmUTCI was playing Control the other night and picked up a crafting mat called Confiscated Motive. That might as well be in Starfield too, for all I know.
I was playing Control the other night and picked up a crafting mat called Confiscated Motive. That might as well be in Starfield too, for all I know.
16:33 pmUTCKatharine Castle says:One thing I’m curious about is whether anyone felt the effect of their backgrounds/traits at all? I’ve maybe had a handful of Xenobiologist-specific responses thrown at me, but they’re usually flavour-text options that merely provide more information rather than having a direct effect on the story.You can’t bring up traits and not post Skyrim Dad, Katharine.
Katharine Castle says:One thing I’m curious about is whether anyone felt the effect of their backgrounds/traits at all? I’ve maybe had a handful of Xenobiologist-specific responses thrown at me, but they’re usually flavour-text options that merely provide more information rather than having a direct effect on the story.You can’t bring up traits and not post Skyrim Dad, Katharine.
You can’t bring up traits and not post Skyrim Dad, Katharine.
16:34 pmUTCImage credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda Softworks
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda Softworks
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda Softworks
16:34 pmUTCARE YOU HAPPY, JAMES?
ARE YOU HAPPY, JAMES?
16:34 pmUTCNow? Yes.
Now? Yes.
16:35 pmUTCImage credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda Game Studios
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda Game Studios
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda Game Studios
16:35 pmUTCJust look at that big cheeseball, in all his fleshy mouthed brilliance.
Just look at that big cheeseball, in all his fleshy mouthed brilliance.
16:36 pmUTCPM_Douglas_MacKenzie says:The Kid Stuff bg gave me a relatively decent ship early on, but otherwise it and the others were mostly flavour text. Also, if you were wearing the Constellation suit in front of Sarah, Andreja, Dixon Bainbridge, etc., I don’t think they mind that you took it.I, uh, haven’t been able to check up on my parents recently because I forgot which New Atlantis skyscraper they live in.
PM_Douglas_MacKenzie says:The Kid Stuff bg gave me a relatively decent ship early on, but otherwise it and the others were mostly flavour text. Also, if you were wearing the Constellation suit in front of Sarah, Andreja, Dixon Bainbridge, etc., I don’t think they mind that you took it.I, uh, haven’t been able to check up on my parents recently because I forgot which New Atlantis skyscraper they live in.
I, uh, haven’t been able to check up on my parents recently because I forgot which New Atlantis skyscraper they live in.
16:36 pmUTCAgain, I think if I hadn’t cheated on the ultra space suit in the Lodge, the suit my parents gave me as a kind of semi-inheritance present might have been pretty sweet.
Again, I think if I hadn’t cheated on the ultra space suit in the Lodge, the suit my parents gave me as a kind of semi-inheritance present might have been pretty sweet.
16:37 pmUTCHahah, I actually had to look this up, because I kept forgetting which tower they lived in as well! Turns out, it’s the one directly right as soon as you exit the monorail -not the giant one you see dead ahead of you…
Hahah, I actually had to look this up, because I kept forgetting which tower they lived in as well! Turns out, it’s the one directly right as soon as you exit the monorail -not the giant one you see dead ahead of you…
Hahah, I actually had to look this up, because I kept forgetting which tower they lived in as well! Turns out, it’s the one directly right as soon as you exit the monorail -not the giant one you see dead ahead of you…
16:39 pmUTCPM_Douglas_MacKenzie says:The Kid Stuff bg gave me a relatively decent ship early on, but otherwise it and the others were mostly flavour text. Also, if you were wearing the Constellation suit in front of Sarah, Andreja, Dixon Bainbridge, etc., I don’t think they mind that you took it.Oh yeah, they don’t care a single jot that you, a total, relative stranger to them, just took their most valuable artifact and have started wearing it, no sweat whatsoever, hahah…
PM_Douglas_MacKenzie says:The Kid Stuff bg gave me a relatively decent ship early on, but otherwise it and the others were mostly flavour text. Also, if you were wearing the Constellation suit in front of Sarah, Andreja, Dixon Bainbridge, etc., I don’t think they mind that you took it.Oh yeah, they don’t care a single jot that you, a total, relative stranger to them, just took their most valuable artifact and have started wearing it, no sweat whatsoever, hahah…
Oh yeah, they don’t care a single jot that you, a total, relative stranger to them, just took their most valuable artifact and have started wearing it, no sweat whatsoever, hahah…
16:40 pmUTCSpeaking of ships, what’s everyone driving these days? I may have guide-cheesed my way into having Walter bankroll me a comically oversized yet statistically excellent frigate.
Speaking of ships, what’s everyone driving these days? I may have guide-cheesed my way into having Walter bankroll me a comically oversized yet statistically excellent frigate.
16:42 pmUTCI just got the Space Batman ship, but have yet to work out exactly how to tip all the junk I was hording in my original ship into this one. And what happens when you land with one ship and leave on another? Does the original just stay there forever?
I just got the Space Batman ship, but have yet to work out exactly how to tip all the junk I was hording in my original ship into this one. And what happens when you land with one ship and leave on another? Does the original just stay there forever?
16:42 pmUTCThe only thing I don’t like is the cost of having so much storage space: a honking great grid of square holds stacked up at the back. Looks like my ship has a bum made out those cargo ships that are always outside Alice Bee’s house.
The only thing I don’t like is the cost of having so much storage space: a honking great grid of square holds stacked up at the back. Looks like my ship has a bum made out those cargo ships that are always outside Alice Bee’s house.
16:44 pmUTCBasically, I did this once in No Man’s Sky - found a better ship randomly discarded on a planet somewhere - and took it immediately, only to realise after about ten minutes of flying randomly around the planet that it lacked the dimension hopping drive I needed to get off the planet and go to the next system, and the planet itself did not have the resources on it to make another one. I tried, in vain, to find my lost spaceship, but alas, I never came across it ever again, and now I’m perpetually terrified any and all ships I come across.
Basically, I did this once in No Man’s Sky - found a better ship randomly discarded on a planet somewhere - and took it immediately, only to realise after about ten minutes of flying randomly around the planet that it lacked the dimension hopping drive I needed to get off the planet and go to the next system, and the planet itself did not have the resources on it to make another one. I tried, in vain, to find my lost spaceship, but alas, I never came across it ever again, and now I’m perpetually terrified any and all ships I come across.
16:44 pmUTCKatharine Castle says:I just got the Space Batman ship, but have yet to work out exactly how to tip all the junk I was hording in my original ship into this one. And what happens when you land with one ship and leave on another? Does the original just stay there forever?New diary idea: trying to litter a spaceship on every planet in Starfield
Katharine Castle says:I just got the Space Batman ship, but have yet to work out exactly how to tip all the junk I was hording in my original ship into this one. And what happens when you land with one ship and leave on another? Does the original just stay there forever?New diary idea: trying to litter a spaceship on every planet in Starfield
16:46 pmUTCI mean, I have pretty big cash reserves in this dumb game, but I don’t think even I’ve got enough money to leave a ship onALL 1692 PLANETSin this game, hahah…
I mean, I have pretty big cash reserves in this dumb game, but I don’t think even I’ve got enough money to leave a ship onALL 1692 PLANETSin this game, hahah…
16:47 pmUTCMarid Audran says:And there is a recent game that does do this well, but it’s not a Bethesda product. I kinda wish they had taken some inspiration from that game instead of deciding that menu fast-travelling was the way to go.Oooh, do tell.
Marid Audran says:And there is a recent game that does do this well, but it’s not a Bethesda product. I kinda wish they had taken some inspiration from that game instead of deciding that menu fast-travelling was the way to go.Oooh, do tell.
Oooh, do tell.
16:49 pmUTCMarid Audran says:I’m with all of the others who are saying that it’s basically…pockets of fun? Someone on here or a sister gaming website noted the biggest difference was the interstitial encounters with a contiguous game like Skyrim or FO4. You head to a place, but on the way there’s an encounter. Or a map icon that piques your interest. Or you just get a case of wanderlust and suddenly find yourself in a new vault which is P.T.-level creepy.
In Starfield, though, it’s not contiguous - it’s fast travel to fast travel to fast travel.Agreed it’s not the same. But I have had some moments where I spied a mysteriously vague “Ship” waypoint on a map, or a landing site that doesn’t match the conventions of the proc gen stuff, and following it led to me to a neat little sidejaunt. Though yeah, it’s way more fun to see something physically, in the distance, than listed on a UI.
Marid Audran says:I’m with all of the others who are saying that it’s basically…pockets of fun? Someone on here or a sister gaming website noted the biggest difference was the interstitial encounters with a contiguous game like Skyrim or FO4. You head to a place, but on the way there’s an encounter. Or a map icon that piques your interest. Or you just get a case of wanderlust and suddenly find yourself in a new vault which is P.T.-level creepy.
In Starfield, though, it’s not contiguous - it’s fast travel to fast travel to fast travel.Agreed it’s not the same. But I have had some moments where I spied a mysteriously vague “Ship” waypoint on a map, or a landing site that doesn’t match the conventions of the proc gen stuff, and following it led to me to a neat little sidejaunt. Though yeah, it’s way more fun to see something physically, in the distance, than listed on a UI.
Agreed it’s not the same. But I have had some moments where I spied a mysteriously vague “Ship” waypoint on a map, or a landing site that doesn’t match the conventions of the proc gen stuff, and following it led to me to a neat little sidejaunt. Though yeah, it’s way more fun to see something physically, in the distance, than listed on a UI.
16:50 pmUTCWhat’s your ship of choice, James? The giant Walter frigate? Or do you have multiple cruisers you take out on the weekends?
What’s your ship of choice, James? The giant Walter frigate? Or do you have multiple cruisers you take out on the weekends?
16:53 pmUTCIt turns out I’m not much of a ship engineer, so I’ve been swapping through quest rewards. First the Mantis ship, then the brig-equipped Ranger vessel you get for becoming besties with Elias Toufexis, and I’ve only just recently rinsed Walter for this new one.
It turns out I’m not much of a ship engineer, so I’ve been swapping through quest rewards. First the Mantis ship, then the brig-equipped Ranger vessel you get for becoming besties with Elias Toufexis, and I’ve only just recently rinsed Walter for this new one.
16:56 pmUTCImportant question: do you have a favourite companion, and why is it Sam Coe?
Important question: do you have a favourite companion, and why is it Sam Coe?
16:58 pmUTC1. Sarah is boring 2. Andreja is a religious nut 3. Barret is [SPOILERS] 4. I forgot the robot existed
- Sarah is boring
- Andreja is a religious nut
- Barret is [SPOILERS]
- I forgot the robot existed
17:04 pmUTCSmoothShrek says:Christina Chong would be an amazing get for any game, Katherine! I didn’t know you were a Strange New Worlds-head :DIt’s the fun Star Trek show! I haven’t watched any old TV Trek - I only really got into it when Discovery happened, but have watched all the films since. Still, Discovery’s now disappeared so far up its own blackhole that SNW is now our favourite Trek show. Long live, Captain Pike!
SmoothShrek says:Christina Chong would be an amazing get for any game, Katherine! I didn’t know you were a Strange New Worlds-head :DIt’s the fun Star Trek show! I haven’t watched any old TV Trek - I only really got into it when Discovery happened, but have watched all the films since. Still, Discovery’s now disappeared so far up its own blackhole that SNW is now our favourite Trek show. Long live, Captain Pike!
It’s the fun Star Trek show! I haven’t watched any old TV Trek - I only really got into it when Discovery happened, but have watched all the films since. Still, Discovery’s now disappeared so far up its own blackhole that SNW is now our favourite Trek show. Long live, Captain Pike!
