Starfield, BG3 & Bluey

[JonInMiddleGA]

I've crossed the 90 hour mark with Starfield, I think I'm Level 32? (31?). Probably got another, dunno, 10-20 hours left before I finish the main quest That guess is based on where I am in it and what I believe is left to do with it, I'm not fully spoiler-free about what happens but I'm not spoiled in minute detail either.

I've been weaning myself off faction quests and side quests for the past several sessions, though I did get sucked into one that ate up most of my last session. {shrug} It happens.

fwiw, around 70 hours or so my mind began to wander toward my next playthrough. I suspect I'll fiddle around with the NewGamePlus thing just a little bit but it doesn't have nearly the appeal to me as a clean start with a new character and different focuses. I've basically started saving faction quest stuff for new character runs. Not heavily RP'ing but enough so that I can get 3-4 playthroughs that feel different is my goal.

At 90 hours I haven't touched at least 2 faction lines at all really, have only one faction line that I believe is more than halfway through, I haven't touched religion at all, have done only a single superbasic outpost just to get a feel for how that works, have never done a single cargo delivery, haven't really ever stopped to survey a planet that I didn't have some quest related reason to be on.

Mix-n-match those things I feel like 3-4 different character runs should be pretty easy to find.

[dubb93]

Finally finished BG 3 and my personal way of playing where I explore everything first and then come back and go to quest areas later resulted in an ending that was basically 8 straight boss fights. What a banger. Not that anyone cares, but I would rank this as my favorite game I’ve ever played. I played around with lists of my all time favorite games and I just can’t rank this one anywhere but the top. It’s better than DA: O (my closest comparison.)

In fact, I’d say it basically does the entire Dragon Age Trilogy better and in just one game. Each act feels like a separate game and that isn’t a bad thing in a game of this size and scope.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by dubb93

Finally finished BG 3 and my personal way of playing where I explore everything first and then come back and go to quest areas later resulted in an ending that was basically 8 straight boss fights. What a banger. Not that anyone cares, but I would rank this as my favorite game I’ve ever played. I played around with lists of my all time favorite games and I just can’t rank this one anywhere but the top. It’s better than DA: O (my closest comparison.)

In fact, I’d say it basically does the entire Dragon Age Trilogy better and in just one game. Each act feels like a separate game and that isn’t a bad thing in a game of this size and scope.

Of course we care-we are all gamers here! So having you rank it as your favorite game goes a long way dubb

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Of course we care-we are all gamers here! So having you rank it as your favorite game goes a long way dubb

Agreed!

I am loving BG3, too. I play it with three friends and only once a week, so it's very slow going, but a total blast.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I believe I'm in the penultimate mission of the Starfield main quest, one called "Entangled".

This is easily the best quest I've seen in the game so far, almost certainly a top ten in Bethesda universes. This is really good, at least at my Level (32).

[dubb93]

I tried to start Starfield today and realized I need a few days away from videogames after staying up late the last couple of nights to finish BG3. I’ll probably restart Starfield on Monday. What I played so far seemed like it has potential and better yet ran great on my PC.

[JonInMiddleGA]

IMO, a pretty darned good (virtually spoiler-free) description of the different options for the end of a playthrough. How to NG+, whether you should rush to it or slow play to it, what you can do afterwards, etc.

https://youtu.be/KezXsReXhK4?si=s4WC-WigdotHG4xx

[JonInMiddleGA]

So I still have the main quest to wrap up on my original playthrough, but I could wait no longer. My desire to try a more RP play was too strong, I figured it wouldn't hurt anything to just get that character set up and dabble just a little.

I can't say that went so well.

I wanted to RP a "Long Hauler" type character, so B.J. McKay was born. I made it to maybe Level 4, delayed even the first main story quest aside from the unskippable opening ... and realized that playing with moving cargo as a primary activity wasn't gonna work. The credits simply aren't there to make necessary changes to the ship, etc. You'd have to augment that by either doing a lot of combat missions (to scav loot to sell in quantity) or farm XP and credits from outposts or something ... which takes away the point of RP'ing as a space trucker.

So my third character was born. If I gotta kill a lotta bad guys, might as well make sense of it, so Bounty Hunter Papa Thorson is born. I'm up to Lvl 6 but this time I'm going to do the initial main faction quests alongside my other shoot n' loot activities, see if that helps. (i.e. get through the tutorial'esque stuff, go to the point where you've met each Constellation member)

Honestly, my sneaking suspicion is that won't help a ton either.

I'm having moderate to severe doubts at the moment about the viability of any sort of RP playthrough because of how the end game / new game stuff works.

[GrantDawg]

The problem with your B.J. McKay play through is you didn't have a space-chimp with you. That was the missing vital element.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

The problem with your B.J. McKay play through is you didn't have a space-chimp with you. That was the missing vital element.

The other game has a miniature giant space hamster though!

I feel like I've played enough of Starfield to comment on it. I'll just say that it is beyond frustrating how fast I move in relation to NPCs that I'm supposed to be following. WHY DO THEY WALK SO SLOW!?!?!?!? Am I the only one that this drives absolutely crazy? Why do I have to hit W...release...hit it again...release...WHY CAN'T WE JUST MOVE THE SAME SPEED!?!?!?

OK rant over. Besides that I'm enjoying myself. I don't know if I will end up remembering this as fondly as say Skyrim, but I think it's going to be a good experience based on what I've seen so far.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by dubb93

The other game has a miniature giant space hamster though!

I feel like I've played enough of Starfield to comment on it. I'll just say that it is beyond frustrating how fast I move in relation to NPCs that I'm supposed to be following. WHY DO THEY WALK SO SLOW!?!?!?!? Am I the only one that this drives absolutely crazy? Why do I have to hit W...release...hit it again...release...WHY CAN'T WE JUST MOVE THE SAME SPEED!?!?!?

OK rant over. Besides that I'm enjoying myself. I don't know if I will end up remembering this as fondly as say Skyrim, but I think it's going to be a good experience based on what I've seen so far.

You are not alone there, one of the first guys I watched on YouTube, commented the very same thing as he followed the main quest line and met the members of Constellation (?) WHY ARE the NPC's moving so slow? Bet it gets fixed in a patch pretty quickly

[bhlloy]

After reading a bunch of reviews of Starfield I ended up spending $7 on the anniversary version of Skyrim and starting a new run. I’m sure when it’s on a sale I’ll pick it up and play it through a few times, but everything I read just doesn’t excite me right now.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

After reading a bunch of reviews of Starfield I ended up spending $7 on the anniversary version of Skyrim and starting a new run. I’m sure when it’s on a sale I’ll pick it up and play it through a few times, but everything I read just doesn’t excite me right now.

Funny, I dusted off (read: redownloaded from Steam) my Skyrim: Special Edition, slapped on a bunch of mods, and started a fresh run as well for the same reason.

[JPhillips]

I started a Fallout 4 run rather than Skyrim.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Bobble

Funny, I dusted off (read: redownloaded from Steam) my Skyrim: Special Edition, slapped on a bunch of mods, and started a fresh run as well for the same reason.

mind sharing which mods you are using?

[Bobble]

I did a google search for "best Skyrim mods" and took a bunch of their recommendations. There are a few unofficial patches; some QOL things like SkyUI, Remember Lockpick Angle, and Lightweight Potions; locations Wyrmstooth, Falskaar, Bromjunaar; add-ons like Immersive Armors, Immersive Weapons; and lastly the Sofia Follower. Sofia is perfect for replay. It's a very well-done mod and she says some great in-game meta things about the game.

If you run across some mods you like, I'd love to hear about them.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Bobble

I did a google search for "best Skyrim mods" and took a bunch of their recommendations. There are a few unofficial patches; some QOL things like SkyUI, Remember Lockpick Angle, and Lightweight Potions; locations Wyrmstooth, Falskaar, Bromjunaar; add-ons like Immersive Armors, Immersive Weapons; and lastly the Sofia Follower. Sofia is perfect for replay. It's a very well-done mod and she says some great in-game meta things about the game.

If you run across some mods you like, I'd love to hear about them.

This is exactly what I do everytime I fire it up is google best mods and look at 4 or 5 lists and decide what I want from there. I will say I do like to have something like Frostfall (the extreme environments can kill you so if it gets dark and there is a storm you better be getting a fire and shelter) and realistic needs and diseases (you need to meet your needs of sleep, hunger, thirst, while avoiding things like dirty bandit beds and water that hasn’t been boiled or you will end up with diseases.)

Beyond those two I think what is “best” changes every year or so.

[Bobble]

After playing for a little bit, I think I'm finding combat to be a little simplistic and clicky. I also don't care for how you can just "pause", drink a bunch of potions or eat food to heal, and you're right as rain. Having said that, I don't want to make alchemy useless. I may look into a combat mechanics mod.

I also like the idea of a survival mod like dubb is referring to.

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Bobble

I did a google search for "best Skyrim mods" and took a bunch of their recommendations. There are a few unofficial patches; some QOL things like SkyUI, Remember Lockpick Angle, and Lightweight Potions; locations Wyrmstooth, Falskaar, Bromjunaar; add-ons like Immersive Armors, Immersive Weapons; and lastly the Sofia Follower. Sofia is perfect for replay. It's a very well-done mod and she says some great in-game meta things about the game.

If you run across some mods you like, I'd love to hear about them.

Thanks man.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Bobble

I also like the idea of a survival mod like dubb is referring to.

Realistic Needs and Diseases:
hxxps://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/23799

Frostfall:
hxxps://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/671/

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by Bobble

the Sofia Follower. Sofia is perfect for replay. It's a very well-done mod and she says some great in-game meta things about the game.

I keep meaning to mention that Sofia has separate storage. Stuff you give her that she can equip and an unlimited weight storage that she won't touch. It's nice having her haul all the dwemer struts, battleaxes, and dragon bones that would never fit under weight limits. Might actually make a heavy armor character viable for a packrat like me.

[EagleFan]

Admittedly I haven't read through here yet but I must say...

BG3 - Loving it

Starfield - sucks (so fucking boring; going back to No Man's Sky after I am done with BG3, unless FOF comes out before then)

[dubb93]

The more I play Starfield the more the world just seems off somehow. The people are all hollow eyed and they just wonder around endlessly like robots. They all have names like “citizen” or some such. It doesn’t feel like a living world. It really feels like a world created specifically for the character I’m playing. This is not Skyrim in space which is what I was hoping for.

I’m still gonna finish this game. I’ve waited a long time for it. I will say that BG 3 coming first (and me playing it first) is really playing a big part in how I view this game. It’s just nowhere near the same quality of setting and immersion. I played Hogwart’s directly before that and again, the setting of that game just blows this one out of the water as well even if it did have a similar problem with NPCs just kind of wandering around aimlessly.

Maybe I’m crazy but I specially remember the NPCs in Skyrim had purpose. They had a routine. They slept at night and got up for work. They went to the bar if they were off. They went hunting for food. Why am I not seeing any of this in Starfield?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by dubb93

The more I play Starfield the more the world just seems off somehow. The people are all hollow eyed and they just wonder around endlessly like robots. They all have names like “citizen” or some such. It doesn’t feel like a living world. It really feels like a world created specifically for the character I’m playing. This is not Skyrim in space which is what I was hoping for.

That take on the NPCs echoes my son's feelings considerably.

I'm not as bothered by it honestly but, yeah, I think they populated the cities (New Atlantis particularly) SO heavily in an effort to make them feel "alive" that they didn't have room to give them any sort of routines.

Things like the shops all being open 24/7 with the same person manning the same counter 24/7 feels wrong. As does every random NPC with any dialogue always being in the same spot whenever you spawn into a city. The people who sweep will always sweep the same spot, people who have random dialogue ("I wonder if my boyfriend and I will miss New Atlantis when we leave") always have it in the same place.

Nobody goes home, nobody that isn't coded to be eating never goes to eat, etc.

[Groundhog]

Agree with the criticism of the Starfield universe. What we have is an amazing framework of a game, and I'm hoping through mods over the years it will grow into the kind of game it shows glimpses of being. Enjoying it as-is, but playing it more actiony/shooty than I do these kind of games.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I'm sure both Starfield & BG3 will win awards but wonder which will be "the GOTY".

I'll give the edge to BG3

Starfield not in contention for GOTY.

the full nominees for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2023:

Alan Wake 2
Baldur's Gate 3
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Resident Evil 4
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

But is in the RPG category

Elsewhere, Starfield is at least nominated for Best RPG at The Game Awards this year, but it has extremely strong competition in the form of Final Fantasy XVI, Sea of Stars, Lies of P and of course, Baldur's Gate 3.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Starfield not in contention for GOTY.



But is in the RPG category

Top games I've played this year:

BG3
Alan Wake 2
Final Fantasy 16
Chained Echoes (released late 2022)
Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty
Dave the Diver
Hogwarts Legacy


I'd say BG3, Alan Wake 2, and FF16 are all close. I'd go with BG3, though, because it's an incredible accomplishment.

I do think people have slept on FF16. That game is outstanding and isn't really anything like previous FF games. It draws heavy inspiration from ASOIAF and Western RPGs. It's the first FF game I've enjoyed since 7.

[dubb93]

It’s really amazing how many loading screens they have managed to pack into Starfield. Want to jump to a planet? That’s a load screen. Want to then land on the planet? That’s another load screen. Want to go into a building on said planet. You better believe that’s another load screen.

I’m currently frequenting a certain space station due to a quest chain I’m on. It’s one load screen to jump there, another to dock, and then another once you walk about 20 feet into the station because you go through a door. All of this just to get on the damn station. My load times are pretty quick because I have a M.2, but they are still pretty annoying.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I do think people have slept on FF16. That game is outstanding and isn't really anything like previous FF games. It draws heavy inspiration from ASOIAF and Western RPGs. It's the first FF game I've enjoyed since 7.

I'm just waiting for it to come out on PC.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I'm just waiting for it to come out on PC.

Agreed. One of my most wanted games. Square makes their games exclusive to one console, doesn’t release a PC version, and then cries that games don’t meet their financial expectations. That’s another videogame company that really needs new leadership.

[dubb93]

I've been pretty critical of Starfield due to my disappointment, but I will say playing the game as it is rather than how I wanted it has made it alot more enjoyable. What I mean by that is I've given up any hope of RPing any sort of character and I'm just playing it like a shooter. By playing it like this my experience has improved dramatically.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by dubb93

I've been pretty critical of Starfield due to my disappointment, but I will say playing the game as it is rather than how I wanted it has made it alot more enjoyable. What I mean by that is I've given up any hope of RPing any sort of character and I'm just playing it like a shooter. By playing it like this my experience has improved dramatically.

I think that's probably the best way to play it in the current state.

It almost certainly also explains why I haven't touched it a 2? 3? weeks.
I'm not all that much in the mood for a looter/shooter right now, playing HOI4 with the latest DLC and FM24 mostly.

The whole "New Game+" thing is probably the bigger wet blanket for me though. I mean, that kind of renders almost everything you do irrelevant. Why build bases if they're just going to vanish? Why collect rare items if they're just going to vanish? Why do pretty much anything if it's just going to vanish? That only leaves it being a shooter, and it's not a particularly engaging shooter. The combat in Starfield in considerably easier than pretty much any Bethesda game, a really tough fight is rare to come across & I'm not even all that good at the combat. There's more point to shooting in, I dunno, Fortnite or something.

I think that NG+ approach might very well turn out to be one of the biggest game killing design decisions for me I've ever come across.

edit to add: There's stuff there I like. I'm happy enough with the individual pieces of the story (the whole, eh, not so much), the quests and whatnot. There's a lot there that "feels like Bethesda", which was a must for me. But the dumbed down outposts/settlements are a drag after FO4 (and a fair number of hours with the SimSettlements mod), the irrelevance of them makes that 100x worse for me.

[dubb93]

NVIDIA DLSS patch it out for Starfield and my own performance gains are pretty large. I've gone from medium settings with FPS drops to max settings smooth as possible. YMMV, gains will be larger on newer GPUs and almost nonexistent on older NVIDIA GPUs.

[Edward64]

The article was essentially some reviews saying Starfield was boring and Bethesda support replies.

Hopefully, it gets better with Shattered Space DLC.

IGN Error 403 - Unavailable (IFW-U02)

Bethesda has updated Starfield a number of times since its launch, which saw 10 million players in three weeks. The latest patch, 1.8.86, added DLSS Support and the ability to eat food on sight. The studio already has a Starfield post-launch story expansion pack in the works, called Shattered Space, and development chief Todd Howard told IGN in an interview ahead of the Starfield Direct that Bethesda plans to release “a lot” of add-on content for the space exploration game.

“We're going to be doing a lot of add-on content for Starfield,” Howard said. “We love doing it. Our fans love it. We're going to do a story expansion pack that's going to be coming. Our plan is to do things of varying sizes, and we've done a lot of that in our previous games, so it's something that we really like doing, our fans like. So despite the size of the game, there's still things we want to add as far as features in the future or stories and things like that. Hopefully it's going to continue for a long time that way.”

[JonInMiddleGA]

Damned if I haven't ended up putting ... I dunno, 8-10 hours I guess, into MW3.

Issues and all, for at least a little while it's kinda cool to see so many of the old familiar maps again.

[Edward64]

Congrats BG3. Starfield nada.

IGN Error 403 - Unavailable (IFW-U02)

Not only did Baldur's Gate 3 win Game of the Year and shadow drop its Xbox version, but it also won Best Community Support, Best RPG, Best Multiplayer, and the Player's Voice category. Alan Wake 2 followed with 3 wins in the categories of Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Art Direction.

[GrantDawg]

No surprise. We may never see another title like it.

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[Edward64]

Personally, I'm thinking there's more to the story. I get developers tired of same old thing and not wanting to do the DLC but (1) com'on, its just the first DLC (2) guaranteed income and (3) opportunity to expand & create a Team A and Team B (experienced, new hires).

Have Team B do most of the work. This way, it funds what Team A is doing. Like X-Com, I bet Firaxis could still make money off the DLCs or, at least, create an X-Com 3. See Civ 6 and Paradox games.

'Let's just have closure on Baldur's Gate 3, it's been great. We've done our job': Larian CEO says he hit the brakes on DLC plans because the team's heart wasn't in it | PC Gamer

'Let's just have closure on Baldur's Gate 3, it's been great. We've done our job': Larian CEO says he hit the brakes on DLC plans because the team's heart wasn't in it

As for putting together that DLC, Vincke notes that some exhausted vibes in the studio put an end to it: "You could see the team was doing it because everyone felt like we had to do it, but it wasn't really coming from the heart, and we're very much a studio from the heart. It's what's gotten us into misery and it's also been the reason for our success."

In the new year, Vincke recalls coming back into the office and telling his team: "You know, we're not going to do it. We're going to [start] doing these other things that we talked about, that we planned on doing before we started on BG3 … let's just have closure on BG3, it's been great. We've done our job. It's a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end."

Contrary to his fears, Vincke then recalls a feeling of "elation" in the studio. "I thought they were going to be angry at me because I just couldn't muster the energy," he says, but that he "saw so many elated faces, which I didn't expect, and I could tell they shared the same feelings, so we were all aligned with one another. And I've had so many developers come to me after and say, 'Thank god'."

[GrantDawg]

There was lots of speculation that it was WOTC that caused them to walk away. Hasbro has laid off the whole team that was the link between Larian and WOTC, and there had been some veiled words from Swen condemning "publisher greed". Except WOTC wasn't the publisher for this game, Larian was. Swen made clear in a tweet that he had no issues with WOTC, that they were supportive throughout the process, and it was an in-house decision that had nothing to do with WOTC/D&D. This is the downside of an independent company whose main driving factor isn't squeezing every dime out of an IP. They move as much or more by their own desires than what will make them the most money. In this case it sucks, but it is what made this game so amazing.

[dubb93]

They were never going to raise the level cap further. They have been pretty open about the struggles of DND 5e and how overpowered you become after level 10 and how it was impossible to balance. They had to be convinced by the community to even increase it from 10 to 12 so they were already going to be limited in what they could do as basically all post-game DLC was out the window from the start.

[GrantDawg]

Never, except they admitted they had already started working on the DLC. I don't think there is any way they could have done a DLC without raising the cap. It would have really been interesting to see what they would hwve done, especially considering it most likely would have taken place in Avernus.

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[Honolulu_Blue]

Larian is walking away from a gold mine by not doing a sequel, but I very much respect their decision to move on.

Me and my group just finished BG3 a couple weeks ago. I loved the game. I immediately started a solo play through, because it’s a very different experience playing it 4 player co-op versus single player.

In my first play through I was a thief/gloomstalker/battlemaster. It super fun. Now, I’m paying a monk and look forward to more NPC interactions and playing around with more classes.