Yes, I have played Bethesda games for decades, going all the way back to Elder Scrolls 1: Arena.

Yes, I play Elder Scrolls Online even to this day, though I am now reconsidering that.

That does not and should not have any consequence whatsoever when it comes to my, or anyone else's, opinion when it comes to how fucked up Bethesda/Zenimax are as corporations, and the corporate ownership at Microsoft for that matter.

My interest in Starfield has diminished significantly and the hype wave is already putting me off. Yes, it's only one individual's story and not the first from the company, but I'm not reddit-logo enough to LARP as a perfect logical machine that only does perfectly Rational(tm) calculations regarding whether I should care about something or not.

I expect Hexbear to have a lot of "let people enjoy things" discourse about Starfield in the upcoming weeks and months, and a lot of it will ride on the "everyone does these bad things in game development" thought terminating cliche that primarily serves as a palate cleanser so the consumer can avoid feeling as much guilt or disgust for what they're now consuming.

Fuck that.

And fuck that corporate empire.

  • LaGG_3 [he/him, comrade/them]
    ·
    1 year ago

    That's just setting expectations for the brainlessgamer-gulag types that don't understand that games like that are created by locking developers/artists/designers/etc into the human suffering machine for a decade, right? Nobody with sense expects a game that big on a frequent basis.

    Honestly, I wish we'd get smaller CRPGs with a decent amount of polish on them. Something like Tyranny, where it's short enough that replaying it doesn't feel like a total slog.

    • Vladimir_Slipknotchenko [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      Being more charitable to what the original tweet meant: Larian had literally everything in their favor and that should be accounted for. Essentially, given the perfect conditions they didn’t squander it.

      I think that framing that way ignores the real reason why this is unlikely to replicated: Larian is independent and not beholden to shareholders.

      They had the chance to nerd out and spend 6 years making their dream game. With the IP they managed to attach to they made back costs off EA preorders and could afford to delay an entire year based off user feedback.

      I guess the point is that when the suits aren’t involved artists get to make good art.

      Edit: not to say I don’t still dislike the framing of it, just flat out say not everyone has the freedom to treat a big game like a passion project because of assholes beholden to “fiduciary duty” and other such nonsense.

      • Quimby [any, any]M
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        Larian are also really good at figuring how to focus on the right things in order to deliver on an ambitious idea. They make sure that feasibility is a primary consideration, and also clearly have some smart people who can push the boundaries of what is feasible. But it seems obvious to me that they start from a place of only building systems that will work, instead of starting on something cool and then trying to find a way to make it work.

        That said, this should also be common sense, and I'm all for holding game studios to a standard of "build intentionally and make working stuff".

        • Vladimir_Slipknotchenko [he/him, comrade/them]
          ·
          1 year ago

          That’s something I think the panel shows have highlighted: they focus on systems and reactivity as the mechanism which immerses the player in the role they wish to fill.

          There’s something about crpg brain that just loves a convoluted series of interlocking systems that allow the player to enjoy the illusion of being a figure the world reacts to in a realistic/believable manner.