I Am Not Willing To Drop Hundreds Of Hours Into Starfield Before I Finally "Get What This Game Is"

Expecting players to spend hundreds of hours in a game before it reveals itself is frankly quite silly

[Neonridr]

then don't play the game.

[GamingSinceForever]

Pretty much this ^^^

At least you’ve been told what you’re getting into ahead of time to save you some
money.

[4Sh0w]

Yeah my only thought after the title was "OK then dont"...but clearly those who want to have a bad faith take on that comment will.

[Crows90]

Or maybe it's silly PR. Inflating what the game is and at the same time discrediting any opinion of the game if the player hasn't dedicated over 100 hours into it first.

[VenomUK]

@TheGamer it’s a Bethesda RPG in space.

[neutralgamer1992]

I will wait for reviews but since it’s on GP I will kill download and try it for myself. I really like Bethesda games and hopefully this is a good one

My only hope is this doesn’t require months of patches just to make it playable. Sadly we are at the point in gaming where most AAA games launch needing patches

[smashman98]

it really is that simple

[crazyCoconuts]

I don't know if I'm supposed to take Hine's comment seriously. He could be defending against upcoming reviews. Or he could just be trying to market how much there is to do in the game. Who knows?

[JEECE]

Yeah, it kind of reminds me of when the Dying Light 2 devs said the game would take 500 hours to fully complete.

[z2g]

You shouldn’t. It’s hyperbole. Anyone who takes it literally isn’t using common sense. Like this author. If it literally took hundreds of hours to get a game going, that game would be an absolute failure commercially and even the people making the game would know that - as they are career game designers. I think he was just trying to express how the game keeps building and building and is huge.

[GamingSinceForever]

Well according to Hines the game just became fun to play within the last year after baking for nearly 10 years. So the idea of it taking hundreds of hours to get going isn’t too far-fetched.

[dumahim]

I think he was talking about being distracted by side quests and just didn't get to the main story until that long.
Kind of feel like Fallout 3 and 4 on my playthroughs. Once the world opened, I pretty much abandoned the main story and did as much side stuff as I could and left the story stuff for last. This just seems like a dumb thing to talk about because of how it can be misunderstood.

[Rocketisleague]

Clearly that's what he meant. It's also a standard marketing statement used for every Bethesda game since oblivion. It's the same case for any open world rpg

[babadivad]

This was me on Witcher 3. Jesus, that game is huge.

[S2Killinit]

I think he said the opposite. He played the main quest first then the side quests. He was trying to say the side quests are where the fun is.

[ChasterMies]

There is a segment of gamers who just want something to do. (I don’t judge considering the hours I’ve spent in games like Destiny and No Man’s Sky, much less the hours of my youth wasted on catching and leveling up Pokémon.) But for me, I know I’ll grow tired of the loading screens, looking though trash cans for coins, and going from vendor to vendor to sell my inventory. What I want to know is how quickly I can finish the main story after I get sick of the game.

[gpimlott]

they said mainstory is 30-40 hours

[Rocketisleague]

Don't take anything PR from Bethesda or MS say seriously? Wait for reviews and or leaks

[Crows90]

Both

[RupeeHoarder]

I hope this game is everything we dreamed it would be from the jump. Microsoft cannot afford for this to be No Man’s Sky

[anast]

I won't be a No Man's Sky, because there won't be any planets. It will be Fallout 4/Skyrim in a space skin. If you really liked those games, you will love this one.

[Rocketisleague]

Maybe. Maybe not. Bethesda ganes have been getting worse and worse since oblivion/fallout3. If that trend continues(and from the leaks it certainly has) then will be happy? When's the last time you played a Bethesda game? Since the release of many more better rpgs in the last 10 years what makes you think.youd like skyrim in space? When's the last time you tried fallout or skyrim even?

[Snookies12]

Nothing will be like No Man's Sky. Because nothing in the gaming industry has ever done such a tremendous job of redemption like No Man's Sky has. I get what you're saying, that you don't want it to be like No Man's Sky's initial launch. However, we could only be so lucky to have the kind of dedication and support they've given their game post-launch. On any other game release in this industry.

[z2g]

I think that’s what you call hyperbole…

Obv no one is going to play the game for hundreds of hours to literally just get started. That would be horrible. I think what he is saying is that after spending hundreds of hours you are still going, leveled up, able to do just about anything at that point - which in most games is the funnest part. He is just simply saying the game is huge.

[Nacho_Z]

Why didn't he say that then? It's not a difficult statement.

[Cacolaco]

I guess he just thought we'd have sense enough to know that 100s of hours of gameplay means that the game is huge. Also, he didn't have to play it for that many hours after he finished it. The fact he did and he's talking about it should say a lot about how fun it is, even if he ended up playing that long to get the full picture of what the game is... I guess I'm just "glass half full" about this kind of stuff...

[CrimsonWing69]

Hyperbole much?

[XBManiac]

Well... Maybe knowing if the game is playable or bugs will ruin your experience would be more objective. If forums tell the game is sufficiently bug free, playing is the best way to "get what a game is". Why would anybody want others to play it and tell about, if you can do it for yourself?

[SyntheticForm]

"I am not willing!"

So don't, drama queen.

[VersusDMC]

I'm getting flashbacks to the FFXIII 20 hours to get good discource. I guess we've grown more forgiving over the years?

[Soulsborne]

Comparing a linear jrpg to a western open world RPG is beyond retarded.

[VersusDMC]

Your comprension skills are at a retarded level.

This discourse was why put up with a game for x amount of hours before it gets good. People wanted it to be good from the start as we all want.

The genre's don't matter. You may resume eating paste. 🫡

[DOMination-]

You're completing misinterpreting what was said.

It wasn't 100 hours before it gets good like in FF13 - it was 100 hours without really getting involved in the main quest. Those two things are not the same.

The reaction at this "news" has been hilarious because it's not like it's come out of nowhere - If you've played any BGS game since Morrowind, you'll know exactly how this game will be structured and play like.

[CrimsonWing69]

hold up, how is the comparison mentally challenged? I literally thought the same thing. This is a person who took some guy's statement and automatically assumed that's going to be his experience.

I could say I spent 100 hours in Super Mario Bros. 3 and just now I'm figuring out what the game is. Does that mean you're going to have that experience? Hell no.

Pete was doing some PR nonsense with excitement trying to explain the game being so huge and with all the time he's spent in it, he's now understanding all the nuances. I'm pretty f*cking sure that 90% of the people who play this damn game will understand how/what the game is within the first few hours.

But back on track here, the comparison is a game (which Starfield is) taking X amount of hours to understand/get into (which is what many said about FF13), so the comparison sticks.

[fsfsxii]

There is a lot riding on scamfield to be a success, so ofc the narrative will change.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Then go live out a 0.9 KD/0:50 avg lifespan experience in MW3…

[Petebloodyonion]

I'm sorry Hines but my time is precious.
I'll say the same thing I have said regarding Kojima Death Stranding
I play games to relax and have fun, not to grind countless hours, watching tutorials, and doing chores with the promise that it will get better at a certain point.

[Tacoboto]

Xbox Developer Contextualizing a delay: *wah wah wah*
Xbox Developer Explaining how huge the game is: *wah wah wah*
Xbox Publisher not giving out review codes to a specific country: *wah wah wah*

Gosh people, you're getting a bit too deep into "absolutely everything is awful and needs complaining about every chance I get".

[SyntheticForm]

Small lives, not getting enough attention, and the chance to make money = manufactured hysteria everywhere.

[Tacoboto]

Get ready for the next pinned article from videogamer.com

[Christopher]

Somebody says something critical about Xbox: *wah wah wah*

[anast]

It's a generated tile sandbox game. There are no planets, which means there are no stars. This game will be generated Skyrim and Fallout maps that are not connected. If this is "your" thing, then you will have a blast and should buy it. If "you" are looking for a space exploration game, this isn't it.

[Othegamer5]

you do know the planets are simulated in real time right? the rotation the sun. if you land on a planet pointed away at the sun the sun rises n so on n so fourth.do your research.

[EvertonFC]

Why do some gamers think every game is for them, it's clearly not there type of game to begin with.
Having said that,, apparently it takes awhile to get started so I hope it gets the "days gone treatment" for that though.

[Christopher]

It's the Internet. Everything we think must be formed into an opinion that everyone should read.

[Hofstaderman]

This is called confirmation biasness. The internet breeds neurotic tendencies thanks to anonymity.

[Vengeance1138]

Most players will just play to complete the main story in around 40hrs and shelf it. Only the hardcore will go beyond and get those 100hr+ play times.

[Christopher]

Depends on mods. I imagine a few mods will add new content and concepts worth playing through the game with.

[H9]

Nobody is forcing you, same here, I will watch gameplay of people playing it first, and same for so many other people, drop the act princess nobody is gonna lose sleep over your opinion

[Inverno]

My issue, not specifically with just this game, is that a good chunk of content in modern games is pointless/unfun/time dragging/repetitive fluff. And I have found myself playing many games, specifically open world games, for many hours before realizing that so much of it didn't really add anything positive to the experience, but instead tired me. The stuff that the PR guys say is just PR, and while games these days love to bombard you with side quests all poorly paced out you don't actually hafto do everything in a game. Just take a somewhat straight path through the main story with some side stuff and leave the rest for an eventual second playthrough.

[Ryuk_2007]

There's an hour long deep dive video that released in June detailing what this game is about.. yet we get trash articles like these.

[StarkR3ality]

I'm willing to bet you can mainline the story in 20 hours if your really want to, and if that's how you wanna play great, that's your choice. However most of us will simply get sucked into the world and want to spend hundreds of hours in it, not because we HAVE to, but because we WANT to.

Honestly the closer to release we get the more stupid takes become, keep em coming I need to pass the time.

[FatalityX77]

No one asked you to play it or cares that you won't. Don't see why you need to tell everyone that. Stupid.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Lame post.

[andydalum]

I swear common sense doesn't exist these days. Considering the amount of things you can do in the game if you want to do literally everything I could see it taking that long. Doesn't mean you can't enjoy the game. Some obvious examples

1. Base building (collecting materials, build/designing/decorating base). Don't want to sink dozens of hours into this (I will as I love that stuff) they already announced each ciry will have a place to buy instead (I imagine like skyrim).

2. Ship customization (can easily see myself spending hours and hours designing ships at different times and changing as i go. Don't like it no problem can steal an enemy ship you like and use it.

3. Mod support in the future will provide many many hours

4. Character building/Character stats/Skills

5. New game plus. This is biggest unknown to me and could change some of my thoughts if they hide a ton of stuff behind it.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand what he means.

[Scissorman]

What this author fails to understand is that for many, this will be one of the handful of games they play all year. So to those many who don't have a massive backlog, they will be totally fine investing an exhorbanant amount of time into Starfield. So no, it isn't really silly at all. Am I one of those many? Not really. BG3 is taking up my time. Sea of Stars is incredible. And AC6 is downloading as we speak. But for those who have the time and are without any backlog baggage, they honestly won't mind the time suck; they'll likely embrace it.

[Tedakin]

Starfield is just going to have to find a way to go on with you.

[Christopher]

Starfield's response to them https://i.imgflip.com/43iv8...

[PhillyDillyDee]

Lol a whole opinion piece from a quote of pete hines. Anyone familiar with this dev knows that the game is meant to provide hundreds of hours of entertainment. If thats not what youre into, then skip this one.

[glennhkboy]

If this person doesn't know what Starfield is by now (a Western-style RPG in space) by now, than what kind of "Thegamer" this person is?

[ThichQuangDuck]

Taking his quote way too literal if you think 150 hours into the game he doesn't know what the magic is

[Noxxicity]

The author really took that comment literally? She doesn't understand the meaning behind it? That's... interesting.

[northpaws]

Depends on if those hundreds of hours are fun, as long as they are fun, I am ok to get "what the game is" a bit later.

Moment of truth soon.

[Bimba]

Omg what will they do?, there's no other games to play.....

Maybe go to the cinema and spend ££££ for 2hrs of entertainment!

[Father__Merrin]

I'm sorry but what kind of article is this he doesn't know what type of game it is then he should leave videogame business. It's clearly an RPG set in space with no man's sky like extensive travel

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Nobody cares

[GotGame818]

Good for you! Don't play it! I am!

[SoloGamer1]

ok.. dont