Release date has been confirmed as November of 2022 for Bethesda's new space oriented action-RPG.


Additional Information can found here at the game's official site: https://bethesda.net/en/game/starfield

Recent Developer Vlog highlighting the game's environment and location: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoZAAebhnxs

Thanks so much for the links, TM!

It sounds like a long way off, but it really isn't that far away.

Bethesda always tells us release dates, but next to nothing on what's in the game. Fallout 3, 4, 76, Skyrim, etc. were all handled that way. This is to prevent over-promising and potentially angering the players. Cyberpunk 2077 was a case where we were told in advance practically everything: release date, in-game features, storylines, everything. And when the game ended up missing release date and features, players became ballistic. Either you tell customers the release date, or what's in the game. But never both. If you only tell people what's in the game, the release date can be whatever you want. If you tell them only the release date, you can cut features to meet the release date if necessarily without angering the public.

Here's a pretty recent gameplay video of it - https://youtu.be/NagIJRhIfug. Looks like it will be released this year.

There's a lot of Mass Effect/Andromeda/Outer Worlds in there. Looks promising, though.

So I'll phrase this as "tentative" , it looks like Starfield will be now be released at the end of August 08/31.

Oiks! And I was getting all geared up for a run through Cyberpunk 2077 with all the DLC. Now this! And BG3! And I bought Elden Ring, too,

Oh, and I haven't played ESO for a couple of years and must have a gazillion points to spend on stuff.

Sigh. I need two lives.

.....was announced March 8th according to this launch date announcement. Long awaited Starfield finally can be played. This action / adventure / RPG looks very good. It appears it will be released as an "Early Access". I normally don't get involved with this type of game but after watching its videos and reading what I could about Starfield it has me very interested. I gotta try it. It will definately be a learning experience for me. I can't tell you how many times I wished I had learned to play RPG, Shooter and Management games besides playing adventure games but never went there

There is quite a bit out there on Starfield. Here is some of that:

Official Website - Definately check out
"Media" if have not

16 Minutes Gameplay Demo (4K 60FPS UHD)

1 Hour Gameplay Demo

Discussions

Wikipedia

Starfield releasing still as "Early Access" will no doubt be in "EA" for some time to come working out all kinds of issues being the type of game it is. Does one wait to purchase or grab it now and begin the journey. Good question.............

Thanks for all the great information Orion! As for when to join in journey, depends on what "floats your boat".

"Early Access" usually translates to a Beta or a similar release meaning there will be bugs, and from Bethesda's previous history, game ending bugs. So if you're curious, or if they offer perks for bug reports then by all means, jump into the fray. Personally, I did enough beta testing back in the day, but I do tend to check out early releases just to see how stable they are and get a feel for the game mechanics. My running theory is that if the early release is a mess, then I'll probably wait until well after the official release to purchase the game under the assumption that they will have patched the nastiest stuff by then.

There is no doubt Starfield will be an experimental play for awhile Trail_Mystic. It would be best to hold off on getting it for a bit just to see what kind of issues Starfield will have and how fast Bethesada gets around to updates/patches. Hopefully it wont be a total mess. I have seen major updates on other games in "EA" similiar to Starfield's build that were a complete start over removing all ones progress. You talk about some players getting irate. I don't want to be in that "boat" so it will be a "watch and wait" for now I guess

While I am "watching and waiting" I've got an issue of my own....POWER! I don't have enough. I need to upgrade. I have been putting it off for too long now. I guess it could not have come at a better time. Origin has some discounts running:

Back to School

Starfield Bundle - thats timing

If I can save $1000 somehow on a laptop getting back up to speed without having to refinance the home, well that would be nice. Gonna have to give them a call today

Yeah, gaming laptops always come at a premium and you have to be SO careful with overheating. It's the reason I only build desktops for gaming.

Agreed, I also stay away from prebuilds. Although when setting up my portable kit this year for video review and minor editing I wanted a decently powerful laptop that didn't take a second mortgage. I went with the newer MSI Crosshair 15 (at the time was on sale at Best Buy for under 1k), which so far is running well after I got rid of the bloatware, upgraded the memory and M.2 drives and loaded Win 11 Pro.

Orion, do some shopping around. While Origin tends to be thought of as a top-tier builder, they are sometimes overpriced for what you're getting and do have some customer services issues (their rating with the BBB is pretty abysmal).

We need a running hardware and build thread in the Glitches forum Drac so this mod doesn't go off topic so often

I am looking forward to Starfield, although the BG3 release is absolutely beautiful, so I'll be glued to that for awhile.

Excellent observation about Origin, Trail!

Thank you for Drac for reminding me about possible overheating in laptops. I'll keep that in mind as I look around

I'll take a look at their customer service issues Trail. Have done some shopping around. The discounts caught my attention on top of being a top tier builder. I'll check out a few more sites. Thank you

Merging individual threads into one that we can use to talk about all things Starfield.

Great idea. If all goes well I will definately need advice / help playing Starfield. First game of this type for me but first I have to take care of this "needing more power" to run it.

Could I please get some opinions on which processor, video card and mother board are a better way to go in building a system. Build AMD all the way or go with an Intel processor, Nvidia video card and what motherboard. Does it make a difference?

The reason I am asking is you can get Starfield for free by choosing select AMD product. Besides that I would want what is considered the better of course

I have always been an Intel believer / buyer but I really don't know if one is better than the other. Not only can I get $200 to $1000 off depending on Desktop or laptop but can also get Starfield for free. If Intel and Nvidia are considered top of the line I would just purchase the game

I have not called on a new system yet but will today to start getting some estimates and see what deals are available

I don't have an opinion on Nvidia or AMD. When I build I always use Nvidia and Intel, but other people prefer AMD. AMD "used" to generally be less expensive, but I don't think that's true any more. If you are considering a desktop, check out this builder. They are really reasonable and the reason at least a dozen people here at GB have used them plus many others at Mystery Manor, is the customer service. It is second to none. Greyfuss here was missing a little foot for the case and they took one off another case and sent it to him within the day as an example! I recent contacted Mike - the owner - to ask a question about a computer they'd built 10 years earlier and he responded with an answer and a suggestion within the day.

EcollegePC

*Warning: Long winded mod blathering ahead*

Look at your needs over the industry hype. If your monitor is 1080p and you don't intend on upgrading for a number of years then you can settle for a less powerful set-up. All the talk about ray-tracing and so on becomes mute if the monitor can't interpret what the card can produce.

It's good to check the various manufacturer forums and reviews at channels/sites like Gamer's Nexus or Tom's Hardware. They are both a good source for reviews on any hardware and even full pre-built units.

Also, when looking at a pre-build you want to consider connectivity: Do you want USB 3.2 or is 3.0 OK? How many monitors are you running, will they always be connected via HDMI or do you want to use DisplayPort or maybe Thunderbolt? Do you want a better audio output to speakers and a subwoofer or is a headphone jack all you need? Are you going to need a DVD/CD drive? While not very common now-a-days some folks have games that aren't yet available on cloud services, so like to have that option. So think about those kinds of things too and look at the ports that will be available.

When building I tend to look for what the best bang for my buck will be. That usually means building a generation back from the most current offerings. My last builds are using the 2nd gen RTX 3060 Ti's because those had a brief (and surprising) price drop right around the time the 4000 series cards were coming out, and were far more reasonable.

Now though, you have the RTX 4060, which is in the same price category if not cheaper for some models and provides a somewhat stronger offering than the 3060. I also went with the i7 (13700) CPU as opposed to the i9 due to the large cost differential compared to real world performance. As for Intel and nVidia versus AMD, it's personal preference, but I prefer going the Intel CPU, nVidia GPU route. For brands of motherboards and vid cards I generally stick with ASUS or Asrock (same company), Gigabyte and MSI. There are number of other makers out there like Intel that are perfectly reputable as well. Just need to check and see what kind of experience people are having with them and the company's customer service. One brand I would stay away from at the moment is EVGA for motherboards or vid cards. They've been going through a lot of drama lately and not sure how much longer they will be around. Too bad, they used to make some great stuff. Generally, you want a motherboard that will accommodate 12th and/or 13th gen Intel CPU's or, I think AMD Ryzen 7 or 9 CPU's (BIG caveat on the AMD comment. I am not versed in their current operations or performance, what I mentioned are just the most recent.)

System Memory is also important. You can get away with 16GB for most applications, but I prefer to be in the 32-64GB range if possible. The amount of Graphics memory you need in the Vid Card is really dependent on the version. Good example are those 3060's I mentioned. Those are 8GB as compared to the generation 1 that had 16GB. That GPU had a refresh and the 2nd gen actually provides better performance with less memory than the previous generation. Some Graphics Card makers will throw a bunch of memory in to make the card seem better than it actually is.

One overlooked piece of hardware in pre-builds is the Power Supply. Check what the power demands are at load for the components (CPU, GPU) in a prebuild and make sure the PSU they are supplying meets those demands.

While building out my newer gaming machine I'm using a build I did 6 years ago with an i7 8700 CPU and GTX 1070. It doesn't qualify for Windows 11, but I'm still running the universal graphics setting for Baldur's Gate 3 on Ultra with only a touch of stuttering when starting up the game. I'm sure I'm not seeing all the cool fog and god-ray effects that come with the new vid cards, but I'm not missing them either at this point.

This made me smile, Trail, because I like to get those last generation components when the prices drop as soon as the newest and bestest comes out! I also went for the Core i7 (10700K) over the Core i9 for the same reason. I loved the Gigabyte motherboards, but my last 3 have been ASUS motherboards and I really like them.

Best advice ever from Trail, Orion!

Yeah, I really lucked out on those 3060's. As soon as the RTX 4000 series hit the shelves, the OC Ti 3060 price dropped like a rock. Now the price is back up again - go figure. I swear there's some conspiracy theory brewing about how the illuminati controls the prices of GPU's

For Starfield, I think the one requirement that throws some people is the 125GB SSD space requirement. If it's going to be one of those games that allows multiple play throughs with various character types, then your going to burn way more space with all those saves. Baldur's gate is just under 100GB and they recommend 150GB available to accommodate updates and saves. So given the way that Bethesda kicks out expansion packs, you probably want to have around 200GB available. So, speaking of drives I would look for something in the 2 TB range. 1 TB is ok though. SSD, M.2 or otherwise is ideal, but good platter drives are fine. They just equate to longer load times.

Other than that, the CPU and GPU requirements are pretty reasonable, citing CPU generations all the way down to the 6800K i7 and 2600x Ryzen 5 and GPU's all the way down to the 1070.

Sticking with a mid-grade CPU and GPU is usually a good thing to give yourself some future proofing, while not breaking the bank.

For quite awhile there when supply chains were a nightmare, you had to sell a kidney to get a decent GPU!

Those are some hefty space requirements!

Thank you both very much for the info and guidance. I will keep it all in mind as I go forward. Starfield's requirements are fairly steep. I was gonna bump them up to make sure we will be good for awhile. I would like to be able to upgrade where needed, memory, graphics and processor. This is my start config:

ASUS motherboard
I7 Intel processor. If not upgradable I will consider an I9
Series 3 Nvidia graphics card if not a 4 - not really needed at this point
Good memory / RAM
2T SSD
The right power supply keeping in mind upgrading the CPU and GPU down the road when / if needed
WIN 11
VR Ready

My wife is a computer technician / IT. We built our Win 7 a few years back. We could not upgrade the CPU. Still one of the best machines we have ever had only used to download / play Steam and GOG games. Might save a little if we were to build this one. I'll get it figured out

What are the advantages of going with more CPU cores, 10+ core instead of an 8 core. I read where it has something to do with the SSD running up to it's speed potential. Are there other reasons to get more cores, do the amount of cores somehow help other components, hardware and software, for performance? I know the more cores a CPU has the higher temps will run. Other than that do you have to be conscious of core count. What do they go up to nowadays.... 24 cores?

You don't necessarily need to limit yourself to Asus as a motherboard manufacturer. Asrock, Gigabyte and MSI make great motherboards as well. Good to keep your options open, base it on your need, budget and reviews. Even Asus produces a bad-egg now and again, it's just sort of the nature of the industry now-a-days.

As for number of CPU cores, it's about multi-tasking and usually gets leveraged more with heavy business utilization (i.e. automation, calculations, an so on.) Gaming mainly leverages the Graphics Card and drives more often, although some games do work through background calcs and network communication on a regular basis so would see some performance increase using more cores.

The CPU doesn't determine the speed of the SSD, it's based on the pathway that is used for storage exchange on the motherboard and the type of SSD that's used. Generation 1 SSD's, the ones that look like 2.5" laptop drives use the same SATA pathway as platter drives, but do it more efficiently. They access and write their data faster so the speed is perceived as quicker than a platter drive, but once the data hits the SATA channel on the motherboard it will run at the same speed. So it's the write and read access that's quicker. For some of the newer M.2 SSD drives (that's the new form factor, doesn't have anything to do with their speed), the ones that are about the size of a stick of gum, those may leverage a different path than that of the previous generation. The newer drives use the PCIe path, which is the same paths as the expansion cards (like graphics cards) use.

SATA drives use only 1 lane of "traffic" to exchange data, while PCIe drives use 4, so the data exchange speed, along with the read, write speed is substantially higher than SATA SSD or Platter drives. nVME M.2 drives I believe are the fastest because they are configured to take the most advantage of the lanes that are available to them with the PCIe interface. What can impact their speed is what path they are relegated to on the motherboard. If the M.2 drive slot on the motherboard shares the path used by one of the expansion cards, then the available lanes will be reduced if you use both an expansion card and an M.2 drive together. Although really for our purposes the speed reduction is negligible and still blazing fast compared to platter or gen 1 SSD drives.

Building a PC can help save money, but mainly give you the confidence of knowing exactly what went into the unit.

That is good information to know Trail. I would have never known or even thought that this kind of technical information could be of benefit. Every little bit helps. Thank you

I wanted a 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 SSD 2TB installed on a laptop. I was told by a few sites that SSD's are not available yet for laptops so now I am leaning towards a desktop. I don't want a desktop. I can go with a different HD on a laptop or go desktop. I can get a 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus PCIe NVMe hard drive installed on a laptop but this is not SSD like required by Starfield besides that I want a SSD drive. I don't know what to do at this point. I am gonna call Samsung this morn to find out about this SSD issue, do they make them for laptops and just not offered at these sites I have looked at and called

What are your thoughts on CPU and GPU temps. I have read that 85*c / 185* F CPU temp for any length of time could damage the CPU. 80* C / 176* F are exceptable. What are your thoughts on CPU and GPU temps. Laptops do run hotter then Desktops. A few laptop reviews with benchmarks I have looked at have temps running around 85* C. These are shooter of course. Won't be playing much of them except for Starfield. I am concerned about these temps though

My laptop config so far, what is offered:

Intel Core i9-11900K 8-Cores up to 5.3 GHz

UHD 3840 x 2160 17.3" IPS Level G-SYNC Display - 4K

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 16GB GDDR6 Max-P [VR Ready]

CORSAIR VENGEANCE 32GB 2666MHz (2X16GB) - This memory is not upgradable any further

2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus PCIe NVMe - Calling Samsung on a SSD. It seems that a 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 is SSD but not available for laptops. See EDIT

MS Windows 11 Pro

Adding 2 year warranty - Parts, labor and shipping


This config has a price tag of $3000. I get it for $2000. I have until the end of the month to decide on it

If I have to go to a desktop I will call Drac's recommendation - ecollegepc

EDIT:

Looking over the options again for OSD's and Storage Drives in the customization of laptops at the sites I checked the hard drive I wanted is SSD. It does not title as such but looking at the diagram it says SSD on it. These sales people apparently did not know what they were talking about. Guess I need to make another call

I don't know where you are getting your info, Orion, but SSDs have been available on laptops for many years! I suspect they assume that after all these years most people are aware that the Samsung EVO is a PCIe SSD, not an M.2 SSD.

That looks like a killer gaming laptop. I would be curious about battery time unless you plan on playing while it's plugged in. If you are concerned about temps, you can also add a cooling pad to help pull the heat away.

Yeah, like Drac said manufacturers are using SSD's, both M.2 and the older Gen 1 in some laptops. It maybe that the particular model of laptop that you are looking at doesn't have M.2 ports, or the company that's configuring the laptop doesn't handle Samsung? Most companies limit you to only what they have offered in their configurator. Maybe you could post a link to the laptop you're looking at. I'm interested in who's building it.

Gaming laptops do run hot, that's just the nature of the beast, but good manufacturers will configure the cooling fans to take care of that. It's just important not to block the intakes and vents. The new M.2 drives can run crazy hot, but laptops with those are made to be appropriately ventilated. Expect the fans to be a bit louder on a gaming laptop due to the heat exchange that's taking place while gaming. Also like Drac said you can get a laptop pad, which is kind of a wedge that the laptop sit upon that has slim-line cooling fans built into it. They are usually powered by either the USB from the laptop or a separate transformer and wall plug. Just need to make sure the model you choose doesn't run counter to the laptop's air flow. Really though, as long as you keep it on a hard flat surface and keep the sides and back clear, you probably don't need a pad.


Sure looking forward to playing Starfield (mod attempt to keep the thread on topic)

Gotta throw that on-topic comment to keep it "official!"

I have read about those cooling pads Drac and I would definately get one if needed. Playing adventure games for the most part would not run too hot I can only guess. Starfield would be a good test on the cooling system. The 2020 model's fans ran at 85 DBa under stress. Thats loud. The fan noise on this 2023 version is suppose to be quieter. How much quieter I do not know. The curvature of the fan blades have been changed to achieve this

I really like these Origin laptops. That system config I already mentioned was from the 2021 version EON17-X model. It offers the $1000 off.

Taking a look at the 2023 EON 17-X model it would cost me $3000 with only $100 discount. It's got me scratching my head. It already comes with a nice config but needs a little tweaking

By clicking on "Customize" top right on both models you can go run though the prebuild and upgrade at same time


My config on the 2023 version:

17.3" QHD 240Hz - Intel i9 13900HX - NVIDIA RTX4080 - does not mention "VR Ready"

Upgraded to the "Corsair Vengeance 32GB Kit (2x16GB) DDR5 4800MHz SODIMM" - upgradable to 64GB

2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus PCIe NVMe(SSD) - 2TB Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 (SSD) is not offered, 1TB is

MS Windows 11 Pro

Warranty not decided yet


I will have to call to check on VR Ready and that M.2 SSD - 2TB

****

Video review of the 2021 EON 17-X model - 2:10 in gives you a look at that cooling system and internals

IGN review of the 2023 version - Calls it "hot and loud" at the end of the review. Has a battery life between 2 to 5 hours depending. "Hot and loud" may not get it. CPU temps of 100* C consistantly on start-up with their config.....maybe I should order that pad now

You might want to post this in the Glitches forum to get input from the boffins that Drac herds

Also, all RTX cards are VR ready. That's pretty much a standard now except for lower tier cards, and that 4080 is brand spanking new.

Here's a fun review on an Origin/Corsair build : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bflZYG5DWPg

BBB Customer Review rating (note: the A+ rating by BBB is not official and Origin is not BBB Accredited. They're rating only based on Origin follow-ups AFTER the customers had to log complaints with the BBB) the customer reviews are most telling: https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/miami/profile/computer-dealers/origin-pc-corporation-0633-92018296

Also, new box opening reviews, right when a PC comes out aren't usually fully accurate. They will of course be "glowing" about the level of tech put into the box or laptop, but it's the reviews that happen a few months down the road that really tell the tale. That's why I tend to stay away from being an early adopter. It's also why I like to check out Gamer's Nexus. Sure, they can be quite pragmatic and overly technical on some of their reviews, but they know what they are talking about. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any reviews by them on Origin Laptops.

Unfortunately, since Jenny100 passed, I have no one to herd down there, boffins or otherwise! It's very lonely with my limited knowledge, but Marian pops in for some backup sometimes!

"Starfield."

I nominate Trail_Mystic to mod the Glitches forum!

While I appreciate the confidence, no thank you. I have a hard enough time making sure I leave the house with matching shoes.

I had no idea that when I said "needing more power to run it" that this "Starfield Mega Thread" would become overrun with my concerns about needing a new computer to run Starfield. By all means please shift it over to Glitches, if you see fit, where it should have been in the first place. I'm sorry. I was thinking this "Mega Thread" would cover all aspects of Starfield including computer issues. If I have any other computer concerns I will bring them up on Glitches

After watching that GN review I am completely on hold here with getting ANY Origin product at this point. Some of that review went over my head. The fact that GN knew what to check out and then by doing so found serious issues with a $6000 computer is not good. On top of that those BBB customer service complaints, some most recent, are absolutely horrible

Another issue.....You just can't take top of the line components and throw them into a compacted pretty much tightly sealed compartment, laptop, and expect all to be well especially those temps and the fan noise that will come with it. How long would it take to burn all up possibly loosing the lifetime of the laptop or individual - vid card, processor, any card. If you had any issues and then having to deal with ORIGIN.....I don't know. That leaves me with checking out a tower from another vendor. With Starfield not releasing until 9/6 and then holding off purchasing to see what issues come up and how bethesda fixes those issues......well I have some time here to figure this out

Those 2 origin laptops I was looking at are nice setups. The 2021 model would actually do what I needed it to do with some room to spare on the power side. You just could not upgrade any further. That is why I took a look at that 2023 model, very much so top of the line. I would have been good with upgrades for quite a while. Oh well..... Its not over

I want to thank you both for all your input. It helped steer me along, very much appreciated!! Now to check out eCollegePC again and give Mike a call. Don't need anything fancy just very good

I wear flip flops so not to get my shoes wrong Trail

I would recommend looking at eCollegePC for a desktop. If nothing else using their builder is an education!

"Starfield!"

We've had a desktop from eCollegePC and were very happy with it.



What she said.

Sounds good Orion, it's always good to take a step back before making a purchase like that.

Yeah, Stephen on Gamer's Nexus can get very, very technical with the explanations, but they are by far the most transparent of any reviewers I've ever come across. They even build there own test equipment and have good relations with a number of different manufacturers. They've also been known to back those same manufacturers up against a wall to make them admit they have an issue that's not being addressed. That's another reason I like them, they're ethical and will even refuse monetizing their videos if they feel it's a conflict with the information they're going to present. Really a great group of folks who know what they are doing.

I don't know what's up with Origin. They are part of Corsair, which has been a very reputable PC components maker for years. My guess is that Origin is using the deep pockets of their parent company to pump up the marketing, but their execution and customer service seems quite weak.

"Starfield."

Huh, weird. I actually put "Starfield :-D" in my edit reason, but it wasn't showing until I saved the Edit a second time. Go figure

18 days and counting down - 9/6

Starfield Home. Check out these pre-order purchase options

Steam

Humble - Via Steam


I tried to get a hold of Mike but no answer. I will try again Monday. His builder is an education Drac. I have some questions for him

Have always wanted one - If they can control laptop temps any better maybe I can still get one, an 18". They are very nice, so are the desktops but gonna cost ya either way. As long as I can keep $3000-

I am gonna find that new computer. I will post any other concerns over on Glitches.

Thank you so much for the help!

Gamescom 2023 has released a Starfield World Premiere Trailer

More on Gamescom HERE

That's a nicely produced trailer, but too bad it has nothing to do with the actual game. All aboard the hype train. I'd rather see footage produced from the game engine or in-gameplay. I am looking forward to the game, but I'm hoping that Bethesda is being monitored by their overlords so as to not set us up for a let down. I know I am being sort of a hypocrite though, when Microsoft and Bungie released the live action Museum of Humanity trailers for the release of Halo 3 I was all over those. Course that actually had a story you could get behind. I need some meat with my CGI

That "World Premiere Tailer" was more like a trailer to an animated movie coming out. I did not get it

You might have checked these out already Trail. There are a number of videos that give game development, gameplay, and thoughts of Starfield. I still have a few more to check out but so far I like what I have viewed

Gameplay Demo - xbox console exclusive

OK, Gamers Nexus just benchmarked graphics cards running Bethesda's Starfield, so if you're interested to see if your card was tested and how it will perform, this is the vid to check out:

Gamers Nexus: Starfield GPU Benchmarks


Surprised how abysmal my 3060 TI was rated for 4K. Guess I'll find out. With these findings, I think we'll need to take Bethesda's minimum PC requirements with a grain of salt. Although, as Mr. Burke pointed out that may (will) change as AMD and nVidia start tweaking their drivers.

I was surprised to see that 3060 Ti rated that poorly too!

I can see I have a busy winter ahead of me, what with definitely playing BG3 a couple of times, plus Cyberpunk with all its improvements and the new DLC, and now Starfield, which I'm downloading right now. And then there's my never-ending game of Fallout 4 plus all of its mods. And I keep forgetting Elder Scrolls Online, which I love.

When I moved I upgraded my internet package to the maximum speed and holy smokes is it downloading fast!

I upgraded my internet a couple of months ago and I LOVE it!

Yes, for me it's worth it. I was watching Starfield download and within about 10 minutes it was 20% downloaded.

Last year they ran fiber optics throughout the neigborhood giving us AT&T's 1000mbps Plan. What a difference that made. Because we have been with them for some time now we got a real good monthly rate. Check out this monthly rate on 5 GB Internet available in my area. $250 / mo. Are you kidding me. Business directed I guess

I am still pondering this computer upgrade so I can play Starfield. My dilema is still between a laptop and the destop. I know desktop is the way to go, its cheaper and you can control temps a lot better. Meantime I can start checking out any issues and comments on Starfield

Looks like you are all set for the winter hagatha

Orion, hagatha does all her gaming on laptops. Maybe you could hit her up for some tips and suggestions!

Currently I have an Alienware 17" 3080 RTX laptop. I love it, but they are ridiculously expensive. It's my second Alienware.

In retrospect, I should have bought the 18" with the 4090 RTX, looking to the future, but so far this thing runs like a dream.

The reason I prefer them is partly that they're built like small tanks and also if you purchase their premium service package, they will respond immediately to any problems and as long as the issue isn't hardware related, they will simply get into your computer remotely and fix it. If it's hardware they send someone to your home as long as you live near an urban centre.

I'm having fun with Starfield so far. On Medium settings and no issues...


Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5820K CPU @ 3.30GHz 3.30 GHz
Installed RAM 64.0 GB
GPU 980TI 6GB's of memory
Monitor GSYNC 27" upscale to 2K
HDD SSD 2TB
System type Win 10 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

I have been looking at the 18" hagatha. My concern is the CPU temps and fan noise. Do you know what the CPU temps rise to when you are playing some of those games you run on it. I have checked out quite a few benchmark videos that max out games and on average temps would rise to 100+*C / 212+*F. I have read where CPU temps running at 85+ for any length of time can shorten the lifetime of the laptop not to mention damage internal parts possibly cracking the chip

One way of cooling the 18" down - 4 min

I would definately get one of Dell's Support Packages. I like the remote fix. Seems to be the way anymore. They send someone to your home if needed, really? That's nice

****

Thanks revco. Good to see no issues. If you run into any please post them

Sure, gaming laptops run hot, but unless you intend on playing in a cupboard or wearing a pair of fur pants whilst using the laptop on your lap, you should be fine.

Here's the thing, most folks who own these are going to use them for gaming sessions that probably last 4 hours at max in one go. If you're ambient room temperature is in the upper 70's or low 80's (F) or 21 or 26 (C) then you'll want to give even a tower time to cool down unless you're using a very efficient liquid cooling set up. If you have A/C and your laptop is sitting on a desk or table with ample space for air flow, you'll be great. You can also use a cooling platform/pad if you like, but as I mentioned before make sure you know which direction it's pushing/pulling air so it doesn't work against the laptops own cooling.

Fan noise is hard to determine, because it's a partially from the perspective of the user. If you are in a very quiet room, even a business laptop is going to sound loud when all the fans kick in during heavy use. When you think about it, fan noise is a good thing, it means the cooling system is doing it's job. It's nearly impossible to have a powerful laptop without a fairly high degree of fan noise.

The folks who preach caution around these sometimes jump on the hotbox bandwagon as a way of generating views for their channel, so it's good not to get too wound up about temps, speeds and capacities unless the machine has a glaring issue that will result in repeated thermal shutdowns, otherwise you'll end up in analysis-paralysis and everything will look like it's dangerous.

So, really it's a matter of convenience. If you are limited for space (just not in a cupboard ), or would just prefer something more compact than a tower, then a laptop may suit your needs. If not, and you don't mind a box sitting on the floor and have the ability to upgrade it at some future date, then a tower might work for you.

Excellent advice, Trail!

I have my laptop sitting on a Razer laptop stand that holds the back of the computer about 4" above the surface. It allows the fans to blow properly and I've had absolutely no overheating issues so far. Yes, it gets hot, but not searingly hot like my Razer laptop (which I need to get looked at when my life settles down). That laptop got so hot even some of the keys were hot to the touch.

I am kicking myself for not springing for the 18" with the 4090, though. But this one is pretty sweet nonetheless.

I understand everything you have mentioned Trail, all good points

You know Trail I was just having a hard time deciding which way to go. My wife and I have been discussing this purchase. We talked about it again last night and decided to go with the another desktop. We'll get it powered up, liquid cooled and get a 24" to 32" monitor for it. We'll hook it up to the TV as well. This is gonna work out a lot better for us. Once this new computer settles in we have to upgrade our VR. There are a number of games if not out coming out in VR we both would like to check out

Thank you Trail !

******

Thank you hagatha for your comments. That is a sweet machine you got there. I'm sure you enjoy the heck out of it

Razors apparently have gotten better with their cooling. Number 1 according to these guys

Starfield released on the 6th. There are quite a few videos covering a lot of detail on it starting with a Beginners Guide. Click on Starfield top right to load more videos

I started it tonight. It's probably too early to make any meaningful observations save for this: I think the controls are abysmal. I'm sure Bethesda could have made it easier. I finally stopped playing when I found myself needing to dock at a space station and not having the first clue how to do it. A few videos later and I think I have it, but I'll have to test that theory tomorrow.

On High video settings it runs smoothly; on Ultra it lags a bit. I don't see a huge difference between the two settings anyway.


EDIT: Okay, so a day in, and I can say that it's the usual Bethesda format, only in space. Quests take you to other planets and star systems, and the planets themselves can be explored, though the one I just ventured out into was only worth exploring for the flora and fauna, which are admittedly useful. Unlike the Fallout games there isn't a building to explore every few minutes. I still haven't mastered the controls but I'm getting there. It's entertaining enough, though I wonder if it's worth all the fuss. It's early days yet, though, so I'll see.


Day 2. Okay, I can see how this might be a lot of fun. I keep forgetting; this is a Bethesda game, not Baldur's Gate 3, which I was just playing. I don't have to take any of it seriously.

Bearing that in mind, I now know what to expect. Explore until you get to a place that's too difficult and turn back. Pick up as much stuff as you can. Kill things. Craft stuff. Get experience. Pick a Perk. Rinse, repeat.

I ventured way out and got stuck in a mission where I had to go and do some fancy space combat, which I'm not ready for. It was part of a larger mission to rescue some people, and I was worried that I'd fail the mission and the people would die. And then I remembered -- it's a Bethesda game. I'll come back in about 20 levels and finish the quest.

So -- tons of quests, none of them deep. A gazillion planets to land on and explore. Not that there's a lot on them, but still. Tons of loot. Lots of companions to find.

Thank you very much hagatha for the info and thoughts on Starfield. I would like to explore the "gazillion" planets, find what I could and run. I would constantly upgrade my ship, try to make some friends and go from there.

You mentioned "quests". Do you have to follow them or can you go Rogue. What do you get when you complete a quest, money or .....?

There are quests literally all over the place, aside from the the main quest. I recently picked a random moon, landed, started walking, scanned plants and animals and minerals and found a tiny settlement that had a merchant and a Mission computer where a number of quests were listed. Most of the time you either get a piece of equipment or money as a reward. If you scan while you're walking, structures and places of interest will show up on the screen.

So yes, you can just take off and go wandering.

It's difficult to pick what skills to upgrade. Upgrading your ship right away means that you aren't upgrading things like lockpicking and weapons and health.

However, I find the space combat to be incomprehensible, frankly. I'm going to have to watch a lot of videos, because I simply cannot beat a simple fight. This is as much related to the weird control menus as anything else, but also, when the game gives you a cue as to which key to hit, the letter is so tiny it's hard to read. It is literally impossible to distinguish between a D, and O and a 0.

Otherwise, it's pretty fun. My one big issue is that it all becomes the same after a while. Similar flora and fauna, similar structures, similar caves, etc. It's not like the Fallouts where there is something interesting to explore around every corner. It has the best lockpicking mini-game ever, though.

Thank you hagatha. Your thoughts and advice will be very valuable.

If you are having trouble with combat I can only imagine I will really be in trouble with combat. Having never tried ths type of game and having to use what....the full keyboard? This could be very a interesting/difficult play for me. Like you I need to watch a few videos especially combat. I have not looked at these combat videos yet but will. I hope they will be of interest to you and help you out. If you find any videos that you feel explain certain issues you are concerned about, in any aspect of Starfield, please post them

The first update is out. Starfield does not seem to be having too big of an issue running for the time being. This is good

Discussions

Starfield has been absolutely stable of my computer. No crashes at all. It's running perfectly well on my laptop, too.

The main issue I've seen plaguing some streamers who are playing Starfield are CTD's at autosave. Seems to happen when the autosave occurs just prior to a transition to a new locale or scene. Luckily, the save is retained, but at the cost of the crash. Haven't seen any workstation specific issues, just that.

In case anyone is interested, the wonderful modding community over at Nexus Mods has been hard at work and there's already around a thousand or more mods for Starfield. Got to love it.

Nexus Mods: Starfield

TM

Thanks for the heads up TM!

I was looking at some of those mods. I see nobody has made one for skipping space combat. I fear my engagement with this game will suffer because I just cannot deal with it. There's one 3-against-1 fight that makes a quest impossible. Oh, well. I can play around it.

I wonder if the console command "kill all" works in Starfield like it does in Skyrim

Ah, yes. Seems a bit unsportsmanlike, though.

I've ditched Starfield for the time being, moving right along in BG3, where I've finally reached the city.

Wanting to play Starfield knowing I could not with the computers I have I needed to upgrade if I had any chance of playing it. Other games like The Expanse and Firmament, which I own but could only run it in low graphics and no way VR , gave reason to upgrade as well. Games that have my interest and I want to play require a lot more power then what I have. This upgrade was long over due.

With the help and combined knowledge here not only did I steer away from laptops because of temps and fan noise but also gained knowledge on components which was a big help. The desktop config that I was able to get my hands on:

Alienware Aurora R16
Windows 11 Home 64-bit
i7-14700KF
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 -12
32 Memory
1 TB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD
1000W Platinum Rated PSU, 240mm Liquid-Cooled CPU

and this monitor

Firmament went from low graphic settings on an auto detect to Epic, absolutely beautiful. I guess the last upgrade I need to get will be a new VR setup

Thank you Drac, Trail, hagatha and revco


Now what has happened to Starfield? The last I looked it was doing very well. It's on sale right now and is time to get it but first I have some reading to do

Orion, you are going to SMOKE through those high end games with that setup! Have fun!

Well so much for going after Starfield for the time being - Reviews

Starfield was one reason I upgraded to a new computer. It was time to do so regardless but I was looking forward to playing it. Hopefully Bethesda can fix some of this mess as many see it. Some say a sabotage because it is up for a Steam Award and because BG3 started getting negative reviews there was a coordinated attack, Why the sudden review bomb?, against Starfield. REALLY! Can you believe that. What can you believe about starfield reviews/comments if this is the case. Time to look at some recent video reviews and gameplay again

That's pretty disappointing. If I'm going to spend that kind of money on a game, I want a better experience than I'm reading about!

I have to say I wasn't thrilled and abandoned it after about 40 hours of play. One of the more scathing reviews on Steam described it as, "Walking; the game." and that was kind of how I felt about it. It was a lot of walking and scanning and cut and paste locations that became old really fast. I mean, seriously -- we've got space travel but we have to WALK everywhere?

There may be a great game in there somewhere, but I didn't find it.

Right now, while I'm getting used to my Xbox controller, I'm alternating between Cyberpunk and Skyrim -- yes, Skyrim again -- and honestly having a blast in both games.


EDIT: Just for fun I read a few reviews. I'm particularly amused by Bethesda's copy/paste response to negative reviews, which goes like this:

"Thank you for taking the time to leave a review for Starfield! We are sorry that you do not like landing on different planets and are finding many of them empty. Some of Starfield’s planets are meant to be empty by design - but that's not boring. “When the astronauts went to the moon, there was nothing there. They certainly weren't bored."

No, no, Bethesda, when we say we're bored, we ARE actually bored. Plus, that sounds like it as written by a ten-year-old.

hagatha, that has to be one of the worst - dismissive! - canned responses I've ever read. Talk about being tone-deaf.

Anyway, I was disappointed but perhaps with some DLC and decent mods it'll be worth playing next year.

The only Steam Game Award Starfield was up for it won, "Most Innovative Gameplay Award" - Player voted this time winning this award has brought out the lovers and haters for another round:

Reviews

Community

Having never played a game of this sort I thought this Sci-fi was going to be a good game for me try. All the negative hype true or not has put a hold on getting it for now. I can only guess much of the negative hype comes from those who play these types of games all the time knowing what is good, bad and.....terrible. Would I even know the difference. As long as there aren't too many issues with the game running(?) I'll keep watching.

There are a few games similar to Starfield I'm looking at, EVE Online and Star Citizen. EVE Online looks and sounds very good, they both do

Whether or not I give Starfield a try I hope Bethesda gets their act together and takes care of the issues they are able to

You night like it. I just felt very disappointed after having looked forward to it. It failed to grab me after 40 hours of play. In contrast, I started a game of Skyrim just so I could learn how to use my XBox controller and thought I'd get back to my other game as soon as I felt able. I'm still playing Skyrim, and I've already put in an embarrassing number of hours into the game since it first came out. Starfield is NOT Skyrim in space. They two games have little in common.

That is a lot of hours hagatha, 40 hrs. Anything you have to say about Starfield, your opinion, I believe. You call it boring and after 40 hrs playing the game it did not grab you. That is good enough for me. Along with your opinion and watching a few video reviews/gameplays Starfield is no longer of interest to me. There are other Sci-Fi's of this type to check out

What is an embarrassing amount of Skyrim hours hagatha? I am gonna take a look at this game just out of curiosity. It sounds like Skyrim is one you are really enjoying

Thank you hagatha

I am nowhere near as proficient with RPGs as hagatha but I love the Elder Scrolls games nevertheless - and enjoy them very much. Even though I DO have to cheat a little sometimes

I don't know how many hours I have in Skyrim, but I have almost 350 hours into Witcher 3 The Wild Hunt and probably at least that many in the last couple of Metro games!

Orion, the Elder Scrolls games are marvellous.

I started with Morrowind, which is a more complicated game than the others, but wonderful.

I always think that Oblivion, the game following Morrowind, is a great way for anyone to start playing a game like these. It does a lot of hand-holding at the start and allows you to ease into the game play.

Skyrim is the Elder scrolls game that follows Oblivion.

I've easily put over 1,000 hours into Morrowind, and several thousand hours into each of Oblivion and Skyrim.

I've also put thousands of hours in to the Fallout games and still play them. They are like the Elder Scrolls games but in a science-fiction setting instead of a fantasy setting.

I imagine I might be pushing your hours in Morrowind, hagatha! In fact, it might be time to load it up yet again!

Draclvr, once I get to Solstheim in Skyrim and the Morrowind music starts I always feel such nostalgia. Feels like going home somehow.

I agree - I get such nostalgia.

Morrowind is more or less permanently installed on one of my machines so I can dip in and out at will 😑

One of my favourite games ever 👍

Just got an email from GOG saying Morrowind and Oblivion are on sale for DEEP discounts.

Now stop with the tempting, Draclvr, when I already have more than one copy of this brilliant game 😱😱😱

And I thought 40 hours was good amount of time put into a game hagatha. It's too bad you did not like it. I remember when some adventure games ran for 40 hour, every hour enjoyed

1000+ hours put into these RPG's is an INSANE amount of hours. I understand that these type of games can go on forever and are very addictive. I wish I would have taken interest in them earlier on. I did take a look at Oblivion and the others both their sites and video playthroughs and if I were to give one a try Oblivion should be that game. The Elder Scrolls look very good. I know if I had ever started playing RPG's I would no doubt have the hours racked up as well. It's just a little late for me to master these, come to know them especially when I have other games in line

I have the first three Fallouts. I did play the first one quite awhile back and finished it. I liked it but at that time adventure games were flooding my computer and I never played another RPG

I did get both Morrowind and Oblivion and will consider playing them, Oblivion at least. Thanks Drac

While I was playing text adventures the three of you were sharpening your swords

Orion, don't fear the RPG. Honestly, Oblivion really does hold your hand with a long tutorial that is also the prologue to the game. It's great fun. I would start with that one rather than Morrowind.

By the way, I was once a die-hard adventure-only gamer and was outraged when one of the King's Quest games had a combat sequence. Then I ran into Thief and Baldur's Gate.

Although I'm older than all of you, I didn't get started in gaming until Dracula The Last Sanctuary. It was all downhill from there!

Bethesda had considered adding land vehicles to Starfield but later scrapped that idea (article). Land vehicles are seldom used in Bethesda games, because they entail other design challenges that perhaps Bethesda doesn't want to get into (even though other games have done it) -- combat on vehicles, how to talk to NPCs or gather resources when you are inside a vehicle (you certainly wouldn't want to get in and out of the car just to pick a flower). Originally in Skyrim, you couldn't fight enemies while you were riding a horse; you would just take a beating while sitting on the horse. Combat on horseback was added (much) later in Skyrim.

I recently played No Man's Sky, which has much better implementation of space travel and land travel. You can fly into and out of planets without loading screens. You can build land vehicles to travel faster on land, or submersibles to travel underwater. Those vehicles are outfitted with resource-gathering devices, scanners, etc. so you can do everything inside the vehicle. However, No Man's Sky is a sandbox-type game like Minescraft with next to no story.



Bethesda is embarrassingly wrong with those remarks, because whoever wrote them failed to understand Storytelling 101. Writers (and game designers) are supposed to make EVERYTHING interesting. It's not the subject matter, but your treatment of the subject matter in your work, that determines if your work is any good. EVEN if the subjects are boredom and emptiness, you are supposed to make them interesting. There are examples like that in other media. There is a 1961 Italian film called "L'avventura" which is highly regarded for dealing with the tedium and ennui of life in a memorable and provocative way. Another example in the film world is the 1975 French film "Jeanne Dielman...", a four-hour film showing mostly a housewife doing housework all day, often in a state of tedium and discontent, until one day when she can't take it anymore. ANY subject matters can be made interesting by skillful writer or designer.

Excellent points, GamingPhreak!

Yes, I agree completely with GamingPhreak's most recent post.

Thank you hagatha. I will give Oblivion a try. Who knows, I might come to enjoy this genre




I was very interested No Man's Sky when it released, maybe for a couple of years I believe it was. The reviews on it were very bad. I don't remember what the issues were at the time but they steered me away from it

No Man's Sky was exactly what I was looking for , exploration. The reviews have gotten much better. The fact that it runs in both Standard and VR modes was another reason I wanted to get it. Watching videos on it....well like you say "You can fly into and out of planets without loading screens", just one cool feature of this game. There looks to be many

The developer, Hello Games, is very proud No Man's Sky. They have released patches and updates one after another since it's release in 2016. This is one game that was not abandoned and thanks to you GamingPhreak reminding me of it I have put it back on my wishlist. I will get it when it goes on sale

Thank you!






Well it looks like I was a little off on the sword sharpening

I've put in 200 hours so far in Starfield, so I seem to have found some enjoyment with it, although all the criticisms against its storytelling are quite valid.

The best way to enjoy this game is to see it as some kind of "life simulator" for a plausible, space-faring future. Most other space games involve implausible, fantasy-like settings, such as Mass Effect and all the Star Wars games. Starfield tries not to go too far into fantasy, and apparently tries to show you what life outside Earth would plausibly be like. I'm fascinated with seeing a plausible future world, so I've found enjoyment in this respect. But this attempted realism indirectly yields a mundane, everyday quality in a lot of things you do in the game. This quality is what many gamers find objectionable.

The storytelling, as many have noted, is pretty unremarkable, pretty much from the get go. It is as if Bethesda intentionally wanted to make it as "ordinary" as it could be, so it wouldn't be mistaken as fantasy like Elder Scrolls or Fallout. There is no exciting jailbreak as in Oblivion, memorable childhood events that begin Fallout 3, nuclear holocaust that begins Fallout 4, nor exciting "dragon rescue" in Skyrim.

I've played a considerable portion of the main storyline and a considerable number of side quests. Almost all are less about "exciting" gameplay than about depicting the world "the right way." Many activities and problems are science-related. A memorable side quest called "First Contact" shows the reverse side of Columbus' discovery, in which the explorers discover a world much more advanced than the one they came from. Several activities involve people moving to less desirable planets (with extreme climate, etc.) in order to gain independence from ruling factions that occupy more desirable planets. A major side quest involves "terrormorphs," dinosaur-like wild animals found in several planets that threaten human lives. A clinic is stationed in space to avoid spreading viruses to planets. Farming facilities are set up in low-gravity planets because plants and crops grow taller and bigger in low gravity. In a city called Neon, there is a 7-story building whose occupants are all tech companies. And on and on. After playing for 200 hours, it's apparent to me that the game's modus operandi is to present a world in which science and space travel permeate every aspect of human lives: culture, behavior, hopes, dreams, etc.

Video games are supposed to be enjoyable to everyone. But I believe Starfield is more enjoyable if you like science. If you follow Neil deGrasse Tyson, follow the Artemis Moon mission, read books by Stephen Hawking, and things of that nature, you will certainly enjoy this game more than the people who don't. But of course, if the stories were better, it should appeal to you even if you weren't a science nerd.

Interesting discussion of Starfield, GamingPhreak.

Interesting comments, helping to temper to some extent the very negative reviews I saw when wondering whether to buy the game (which so far I have not done).

Perhaps I will reconsider when it pops up in a Steam sale in a few months time...

I only bought Starfield because I had determined before the release that I would buy the game regardless. So unless you are the determined type like I was, I suggest you hold off buying it until the "situation" improves, whenever that may be. If I saw any other game that got tons of negative views, I typically would hold off the purchase too (No Man's Sky, for instance). But I liked Bethesda's "brand" of game design in past games, so I knew what I was getting. I did the same with Fallout 76 too, a game that was overwhelmingly negative even before release, but I bought it regardless and played hundreds of hours. Sometimes you have to use your "sixth sense" to guess if a game would be fun for you even if it isn't fun for others. You can typically make good guesses from playing past games from the same developers and/or from the same genres. For instance, if you like adventure games, you will likely enjoy Frogwares' Sherlock Holmes series even though some of them may not get good reviews. Reading reviews and online comments may help, but only if the writers of those comments have the same preferences of genres, gameplay style, developers' track records, etc. as you do. For instance, tons of people don't like Starfield's base-building system, but what if they don't like those things in general, but you do? You have no way to tell "where they are coming from" due to the often galvanic and context-less nature of online discussions in general. I love base-building and have spent much time with it in Starfield. I've created a cargo link system that transfers resources from several planets and moons to a "hub" location for easy access. But admittedly, you don't even want to know how complicated it is to set up such a system. That kind of thing could be a nightmare for some but fun for others, just like the game itself.

Thank you for those additional thoughts GP: I must admit to having rather a short attention span, therefore usually preferring to get into the action part of a game quite quickly, although I greatly enjoyed some of the exploration in Skyrim (for instance).

I might dive back in now that there have been a few "upgrades."

I was interested in your comments about Fallout 76. I do have it. Maybe I should give that a go. I've played thousands of hours of the Fallouts, so I might just like it.

Fallout 76 is an MMO-type game, so unless you like MMOs, you may not like Fallout 76. I bought and played it because I knew what I was getting info, having played another MMO that I liked, Elder Scrolls Online. MMOs typically have tons of grinding, monetization, and teamwork that are not everyone's cup of tea, and Fallout 76 is no exception. If you have played an MMO, you know what it is like.

If you are mainly into stories, Fallout 76 currently has a pretty full offering due to all the updates over the years. There are many memorable main quests and side quests, where you meet many colorful characters and factions. They should make you feel you got your money's worth when you finish them. What's more, all of the main quests and most side quests can be played solo (mostly), because the enemies aren't so tough.

But the leveling-up system is much more punishing than in single-player Fallout games. This is a typical characteristic of MMOs. They make it difficult for you to do anything in order to increase your play time, because you will need the extra time and effort to handle all the survival mechanics like hunger, thirst, improving weapons and armor, repairing them, farming for resources to do all of the above, etc.

There are also exceedingly tough enemies in Fallout 76 that are meant to be fought by multiple players. So you have to team up with other players even if you don't want to.

I played ESO for about four months non-stop and absolutely loved it, playing entirely solo. I stopped during a time when John's health was really bad and never got back into it. I still have my subscription renewing every year and I should get back in there. I'm still so familiar with some of the maps I could probably draw them.

I'm downloading Fallout 76 and I'll have a gander at it at least.

Starfield is still on my laptop so I can always fire it up again someday.


EDIT: well, Fallout 76 did NOT have an auspicious start. Black screen on launch, with music.

Fallout 76 will have a big update next Tuesday (March 26, 12 pm ET), so hopefully it will come with some bug fixes for your current situation. I may play it again too, because this update is supposed to have new stories and quests (involving Atlantic City), which is shocking at this point, because the game hasn't had new story-based content in almost three years.

This is still one of the buggiest games I've ever seen even after all the improvements over the years. Many of the bugs and glitches involve server stability, which is not the best and likely won't be improved any further. Fortunately, whenever the game crashes, your progress is still saved.

I managed to start it through my Nvidia GeForce menu, and now it starts normally. Looks great, runs beautifully on my laptop.

That is good news, hagatha!

The big update next Tuesday will likely bring a lot of players back into Fallout 76, as big updates usually do. That will likely lead to greater server instability, which often manifests itself in freezes, lags, crashes-to-desktop, and other scenarios. In this game, you only see 24 players at most on the map at any given time, yet the server can't even handle such a low number of players. Compare this to ESO, where you can see hundreds of players on the screen at once.

I've run into only about 3 other players today.

EDIT: It's fun. I might even invest some cash into the annual subscription.

I'm up to 400 hours in Starfield now. Most of the best moments are later in the game, while most of the game's most boring moments are in the early moments, which is sadly what killed the game for many players. Below is a list of my "reviews" of most of the quests I've played so far. Most of the faction quests are great. The companion quests are also enjoyable. Some of the miscellaneous quests are great, while some are forgettable (and the bad ones are sadly those in the early game). My reviews below have no spoilers.


FACTION QUEST LINES:

Constellation quest line -- My rating: ** out of *****. This quest line is the "face" of the game, but is sadly unexceptional and uninspired in the early going. It only gets exciting until much later in the quest. The premise involving alien artifacts is hardly original, and has been done much better in other space-themed games like Mass Effect, Dead Space, and No Man's Sky.

Crimson Fleet quest line -- My rating: *****. This is one of the two best quest lines in the game. It puts you in the game's main evil faction where you do its bidding while hiding your identity and serving yet another faction. The story takes you to memorable places such as a high-security prison and a luxurious spaceliner. Great fun.

UC Vanguard quest line -- My rating: *****. The exciting quest line from the game's "good" faction has plot twists galore. It starts with a seemingly routine fetch quest, then it spirals and snowballs into a huge story involving xenowarfare and space politics. Players of Fallout 4 may find some of the elements familiar, however. It is not terribly original, but it's exciting questing nonetheless.

Freestar Collective quest line -- My rating: ****. This is also a nice quest line from UC's political rival, FC. You travel to FC territories, start with a small job involving a bank robbery, then stumbles into bigger and bigger challenges and intrigue. Like most of the faction quests, this is above the rest of the game in quality. Faction quests always come with memorable lore and world-building that are usually the heart of any RPG and the main appeal to RPG fans.

Ryujin Industries quest line -- My rating: ****. This is one of several quest lines in the game that have you join a company and do its bidding (or be its hench person). As you complete tasks and climb the corporate ladder, you are given increasingly more challenging (and interesting) tasks. My problem with the Ryujin quest line is that the earlier tasks are often not very interesting.

Strikers (Neon faction) -- My rating: ****. You join a gang in Neon, help them fight a rival gang, and decide their fate at the end. This is a minor faction quest that is fairly enjoyable as well. The seedy, Cyberpunk-like environment adds much flavor and fun.


COMPANION QUEST LINES:

Sarah -- My rating: ***. Sarah tells you her heart-felt past history, but her quest line is a fairly routine mission to find her long-lost _________. Haven't we seen that before.

Barrett -- My rating: ****. Barrett engages you with his past history, and offers much intrigue about a forgotten lawsuit he was once involved in.

Sam -- My rating: ****. Sam's quest deals with reconciling with his estranged wife. His young daughter, Cora, accompanies you on the mission and adds much colorful personality. You also learn about the historical lore that involves Sam's family.

Andreja -- My rating: ***. Andreja's mission involves one of the major factions of the game, and it provides much needed lore about the faction that may be lacking from the rest of the game.

Vasco -- My rating: **. Vasco accompanies you in the game's early moments. His mission is basically a tutorial for various gameplay mechanics like flying and combat. The mission serves its purpose, but doesn't wow, and it is one reason for Starfield's negative reception. Players hate a ruined first impression when they start playing a game.


MISC QUESTS (in descending order of my ratings, and ignoring generic fetch quests and radiant quests):

Groundpounder -- My rating: **** out of *****. This is a rescue mission with nice storytelling on loyalty, morality, and faction politics. Besides exciting combat, this is also a nice "human" mission that gives a better understanding of the people in the world.

First Contact -- My rating: ****. This dialog-driven quest gives you a huge area to explore, has a nice premise about "early explorers," but doesn't offer satisfying options at the end. This is still a memorable experience to the player, one that involves many of the core themes of Starfield: daring exploration, wonderful discoveries, and heart-breaking disappointments.

Defensive Measures -- My rating: ****. This is a nice side quest in Akila City where two NPCs debate how to best deal with the dangerous wild life in the area. Combat, persuasion, stealing, etc. are at your disposal. Some nice commentaries on human nature and compromising are offered as well.

Juno's Gambit -- My rating: ****. This is an interesting short little quest where you interact with an AI onboard a spaceship and help "it" make certain moral and philosophical decisions. The premise intrigues me greatly and makes me think about this kind of topics in our real world.

Failure to Communicate -- My rating: ****. This quest offers ship combat, interesting lore about space settlers, and interesting dialog choices to settle conflicts. It's an all-around well-designed quest that immerses you into the world. Ship combat can be tough if you haven't put enough skill points into it, however.

Loose Ends; Fishy Business -- My rating: ****. This mini-questline is given when you first arrive Neon, and it involves informants, contrabands, gang fights, and a fish factory where you get to work a day. This is an eventful and fun excursion that offers a grab bag of interesting activities.

The Crucible -- My rating: ****. You stumble upon an isolated outpost occupied by...historical figures. This seems most promising at the start, but leaves you wanting at the end. It is still a memorable, thought-provoking experience that gives you a "cosmic perspective" and a feeling of grandeur.

Mantis -- My rating: ***. This takes place in a high-level location where you investigate the "opportunity of a lifetime." The sinister atmosphere is interesting, but the storytelling is a bit slight. And the reward at the end may not be worthwhile if you are already at a high level.

Tapping the Grid -- My rating: ***. This is a slightly more interesting "tourism" quest -- one of the early quests in New Atlantis that show you the lay of the land. You help a technician locate and fix various electronic panels in The Well, while discovering some suspicious goings-on along the way.

Starsap Tours -- My rating: ***. This quest actually takes you on a tour. You pay an NPC to give you a walking tour of an isolated outpost called New Homestead. You get a glimpse of what life is like at the outskirts of the Settled Systems. The place has several interesting features (to a new player at least, if you take this quest early), such as hydroponics, wind farms, and a museum of vintage Earth items.

Red Tape Blues -- My rating: ***. This is one of several missions in the game where you apply for a job and go through the corporate ladder and various hassles. This one has you apply for a fake job in Cydonia as a fake assistant and get the approval for a fake request. The real interesting part is at the end, where you meet yet another schemer who has you scheme some more. (To Bethesda fans, this kind of quests are nothing new, because they show up frequently in their games. My favorite of this kind of quests is actually in Fallout 76, the one where you are given a big runaround when you apply for an ID card at the department of motor vehicles.)

Start-Up Stopped -- My rating: ***. This early mission from Cydonia introduces the ability to board enemy ships and interact with the enemies. The quest has several interesting bargaining options with the enemies that lead to different outcomes.

The Great Laredo Caper -- My rating: ***. Colorful personality from a child NPC is the appeal of this light-hearted quest in Akila, where you play detective with a mischievous kid.

Last Will and Testament -- My rating: ***. You find the will of a diseased person in Akila, learn the truth in it, and make moral decisions about your discovery. This is a brief but engaging little side quest in Akila about what is "justice."

Unjustified -- My rating: ***. This is another short side quest about "justice," in which you help a woman in Neon's Underbelly find her missing husband and make moral decisions about the ensuing discoveries.

Runaway -- My rating: ***. You help a young woman in Cydonia look for her estranged father, while using your stealth and persuasion skills along the way. The story is a bit melodramatic for my taste. But at least it tries to engage you by telling an interesting story, unlike many of the early quests.

Rough Landings -- My rating: ***. This quest involves ship combat and persuasion while you help someone gain legal passage into Akila City after she has been banned from the city. Different outcomes are possible depending on your persuasion and choices.

Beer Run -- My rating: ***. This is another interesting side quest from Akila that has you sabotage someone's beer-brewing. You can sabotage it correctly, do it wrongly, or be a moral person and not do it.

A Tree Grows in New Atlantis -- My rating: **. This early quest in New Atlantis has you run around and locate various devices for a scientist. This is another of the early "tourism" quests that serve mainly to show you the lay of the land. This one has an interesting premise about plants that emit audio waves, which is a true phenomenon in our world. But the actual gameplay is fairly routine.

The Kindness of Strangers -- My rating: **. This is another "tourism quest" in The Well. You escort a sick patient back to his home while making a few stops along the way. The quest serves to familiarize you even more with the area and the plight of the less fortunate people in Starfield.

Top of the L.I.S.T. -- My rating: **. This quest tasks you with surveying habitable planets and moons and selling the survey data back to the quest giver. Surveying is a time-consuming job, and this quest doesn't make it worthwhile to do it. In fact, you can sell survey data at higher prices to someone else and skip this quest altogether.

Charity of the Wolf -- My rating: **. This quest in Akila city has you ask for donations from rich people on behalf of the poor people. This is a "human" quest that gives you some understanding of the social environment, but it just doesn't have interesting gameplay.

Space Frog From Outer Space; Winning Hearts and Minds; UC Wants You! -- My rating: **. These are 3 quests that have you run around and put up posters in various places to help the quest-givers spread their messages. Very mundane and by-the-number routines that are just Bethesda's way to introduce you to the areas and people of the game.