In Space No One Can Hear You Scream a Funny Thread Title - The Starfield Thread

[Keyrock]

I'm doing a mission where I'm helping a lady get off a colony ship. In order to complete it, I need 50 potatoes. I mean, I could have persuaded the captain because I play a silver-tongued character, but I decided to get the potatoes for them because I want to help them out. I may be a pirate, but I'm a pirate with a heart of gold. Well, no good deed goes unpunished. There are less than a handful of places I've found so far that I can purchase potatoes and I can't grow them. None of the places that sell potatoes ever have 50, or even 10, I'm lucky if there's more than 1. This ****ing game. Everything is like squeezing blood from a ****ing stone. 

[LadyCrimson]

^ Note to self: if I ever get this game, create/get mod for "all vendors have 10+ potatoes". 

Re: traversal -
I remember something about open world/exploration design, some "rule" of having some POI (building, town, extraordinary view, animal crossing, field of pickables, bandits, whatever) every 5 minutes (or 10, or 15, or whatever it was) in any direction from another POI. And part of why some games feel more engaging/fun to romp around in is they are mostly following that "rule".

Because, at least for me, after a point, it doesn't matter how much fun the travel method is, if there's nothing interesting to see/do/look at.

Even if they're following that "rule", the problem with foot travel .... they're probably basing that time on horse/car travel, not foot. I like staying on foot because I don't like having to get in/out, on/off of some mount/car every 3 minutes to pick a flower or mine a rock.  EDIT: I don't expect foot travel to be as fast as a vehicle, but jeez, it's a game, can't we at least speed-walk.

Edited January 10 by LadyCrimson

[Keyrock]

@LadyCrimsonIn theory, Starfield meets the requirements of that "rule", there's always something you can mine or gather, but firing a mining laser at a node isn't exactly fun, nor exciting, nor engaging. Also, there's a limit to how much copper I need, not to mention how much I can carry.

Back to the potatoes, the best place I've found is Jane's Goods in Cydonia, because there are stools right there at the counter. What you can do is buy all the potatoes she has available, all 1 of them, 2 if you're lucky. Then you have to wait a bunch of hours for the stock to replenish. However, you can't just wait anywhere, you have to either sit on a chair or stool or couch or lie down on a bed. Why?

Todd Howard - "Because **** you, that's why."

It gets better. Waiting isn't instantaneous. You... ... Have... ... To... ... Wait... ... For... ... Each... ... Hour... ... To... ... Tick... ... By. This takes PAINFULLY long, if I haven't made that clear already. Why?

Todd Howard - "Because **** you, that's why."

Then you can buy another 1 potato, 2 if you're really lucky. Then you can spend another PAINFULLY long period of time waiting again. Why?

Todd Howard - "Because **** you, that's why."

Everything in this game is waaaay more tedious and takes waaaay longer than it needs to. Why?

Todd Howard - "Because **** you, that's why."

Pick up a mundane fetch quest? I hope you like looking at loading screens because you will see 9 of them to complete it. Why?

Todd Howard - "Because **** you, that's why."

[LadyCrimson]

I'm suddenly picturing a breaking news story re: store employees chasing after some crazed man rampaging through a grocery store with an armful of stolen potatoes. 

...I've definitely had moments in games like that. So frustrating.

[HoonDing]

On NG+ you skip most quests, but journal still gets clogged like a Glasgow toilet

Very annoying indeed

[Keyrock]

9 hours ago, LadyCrimson said:

I'm suddenly picturing a breaking news story re: store employees chasing after some crazed man rampaging through a grocery store with an armful of stolen potatoes. 

...I've definitely had moments in games like that. So frustrating.

The most frustrating part is that sometimes I'll come across a big ol' box, a case, labeled "potatoes". 1 or 2 of those boxes would presumably complete the quest. But you can't interact with those boxes (they have boxes of other fruits & veggies too, such as onions), they're not a container, you can't click on them, there's not even any physics interaction for running into them. For all intents and purposes they're decals. Todd put them there specifically to taunt me.

4 hours ago, HoonDing said:

On NG+ you skip most quests, but journal still gets clogged like a Glasgow toilet

Very annoying indeed

I have to just set aside my compulsion to complete as many quests as possible in a single playthrough and finish the game. I can do other quests in NG+, if I ever come back for NG+. It's not even a completionism thing, I just like to overlevel for the final boss in games. I'm pretty sure I'm already well past that point. However, I'm determined to finish this stupid potatoes quest, I'm in too deep. I'm up to 21 potatoes. I'm not going to just sit there at Jane's Goods waiting for the stock to replenish again and again, so I'm trying to get potatoes while I do other stuff. I wish I had picked up this quest much earlier.

[Gfted1]

Wiki tells me that potatoes can also be found at:

Locations:
Shepherd's General Store in Akila City.
The Store at New Homestead on Titan, a moon of Saturn in the Sol System.

[Keyrock]

11 minutes ago, Gfted1 said:

Wiki tells me that potatoes can also be found at:

Locations:
Shepherd's General Store in Akila City.
The Store at New Homestead on Titan, a moon of Saturn in the Sol System.

There's more than that. There's also Quickshop in Neon's Underbelly and there's a store in the Eleos Retreat where I got 3 (THREE!) potatoes. #BLESSED

I'm in Neon quite a bit, it's probably my favorite location because it's the most cyberpunk looking. It has that contrast of corporate greed and excess and people living in absolute squalor. Unfortunately, the Underbelly is a bit out of the way, I wish the shop that sold potatoes was on the main strip.

Side-note: What is the point of outposts? I mean, you can use them to generate income, but at the point that you will likely be building outposts, you'll already be swimming in money, soooooooo... 

Edited January 11 by Keyrock

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

So in addition to the boring ass randomly generated planets this game also has MMO quests? Lmao that's bad.

[Hurlshort]

2 hours ago, Keyrock said:

Side-note: What is the point of outposts? I mean, you can use them to generate income, but at the point that you will likely be building outposts, you'll already be swimming in money, soooooooo... 

I never figured out the point of them. I mean, you can shelve a couple companions there and get some more resources, but it seems pretty useless. I assume it will be some developed feature in 10 years or something. To be fair, owning a house in Skyrim was pretty lackluster until some of the DLC expanded it, so it is possible it will become cool.

Everything about Starfield kind of seems like it needs more time in the oven, really. Which is pretty typical of Bethesda.

[majestic]

Is the buzz gone? Can I complain about the 10 hours I wasted on Starfield yet?

[majestic]

Is the buzz gone? Can I complain about the 10 hours I wasted on Starfield yet?

[Azdeus]

11 minutes ago, majestic said:

Is the buzz gone? Can I complain about the 10 hours I wasted on Starfield yet?

Two more minutes, majestic!

[Hurlshort]

3 hours ago, majestic said:

Is the buzz gone? Can I complain about the 10 hours I wasted on Starfield yet?

You were exercising restraint earlier? 

[Keyrock]

6 hours ago, majestic said:

Is the buzz gone? Can I complain about the 10 hours I wasted on Starfield yet?

Not yet, I need you to exercise tantric commenting.

Potatoes quest update: I'm up to 41!

[Keyrock]

Todd taunting me:

[Hurlshort]

The Great Space Potato Saga of Keyrock is definitely a selling point for the game.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

10 hours ago, majestic said:

Is the buzz gone? Can I complain about the 10 hours I wasted on Starfield yet?

I have made thousands of posts on the Bethesda forums about how Starfield is a festering piece of **** and I have never played a minute of it.

Edited January 12 by PK htiw klaw eriF

[Hurlshort]

31 minutes ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

I have made thousands of posts on the Bethesda forums about how Starfield is a festering piece of **** and I have never played a minute of it.

Did you and Majestic like other Bethesda titles? I don't remember how you two felt about Skyrim and Fallout 4.

They all pretty much follow the same formula for me. I enjoy the initial exploration, I get bored of it at a certain point, and then I revisit it a few times over the years. Starfield definitely fits that bill. Although I do prefer the setting to their two Fallout games.

[Wormerine]

41 minutes ago, Hurlshort said:

They all pretty much follow the same formula for me. I enjoy the initial exploration, I get bored of it at a certain point, and then I revisit it a few times over the years.

Yeah, my experience with Starfield was more or less the same as with Oblivion and Skyrim. I installed in, played for couple of hours, and after couple weeks of not launching it, and realising I am unlikely to want to play it again any time soon, I uninstalled it. Didn't give it much thought ever since.

[LadyCrimson]

45 minutes ago, Hurlshort said:

They all pretty much follow the same formula for me. I enjoy the initial exploration, I get bored of it at a certain point,

Pretty much it for me as well, except I never return to them, and each one I tried, that initial kinda-fun phase grew shorter and shorter.
...if I ever do try it, I'm going to use one of those non-human companion mods. Like the Dogmetal one.

...although Keyrock has now made me almost masochistically interested in experiencing the Great Potato Famine just to see for myself.

[Keyrock]

1 hour ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

I have made thousands of posts on the Bethesda forums about how Starfield is a festering piece of **** and I have never played a minute of it.

You sound EXTREMELY qualified to post a review on Metacritic, have you done so already?

[Hurlshort]

33 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

Pretty much it for me as well, except I never return to them, and each one I tried, that initial kinda-fun phase grew shorter and shorter.
...if I ever do try it, I'm going to use one of those non-human companion mods. Like the Dogmetal one.

...although Keyrock has now made me almost masochistically interested in experiencing the Great Potato Famine just to see for myself.

LC, you'd probably spend 100 hours in the ship builder.  

[majestic]

No, you have to spend 100 hours in the ship builder, because next to it even vi seems easy to use. And, just so you know in case you have never used vi, well... that takes some doing.

9 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

You were exercising restraint earlier? 

Does that answer your question?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

5 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

Did you and Majestic like other Bethesda titles?

No.

4 hours ago, Keyrock said:

You sound EXTREMELY qualified to post a review on Metacritic, have you done so already?

As much as the hater in me would like to give it a 0/100 review, I am opposed to numerical reviews on principle.