Starfield's lead quest designer had 'absolutely no time' and had to hit the 'panic button' so the game would have a satisfying final quest
www.pcgamer.com
"It became very clear that we were missing the large final location that was going to tie the story together," says former lead quest designer Will Shen.

““We were finally at a state in the project where we could play through the whole [game]. And it became very clear that we were missing the large final location that was going to tie the story together and have a satisfying action-filled payoff,” Shen said. “I was both implementing the main quest and leading the quest design team, so I had absolutely no time. The entire quest design team was already overbooked.””

The quest design team being overbooked and not having time certainly explains a lot.

  • AreaKode@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    8 months ago

    That was the satisfying ending? The ending was stupid. I had to ask to make sure that really was the ending. And now, I just get to keep going? What a ripoff.

    • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      8 months ago

      i think the whole space not-magic bullshit angle was an insulting disappointment. Like they wanted to make skyrim in space and were desperate for a shout equivalent.

      Doubly so especially when you count it towards that bullshit ending thats nothing but a new game+

    • VelociCatTurd@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      8 months ago

      My biggest issue with starfield is that it ended there. Like literally right when it got good imo. Imagine if they continued on and you did the whole time traveling thing with a dedicated story instead of just a new game+ thing. Not super original, but definitely would’ve been better than what we got.

      • Aermis@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        8 months ago

        I would have been fine with a new game+ story but the main story got completely revamped for the second playthrough. Not just a few unique dialogue options.

    • alcoholicorn@lemmy.mlEnglish
      0·
      8 months ago

      I think the “just keep going” was a Tod Howard demand, his ideal game is a LLM that generates endless radiant quests. Generated content has been a hallmark of everything he’s touched, and it’s always a low-point in that game because he expects it to stand by itself, instead of using it as a tool for the designers to build off of.

      • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
        1·
        8 months ago

        Tod doesnt want a game.

        He just wants an AI sandbox that he can churn out endlessly, make shittons of money with, with little expense or effort

        • alcoholicorn@lemmy.mlEnglish
          0·
          8 months ago

          The worst part is that it’s the opposite of effortless, imagine what they could have with 8 years of designing a deep, rich world with compelling stories, 8 years of adding whatever features seem cool. Instead we get an endless expanse with the depth of a puddle.

          • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
            1·
            8 months ago

            its a lot of effort to create it, but once its created he just has to feed it prompts and watched the fanboys buy up version after version.