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[LakeOf9]

While I have no love lost for Microsoft and Xbox, I do love Bethesda, and every single game they have put out has been my favorite for that year going all the way back to Daggerfall (yes norms, I've been on board the BGS train since before you fuckers knew they existed)

I am obviously really very excited for Starfield, but I am also not wondering if it might not be smart to delay it out of this year into the next:

They need to hit a higher level of polish than they usually do

Bethesda games usually launch with a lot of jank and lack of polish, and they always got a free pass for this. This made sense back in the day; back in the day, open world games were pretty rare to begin with, and Bethesda's games had unmatched scope, interactivity, and design that the jank felt like a fair trade-off for. However, in the last decade, open world games have not only become dime a dozen (literally every game now seems to be open world), but the scope and polish of open worlds has evolved massively too. When you are releasing games like Elden Ring, Ghost of Tsushima, and especially Tears of the Kingdom, with massive open worlds and almost no jank (in the latter's case in spite of an insane amount of interactivity) . At this point we have seen a lot of great open worlds of all types (story focus? RDR2 and TW3. Combat focus? Elden Ring. Adventure and exploration focus? BOTW and TOTK. Ubisoft style template done with extremely high levels of polish and quality? Horizon and Ghost of Tsushima). Bethesda jank is harder to ignore now.

This is an important game

Starfield is Bethesda's first new IP launch in decades. It is their first single player game in eight years. It is their first game since Fallout 76 and Fallout 4, which have been considered disappointments to different events (unfairly for Fallout 4, but I get it). This game is important for Bethesda to show they still have the "it" factor they used to back in the day.

This is, of course, also an important game for Xbox. Starfield will be their first shot at a Zelda/God of War style killer app. And sure, it would suck for Xbox's 2023 if the game got delayed out of this year, but it will suck even worse for Xbox if it launches broken, incomplete, or buggy (look at Redfall or Halo Infinite). They won't get many more second chances. Take the time to do it right.

The elephant in the room sucking up all the oxygen

Let's be honest, a BGS game release should be an event, but there is an 800 pound gorilla in the room sucking up all the oxygen, and that's TOTK. Everything this year will be compared to TOTK. Critics and media will get into contests to see who can get most hyperbolic and contrived with their praise for it and comparisons with it. This happens every year - in 2022 it was Elden Ring. In 2017 it was BOTW. In 2015 it was Witcher 3. In 2013 it was TLOU.

Starfield should command everyone's attention when it comes out. It should be an event launch that is celebrated on its own merits, rather than constantly being compared to TOTK. Get some distance from the TOTK release, and launch in 2024, when it can get the benefit of polish and also be appreciated for being great on its own terms, rather than constantly being compared to Zelda.

So all of this is to say, I think they should delay it out of this year. It will suck in the short term, but I think this is what is best for the game's long term prospects, and for BGS, and even Xbox.

 

[Elder Legend]

I am sorry but ToTK is not a 800 LB gorilla. That would be GTA 6 and even then that'd be closer to 1000 LBs if not more.

There plenty of other big this year including TOTK, Diablo 4, SF6, MK1, Tekken 8, Starfield, Hogwarts Legacy, FF16 and so on.

 

[LakeOf9]

I am sorry but ToTK is not a 800 LB gorilla. That would be GTA 6 and even then that'd be closer to 1000 LBs if not more.

Believe it or no there can be more than one 800LB gorilla

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Yes. Delay it to the point they can release it without a required day one patch. The game should be in excellent working condition. All games should be in excellent working condition and completely playable without frustration without requiring day one patches.

 

[Elder Legend]

Believe it or no there can be more than one 800LB gorilla

TOTK is not it. It's only available on a Nintendo platform and is not as mainstream as GTA 6.

 

[LakeOf9]

TOTK is not it. It's only available on a Nintendo platform and is not as mainstream as GTA 6.

It not being as mainstream as GTA6 does not make it "not mainstream" this game sold 10 million in three days, that is as mainstream as it gets

 

[Ozzie666]

They should, but they won't. But they really should and make it a functional game. Imagine if this turns out like Fall out 76 when it launched. I guess they can't go lower then 3rd place.

 

[LakeOf9]

Yes. Delay it to the point they can release it without a required day one patch. The game should be in excellent working condition. All games should be in excellent working condition and completely playable without frustration without requiring day one patches.

I dont mind day one patches but they should be for smaller issues. The issue with day one patches is lately it feels like they are include half the game

They should, but they won't. But they really should and make it a functional game. Imagine if this turns out like Fall out 76 when it launched. I guess they can't go lower then 3rd place.

The problem is right now it seems like Starfield has a lot of scrutiny. It's best for it to put its best foot forward and not allow any opening for people to attack it by having bugs and jank

 

[Topher]

No idea. Ask me again after the showcase.

 

[DrFigs]

it'd be really funny if they did

 

[Sacred]

We haven't seen anything from the game in a year, wait till after the showcase to make an assumption on that.

 

[ZehDon]

How would any of us know the answer to this?

 

[blacktout]

No idea. Ask me again after the showcase.

This. We really don't know enough about its current level of completion and polish to answer this question.

Microsoft shouldn't delay Starfield out of fear of competition. They should only delay if it's not done.

 

[LakeOf9]

How would any of us know the answer to this?

If you don't know the answer to "do you think MS should delay the game" then who will?

 

[Topher]

If you don't know the answer to "do you think MS should delay the game" then who will?

No one outside of Bethesda. We've all seen the stuff they showed, but that was months ago. There is simply not enough information to answer that question.

 

[LakeOf9]

No one outside of Bethesda. We've all seen the stuff they showed, but that was months ago. There is simply not enough information to answer that question.

That's fair

I just want them to release the most polished game they have ever released that's all. I think Starfield will be awesome I just dont want the media to have any excuse to ding it (which they will have a valid reason to do if it has the jank BGS games do usually)

 

[ZehDon]

If you don't know the answer to "do you think MS should delay the game" then who will?

"Should Microsoft delay Starfield to 2024" is your thread title. So, based on your reply, you've deliberately used a baiting title to stoke the fires because it isn't the question you wanted to ask. Best of luck in the future.

 

[LakeOf9]

"Should Microsoft delay Starfield to 2024" is your thread title. So, based on your reply, you've deliberately used a baiting title to stoke the fires because it isn't the question you wanted to ask. Best of luck in the future.

There's a big OP that goes with the title lol, you can read that too

 

[gokurho]

Starfield is 11/10 game already.

 

[kikkis]

If the game that was supposed to be ready by 11.11.22 is going to get extra 6 months of delay on top of 10 month delay, it's not going to make any difference.

 

[Moses85]

Bring it to PS5

 

[cireza]

On what basis can we tell right now that they should delay it ?

 

[TheGodfather07]

Depends on how buggy it actually is. If its minimal, then its fine. If there's bugs and glitches every half hour of gameplay, it could be a problem.

 

[ByWatterson]

No one has any idea but the answer is still no.

 

[supernova8]

Probably (based on their track record) but it depends on how polished the finished product ends up going.

I don't think (1) the game being large and (2) the technology enabling post-release patching should mean game companies get a pass when they release buggy games. They should release mostly (preferably completely) bug-free games and then patches should really only be there to (A) Add new content and (B) tweak things that are not necessarily bugs (for instance, if a certain enemy is overpowered/underpowered or they watch people speedrun the game and want to patch out those sorts of glitches).

If they want to release unfinished games with the intent to finish it off later via patches, said game should be deemed "early access" and thus should be sold at a discount (we're not getting the full finished product/experience so why should we pay full price?)

(goes without saying, but yes this applies to all games, not just Starfield)

 

[Heisenberg007]

Too soon to comment or vote.

We haven't seen how good (or bad) it looks in the current state. If it does look and play great, there's no need to delay it.

 

[coffinbirth]

 

[Fredrik]

Wrote this in another thread:

”
Yes!!!

If there is any reason it needs a delay then MS is incompetent if they don’t allow it.

Bethesda has worked on this longer than Nintendo worked on TOTK, it’s their first new IP in ages, it’s what’s launching the new iteration of their engine, probably their most important release in the history of the studio.
Why destroy the IP and the studio by rushing it out too early? What’s the upside of that?

Most Bethesda fans will play it on PC anyway so it shouldn’t be used to save Xbox or whatever.

And this year it won’t get the praise it deserves anyway, not after the TOTK release, everything will be compared to TOTK in 2023 and everything will fail, sorry devs and fans of other games but that’s how it is.

For real, another year of polish would simply be better, for the game, for the IP, for the engine, for Bethesda, and tbh after Redfall it would be better for Microsoft as well.

Let’s see if they’re smart enough to do it. Let’s see if they’ve learned anything at all from what has happened in the whole industry and among their own studios the last 3 years or so.
”


The first IF is the important bit here. IF it needs a delay then it should absolutely get delayed. And I think it needs it. Bethesda should do like Nintendo. Polish it for a year.

 

[Ozriel]

There’s a showcase in a couple of weeks where you can judge for yourself what the state of Starfield looks like.

What is it with these uninformed takes about this one title?

On what basis can we tell right now that they should delay it ?

Absolutely nothing

There's a big OP that goes with the title lol, you can read that too

And most of it doesn’t make sense, including comparisons to TOTK. That’s on a different platform, months before Starfield releases.

Perhaps all AAA games for 2023 should be scrapped to get out of TOTK’s sphere of influence? And then when MS delays to 2024 as you advise, all 2024 games should be delayed to 2025 to get out of Starfield’s own hype train?

Yeesh

 

[THE DUCK]

Bring it to PS5

Yes, great idea, sent more console buyers to ps5. Really you should be the head of xbox.

 

[Tommi84]

there is an 800 pound gorilla in the room sucking up all the oxygen, and that's TOTK

It's not about if the SHOULD, it's the question of if they CAN AFFORD IT. This would be yet another year without big AAA game that is not Forza or Halo.

 

[Balducci30]

Depends on what the state of the game is. If it’s good to go I’d rather they not delay it. People are gonna give it shit regardless imo - and there can be multiple great games in a year. It used to happen all the time

 

[Ozriel]

The first IF is the important bit here. IF it needs a delay then it should absolutely get delayed. And I think it needs it. Bethesda should do like Nintendo. Polish it for a year.

Yes, they already made this call last year to delay for polish. And even further moved it out of their earlier H1 2023 window to September.

You have no background knowledge or detail about the state of the title today.

The bit about TOTK doesn’t really make that much sense. Multiple stellar AAA games can be released in a single year, especially when they’re on different platforms.

Metal Gear Solid didn’t fade into obscurity just because it was released in the same year as Zelda Ocarina of Time.

Final Fantasy 16 releases one month after Zelda and I’m yet to see any handwringing concern posts.

 

[Ar¢tos]

Would it make any difference?
3 years after releasing Skyrim the game still had bugs and issues and, in the end, it was the modding community that fixed most of them.
I don't think 1 year will do much difference. The faster they release it, the faster the modders will fix the problems.

 

[3liteDragon]

Too soon to comment or vote.

We haven't seen how good (or bad) it looks in the current state. If it does look and play great, there's no need to delay it.

This pretty much.

Yes, great idea, sent more console buyers to ps5. Really you should be the head of xbox.

I mean the current head’s already doing a great job at that.

 

[UniformDeliverance]

Okay it’s already been substantially delayed, how about we see what it looks like this year before assuming it needs yet more delays

 

[Danjin44]

Is Starfield having development problem? Also this Bethesda game, I'm pretty sure even with delay the game is still gonna be buggy.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Yes. Delay it to the point they can release it without a required day one patch. The game should be in excellent working condition. All games should be in excellent working condition and completely playable without frustration without requiring day one patches.

Its engine is build on Gamebryo. Even if heavily modified the thrash is still there.

 

[Jrecard]

Sure, what's another year without a heaving hitting AAA title at this point. Might as well just skip the decade

Real talk, if we're too scared of it being compared to totk this year to allow it to release then that says all I need to know about expectations for this game.

 

[Mhmmm 2077]

If the game is ready to release, do it, no point in delaying it.

 

[mdkirby]

I seem to recall Heisenberg asked his sources if it was in good shape after the redfall disaster and all they sent back was a hysterical laughing gif. Which suggests not. Other rumours have suggested it’s not in good shape either. If that is indeed the case then they should 100% push it to next year.

For me i just want a great game. I love the bethesda games of old, and I love sci fi. I don’t want them to make a mess of it.

Then for microsoft, yeah the pr will be bad to delay again. But not that bad. It would be way worse to launch it in a state similar to redfall, either that being riddled with bugs or just disappointing due to features cut from lack of time or polish on gameplay systems. There was a rumour a while back they’d brought in IDTech people to help on the gunplay, I hope that’s true.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

Why ask a question that nobody has the answer to? We’ve not heard anything or seen anything since the last trailer, so there is no foundation to build this delay from.

You’re concerned that ToTK is too big a game to go up against, but that’s Bethesda’s problem and they need to make the game as good as possible. It’s good to have more than one critically acclaimed game per year and competition for GOTY is great!

Microsoft are not in a position to delay Starfield now (unless it really is a huge fucking mess like the rumours suggest). It has been delayed twice (it is twice, right?) and they’ve had almost fucking 8 years to work on it.

It’s time for Developers and Publishers to start being more accountable for these things and if the game is a mess, they should come out and say that. I’ve no idea why it would be a mess after 8 years of active development though, what have they been doing all this time?

 

[ToTTenTranz]

How the hell should we know? We have no idea on the state of that game.

Phil Spencer already said there was no reality where Starfield starts changing the minds of gamers, and I took that as lowering expectations.
There's also the chance that the game simply won't be that good by design, and will never become great no matter how long it stays in development.

 

[skit_data]

Let's wait for the dedicated show, after that we will know.

 

[MasterCornholio]

Even though there's been noise about the review scores I would wait until after the showcase before making this decision.

FYI I believe the noise behind the review scores isn't anything to take seriously given the sources (Xbox Era, SenjustuSage ex).

 

[lh032]

I dont think review is important, sales are.
And sales is not an issue for Bethesda games tbh.

Starfield is going to sell alot (probably lesser on xbox due to gamepass).

 

[Unknown Soldier]

It's a Todd Howard game, you could delay it 10 years and it would still ship with hundreds of hilarious unfixed bugs.

The release date is what it is, time to set it free.

 

[DJ12]

If its in a state they really should, I don't think the brand will survive another dud launch when there's been nothing supposedly AAA for years.

 

[10101]

If the game needs it, then sure delay it. Better to wait for a good game than a play a buggy mess imo. Not sure any of us can answer that at this point though!

But sorry OP, the whole Zelda sucking up the air thing is not a reason to push it. It’s ok to have more than one great game a year lol. And if Starfield is awesome in November, no one will care about Zelda in May. It might not win all the game awards (who cares anyway), but a good game is a good game - both can have glowing reviews and do well. Also, there is no guarantee it wouldn’t be coming up against another big hitter in 2023 anyway.

Starfield’s biggest problem is the hype machine, this is what will kill it, same as Infinite. It’s never going to live up to the ridiculous expectations put on it by Xbox’s own fans - I think Phil et al know that and the whole 11/10 and review conspiracy theory shit is preparing us for the Bethesda jank. Hope I’m proved wrong though!

 

[XesqueVara]

Just wait for the Showcase first.