Did Bethesda Climax already? What's the future of epic games?

Do you love Starfield? As much as I'd like to complain, I think it's a great game and I know the designers worked hard on it... But did they work hard enough? Did the company allocate resources appropriately? Why is the game unfinished? Where is all the promised content? Why are fans left in the lurch?

I think Bethesda's marketing department jumped the gun 3x over with many claims and promises. Perhaps marketing was given too much freedom to advertise while design and build teams didn't have enough resources spent producing the finished product. There was an abundance of hype and expectations that the game would skip along riding the coat tails of Bethesda's prior titles; but that was not to be. The game was not only unpolished, it was arguably unfinished. In nearly every aspect fans have been disappointed with the product presented vs the vision of game devs as presented in marketing.

I played (without mods) on release, a lot; reaching level 220 before even going through unity... Then I stopped playing. Everything I worked for was gone, and the new game plus experience just wasn't there. Loot drops sucked. I hadn't received a decent new weapon in 50+ levels. I was maxed out on difficulty sliders but the game was no longer challenging, and the reward of completion felt hollow.

So I put It down, for over a year. I wanted to give Bethesda a chance to fix the game, and for modders to build an impressive library of updates, rebalances, new content, etc. yesterday I revisited Starfield and decided to look into modding.... Boy was I disappointed. Compared to Skyrim and Fallout, Starfield mods just aren't as numerous or encompassing. They're not going to fix the game, or make it seem different enough for another playthrough. The game feels as recycled as Bethesda's code; but maybe that's the real problem. The game was supposed to be original, but it feels recycled.

On consoles I don't think it's ever going to be a complete game. The graphics on the Xbox X are lackluster. Loading screens are numerous. The mods are not abundant, and most require payment to even try. It's not like the old days. This is no Skyrim, or Fallout.

Was it hubris? Did the devs shoot for the moon and fail to leave atmosphere? Are our expectations too lofty?

The cost: I think we're going to have to expect epic games to be produced in developing countries like India where labor costs are much lower. Also, developers can't hold onto aged game engines and recycle old code with known bugs like Bethesda does.

I (wanted to) absolutely love Starfield.... and I did, (parts) despite the marketing, but I would have loved it more if Bethesda would have completed it. I'd say it's about 60% complete, with half the skill tree being needless, most powers fail to enhance gameplay; the quests need polishing, the broken and missing mechanics need fixed, and abandoned projects like outposts need a complete audit and rebuild. There's more... But I'm sure you already have a personal list of gripes.

Who has the motivation to perform this work? There's no money in it, and game pass removed whatever drive Bethesda would have had to keep working on the game. Look at the expansions, or lack there-of. I bet as soon as the game released, the dev teams took a break, and moved onto the next game, one that would make money.

We expected a lot more, and Bethesda didn't produce the product they marketed. The company may have climaxed some years ago. Microsoft purchased parent company Zenimax in 2021, and Xbox/gaming entertainment in the company is getting downsized today.

Lower your expectations I suppose.

Hyperactive click bait games with Micro-transactions are where the money currently is, but many countries are creating laws (rightfully so) to limit these type of sales, so what's the future of epic gaming?

I think we're going to see more game content moving to Augmented or Virtual reality next. The hardware is becoming more affordable and portable.

Epic RPGs are either going to have to charge far more to develop these games, or narrow their vision. Starfield is a massive game, but the finished product is (sadly) watered down...

People want what could have been but unrealized expectations kneecapped this game.

Starfield might be a game that the memory of greatness is best left untarnished by replay.