Bethesda is contacting Starfield owners to say their negative reviews are wrong

https://metro.co.uk/2023/11/28/bethesda-telling-starfield-owners-negative-reviews-wrong-19892973/

I guess MS and Bethesda are not happy with the low user reviews this game is getting and are trying to turn the tide. Good thing that Steam reviews are difficult to astroturf, because I’m sure we’d see the usual “ambassadors“ in there gaslighting people that bought the game.

what say you SW? Desperation from Bethesda or standard customer relations?

I must be playing the game the wrong way but I'm legitimately having fun.

No, I'm not spending my time exploring planets with nothing on them or building outposts, I'm just following questlines and having a good time. I'm picking skills that speak to me, because a lot of them feel like filler.

This feels like Callisto Protocol last year where a ton of people hated it but I had a good time, genuinly.

lol. Let's see how that turns out. If it's not up to "mostly postive" from "mixed" soon, they'll probably start buying postitive reviews.

I’m very much enjoying the game myself. Nice to see them engaged with their consumer base. 👍😎

@R4gn4r0k: I mean, I was pretty hyped on it when the trailers came out. I wonder if it runs ok on the steam deck?

Without a shadow of a doubt, this is the most pathetically desperate thing i have ever seen in my life.

And you have the likes of Dabear telling me that the game is great because he is on new game +4, and that everyone shitting on the game are just jealous because its not on their system.

Compared to its competition, Starfield is AT LEAST FIFTEEN YEARS BEHIND. Outside of F76, this is the first Bethesda game that i royally don't give a shit about anymore, and have no intention of ever playing.

Starfield is the definition of a soulless video game. You will never know the number of sales because just like with Infinite, they will do everything in their power to hide it the f*ck up.

They actually are not saying that to reviewers.

This is fake news from a shady source. Starfield is a revolutionary game, and the constant updates its getting, is only getting better. Most of those negative reviews are from salty cows like yourself randy. Get over it, you can still play it on the PC, no need to review bomb such an amazing game.

Moe bad news for StarFlop :(

Reminds me of Sony sending out instructions on how to play Lair.

@kvallyx: read the article.

Amazing game!

Those dev responses are very cringe.

Like the dude complaining that the computers from 200 years ago looks exactly the same as the modern ones.

"Try creating different characters with backgrounds and characteristics that clash or are oppositive of your previous character. You will feel like you are playing a totally different game."

"There are so many layers to Starfield, that you will find things you’ve never knew were possible after playing for hundreds of hours. Even after completing the Main Story, your adventure doesn’t end! You can continue onto New Game+ to keep exploring Starfield and all that is out there!"

And some more bullshit I didn't care to copy.

That response would make me furious, lmao. Not only does it ignore the complaint of the player, it calls him an idiot.

I enjoyed what I played which is all the major quests, that said Starfield has some issues, content depth to a degree is certainly one but for me Starfield's biggest failing is a tonal inconsistency, supposedly Bethesda wanted a positive vision of the future and the developed nature of the UC etc. kind of portray this but then the UC is also a quasi fascistic military state, so the FC they're the positive image of the freedom frontiersman types, kind of but also their political hierarchy is beyond corrupt, the pirates surely they represent the badass no morals faction, kind of, but also step out of line and they're really annoyed you broke the rules, and they'll take vengeance by saying mean things. Honestly the biggest failing of the game for me is this tonal shift where it really begins to feel like Bethesda just didn't have a joined up vision by the end of the game.

It sounds like how brand managers engage with users on social media, but usually these outreaches try to offer some kind of understanding and olive branch to make things right, or something upcoming they can look forward to if they don't like this product.

I'm not sure if simply trying to influence the opinion will help or backfire. The reply mentioned in the article seemed more like whitewashing or at least an attempt to inject incessant jubilation in a disjointed manner than actually addressing anything. It seems a bit desperate like some mentioned, it could raise the visibility of negative comments, and it could make the developer seem out of touch.

Usually if a game is good then it will overcome any trolling just because people generally feel positive about the experience of the game, and second looks will come out with overwhelming praise as the trolls lose interest and move on to something else.

It seems like it would be unnecessary to actively engage with this, but maybe their marketing department has another view of this.

I guess we'll see what happens.

Holy crap this is pathetic. Every single person siting the 83 meta score to damage control the 7/10 on GS will understand how flawed their little game is. Starfield and Infinite are the biggest failures of this generation, and don't you worry, you're not throwing it under the rug, and pretend it never happened, i'll be permanently talking about these two titles🙃

MS, Bethesda, and lemmings all must have tennis elbow from their constant turd polishing of this mediocre game. Jesus. Give it up already.

Lmao MS begging people to say their review is wrong lol. This copium is on another level lol.

Planets were empty and boring.

"When the astronauts went to the moon, there was nothing there. They certainly weren't bored."

Genius argument 😂🤣😂!

Lol. I laughed a lot reading this news.🤣

On a side note, I had some extra cash to spare and was thinking about purchasing Xbox Series X last month in addition to the PS5 that I had bought at the start of this year.

But after going through reviews and videos of the 'star' game of the console, I changed my mind. Not used to playing such bland games.

The console has no stellar exclusive gems we PS owners are used to playing such as FFVII Remake, Bloodborne, Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart, Spider man II, and a whole lot more.

They're most certainly worried about long term sales with all the extreme negativity that's surrounding the game. Their plan was to have another Skyrim, a game that sells through generations, but i think they've quickly noticed that nobody gives a shit about Starfield, and the second you see a convo related to the game, its always super negative😆

Ouch.

This development isn’t easing my suspicion that some of the Lems here are actually on the Microsoft payroll.

So you are mad that the game has an 85 score?

^^^ Now we know who wrote the responses

You sound more desperate than Bethesda. Its an 83, almost in the 70's for a 25 years in the making game. Across the web, the game is renown to be a meme🤷‍♂️

Starfield is still an 86 on metacritic,and if anyone can find a single pc reviewer that down or up scored for Frame rate or resolution then we can talk.

CRY8️⃣6️⃣HARDER

Take the 86,the millions who played it,will continue to play it when every other game this year is dead and move on bethesda👍

haha. astronauts had a golf set though

Wow, this is sad! Want positive reviews? Make a good game!

I noticed that when I was browsing games to buy on the steam stale. I thought it was a random employee telling people that they're playing starfield "wrong," but it seems like it's a concerted effort, which is weirder and sadder to me.

@randy_lahey: Callisto or Starfield are both really heavy on the cpu so I'd say chances are slim.

Be sure to check YouTube "game name steam deck" for any game and it'll give you a general clue as to how it'll run ;)

Lems so upset with the 83 on meta that they're now naming higher numbers at random, and tell themselves this is the score of their game🤣Welcome to the bottom of the barrel desperation🤣

Almost 90.

@kvallyx said:

@hardwenzen said:

@kvallyx said:

@hardwenzen said:

Holy crap this is pathetic. Every single person siting the 83 meta score to damage control the 7/10 on GS will understand how flawed their little game is. Starfield and Infinite are the biggest failures of this generation, and don't you worry, you're not throwing it under the rug, and pretend it never happened, i'll be permanently talking about these two titles🙃

So you are mad that the game has an 85 score?

You sound more desperate than Bethesda. Its an 83, almost in the 70's for a 25 years in the making game. Across the web, the game is renown to be a meme🤷‍♂️

Almost 90.

Firstly, 0.5 is far from your "almost". Secondly, what is this? This is not metacritic. Hiding on another irrelevant site because you don't like your pathetic 83/10 ain't gonna save you

I see nothing wrong with developers engaging with user reviews, many do so, I don't see this going beyond the normal type of behavior other developers/publishers do from the examples the article points out.

If anything, I'm more miffed developers only bother to respond to the low hanging fruit stupid user reviews, more often don't bother to engage with users giving well thought out constructive criticisms, which they should if it could help make a better game.

This article seems disingenuous though, nothing in the Bethesda response seems particularly bad itself, but they don't provide the original user reviews to add context either so seems pretty much a hatchet job by haters more than anything.

Haha that what made their trip exciting! What was missing in Starfield was not a land vehicle, it was a golf set 😅

@hardwenzen said:

@kvallyx said:

@hardwenzen said:

@kvallyx said:

So you are mad that the game has an 85 score?

You sound more desperate than Bethesda. Its an 83, almost in the 70's for a 25 years in the making game. Across the web, the game is renown to be a meme🤷‍♂️

Almost 90.

Firstly, 0.5 is far from your "almost". Secondly, what is this? This is not metacritic. Hiding on another irrelevant site because you don't like your pathetic 83/10 ain't gonna save you

Listen here Mr. Man. OpenCritic has MORE critic reviews than Metacritic. Metacritic is decades old and dilapidated. OpenCritic is the new guy in town and kicked MC to the curb. And I am sure you learned in school last year that when its 0-4 you round down, 5-9 you round up. But don't let math get in your way.

OpenCritic >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Metacritic

85 baby! Let's go!

Can we just all, you know...move on.

Starfield is a fun game. Was it everything it should have been? Of course not. But it was good enough.

As for replying to reviews, that's a somewhat common practice in certain fields or industries. Just go on Yelp or Amazon and you see all manner of replies. Provided they are professional and constructive, and don't fall into any sort of harassment (i.e. emailing or calling people directly, doxxing, etc), I see no problem with this.

Moving on.

@mrbojangles25: "Can we just all, you know...move on."

No, this is the kind of weird anti-Xbox headlines Sony fanboys will be pushing now that Sony's 2024 dry spell is on its way, and stories like their studios being bogged down with GaaS ambitions, SIE suffering a leadership issue, and TLOU2 to soon be getting milked to death, perhaps no Sony hype building events until 2025.

Starfield is also getting more attention from the haters for the Steam Charts decline. I dunno, seems a horrible metric when it's a Game Pass title. Currently the True Achievements/ True Trophies / True Steam Achievements people tracks Starfield as being Xbox's console & PC's 9th most played game in the ecosystem. Surprising too given it's the only game in the top 20 not some GaaS.

Let's face it, cows got a massive hate-boner for Starfield that just won't quit.

Sadly I had to give up on Starfield because it just kept crashing but I was enjoying it.

I see nothing wrong with them defending their vision, although they won't be changing anyone's mind.

So much for fake news. Just in from IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/bethesda-is-responding-to-negative-reviews-of-starfield-on-steam

Star field is amazing game and I don't care what the turd haters have to Say!

I wrote a bad review of my Indian Challenger, and I got contacted by Indian. I wrote a bad yelp review of a McDonalds, a BW3, and a Burger King (at different times), and was contacted by all three.

This sort of thing happens all the time.

Starfield isawesome. I don't care what you sour grapes cows say about it.

This is exactly the attitude that nets you Xbox zealots mid games. keep not holding your favourite corporation accountable.

🤡

@dabear: apparently it’s not awesome. 66% like it on steam. That’s a pathetic ratio

WHo are you trying to fool? WHO?

A bunch of my RPG-loving friends played it, said it was mediocre, and completely stopped talking about it after 1-2 weeks.

So I'm not surprised about the negative reviews, and it's sad to see Bethesda burn its last remaining goodwill by weakly responding to reviews.

If a developer tells me I'm wrong instead of promising to fix issues and improve the game, I will change the review... to rate it even lower. Who does that asshole think he is?

Do you even read? No developer has told anyone in those reviews that the consumer is wrong. Maybe reading is hard for you.