Starfield lead designer Emil Pagliarulo recently addressed some common criticism raised towards games (and most definitely at the latest RPG from Bethesda), discussing how much some players are disconnected from the realities of game development and how people shouldn’t fool themselves into thinking they know why some things are the way they are.
Buying plenty of games himself, Pagliarulo understands how a consumer has a right to complain, and he would do so as well if he did not know the realities of game development and the struggle for developers to bring their vision to life with constantly shifting resources. Game development, Pagliarulo continued, is a series of concessions and tough decisions, as developers often have to balance between the game they want to make and the game they can make, and the two do not always coincide. Having to deal with devs being shuffled around, looming deadlines, and creative decisions that a dev may not have wanted to make, there are times when things don’t turn out as intended.
At the end of the day, any player can dislike or even hate a part of any game, but no one should fool themself thinking they know why some things are the way they are, as a certain part of any game may have been the result of certain choices made under specific conditions, the Starfield lead designer concluded.
Loooong🧵 (1/15) Funny how disconnected some players are from the realities of game development, and yet they speak with complete authority. I mean, I can guess what it takes to make a Hostess Twinkie, but I don’t work in the factory, so what the hell do I really know? Not a lot.
— Emil Pagliarulo (@Dezinuh) December 13, 2023
While not naming it outright, it is undeniable that Emil Pagliarulo was addressing with his lengthy X/Twitter thread the criticism raised towards Starfield. The game is definitely not perfect, but it is, in my opinion, a game that is still worth playing for any RPG and Bethesda fan, as I highlighted in my review.
