Starfield and Sandbox vs the Theme Park Gamers

Starfield right now is having issues with two types of gamers who are divided amongst themselves. It is a division that has been going on for some time, but I believe that it is becoming more of an issue. As of right now, there is a whole cottage industry that seems to be more interested in criticizing the game than in actually understanding how difficult it is to make games anyway. This seems to be a constant on YouTube where there are tons of channels that seem to be attacking the lead writer of the game instead of providing constructive criticism. These channels are obsessed with attacking the game. It has been this way for many games on the site for about some time by now. 

However, the biggest issue that is dividing gamers right now is the conflict between sandbox gamers and theme park gamers. Much of what is causing the issue is that Bethesda has been catering too much to people who want an experience rather than sandbox. The issue with theme park gamers is that their games tend to be more about staying within already established norms in video games. Theme park games are not necessarily horrible games but they are generally speaking hollow games that appeal to a mass audience. 

The best example of this experience outside of the example of Starfield is in the playstyle between Star Wars Galaxies and Star Wars: The Old Republic. These two games are MMOs but they are played in ways that are very different from each other. Star Wars Galaxies was made in a time before WOW came to dominate MMOs. Star Wars Galaxies was a game that appealed to the same players who were playing Everquest in 1999 and even older mmos before that game. These games were not interested in having a map that pointed to where you needed to go but let you experience the feeling that you were in an environment that existed on a computer. In many ways, these were games that appealed to the Generation X. This generations had grown up with the promise of Internet access and what cyberspace could bring to people. However, it is clear that the Millennials are generally speaking the ones who are most critical of Starfield in general, probably because they are the generation that prefers experiences much as what you would see in a theme park rather than having to build it from scratch.

The theme park model is very strong with millennials.

However, Star Wars Galaxies came as Generation X was starting to grow up and it was in a transitionary era where the MMO was becoming more accessible to wider audiences. Star Wars, being the huge brand that it was, was probably the best choice for a MMO. Unlike the traditional approach to the Star Wars narrative, the gameplay was going to allow for players to focus on the less glamorous jobs in the Star Wars galaxy. Such jobs where people were dancing in cantinas to people who are engineers. This wasn't a fantasy game where one could be a Jedi just by selecting an option on a menu. It was something that was requiring lots of effort and time in order to get it available to the player. Just as Jedi in the story have to train through many years in order to become a Jedi, players had to go through an arduous process just to do it. Maybe this doesn't appeal to players who want everything to be easy in this day and age but people have to understand that this is why video games that take away difficulty tend to lack staying power with people. Star Wars Galaxies allowed for players to really inhabit the Star Wars galaxy beyond the archetypes in the movies, with the appreciation of what video games are able to accomplish with providing more variety to the stories that gamers could tell about themselves. 

When we take a look at Star Wars: The Old Republic, we see a game that really prides itself on delivering a story mmo rather than an environment that happens to be set in the Star Wars canon. This game really wanted to turn MMOs into a movie experience through the lens of a video game. This sort of approach is one of the strongest suits of BioWare. They are a company that really makes some incredible stories, but they are not a company that create environments that one can live in. Most of their environments are about the story not being to flesh out the setting. Their stories are truly engaging and engrossing but BioWare is not about creating environments that seem believable in their realism. Mass Effect, especially the first game is a game that has NPCs standing in place and only interacting with the player and nobody else. That is quite evident to me when I walk around the Citadel in Mass Effect. This supposed home of all these galactic races and yet it seems to be empty. In comparison, The Elder Scrolls Oblivion was set out into the wild the previous year and while it had some hilarious moments and conversations, those NPCs were all more alive and actually interacting with other NPCs in the game. 

The issue is that a lot of players in America are theme park gamers and are not going to put their effort into something that has an open environment without a clear goal. SimCity is a game without a goal and yet it has been enjoyed by generations of gamers. Star Wars Galaxies and Starfield are games that similar in this manner. It is not just about the goals but about the experience of going to other planets. Skyrim's exploration was too catered to the player and dependent on the player. With Starfield, I feel like Starfield is much less of gamey type of game. It is a game that allows you to inhabit another world and place and with a greater amount of graphical quality than any other game seen. I believe that all the praise that has been given to Skyrim is generally speaking more about nostalgia and ignoring the achievements of previous games such as Morrowind and Oblivion.

While Starfield is a game that has goals and is structured in a way that that is similar to previous games that Bethesda has, it is a game that asks the player to really construct their own adventure rather than relying entirely on the Main Quest. The main segments of missions are really there to open the worlds to the player. As being a game about space exploration, it is a game that is making the player take the story into their own hands rather than relying on narratives that have already been made already. That may not appeal to everyone but there needs to be a variety of games out there and not just games that are only about about giving the player a theme park experience.

There is more to Starfield than meets the eye. In many ways, it refuses to be a traditional type of game. While it may have shooting actions, crafting and quests, it is within a context that isn't what people expect. That is why I love games such as these. They remind me of the possibilities that are inherent in video games. Movies and Literature have their place, but video games are something really special. I believe that there is a place for all sorts of games. Starfield is one of those type of games that is really special and it needs to be supported more by all sorts.