Bethesda has taken the unusual step for a triple-A video game maker of responding to negative reviews of Starfield on Steam.
As spotted by Project Zomboid developer Andy Hodgetts and flagged in a tweet, representatives of the Microsoft-owned company have been replying to negative reviews on Valve’s platform since early November amid Starfield’s ‘mixed’ user review rating of 69%.
Many of the negative reviews echo common complaints with the sprawling space game, like this one posted on November 6 from a player with 56 hours in Starfield.
Boring and overrated. There is a wide universe to explore, filled mostly with empty planets. I understand. They have to do that to sell you on the idea that this is a whole universe, but that doesn’t make the game more fun. You can land on any planet and explore the copy/pasted locations. You will see the exact same locations from one end of the universe to the other and everywhere in between. A hodgepodge of messy, slapped together mechanics. Bloated skill trees, ‘exploring’, crafting, base building, an RPG, an FPS, a space opera. Starfield doesn’t know what it wants to be. As wide as the ocean and as deep as a puddle. You can explore everywhere but why would you want to?
Starfield Tour of the Solar System
IGN’s Twenty Questions – Guess the game!
This review sparked a response from someone called “Bethesda_Kraken [developer]”, who signed off their post as coming from Bethesda Customer Support:
Greetings,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review for Starfield!
We are sorry that you do not like landing on different planets and are finding many of them empty.
Some of Starfield’s planets are meant to be empty by design — but that’s not boring. “When the astronauts went to the moon, there was nothing there. They certainly weren’t bored.” The intention of Starfield’s exploration is to evoke a feeling of smallness in players and make you feel overwhelmed. You can continue to explore and find worlds that do have resources you need or hidden outposts to look through.
To provide feedback to development for Starfield, please feel free to submit your feedback using this form here.
Never stop exploring!
Bethesda Customer Support
It’s a pretty stock response, and quotes Ashley Cheng, Bethesda’s managing director, who uttered the phrase “when the astronauts went to the moon, there was nothing there. They certainly weren’t bored” in a New York Times feature published ahead of Starfield’s September launch.
Here’s a more recent response, again from the busy Bethesda_Kraken, to a negative review from a Starfield player with over 76 hours on record.
The story is as generic as it gets and the gameplay gets boring. I wish there was a reason to even bother exploring planets and building outposts. Everything is fun until you do it once, then it’s all a repeating, soulless chore.
And here’s the developer response, posted on November 27, the same day as the review.
Greetings,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review for Starfield!
You can fly, you can shoot, you can mine, you can loot!
Starfield is an RPG with hundreds of hours of quests to complete and characters to meet. Most quests will also vary on your character’s skills and decisions, massively changing the outcome of your playthrough. 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. Put points in different skills from a character you’ve previously created, and you are now faced with completely different decisions to make and difficulties to encounter.
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!
Never stop exploring!
Bethesda Customer Support
Here’s another example, but this time from someone called Bethesda_FalcoYamaoka, who also signs off as from Bethesda Customer Support:
Greetings,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review for Starfield!
We are sorry that you do not like landing on different planets and are finding many of them empty.
Some of Starfield’s planets are meant to be empty by design — but that’s not boring. “When the astronauts went to the moon, there was nothing there. They certainly weren’t bored.” The intention of Starfield’s exploration is to evoke a feeling of smallness in players and make you feel overwhelmed. You can continue to explore and find worlds that do have resources you need or hidden outposts to look through.
Starfield is an RPG with hundreds of hours of quests to complete and characters to meet. Most quests will also vary on your character’s skills and decisions, massively changing the outcome of your playthrough. 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. Put points in different skills from a character you’ve previously created, and you are now faced with completely different decisions to make and difficulties to encounter. 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!
We are still actively working on this game and will be for a long time yet to come. If you would like to provide feedback straight to development, you can do so here: https://beth.games/46e5g8E
We want to make Starfield awesome for everyone who wants to venture out into it!
Best Regards,
Bethesda Customer Support.
Here’s Bethesda_Kraken’s response to a negative review from a player who couldn’t get over Starfield’s much-maligned loading screens:
Hi there,
Thank you for taking the time to provide your review and we are sorry to hear that you were disappointed with encountering many loading screens while playing.
While there may be loading screens in between fast travelling, just consider the amount of data for the expansive gameplay that is procedurally generated to load flawlessly in under 3 seconds. We believe that shortcoming will not hinder our players from getting lost in the world we created.
We would be very interested in hearing about your experience with bugs to see if we can assist: https://beth.games/46e5g8E. After selecting your issue type, continue with “Next” at the bottom of the screen until you are at the ticket submission.
You can send further feedback to development here: https://beth.games/46e5g8E
Never stop exploring!
Bethesda Customer Support
And let’s end with Bethesda_Kraken’s response to a negative review that points out “having to fast travel instead of flying through space makes the game feel less of an open world game”.
Greetings,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review for Starfield!
Given the immense size of Starfield, we felt it made more sense to be able to use your Grav Drive to jump to other solar systems. The option to fly freely among planets is still there, and you can travel from one planet to another and land without needing to open your map if you use your scanner. However, for an expedition like solar system traversal, jumping is necessary.
Remember that fast travel also has its perks as you can do so quickly when trying to complete quests and will always be given visual of your ship launching and landing, thus being able to appreciate all the little details that make your customized ship look unique.
Some of Starfield’s planets are meant to be empty by design – but that’s not boring. “When the astronauts went to the moon, there was nothing there. They certainly weren’t bored.” The intention of Starfield’s exploration is to evoke a feeling of smallness in players and make you feel overwhelmed. You can continue to explore and find worlds that do have resources you need or hidden outposts to look through.
To provide feedback to development for Starfield, please feel free to submit your feedback using this form here: https://beth.games/45BDMKb
Never stop exploring!
Bethesda Customer Support
While indie video game developers respond to Steam reviews all the time, big publishers like Bethesda rarely get stuck in, which makes these responses, however robotic, noteworthy. Why would Bethesda bother? It may be trying to steer Starfield sentiment in a more positive direction, mindful of that troublesome ‘mixed’ user review rating. Starfield is currently the lowest-rated Bethesda game ever on Valve’s platform (Fallout 76 currently has a ‘mostly positive’ user review rating of 76%, if you were wondering), and management will no doubt be keen to address that. Of course, there’s a risk that comes from responding to negative reviews, particularly when you use them to insist landing on empty planets isn’t boring.
I mean, you can reference that the actual moon is empty if you like and that astronauts who landed there did not find this emptiness boring, but there’s a big difference between landing on the actual moon and doing the same in a videogame 😉
Bethesda has updated Starfield a number of times since its launch, which saw 10 million players in three weeks. The latest patch, 1.8.86, added DLSS Support and the ability to eat food on sight. The studio already has a Starfield post-launch story expansion pack in the works, called Shattered Space, and development chief Todd Howard told IGN in an interview ahead of the Starfield Direct that Bethesda plans to release “a lot” of add-on content for the space exploration game.
“We’re going to be doing a lot of add-on content for Starfield,” Howard said. “We love doing it. Our fans love it. We’re going to do a story expansion pack that’s going to be coming. Our plan is to do things of varying sizes, and we’ve done a lot of that in our previous games, so it’s something that we really like doing, our fans like. So despite the size of the game, there’s still things we want to add as far as features in the future or stories and things like that. Hopefully it’s going to continue for a long time that way.”
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.
The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”
Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.
“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.
“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”
The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.
At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.
A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”
Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.
Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.
Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.
Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.
While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.
Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
___
Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
