Starfield Lead Designer Basically Said You Need to be a Developer to Say a Game is Bad

[ethomaz]

They are in the angry phase yet.

In a lengthy Twitter thread, Starfield lead and Bethesda studio design director Emil Pagliarulo laments "how disconnected some players are" from the realities of game development, and encourages passionate fans to avoid making assumptions about how and why design decisions are made.

"Funny how disconnected some players are from the realities of game development, and yet they speak with complete authority," Pagliarulo begins. "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."

Pagliarulo acknowledges that consumers have a right to complain about the things they spend money on, though he doesn't publicly complain about games because of "respect for my fellow devs" and because "it would be uncool and unprofessional of me to do so. But sometimes I want to. Oh boy."

The director points to his time writing game reviews for 1995-founded website Adrenaline Vault, back when he "would say whatever I wanted about a game," with some negative remarks amounting to him "being a sarcastic asshat."

"But throughout that time, I actually had no inkling what game development was actually like. How hard the designers, programmers, artists, producers, and everyone else worked," he says. "The struggle to bring a vision to life with constantly shifting resources. The stress."

Having experienced game development, his perspective on it has changed. "I can't not share the truth," he adds. "And that truth is, nobody sets out to make a bad game. And most game devs are incredibly talented... even if the game they release isn't up to par."

Pagliarulo describes game dev as "a series of concessions and tough decisions," framing a gradient between "that perfect game you want to make" and "the game you can make." Closing that gap is hard in the best conditions, he says, and is made harder by "devs being shuffled around (or leaving), looming deadlines, and creative decisions you wish you didn't have to make."

"So sure, you can dislike parts of a game," he concludes. "You can hate on a game entirely. But don't fool yourself into thinking you know why it is the way it is (unless it's somehow documented and verified), or how it got to be that way (good or bad).

"Chances are, unless you've made a game yourself, you don't know who made certain decisions; who did specific work; how many people were actually available to do that work; any time challenges faced; or how often you had to overcome technology itself (this one is HUGE)."

Pagliarulo notably doesn't specify Starfield here or directly point to any specific pain points from its long development cycle, but it's not hard to read between the lines. The mixed response to Starfield has sparked discussions about Bethesda's design philosophy, the game engine it uses, Starfield's weak links and bugs, and much more.

Such discussions recently reintensified following a viral video from YouTuber NakeyJakey, which calls Bethesda's approach "outdated," that has spread around the Starfield community and racked up over 3.3 million views in four days.

Remember…
If you are not a developer you can’t criticize a game because you don’t understand it

Starfield design lead says players are "disconnected" from how games are actually made: "Don't fool yourself into thinking you know why it is the way it is"

"I can guess what it takes to make a Hostess Twinkie, but I don't work in the factory"

www.gamesradar.com

 

[Satoru]

So basically, if someone serves me a plate of shit and I say I won't eat because it smells and (more than likely) tastes bad, my opinion is invalid because I'm not a cook?

Fuck these guys.

 

[Sloane_Ranger]

If you want to make a specific game, but the tech or staffing or budget requires that you make concessions - well then perhaps as a developer - before you get rolling - you decide if the revised version of the game is a game that players would want to play or one that your team would be proud/want to make. If the answer is no, then move on to another concept before you put in the time and effort. Perhaps have that discussion before decidiing on greenlighting any project.

Also: Whine Much?

 

[KnittedKnight]

 

[ethomaz]

So basically, if someone serves me a plate of shit and I say I won't eat because it smells and (more than likely) tastes bad, my opinion is invalid because I'm not a cook?

Fuck these guys.

How disconnected you are with the reality of cooking food

BTW it is just me but after Microsoft took over these developers become way more talk ative.

 

[BroodCorp]

Bizarre statement. I didn’t even post a take on X because people are so sensitive to these crybaby ass devs that I would’ve surely lost followers.

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

You also need to be an architect to decide if a house is a good place to live with your family or not.

 

[Yurinka]

They are in the angry phase yet.







Remember…
If you are not a developer you can’t criticize a game because you don’t understand it

Starfield design lead says players are "disconnected" from how games are actually made: "Don't fool yourself into thinking you know why it is the way it is"

"I can guess what it takes to make a Hostess Twinkie, but I don't work in the factory"

www.gamesradar.com

No, he didn't say you need to be a developer to say a game is bad. Your OP title and comments prove he's right on what he actually said. Which apparently you didn't read or understood it.

I 100% agree with him.

 

[Swift_Star]

He blocked me, pathetic man.

 

[Infinity]

He didnt say that. He said people don't know game design like they say they do. Also he said its fine to shit on it, if you want.

 

[Jim Ryan]

I am now a part time indie developer... And I say Starfield is terribly designed, a patchwork of terrible parts, held together with low quality thread.

 

[ethomaz]

No, he didn't say you need to be a developer to say a game is bad. Your OP title and comments prove he's right on what he actually said. Which apparently you didn't read or understood it.

I 100% agree with him.

He said exactly what I wrote
The OP has even the quotes.

It doesn’t matter how hard work the dev had… if a game is bad the customer has the right to say it.

What happened to developer during the development is irrelevant.

The final product is what consumers will taste… that is what developer is asking to consumer pay and not his developer story lol

It is like you can’t call a bad choice of instruments in a music just because you are not instrumentalist.
Or that a scene in a movie was bad directed because you are not a movie director.

 

[ethomaz]

He didnt say that. He said people don't know game design like they say they do. Also he said its fine to shit on it, if you want.

He said that but at the same time say you don’t know what happened, who take the decision, blábláblá.

You can read here.

"So sure, you can dislike parts of a game," he concludes. "You can hate on a game entirely. But don't fool yourself into thinking you know why it is the way it is (unless it's somehow documented and verified), or how it got to be that way (good or bad).

"Chances are, unless you've made a game yourself, you don't know who made certain decisions; who did specific work; how many people were actually available to do that work; any time challenges faced; or how often you had to overcome technology itself (this one is HUGE)."

You can dislike it but unless you are a developer you can’t call what is bad or boring designed in the game lol

You can’t point flaws because you are not a developer. The pathetic spin cover when you made something wrong.

He is pretty mad because people are point design flaws to their game (that is not few) with the words “you don’t know or understand why it is like that” as if the consumer should care about that.

 

[Nym]

Do I need to know how your food was prepared to know it tastes like shit?

But we spent a lot of time and effort on it!

Yeah that's actually worse

 

[reziel]

How disconnected you are with the reality of cooking food

BTW it is just me but after Microsoft took over these developers become way more talk ative.

That extra fluff money makes them feel comfortable expect that from Craptivision as well.
Well back on topic does this dev think he's like the English version of Kojima. Kojima had a similar saying to how he viewed Death Stranding as it "connected" people over the internet. Meanwhile the only "connections" I've seen for Starfield are how many bugs or glitches people have seen. Out of the 8 hours I played I saw more bugs, and visuals glitches then the 4 playthroughs I've done in Skyrim.

 

[Killer_Sakoman]

Rest in Hell Bethesda.

 

[Would_you_kindly]

It's boring , outdated & you're once again depending on modders to fix it , get over yourself