Starfield's most recent update has a microtransaction mission.
Most of the material in Starfield's Creation Club is bog-standard custom content: goofy little armor skins, fun-themed ship modules, cannons that fire potatoes, whatever. Look a little harder, though, and you find something even more sinister: Starfield charges players to access a Trackers Alliance bounty. Available on the Creations marketplace for 700 credits is the mission, "The Vulture." However, credits can only bought in set quantities, so the smallest bundle that would still let gamers get "The Vulture" consists in 1,000 credits for $9.99USD.
Now, it's worth mentioning that there's one free Trackers Alliance assignment and a series of brilliant bounties included in the update; merely "The Vulture" costs extra money. But that might alter not too far off. Lead creative producer Tim Lamb said in a YouTube video detailing the changes Starfield's June update will bring "We are periodically planning on adding new Trackers Alliance missions via the Creations platform." Though the message is clear: future Trackers Alliance searches will be pay-to-play, it is not immediately clear whether there will be any more free missions.
Microtransactions Betray A Slippery Slope at Bethesda
Microtransactions have long, unpleasant history for Bethesda, and their frequency has just grown with time. All started with the Horse Armor DLC for Oblivion, back in 2006. For a DLC that let users buy and equip armor for their in-game horses, Bethesda charged $2.50 Once fitted, the armor would provide a horse extra HP; otherwise, it was largely decorative. When the DLC first came out, it was heavily attacked, particularly following the discovery that removed material implying horse armor was initially meant to be included into the main game.
At the time, Horse Armor looked like an odd mistake, but today spending real-world money for video game cosmetics is a common occurrence. The mainstay of live-service games are buyable skins. Players are compelled to purchase "bundles" of virtual money in amounts that somehow always seem to surpass the cost of one item, yet fall short of two. if one of the first games to introduce such a technique, it bears a lot of the guilt even if it's not entirely Oblivion's responsibility. Since then, most Bethesda's role-playing games have included a similar concept: the Creation Clubs of Skyrim and Fallout 4. These featured both completely distinct gameplay choices like Survival Mode in Skyrim and cosmetic objects including weapons and armor.
Starfield's New Trackers Alliance Quests Spell Disaster for the Future Content of the Game and Create a Bad Precedent for the Gaming Industry Overall.
The bad precedent created by Starfield's Trackers Alliance for the game itself as well as for the Gaming sector generally Released alongside the Shattered Space DLC at Summer Game Fest, the most recent Starfield update features a lot of fresh material. Once the new update is installed, players will discover they have a lot more to do in the Settled Systems from fresh missions to entire new planets.
Some of it, though, comes with expenses. The update also included Starfield's interpretation of the Creation Club, an in-game digital market for custom content downloads. Bethesda's game design has long been based on this; it's not all negative; it does give chances for console players to use mods they might not otherwise be able to access and for modders to be paid for their hard effort. But many Bethesda-made Creation Club files deal just in virtual currency and call for payment. And this latest version of the Creation Club has elevated these Microtransactions to unprecedented levels, resulting in a flood of review bombing on the Steam page of Starfield.
Though they don't have to follow the path of Horse Armor, the New Trackers Alliance Missions may be an irresponsible misstep.
Though they can be a reckless mistake, the new Trackers Alliance tasks are not like Horse Armor. Some, like shatter 71 in the Reddit thread above, are already pledging to object by not funding Creations. Should Starfield's initial step into paid missions prove to be a failure experiment, their goal is that it won't be repeated.
Source: Valhalla Softworks/YouTube, Kakapac/Reddit
Starfield: Examining the Mechanics of the Game
Starfield, the first original IP from Bethesda Game Studios, marks 25+ years of activity from the studio. Set in 2310, the United Colonies and Freestar Collective are seeing a precarious truce following a conflict set 20 years ago. As a member of Constellation, a space exploration team, the player will personalize their character traveling The Settled Systems and negotiating the disputes among the warring nations. Bethesda claims that players may travel over 100 systems and 1000 planets in search of resources and build their ships, therefore fulfilling their own sci-fi adventures.
Players have show great interest in Starfield's fresh features and Gaming approaches. The game has drawn criticism for its repetitious planets even as its ambitious scope has been appreciated. One player has discovered a world that suggests there are still fascinating locations out there. Players still talk about the game constantly, and supporters argue over the value of its most recent improvements in gameplay mechanics.
