The recent mod promotion, while it may have been a nice gesture towards the modding community, has only served to highlight yet again the communication gap between developers and players. It’s as if Bethesda is sharing the developers’ updates, and the players are left to fend for themselves.
Just imagine for a second that Starfield did not have a huge and steady presence during its online pre-release period. To be honest, no one would have noticed the first post in almost a month. It is the same for the social media accounts of the game; the only time people are aware of them is when they talk or comment about something. So, it is basically the same situation for the communication channels—often users are not even aware of the communication when it happens.
The reactions of the players were very strong, especially considering the post was not even about the official releases. Some fans even argued that the developer is trying to put up a faēade by slowly revealing the story line and only displaying creators instead of providing updates.
My view is that the developer is probably in a very difficult situation since it is well aware of the fans’ dissatisfaction with the current state of the game, but it also has faith in the game as it is, and does not want to run the risk of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, so to speak. And the player base, which is still quite large, is probably divided into different factions; one, the hardcore gamers, who have probably played the game to death and are now ready for the next, and two, those who are also playing but are taking it slowly, letting the game last longer.
It’s a deadlock situation that leads to the developer being perceived as impolite or indifferent. Just like the case of the mod promotion which was a nice touch towards the modding community; however, it has only served the developers’ perception that there was a communication vacuum.
There’s no denying that the modding community is huge and very active, and the developer should not be shy about it. However, at the same time, they should not attempt to fill the gap left by the lack of communication with players with artistic influences and creativity from the modding community apart from the official roadmap. The frustration is not really about the mod; it is more about the lack of information the mod is trying to cover up. Gamers have the patience of saints, but they are not endless. They have built their starships, explored their worlds, and are now in their cockpits, asking, “What now?” and receiving a flyer for a community garage sale in response.
This whole scenario shows the difficulty that modern game studios encounter in balancing communication with players and at the same time continuing with their grant plans. When player liberties and mod support become perceived as insufficient, the strategy backfires directly on the developer company concerning the respective game. The discontent of the players is louder than before and they have already reached out publicly on platforms like PlayStation and Xbox.
