this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2023
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Yeah... No. That's not even every quest in Starfield, much less every game. I get that you are being hyperbolic, but to imply there is no difference between the generic mission board quests (i.e. Transport Passenger, Kill Target, Survey Planet, etc) and the more handcrafted quest lines (i.e. infiltrating the Crimson Fleet) is overtly reductive and disingenuous.
And while Starfiled does have some actually engaging quests, mostly in the Faction quest lines, its flatout dishonest to try and sweep the problem of its numerous boring generic quests under the rug of "that's every quest if you get pedantic enough!".
I wasn't saying there's no difference, I was pointing out the absurdity of reducing all of Starfield's quests to "go to this cave and grab this object." The quest design in Starfield is actually pretty good. If they had simply not added those odd job radiant quests, I doubt people would be complaining about the game lacking good quests.
As I mentioned earlier, I understand you were being hyperbolic, and I acknowledge that Starfield does feature quests that are more engaging than the generic missions. However, even at its peak, the quest design is of mediocre to subpar quality. The recurring pattern of "travel to location X, eliminate target Y, or retrieve item Z" becomes repetitive. Additionally, the process of reaching these objectives consistently follows the same formula: fast-travel to the nearest point, follow the waypoint marker, enter through the front entrance, navigate through a dungeon that is a copy and paste job, and optionally return to the quest giver.
I recognize that this issue partially stems from the game's ambitious scope, but it's a consequence of spreading resources too thin.
Discussing the intricacies of quality quest design is a complex topic, and while Starfield's quests may lack inspiration at times, it's important to remember that it can still be an enjoyable game. However, when you compare it to titles like Baldur's Gate 3, Fallout: New Vegas, System Shock 2, Deus Ex, etc, it becomes evident that Bethesda had to make concessions in quest design to accommodate the game's vast scale. For a prime example of the same studio achieving more with less in terms of questing, one need only look at Oblivion's Dark Brotherhood questline
And while removing the radiant quests would have made the problem less agregious, more effort still would have needed to be invested in the handcrafted quests to remedy the problem.