Firing up Starfield, I was prepared for a lot of things. I expected NPCs to spew information as I walked past, so much so Iād have five quests before I actually spoke to anyone. I also figured I’d fall through the surface of a planet or two. But Iād have never predicted that StarfieldĀ would try and murder me for picking up a discarded cardboard box.
Admittedly, I did have nefarious intentions, though thereās no way the security forces, who descended on me en mass, could have known that. It all started when I discovered the bucket trick wasnāt as effective in Starfield as it was in The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.Ā
If youāve not experienced the sheer, ridiculous joy of Skyrimās shoplifting dodge, Iāll elaborate. You can hold the activate key to manipulate objects (without adding them to your inventory) and place them over shopkeepersā heads. This blocks their vision and allows you to literally rob them blind.
After attempting this in Starfield and failing miserably, I illogically decided it was my choice of receptacle that was wrong. It wasnāt that Bethesda had grown wise and given NPCs X-Ray vision, it was that Iād shoved the wrong item onto this particular shopkeeperās head.
Related: Bethesda Considered Making Starfieldās Earth the One From Fallout
So, poking around The Well (New Atlantisās underground trading area in Starfield), I spotted a cardboard box sitting by a dumpster. I lifted it gently into the air, and all hell broke loose.
I canāt remember what clued me first, whether it was the screaming or that everyone, apart from one remarkably chill guy, started running around like headless chickens. Youād have thought the Reapers fromĀ Mass EffectĀ had just turned up.
I was still gawping at the mayhem when the United Colonies’ security forces turned up. I didnāt get so much as a āStop right there, criminal scum!ā before they started blasting.
My immediate and slightly idiotic reaction was to keep hold of the cardboard box and try to use it as a shield. Ducking behind the dumpster didnāt help, so after trying and largely failing to shoot my attackers, I resorted to running around randomly.
Maybe I had a chance of blending in with the public who were fleeing Yakety Sax-style. To no-oneās great surprise, it didnāt end well, and I met my demise for the heinous crime of touching an empty cardboard box.
On a parallel playthrough, I axe-murdered the inhabitants of a trading ship and got a polite hail inviting me to pay a fine. But this? Judge Dredd would have dismissed murdering me over a cardboard box as too. Life may be cheap in Starfield, but a corrugated cardboard box apparently isnāt. Maybe the United Colonies are really tough or recycling.
Thatās my best in-universe guess, at least. But practically, it smacks of overzealousness on Bethesdaās part. The difference, as I eventually discovered, between Starfield and Skyrimās object manipulation is that the latter doesnāt doesnāt care who owns an object.
People will grumble if you start waving objects around, but itās not a crime. If you pocket an object, absolutely. As long as you set an item down afterwards, no swords are drawn, but Starfield counts manipulating objects as theft.
If someone owns an item and you lift it by so much as an inch, it counts a crime, and the game brings the hammer down. My theory is that Bethesda was well aware of all the bucket-related theft going on in Skyrim and this was their attempt to fix it.
They may have taken things a teeny tiny step too far; hence the hail of bullets. In Starfieldās eyes, I was every bit as guilty as if Iād ram-raided the New Atlantis branch of GalBank. Overkill doesnāt begin to cover it.
Still, now that I’ve done the timeā¦ maybe it’s time to make a withdrawal? I wonder if bench guy is still around? He seems like heād be good in a hosta– er, crisis situation.
Published: Sep 17, 2023 11:00 am