Starfield aimed for the moon and missed the stars. Emil Pagliarulo, the Studio Design Director for Starfield, took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and posted a long thread “intended to be support and respect for game [developers] and the development process” which has become the next target for the internet to vent out their frustrations at the game and the studio.

Emil Pagliarulo's Starfield Statement

Pagliarulo, Starfield's Studio Design Director, posted a 15-part thread on X. The statement read:

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

Part of me really gets it. When you're a consumer and spend money on things, that gives you the right to complain about those things. I spend a LOT of money on games every year, and sometimes it takes a lot for me not to scream into the internet's collective consciousness.

I don't complain about games on social for two main reasons: 1.) I know how hard it is to make games, and have too much respect for my fellow devs. 2.) I work for a game studio, and it would be uncool and unprofessional for me to do so. But sometimes I want to. Oh boy.

Most people don't have these constraints, and are free to post whatever they want. The internet is a glorious wild wild west, and I wouldn't have it any other way. And there was a time when I exercised that right very freely.

When I was writing game reviews for the Adrenaline Vault forever ago, I was absolutely that person who would say whatever I wanted about a game, good or bad. Sometimes the good was over-enthusiastically too good. And sometimes the bad was me 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. The struggle to bring a vision to life with constantly shifting resources. The stress.

This isn't me complaining about my job. I've experienced all these things, and will again. It's the nature of AAA game development. But I also have a great position, and am still gainfully employed after 21+ years. A blessing considering the thousands of layoffs this year.

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, because the internet. But given my position, I can't not share the truth. 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.

See, I never knew this before, but if nothing else, video game development is a series of concessions and tough decisions. There's that perfect game you WANT to make… and then there's the game you CAN make. Sometimes, if the gods smile on you, those two are very close.

But in order to get there, in order to get it as close as possible to the vision, the team has to push itself harder and harder… often while dealing with devs being shuffled around (or leaving), looming deadlines, and creative decisions you wish you didn't have to make.

And “team” is absolutely the operative word there. Lots and lots of folks doing lots of lots of work. Writing, level building, making character models, coding game systems, trying to schedule it all so it can get done and folks don't burn out, and on and on.

So sure, you can dislike parts of a game. 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).

So yes! Love games, buy them, play them, and complain to your heart's content! It's sort of the nature of the developer/player transactional relationship.

But… just know that the game you're playing is in some ways a freaking miracle in and of itself. Normal people have come together to work FOR YEARS for one goal – to bring you fun and happiness. So it helps to remember that… and them! 🤓♥️”

Reddit and X react to Starfield Director's Tweet

A good majority of Pagliarulo's statement paid respect to game developers, but the part that the internet fixated on was the first part where he said that players are “disconnected” from the way games are made. Naturally, this did not sit well with players and was the target of mockery and actual counter-arguments.

“The reason why Starfield is getting so much criticism is because its a combination of all of the long standing gripes people have had with Bethesda in one very mid $70 game. I may not know exactly what went down during development but the SF complaints are a long time coming,” X user Actually_Tina wrote. “Bethesda continually fails to address many issues their consumers bring up and you can't blame that on not understanding development. The issues go back to Fallout 3 and Oblivion. This frustration at consumers is misdirected”

On Reddit, the relevant post on r/GamingNews received an identical amount of hostility and counter-arguments, a lot of which were in line with Pagliarulo's Hostess Twinkie metaphor.

“It's interesting to me how committed they are to telling everyone that they are in the wrong. It'd be like if there was a new flavor of soda, no one liked it, but Coca Cola said, ‘Actually it's amazing, you guys don't understand how soda is made.' Like how f****** stupid does that sound?” Reddit user r/DefinitelyNotTheOne wrote. “I wasn't expecting No Man's Sky RPG, honestly kinda expected what we got, but it feels like Starfield would have been an amazing game if it was released along side the launch of this generation of consoles. It feels dated, for the lack of a better word.”

“This current console generation is only 3 years old. I think Starfield would still have felt pretty dated 3 years ago. Cyberpunk 2077 released in 2020. Now cyberpunk had a ton of technical problems and it was a complete mess, but as a current Gen title it looked more modern than Starfield graphically, and had much less dated gameplay concepts,” added Reddit user r/jolsiphur.

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On top of these volatile reactions, this seven-year-old post on the r/Fallout subreddit by Reddit user u/AFlyingNun has also resurfaced, claiming in its title how “until Bethesda fires/relocates Emil Pagliarulo, do not expect quality storylines ever again.” The post was critical of Pagliarulo, the fulfillment of his role as Lead Writer in Fallout 3 and 4, and his way of communicating game changes.

Starfield was released on September 5, 2023 to much excitement from fans as a new Bethesda IP, but now its Steam reviews sit at Mixed with almost 85,000 total reviews as of the time of writing. It has also experienced a steady decline in players, with concurrent numbers on Steam now at a measly 10-12,000 players. It is still a AAA game priced at $69.99, which also became the main point of most players' gripes about the game.