For All, Into The Starfield
My first Bethesda game was Oblivion. I was 16 years old.
I was sitting in my friend’s bedroom, watching him run around in the Imperial City. It was unlike anything I had ever played at the time. After a few weeks he asked if I wanted to borrow the game, and I obliged. I spent countless nights exploring caves, dungeons and the like. It’s still my favorite game in the series to this day.
Fallout 3 was already out for a year at this point, but knowing that it was Bethesda’s next project I gave it a go. It was 30 degrees out when I first played. Do you know what you do when it’s that cold? You stay indoors. The same friend who lent me his copy of Oblivion had to go to work that night, so I stayed in his apartment and rolled a character. That same sense of exploration was there. The characters, plot points and general vibe were all present. It was immaculate. Over the next few months I would have my own copies of Oblivion and Fallout 3 to play and I would go back and forth and just…hang out.
A couple years pass and Bethesda’s next game edges into the horizon.
“Skyrim”
I would read Game Informer front to back at this time in my life, and when Skyrim got the cover feature it all felt real. Magazine spreads, Todd’s exposition at Quakecon, the trailers, the commercials. You just had to be there.
11–11–11
I had just graduated in May, and found myself melting in a pool of my own design. No college prospects, no job, but just enough cash to rent a copy of Skyrim at the monolithic red vending machines that stole the movie store from my city.
The opening crawl is burned deep within our collective minds, but for me especially that slow buildup is always seen as a moment of reflection.
I played Skyrim in 2011. I played Skyrim in 2012. I played Skyrim every year since it came out, and I will play Skyrim until I die. When I’m on my death bed a busted up Xbox 360 will be at my side, and I will ride that cart off into the great beyond, shortly before naming my character “HAMBURGER HELPER” for the 25th time.
Before I started dipping my toes in online forums the main draw for me was to walk over to my friend’s place (you know the one) and watch either him or his brother play the new hotness, or in Diablo III’s case watch him try to sign in for three hours.
by 2012 I had my own copy of the game and a full time job. I would have some form of a job for the rest of my days. That friend would move away in 2013, and he would move farther and farther as the years went by.
When Fallout 4 was announced I sadly didn’t have the hardware to play it, but I would acquire a PS4 the following year and would spend my time off exploring the commonwealth and it’s subsidiaries. I love Fallout 4 to death, I’d dare even say that it’s my favorite in the series. A new Bethesda game means going to my friend’s new place and watching him tear super mutants up…
When it came to Fallout 76 I must confess:
I was a hater.
I regret it. I kept my opinion mostly to myself, but now 5 years later this game has come into it’s own and I gotta say I am proud of what it has become. I played a few months ago with a fresh character, and immediately found myself in the company of a stranger online. He gave me food, water, and enough artillery to arm a small nation. He was the nicest person I have ever met in an online videogame.
So here we are, in the present day. Just over 5 years ago Starfield was announced, and we waited. Some of us are here for the space exploration, some of us are here because we love Bethesda, and some of us might just be here because we have Gamepass. I’m here for a number of reasons. I’m a big RPG nerd, I love videogames so much I can’t help but write about them, and most of all I’m here because a friend shared his experiences with me. Thank you.
I’ll see you in the stars.