Starfield players disappointed with “horrible” space pirate experience

A Starfield player shares their experience on playing as a pirate for their second playthrough and the majority of fans agree that it’s disappointing. They also believe that the “stealth is currently bugged” as picking something up gives you an instant bounty.

Starfield allows you to pick from several backgrounds and traits, giving you the freedom to customize your own playthrough. Bethesda’s galactic RPG also offers you a long main story, and countless side quests that will keep you engaged for hours. However, many players are disappointed with its roleplaying system, and say that the game “completely fails to let you roleplay as a bad guy.”

Redditor Nyaos made a post on the Starfield subreddit talking about their experience playing as a pirate. They started their second playthrough with the intention of playing as a bad guy, a tradition they follow in every Bethesda RPG. However, according to them, Bethesda never intended for players to try a pirate playthrough.

Starfield fans think that “playing as a pirate really sucks”

The OP complains that the bounties keep accumulating as you play on as a pirate in Starfield. Doing almost anything as a pirate gets you a bounty. This will then get so high that you can’t go to jail, ignore the bounty, or pay it off without making the game feel tedious. Here’s what happens if you do so:

1. Go to jail — If you go to jail for your crimes in Starfield, you’ll end up with a massive XP penalty. This will set you back hours worth of skill development, thereby ruining your experience with the game.
2. Live on with the bounty — If you just ignore the bounty, you’ll be locked out of some major quests.
3. Try paying off the bounty — At this point, the bounty on your head will be so large that it will take you forever to earn the money. You’ll also need to make numerous selling attempts with various traders.

Another Redditor brought up an important point regarding the crime system in Starfield. They wrote, “I just want to know how every soul in the universe knows immediately that I picked a pen up off of some desk and now they all want to kill me? When I have to literally hand deliver a slate with probably the most important information on it because apparently there’s no email or texting in the future.”

Others shared similarly frustrating but hilarious experiences. OP themselves added in another comment, “Picked up a soccer ball in the well and was gunned down like the criminal scum I was.” Most players noted that this seems to be the result of a bug with the stealth mechanic itself. However, the bounty is impossible to avoid if you’re being a pirate in Starfield.

Many Starfield players blamed the companion AI for ruining their stealth. One user said they “hate the companions when trying to do stealth anything. Even the companions with stealth skills will blow the whole operation.”

Thankfully, you can fix the stealth and combat in Starfield with a simple mod. Meanwhile, if you’re looking to pay off your bounty, you can resort to a money glitch for infinite credits.