Summary
- Starfield's companion system has been criticized for being basic, but one player has revealed an idea that would allow companions to independently complete missions and pilot unused ships.
- Assigning crew members in Starfield offers bonuses, but their contributions are limited. Players want Bethesda to expand the system.
- Modding is expected to play a major role in expanding Starfield's potential, including the possibility of creating an advanced follower framework after the official modding tools release.
The companion system in Starfield has often been described as bare-bones or rudimentary, but one player managed to suggest a way to expand on the game's crew member system by letting them independently complete missions or even use eligible ships from the player's fleet. With the advancements made to companions since the Adoring Fan was added in Oblivion, Bethesda fans were hoping that Starfield would be another step forward. However, compared to the followers in Fallout 4, the members of Constellation that join the player on their interstellar adventure only seem to have the most basic functions.
Being able to assign crew members to the home ship or an outpost in Starfield offers decent bonuses based on the perks each member possesses. However, this is unfortunately where their contribution ends, and while the current follower system is serviceable for Starfield's gameplay loop, players are hoping that Bethesda will expand the system in the near future.
Starfield Player Notices Neat Detail When Exiting Cockpit
A Starfield player notices an interesting detail while observing their ship's interior and exiting the cockpit, and many fans are impressed.
One of the suggestions on how this could be accomplished belongs to RealityJumpStudios, a Starfield player who shared their thoughts on the game's official subreddit. An easy way to expand on crew members and companions in Starfield is to allow them to pilot the currently unused vessels collecting dust in the ship selection screen. Theoretically, this would allow them to join the players during large-scale space skirmishes, adding even bigger depth to one of the more exciting aspects of Starfield: designing a starship, and taking on the dangers of the Settled Systems in it.
The idea of having Barrett tailing the player on his Frontier, or Sam tagging along with his smaller ship would seamlessly fit the game's concept. However, in addition to being able to create one's fleet, RealityJumpStudios also suggested that crew members such as Lin could be sent to mining missions, bringing back useful resources after a certain amount of time has passed. While a well-built outpost system generates plenty of resources in Starfield on its own, not everyone is enthused about setting it up in the first place.
Ultimately, it's practically a guarantee that Starfield mods will play a major role in expanding the game's potential, as this has been a pattern for Bethesda titles since Morrowind. Even if Bethesda doesn't make any fundamental adjustments to the way companions work in Starfield, it can safely be assumed that the modding scene will have an advanced follower framework up and running within a year after the official modding tools release.
Starfield is available on PC and Xbox Series X/S.