NPC Interactions in Starfield
Starfield is abundant with characteristics to appreciate, much of which was purposefully designed. However, one unexpected element that has been intriguing players is the propensity of non-playable characters (NPCs) to disrupt dialogues.
Launch and Initial Feedback
Following its launch, Starfield turned out to be Bethesda’s most successful release to date, even in the face of initial performance concerns and mixed reviews. As the game community continues to expand, players have discovered novel methods to meddle with the game, specifically targeting NPCs. Numerous players have found ways to evade punishment for unjust actions against NPCs, as well as to trick the characters into believing they are innocent.
NPCs, the Unexpected Participant
According to several threads in the game's community, Starfield's NPCs seem to reciprocate the players' pass time of messing around, showing no hesitance appearing in the middle of players’ role-playing moments.
The alleged 'vengeful' nature of Starfield's NPCs came to light when a player posted a screenshot showing an NPC piercingly staring at them in the middle of a conversation. This vacant stare from Starfield's NPCs is a well-known issue, declared by the developers as a side effect of NPCs' limited facial mobility.
Some have humorously attributed sentience to Starfield NPCs, suggesting they are attempting to communicate with the player. Other players have used these situations to highlight the disparity between the detailed rendering of food and other in-game elements compared to the low resolution of NPC model rendering.
These charades by the NPCs aren’t the first encounters of nonchalant NPCs in Starfield forcing their participation into players' conversations. Other players have similarly shared their own humorous instances.
Final Thoughts
Before the release of Starfield, the leak of the game's first-day patch notes had some players hoping that Bethesda would keep some of the game's 'jank'. The recent hilarity with NPCs certainly seems to be answering these hopes. For now, there’s no known fix for the NPC issue, but the consensus seems to be that there is no need for one, as these moments add an extra layer of interesting interaction in the game.