Bethesda exec's 'one piece of advice' for Starfield players: don't skip 'amazing stuff' because it doesn't seem like a real quest

Sci-fi planet — (Image credit: Bethesda)

There's no "wrong" way to play big, open-ended RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 or Starfield, but there kind of is, right? At least, there are a lot of opinions on how to have the most fun in these games, and some of them even come from their creators. Larian boss Swen Vincke offered some advice for our first Baldur's Gate 3 playthroughs, and now Bethesda head of publishing Pete Hines has dropped a Starfield tip ahead of the September 1 launch for premium edition owners.

"My one piece of advice for folks is: do not ignore your activities," Hines said during an Xbox livestream today (via GamesRadar). "It feels like throwaway stuff that the game is giving you, but there is some amazing stuff in there that doesn't even feel like a real quest but will take you to some amazing places, some amazing stories.

"We encourage you to play this like any [Bethesda Game Studios] game: Do what you want, go where you want, test the game. Be the kind of person you wanna be in this world and see what happens."

I never actually bothered to go very far in Skyrim's main quest, and instead spent dozens of hours aimlessly wandering around Tamriel, so doing stuff that "doesn't even feel like a real quest" shouldn't be a problem for me. But Hines is clearly referring to specific opportunities for adventure called "activities," so future Starfield players and kindergartners alike should take note: do your activities.

On the livestream, Hines also made some big statements about Starfield's scale—you can watch the whole thing here. Also at Gamescom, Starfield director Todd Howard said that the RPG includes "a lot of surprises" not yet revealed to the public. I'm going to guess that's true, given that we really haven't seen that much of Starfield over its long development, considering the size of it.

There's not long to go now: Starfield will be out on September 1 for owners of the $100 Premium Edition, and out September 6 for everyone else. It's on Steam, and will also be available on Game Pass.

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.