One of the more interesting additions to Bethesda games is their Creation Clubs. The Creation Club allows players to purchase mods with the knowledge that they are supporting individual creators rather than Bethesda directly. Given how popular mods can be, this feature will likely be coming to Starfield down the line.
However, Starfield's iteration of the Creation Club will need to learn from past mistakes that were most notable in The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, where mods never really felt well-integrated with the base game. Starfield needs to avoid this uncanny feeling if Bethesda wants to create a more cohesive experience for fans to iterate upon.
Starfield's Creation Club Needs to Take a Step Back
Skyrim's Creation Club content has always occupied a strange place within the game as a whole. Its initial reception wasn't as grand as Bethesda hoped considering there are free mods online that dwarf anything on offer. There was never a proper reason to purchase a Creation Club mod, as alternatives could easily be found that were often higher quality. Many also considered Creation Club prices to be far too much. Though not a lot has been showcased for Starfield yet, Creation Club content is something to look out for.
One of the biggest issues with Creation Club content in Skyrim is that it often didn't feel fit within the confines of the game. For example, the "Missing Merchant" quest allowed players to get a set of Daedric mail armor very early on in the game. The strength of this armor was not properly reflected by the difficulty of the quest, allowing players to skip the tiers of progression they would normally go through to receive an armor set this powerful. Additions like this hurt not only the balance of the game, but the natural progression imposed by the original developer. Coming across something just as powerful on one of Starfield's many planets could prove detrimental.
Another issue comes in the context of the lore. Like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchise, Starfield will likely feature a grand showcase of lore and worldbuilding. Creation Club content usually adheres to this, staying within the boundaries of the lore by not introducing anything new. For that reason, Creation Club content likely won't (and shouldn't) be around until a few months after release of the game to avoid the possibility of conflicting lore.
To ensure Creation Club content doesn't interfere with the balance of the game, Bethesda should make sure level requirements always reflects how strong the reward is. For a game like Skyrim, which has been out for over a decade, balancing isn't as important given many have already experienced the adventure multiple times. For a new game like Starfield, this will be far more important. Another issue with Creation Club content is that it often felt out of place narratively, as most of the quest was told through re-used dialogue or books and notes. Over time, it becomes noticeable which quests are from the Creation Club versus vanilla content. Amending this issue in future installments would help retain the quality of Starfield's content and themes.
Though Starfield's release date has been hard to pin down, hopefully the extra allotted time will give Bethesda a chance to further refine its game. With any luck, it will also allow them to re-think their approach to Creation Club content in Starfield.
Starfield is set to launch on September 6 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.