"We don't want to put too many limits on what the player is or isn't allowed to do," said Hines. "We love it when players say, 'I wonder what happens if…' and then they try it."
At the time he was talking about stealing items from shops, but the discussion quickly escalated to more serious crimes and having the freedom to play the game the way you want to.
"You could spend thousands of hours doing nothing but ship-building," Hines said, "and [make that your focus] and that's okay." Players could also choose to just explore all the planets, or just follow the main story line for a more guided experience through Starfield. "And no approach is wrong," said Hines.
Hines then imagined a conversation between two players comparing notes about their different experiences during the same quest, with each making totally different decisions that led to different outcomes.
"Oh yeah, I just ran in and stole a ship and shot all of the crew members and took off," said Hines. "Like… you can do that? You can do anything. I think that is a special part of a Bethesda Game Studios game."
"You just gave me some ideas for stealing people's ships, so I appreciate that," said Prince. "That's going to be top of the list to do in Starfield."
