Starfieldhas continued to plot an uneven course since its launch in 2023. As the newest IP from developer Bethesda Game Studios,Starfieldpromised big ambitions based on aspects of BGS' previous projects while shooting for some bold ideas. However, the reception toStarfield’s overall experience and its subsequent support, which wasn’t always met with enthusiasm, kept it from achieving all of its lofty goals. Bethesda has stated that it plans to keep adding and expanding on it, though, and fans are currently awaiting what the next big update or potential DLC may bring toStarfield.
Many players are likely aware of the variousbugs that often pop up in Bethesda’s titles, and their existence has been the source of equal measures of comedy and consternation for some time. The studio has garnered a reputation in this regard for better or worse, and it’s something that even its most recent release,The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered, has no shortage of. And there’s a commonly occurring bug inStarfieldthat, given that it seems directly related to similar ones inTES, makes the latter the likely culprit.
The Elder Scrolls is Likely Responsible for Starfield’s Irritating ‘Visit Your Rented Room’ Bug
Bethesda is No Stranger to Bugs in its Games
Though the developer is responsible for producing some of the most well-known and liked games within two widely popular franchises–FalloutandThe Elder Scrolls–it’s also long been the case that they all usually contain more than their share of bugs and glitches. There are countless memes, videos, and stories circulating showcasing the range of buggy behavior and grating glitches in titles from both series. These were sometimes forgiven, especially earlier on when massive open-world RPGs like these were less prevalent, but still persist in the present.
While one’s mileage may vary on exactly how “charming” or “harmless” some of these technical hiccups may be, the fact that the studio has basically its own brand of “Bethesda bugs” has since become something of an albatross around its neck. Along with the fact thatBethesda has used its in-house Creation Enginefor so long, which can pretty reliably be counted on to present bugs, it’s an element that many fans have become familiar with and reluctantly accept as part and parcel of BGS games.
User-made mods are widespread for Bethesda games, which often address many of these bugs.
Why Starfield’s ‘Visit Your Room Bug’ is Probably The Elder Scrolls' Fault
As players travel acrossStarfield’s universe, they can book a stay at various locations. Upon doing so, the seemingly simple task of “visit your rented room” will be added to the quest log. This ostensibly requires nothing more than sleeping in said room. The issue is that it can be unnecessarily convoluted to get the game to actually recognize and mark the activity complete. Standard practices such as reloading a save file or relaunching the game can sometimes do the trick, but even these fixes can be inconsistent. In many cases, fans have to jump through illogical hoops like sleeping or waiting elsewhere for in-game days at a time, having to close the door to the bedroom in question, or just traveling around until the game seems to randomly register it.
A similar species of bug related to sleeping in rented rooms appears in both previousElder Scrollstitles,SkyrimandOblivion.Oblivion Remasteredretained many of the original’s bugs, some of which fans were fond of for their humor factor, with others could verge on game-breaking. On top of the “sleep in your room” one, sometimes more important events like key enemies and items spawning or dialogue options with quest-relevant NPCs not triggering or unlocking properly are a source of frustration. It would appear then thatStarfield’s rented room bug owes its presence to being inherited from the comparable ones inTES. And while workarounds exist, hopefully these hitches are eventually patched out and avoided altogether in the future.
