One Overlooked Starfield Update Will Make Being A Space Pirate Much Easier

Summary A new official update for Starfield improves the bounty board mechanic and makes clearing bounties simplier.

Ultimately, Starfield needs more immersion and villain options, with this update being one small step.

Bethesda mods often fix gameplay issues, with official updates sometimes breaking key mods.

Perhaps one of the most significant changes in Starfield Patch 1.11.33 was the huge update to shipbuilding, one of the most popular features of the game. In addition to being able to decorate and retain decorations on each ship, Habs have been made more useful — giving people a blank palette to fill in rather than pre-rendered configurations that limit creative expression and functionality. Now, ships can be much more personalized, improving immersion and customization. This even extends to Starfield's New Game Plus and the various Starborn ships.

However, there was one more minor update, not included in the Starfield Patch 1.11.33 patch notes, and it's one that has a major impact on being a criminal or space pirate in the game. Starfield has notoriously been unkind to those living on the other side of the law, and the absurd bounties and mechanism required to clear them would require players to construct outposts on deserted planets to avoid the intergalactic fuzz.

Related 10 Coolest Ship Designs Created In Starfield Starfield has deep customization options when it comes to building an ideal spaceship, which has led many to fabricate pretty impressive creations.

Starfield Patch 1.11.33 Introduces Bounty Boards On Ships

Breaking The Law Has Never Been Easier

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One of the missed Starfield updates was the introduction of Bounty Boards as a decoration inside of a ship. The Self-Service Bounty Clearance board can now be found under the Miscellaneous tab in the Starfield ship builder. This enables the placement of a bounty board, skirting the previous requirements to find one in an established city or to build one in an outpost. Now, when crimes are committed in the expanse of space, it's just a matter of returning to the ship and clearing it.

The Self-Service Bounty Clearance board costs two Beryllium, four Aluminum, and two Zero Wire to build and place.

Previously, the major issue with being a space pirate was in order to continue side missions and the main story, it was necessary to visit faction planets, which would inevitably mean being greeted by the planet's resident peace-keeping forces when approaching orbit with no real way to avoid being intercepted and paying the bounty unless an outpost was built outside the range of the game's major factions.

There's Still Work To Be Done For Starfield Outlaws

The Game Still Needs An Overhaul

While the addition of bounty boards is a welcome one, the game can still go a long way to improving immersion and the overall experience for those who like to break the rules. Starfield bounties often feel oppressive, as breaking laws and wiping out a non-pirate ship can rack up thousands of credits and make navigating space much more annoying, as any interaction with the UC or Freestar Collective will result in having to pay a massive fine.

Patch 1.11.33 is initially available on the Steam beta branch but will be launched to all players.

From a storytelling perspective, it makes little sense as well — as quietly dispatching a UC ship in the vacuum of space with no witnesses around to see it wouldn't actually result in a bounty unless there was some all-powerful Starfield force that could see a captain's misdeeds regardless of where they were in the galaxy. As it stands, it feels more like a gameplay mechanic rather than a piece of the real world and goes a long way in breaking immersion.

This is evident across the main narrative of Starfield as well, as even choosing the evil decision to join the Crimson Fleet doesn't really result in any meaningful consequences other than the stray line in dialogue commenting on the character's infamy. The lack of connection in this regard makes the game feel like it's forcing players to be the hero, which isn't everyone's cup of tea.

Related All Companions In Starfield, Ranked Worst To Best Starfield has 27 different companions to choose from, and some are certainly better than others. Here's the full list, ranked.

Mods Already Fixed That

A Common Bethesda Trope

Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic.

Although bounty boards will officially join the shipbuilder for all players once it leaves the beta branch, the feature has actually been part of the game via mods since 2023. User wSkeever on NexusMods uploaded a mod called "Mission Boards Anywhere - Also Bounty Clearance," which effectively was meant to make it so that both mission and bounty boards could be added to the ship. Interestingly, however, the last update for the mod in November 2023 points out that this mission portion of the mod has some bugs and issues, with the problem being a "consequence of the quests starting while outside settlements."

Player choice in Starfield often feels like a fairly binary choice between two stark differences that hold little weight to the overall gameplay narrative.

Similarly, the new beta branch update does not have mission boards — which would make taking new repeatable missions much easier while hopping from planet to planet, but perhaps the same issues the mod creator had with the missions could be the same issues Bethesda devs are having as well.

The tradition of modders fixing Bethesda's problems has been long documented in a variety of titles. From Fallout 4 to Skyrim, Bethesda's most popular games are not without their issues, and the rate at which updates occur is often underwhelming, to say the least. In fact, Bethesda's own updates, like the recent Fallout 4 Next Gen Update, resulted in the unintended consequence of breaking existing mods that solved the game's bugs and issues better than the official update was capable of doing.

Shattered Space Are Bad Guys' Last Chance

Underlying Gameplay Mechanics Must Be Changed

Custom Image by Glenn Bunn

Unlike the wildly popular Baldur's Gate 3 — where it's actually possible to take a more unscrupulous route, player choice in Starfield often feels like a fairly binary choice between two stark differences that hold little weight to the overall gameplay narrative. While a reputation system could create its own hurdles by locking people out of the main story missions, there should be a better way to take the evil route.

Although Starfield Patch 1.11.33 is the biggest update to date since the game originally launched in September 2023, it still lacks the significant overhaul that would be required to make being the villain a viable choice. While the addition of bounty boards to ships is a welcome addition, it's just one tiny step toward a game where players can embrace the dark side. As it stands, outside of a separate DLC made for being an outlaw, Shattered Space is the best chance players have to be truly evil in the game.

Source: wSkeever/NexusMods