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A ship from Starfield firing its laser cannons and missiles at an enemy with a star in the background.
Screenshot by Dot Esports

I’m sorry, Dave: Starfield ships are going rogue and attacking everyone

Is this technically a crime?

Imagine life in Starfield without your starship. The cold, vast nothingness of space lies just inches outside your vessel’s hull, but among the stars, your ship is your home. So what happens when you park at a station to refuel and resupply and your home just decides to fly off without you and shoot at your allied factions?

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A Starfield player encountered this hilarious “feature,” sharing a clip of what exactly happened in a Sept. 24 Reddit thread. The player docked at The Eye and entered the airlock, heading to see Vladimir for a mission, before suddenly their ship detached and immediately opened fire on a nearby United Colonies vessel, leaving the perplexed player stranded at the space station.

Commenters were quick to jest at the player’s expense, with one saying they shouldn’t have left Cora—Sam Coe’s 12-year-old daughter and main story companion—on the ship near the flight controls. Others took to referencing writer Isaac Asiimov’s I, Robot and 2001: A Space Odyssey, believing a sentient AI took control of the ship and proceeded to eliminate all human life.

It turns out there appears to be a bug if the player commandeers a Spacer or pirate ship, whereby, regardless of its new owner, it keeps its unique identifier as an “enemy” ship and will automatically engage with allied factions.

Another noted they stripped down a pirate ship and rebuilt it, only to have it take off on its own, seemingly hell-bent on bringing down the UC and Constellation as per its original captain and programming. It appears that, as it’s an NPC ship, it returns to NPC duties whenever it isn’t actively flown despite its reassignment.

The post’s author managed to find a fix when, mid-flight, they left the captain’s chair and the ship began flying and attacking nearby ships. Removing and adding a random structure or part to their ship’s interior or exterior appeared to reset the ship, allowing for full control once again.

Nevertheless, it’s got to be annoying knowing you can’t leave the helm for a single moment, otherwise, your ship decides to exterminate anything around you that moves. Here’s hoping Bethesda has a fix lined up soon, or the UC might need to upgrade its anti-air combat capabilities.


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Author
Image of Nicholas Taifalos
Nicholas Taifalos
Weekend editor for Dot Esports. Nick, better known as Taffy, began his esports career in commentary, switching to journalism with a focus on Oceanic esports, particularly Counter-Strike and Dota. Email: nicholas@dotesports.com