My theory is that Bethesda has never had to deal with this level of negativity or backlash for one of their MAIN titles and considering how slow Bethesda are at producing games I can't imagine that they must have multiple studios at work really. Just look at when TESVI was announced and we still don't have any info.
After the negative reception towards the game's core fundamental design choices that are not fixable because, well, that's the core of the game, Bethesda never fixes core issues with any of their games (just look at every iteration's horrendous combat balancing) I think that Bethesda has jumped ship on Starfield.
But.... They have a contractual obligation to see that first expansion through. Because otherwise they might get sued for false marketing or something. They sold that first expansion pack in every edition but the standard edition so even if they want to abandon this ship they can't. But that doesn't mean that they have to give it their A-game anyway. So whatever skeleton crew was left behind (not necessarily in terms of numbers but in terms of talent, the main talent was definitely moved over to TESVI as they must be shitting bricks over what to do with that game) is working on an expansion pack for a bad game.
I mean the base core design of the game is just bad. There isn't really any fixing this. You can't design an expansion pack that uses the main character you play as with all of their "progression" and isolate it completely from the rest of the design of the game. You HAVE to deal with the awful RPG mechanics. You HAVE to deal with the RNG for planets. You HAVE to deal with the pointless ship combat. You HAVE to adhere to the balancing system in place. etc etc. How do you detach an expansion pack from literally every design choice that made Starfield terrible to begin with? IMO, you can't. Not without making it a completely separate game mode with its own core design and that's not what people expect out of a DLC for a Bethesda game.
Most DLC's from what I've seen tend to have a weaker score than the main product. The exception to that is when the foundation of a game is great but flawed and the expansion pack is when they can spit and polish it to showcase its true potential. But the foundation of this game is awful. So how good can an expansion pack for it really be? How many people are going to buy an expansion pack for a terrible game? Those who threw money at them for the ultimate edition and beyond are stuck with their choice so they might as well give it a try but that's not new sales.
So my theory is that Bethesda or Microsoft saw the reception, knew that the expansion pack is probably going to be pretty terrible and not going to sell well but had to complete it out of contractual obligation and shifted the main talent over to work on TESVI as it is far more important than this expansion pack is.
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next part has nothing to do with Starfield really.
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On the topic of TES, I think Bethesda is completely screwed. Think about it, what improvements have they made to melee combat (which has been included in every single game since Skyrim) over the years? Have they improved the parrying system? Have they added in better functionality for location based damage so that you can target body parts to weaken their stance? Have they updated their general design of combat so that it isn't just a damage sponge whack whack whack whack whack? Do we have different animations and combo moves for different close range weapons? Do we have a dodge system? Do we have a deeper system for fatigue that plays into the other aspects of the game?
No.
What about archery or throwing weapons? Fallout is a perfect setting for including both as for some factions guns and ammo is going to be expensive if not rare to acquire so why not use more primitive weapons for ranged combat or hunting? But not only has Bethesda opted not to include them that means that they have done nothing at all to improve that kind of design either. Whatever improvements they've done to guns over the years is irrelevant as TES does not have guns or anything that really functions like guns either. Maybe replace the missile launcher with explosive fireball? But that's about it.
Then we have the magic system. Now one can argue that there has been some gameplay feature and functionality that you can learn from in order to improve the magic system but at the same time Bethesda has not taken the time over the years to work on any kind of elemental system at all. Think of Divinity OS 2 where if you use fire on water it creates steam. Not asking for the same kind of gameplay in let's say Fallout but the point is that they have done nothing to improve the magic system at all.
So now, in 2020somethingsomething they're going to release their next TES game and they had done bugger all to improve their melee combat and archery and magic have been ignored completely. And now they're going to make the follow up to Skyrim? Bethesda has grown so incredibly complacent over the years that they have done bugger all to improve and just added in gimmicks that never go anywhere and are horrendously designed and balanced to begin with.
What are they gonna do exactly? Suddenly overhaul every way that they design a game to be a completely different game? Their AI has been trash for the longest time it isn't going to suddenly just be on par with other AAA games. The clunk in the way combat works isn't just going to go away over night, they've had 1.3 decade since Skyrim to work on it and fix it and it still plays like ass. The way damage and health works hasn't been improved upon whatsoever, even in Starfield the game turns into big number is big number; If they never listened to that criticism of every game since Morrowind then why would they listen to it now? The scripted scenes and dialogue is still extremely clunky and awkward and it is clear that the engine they are using for the gameplay format they are using is not suitable for cinematic moments so the story will always be subpar to other games on the market.
Maybe they'll blow me away but I don't think so. Bethesda is a complacent one trick pony that has been overshadowed by its peers time and time again. The only thing they bring to the table is the "bethesda formula", meaning the unique combination of gameplay features that make a Bethesda game what it is. And even that charm has worn itself out.
Then you uh, go find other "things" with space mommy and uh... yes.
