To clarify, by people I mean regular NPCs who aren't designated as existing in a stage of berserker rage at your existence, but just like guys walking around in a town.
Every gameplay I've seen of someone trying to shoot like a regular guy you can talk to seems to just result in the dumb incapacitation thing because its an essential NPC.
Yes:
Unfortunately most quest-related NPCs are essential even when it's some stupid little quest that doesn't matter and should really just be failed by their death instead because it's literally the least important thing ever. In fact I think you can see one of those in the background: there's someone on their hands and knees and I think that's someone with a short quest that goes nowhere, but who is still invulnerable.
Edit: it's not every named NPC, like I got at least one of those while clearing the area for that screenshot, and at least sometimes the flag gets cleared once the quest is done.
what the fuck happened to bethesda after morrowind
They've been coasting ever since. The thing that gets me is how every game gets hyped as some technical marvel, then has environments/AI/graphics that were common 5+ years ago. A game doesn't need higher fidelity graphics, more detailed environments, or better AI to be good, but they promise and fail to deliver every time. I guess they focus on that because it's easier to market tech than writing.
People are mind blown that they added mantling(no not the cool esoteric kind) to Starfield, like instead of awkwardly humping your way up the terrain you do a little animation and climb up ledges.
I wonder how many dev hours they put into each game's proc-gen gimmick.
After Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, and FO4, you'd think they'd stop trying to do proc-gen content. Every single time, it's a low point in the game.
The thing about Bethesda is that they're the only ones who make RPGs in that specific open-world style. It'd be nice if we saw another studio take a crack at it