Hey there, the developers of Starfield have recently done a Discord Q&A answering questions from the community about several big points. I don’t want to just link to some news article so I summarized the points here in the post.

1. You can buy housing in every major city, plus there is a secret dwelling for achieving something
2. If you pick a trait that makes you have parents, those parents’ looks will be automatically generated based on your character’s looks. The parents will be performed by actors the devs think we will think is awesome, and there are meaningful interactions with them.
3. Illegal items like harvested organs are considered “contraband”. You can hide them from the authorities by purchasing modules for your ship.
4. The economy is fixed and not dynamic, but prices may depend on your skills.
5. Punishment for crimes as usual gives you the choice of jail, paying a fine, or resisting.
6. The world simulation only runs when the game is running.
7. All factions can be joined and completed independently from one another, but there is at least one undercover storyline where you play two factions against each other from within if you are in both; specifically infiltrating the Crimson Fleet for UC SysDef.
8. Faction completion does not mean that your character becomes the leader anymore, thankfully enough. You will have special roles and duties in them but not every one of them leads to leadership.
9. They don’t guarantee a completely non-lethal run is possible, but they implemented many such options and choices.
10. There are three main religions in the game: Sanctum Universum (agnostics looking for god in space), The Enlightened (charity atheists), and House Va’ruun (a mystery in-universe religion worshipping the “Great Serpent”; definitely a religious zealot/cult thing).
11. Real-life religions also exist, but don’t play a major role in the story.
12. Over 20 named companions for your party, four of them are Constellation characters who get the most character development and story (but all companions are handwritten)
13. Generic randomized crew members to work on your ships and outposts are also a thing.
14. You pay your staff once to put them at an outpost or ship, no salary.
15. Companions don’t level or rank up, but they have unique skills and traits that help you.
16. Mechs are a historical, outlawed thing in the lore, not pilotable. But there may be content around them.

Sources: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/92883/starfield-alien-warfare-housing-pacifist-runs-and-much-more/index.html