Has Bethesda taken too much flack?

Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 7:58 am

Yes, i'm sure Bethesda is very annoyed that New Vegas has managed to make $300+ million in profit.

Bad Obsidian! Bad dog!



Yup.

Personally... i believe people should be more respectful to each other when it comes to which video game developer did the fallout series justice.

Browsing these forums, there always seems to be an argument about who's better than who.
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^_^
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:11 pm

I would add to that, Theredchord:

There always is an argument about whether the game is 'broken' or not. People have trouble rationalising that 'their' game is not 'everybodies' game...

Edit:

And, just for the record, my game is not broken...it's simply in need of the occasional shot of adrenaline straight to the heart.
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Michelle Smith
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:40 pm

There always is an argument about whether the game is 'broken' or not. People have trouble rationalising that 'their' game is not 'everybodies' game...

If there is a bug present in the game, it is in everybodies game (well, everybody who is running that same version of the game). The difference is that you didn't encounter it yet.
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Sammykins
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:04 am

Yup, I believe it's the old Gamebyro engine that makes the gaming experience unpleasant. Now, why can't they use a new engine?! :facepalm:

I wonder if the couple dozen other games that have used similar gamebryo middleware experience similar issues. If so, you may have a rational argument to put forward here. I suggest you look into it before making wild assertions though.
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Hussnein Amin
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:22 pm

Now, why can't they use a new engine?! :facepalm:

You do realise you're just going to trade one set of bugs for another set of bugs, right? Well, for as long as humans are responsible for writing the software anyway.
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Shelby Huffman
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:12 pm

Fallout 3 was buggy too, and to a lesser extent Oblivion too

Like Alois said, the crashes and freezes are features since Oblivion, not even the Fan Made patch prevent its ( i have both games and i still have crashes)

If there is a bug present in the game, it is in everybodies game (well, everybody who is running that same version of the game). The difference is that you didn't encounter it yet.


Not everybody, i dont feel the game broken
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barbara belmonte
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:13 pm

You're joking, right? Seriously, right? No food gives 21 health per tick. Not even Brahmin Wellington does.Even Stimpaks with max medicine only give around fifteen for like eight seconds.


Desert Salad -> 21(15)
Wasteland Omelet -> 12(1m)
Trailmix -> 15(15)
BrahminWellinton -> 15(10)

It does not even matter if you stack multiple of the 12-15 foods you can get a regen high enough that if your not playing like a total moron you can easily out pace the damage that is being done to you.

And even if everything you said was true, I'd still argue that it's only just as easy as FO3, considering that at least in NV the food has weight and you can't spam healing items like you could in FO3, due to the heal-over-time mechanic.


Spaming or Stacking -> Unlimited Stacking is far more over powered of a mechanic, had they limited consumables to only 3-4 over a 60 second period it would have made the game harder but as it is it just makes the game easier.

Go on. Walk into the quarry with your regenerating food and whatever armor you want. Don't shoot anything, just see how long you last.

Deathclaws have enough damage to overpower any amount of DT and regen possible, and Murder wasps have extremely powerful poison that, due to the game's mechanics, ignores DT. Ditto giant radscorps.


I have DC's do not attack very fast but do 100 dmg per hit that is not very hard to out regen, and as long as you stand Toe to Toe avoiding in close damage by straifing around them (they miss alot when you do that) with them they do not Forward Power Attack and do nothing but normal attacks and the odd power attack -> not exactly difficult to kill unless you are a coward that runs and gets knocked down by the Forward Power Attack avoid it and they are easy to kill.

What are you talking about? Ranger vets typically carry AMRs or ranger sequoias or brush carbines, all of which will handily overpower any amount of DT possible without cheats. Legion vets will typically carry things like 12.7mm SMGs and chainsaws, which will also overpower any reasonable amount of DT. With the new patch, the occasional fiend with a plasgun is also dangerous, considering the plasgun's buffed damage and -2 DT from standard MFCs.

Furthermore, how are you supposed to get 25+ DT in the early game? That's as much as a fully repaired suit of T-51b here. Even if you take both toughness perks and shell out for the implant, you've got less then ten, and by the time you could actually do all that you're well into the midgame. You could get to around 26ish if you shell out thousands of caps for a suit of reinforced CA2 from the gun runners and a helmet, but that's not exactly something you can conveniently do in the early game, and 26 DT won't save you from very many high end baddies.


There is a Recon Armor within about 5 minutes walking distance from the start of the game -> 17 DT right there -> the Space Helmit gives 4 and thats on the way to the Recon Armor -> that 21 DT before Perks and all you have to kill are a few Ferals.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I don't believe this at all. Legion assassin teams have large amounts of health and typically have at least one hunting rifle. NCR strike teams are even worse. I'm fairly certain that it's impossible to consistently beat them in hardcoe with only low level weapons and 5-6 DT.


The Death Squads have terrible weapons I have yet to see one that was not carring Caravan Shotguns, .357's, Coyboy Repeater or some low level Melee Weapon even in the Mid Twenties where my current game is they are still carrying that low level garbage. -> not that it matters either way as I just use one of the Snipers or the Brush and kill them before they get close enough to do anything to me anylonger, in the earily part of the game the Cowboy Repeater and some AP ammo dispatched these guys quite easily.

Eh? AII works fine. I just turned it on in FOMM and away I went. :\


The only way I could get that garbage Steam to not update my game ini's was to hack it out of my game exe as no matter what the auto update crap just kept getting re-enabled pissing me off -> besides it only takes 5-10 minutes to destroy Steams terrible DRM -> popping the lid on a CD check takes longer.

Besides Steam should have been an option NOT a requirement it just annoys people that do not want to be bothered with that trash.
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Lauren Dale
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:25 pm

If there is a bug present in the game, it is in everybodies game (well, everybody who is running that same version of the game). The difference is that you didn't encounter it yet.

Then you'd be wrong. As depending on your PC setup, you might not even see any of the so called "bugs" that another person gets.
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Lexy Dick
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:05 pm

Sorry but I don't agree, FO3 didn't have this many bugs, so if Bethesda can make a stable game with the engine, other reputable companies should too.


Many people that bought FO3 at release completely disagree with you.
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Amie Mccubbing
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:52 pm

Many people that bought FO3 at release completely disagree with you.


A FO3 fanmade patch was even developed
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Laura Wilson
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:46 pm

There are fan made patches for ALL moddable games. Not just beths.

If you are playing on PC, your system configuration has more to do with game stability than anything else. (to the point of the memory leak crash at least.) I can play for hours at a time, without a single crash.
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Maya Maya
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:44 pm

Whereas I can't play for half an hour without a full crash. But F3 on release was crashless...it only fell apart after the BS installation.

Edit:

And after the latest FNV patch, I'm now getting graphics anomalies, as well as the usual poor stability.
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Ben sutton
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:05 am

Well, the average game in the last years have problems, at the release, thats because some people dont buy it until a GOTY edition is released or all the patches was developed
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sam
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:10 pm

I bought both FO3 and NV at midnight on release day. FO3 was much buggier, though I know for a fact that many of the issues I experienced were due to my neglect of keeping my vid card clean. That machine could blow any console out of the water. The machine I have now is several times more powerful and I had 5 or 6 crashes in 150 hrs and even after adding over 100 mods I still have very few crashes.

How many console owners even bother to clean their machines? Even with a machine I paid well over $1000 for, I fail to do it as often as I should.
How many of these gaming rigs are sitting on the floor right next to one of the biggest dust magnets in the house?
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Alisha Clarke
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:36 pm

Sorry but I don't agree, FO3 didn't have this many bugs, so if Bethesda can make a stable game with the engine, other reputable companies should too.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you, but I don't think this point necessarily holds water. I used to have a crappy lawn mower that was hard to keep running. I figured out how to do it, but nobody else could seem to keep it from stalling constantly. Make no mistake, though, that lawn mower was a piece of garbage. The fact that I was able to use it effectively enough was a testament to my familiarity with its quirks rather than anyone else's incompetence at using a lawn mower.

Anyhoo...if you look at the game's credits you'll see that Bethesda fielded the entire QA staff (Quality Assurance...testing and such) for New Vegas. I'm not saying everything is Bethesda's fault, I'm just saying that if we're going to start making assumptions (which is all we can do) about who failed at what Bethesda is every bit as culpable in appearance as Obsidian is. Not only that, Bethesda controlled the release date and actually sold you the game knowing it was buggy. When I buy a product that doesn't function correctly I personally couldn't care less whose fault the malfunction is. I'm angry at the guy that sold it to me knowing there was something wrong with it. :shrug: Zenimax isn't a poor company. They can afford to delay a release date to make sure a game is ready to be put on shelves. They chose not to.
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Rachie Stout
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:01 am

Lets not forget the Companion Ai is trash. Tell them to not attack unless I do first and to stay close and they go wandering off down hallways and start fights. Why do they even allow us to tell the companions anything at all? My companions cause more grief than they are worth. Only reason I even use them is for the quest arcs, they're worthless otherwise. The commands are pointless and thats just bad workmanship.

Stories are good, graphics are nice, theme is great. Coding leaves much to be desired. I really do wish it worked as intended. I want to like the game.

Like a co-worker used to say, "We don't do good work but, we sure are slow."
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STEVI INQUE
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:06 pm

Essentially the whole "NV is a buggy piece of sh** and i will hate it for all eternity" discussion is one i've never quite understood, it's a great game, albeit it has its flaws, but such things are inevitable and think more cred should be given to both Bethesda and Obsidian. Period. Yeah.
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Lew.p
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:27 pm

Bethesda is at fault for releasing the game - they published it, BUT presumably on the promise that the game was fully working etc. It was however Obsidians handywork at the end of the day.. That said some say in-house game testers, QA personnel are used (give me a job please guys! I work beaucoup hard for little dollar! Me love you looong time! ^_^) so if that was the case both are to blame.. You can't say "The engine was buggy originally so its all Bethesda" - thats silly. I had NO game breaking bugs in FO3, only in FO:NV - it is the programming of the latest game, not the last one that is the issue.. The fact the save game glitch has been remedied shows it ought not have been there in the first place. Microsoft also perhaps has a role in placing unrealistic deadlines? I'd say both companies were to blame but Obsidian gets the sad face from me.. In future I will no longer buy Bethesda games on release "just in case" which is a shame - like all my other games it should have been fine out of the box and ready to enjoy - not frustrate me for 20 hours then leave it alone for a month and then finally be able to play it - thats inexcusable for a paying product.. I notice the game is now half price everywhere and there are LOTS of second hand copies (if only the former is hurting finances, it shows the loss of consumer support). A great shame but it was inevitable really - a 50% cut in profits (kind of) is lucky all things considered..

Complaints aside I am so glad the DLC problem has been resolved - well done whoever figured that out and blast the eyes of the person who gave the "OK" on releasing an unfinished game! Still, I am a happy bunny - particularily that the plea S.O.S (save our saves) was seemingly heeded (I would hate to have to do Black Mountain again, though invariably I will do one day on a re-play ;) ). We got there in the end!

Enjoy the game guys!!
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Betsy Humpledink
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:25 pm

I wasn't aware that disagreeing with hyperbole was "not supporting the community"... :violin:


Lollocopter
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Ownie Zuliana
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 5:38 pm

No... it's to encourage them to do better next time, to relase the next TES/Fallout when it's ready rather than when it's due.


Well actually, some form of aknowledgment, even apology WOULD be nice but considering there seems to be a media Whitewash I can kind of understand why they WOULDN'T bring light to the game-breaker issue. I'd like to know exactly how many suffered from this - according to the forum posters almost everyone but of course this is no real indication of the scale of the problem (scarey thought - maybe it is! Maybe we were/are not the only angry mob out there with burning torches, pitchforks, chanting and screaming for blood.. The fact is most people would just go "Aw maaaan" and let it gather dust - probably to this day ignorant of the patch - or TRY to get a refund; luckily I can and did - got it half price later. Also, what about those poor b*stards without internet access - where do they get thier patch?). Anyway, I'm sure we are a minority, if vocal. STILL the game is FUBAR - an apology/statement of reponsibility would be polite IMO and as dudey dude here says, our complaining may encourage better performance in future..

Once again though - enjoy this awesome game!!
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Stephani Silva
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:25 pm

Essentially the whole "NV is a buggy piece of sh** and i will hate it for all eternity" discussion is one i've never quite understood, it's a great game, albeit it has its flaws, but such things are inevitable and think more cred should be given to both Bethesda and Obsidian. Period. Yeah.


NO! Such things are NOT INEVITABLE! You must have some serious bad luck with games if this stuff happens to you all the time! Lol.. "Inevitable" XD You are right - its a GREAT game, but you don't release broken products, do you?
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Trevor Bostwick
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:23 pm

Essentially the whole "NV is a buggy piece of sh** and i will hate it for all eternity" discussion is one i've never quite understood, it's a great game, albeit it has its flaws, but such things are inevitable and think more cred should be given to both Bethesda and Obsidian. Period. Yeah.


Let me ask you this; How many guns, rifles, grenades, missle launchers, or laser/pulse weapons have/would you step in front of? I was using the zoom on a sniper rifle when an NPC child walked in front of it and said "I can see all the way down the barrel." Kinda defines poor taste.

Just as bad in just the gaming sense is the companions walk into your direct line of fire all the time. Again, not a thing anyone would do. Not before writing a suicide note.

Remind me why companions are a good thing in this game. Better still, here is the basic companion characteristics;

disobedient
have a constant death wish
interfering (always blocking the your path but, you can pass through a bush and sometimes solid rock though you fall to your death or simply get stuck)
always starting trouble
have unique story arcs (only redeeming quality)

Its bad Ai programming, no way around saying it. We need a companion that will obey, no collision set, and can take on the arcs of the regular companions using a trigger (perhaps an option at the original relative companion location) and that would be the beginning of a fix for the companion issues.

Again, I say Bethesda/Obsidian have great ideas for the game but, they are terrible at implementing them. They should find someone else to do the heavy lifting.
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Genevieve
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 10:53 am

Also, what about those poor b*stards without internet access - where do they get thier patch?.


Shortly after Bethseda releases the second game DLC, which will be bundled in with the first game DLC and sold for 30 to 40 bucks retail in a brick and mortar shop, I'm guessing.

I am one of those poor bastards ('net USB), but have found that using a memory card does not cause the problems...so not that much of a biggie...but this will be the last time I'll buy a release Bethseda game though...and I won't be buying any NV DLC for at least 2 years and in the form of a GoTY Edition.

Skyrim I can already tell is just another franchise exploitation product, and I've still got Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect 3, BioShock 2 and some other games to tear through.
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Lil'.KiiDD
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 12:12 pm

If you want to talk about pissed off at a company... I bought a Voodoo 5 from 3DFX when it was released and shortly after the company declared bankruptcy and there was no driver support for any games released after that date..... the card was good, but without driver support I had buy another one and it was past the warranty date from the store.... that pissed me off. They screwed a LOT of people doing that. Sure, it made good business sense, but relying on 3d party driver updates was hell. Worst $300 I ever spent. :(

I hate that they released NV too early, but I will just wait until the GotY edition comes out next time. I guess it comes down to impulse control and delayed gratification, which teens have a lack of due to genetics and they can exploit it.

Actually, that happened to me too (3dfx) but I think I spent 400 on mine. I bought it the week it came out. Have never spent more than 130 on a video card since, though I probably will soon (building a gaming PC for my TV soon). ::sorry, off topic::
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Izzy Coleman
 
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Post » Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:00 pm

Actually, that happened to me too (3dfx) but I think I spent 400 on mine. I bought it the week it came out. Have never spent more than 130 on a video card since, though I probably will soon (building a gaming PC for my TV soon). ::sorry, off topic::


3DFX didn't go bankrupt, they went into receivership. The reason was that they had taken tech from nVidia and used it in their cards and got caught. nVidia filed charges and absorbed the company. The unfortunate thing was that Glide was awesome and nVidia scrapped it. You can still find drivers for the old cards, mostly user modded drivers and very effective but, the cards are outdated now and just don't support the shaders and so forth. The fact is that 3DFX was far better than anything else out there at the time, regardless of how they got there. I bought several of those cards at a heavy cost.

Back on topic.... Another thing to be mad at Bethesda\Obsidian; Lets look at ED-E for a moment. It floats several feet off the ground yet it still sets off traps and mines. Anyone else find this this to be a little short bus of them? Did anyone discuss anything before starting the production of this game or was it just slapped together haphazardly?

My guess is that they came up with a storyboard/flow chart for the game, put the old F3 team on it, used the old engine, and whipped the game out there on name recognition alone. Not to say that it was easy, just easy as could be for companies with existing resources and minimal production management required. It would market itself.
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Kat Ives
 
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