Skyrim Podcast coming soon from Vivid Gamer : V

» Tue May 15, 2012 9:06 am

Hey guys,

I've been deeply impressed by the passion that this community has demonstrated in the last several days over the framerate issue. I write news, reviews, and editorials for a small video game blog site called Vivid Gamer (vividgamer.com). Right now, I am in the process of reviewing the game for our site - the first of my impressions articles can be found here: http://vividgamer.com/2011/11/16/review-in-progres-skyrim-impressions-1/

I have not encountered absolutely game-breaking framerate yet; but it is certainly getting there and I have seen firsthand the degradation of stability over extended play sessions. I have been very active on Twitter in the last few days keeping people up-to-date with these issues and tweeting at @Bethblog, @DCDeacon, and Game Informer about it. I can't say I have turned up much more than others here, but as a hardcoe Elder Scrolls fan and PS3 gamer, this is the kind of thing I'm constantly thinking about.

I'm posting this thread to let my fellow community members know that I am about to record a podcast with Eric Galaviz (Managing Editor) about Skyrim - our thoughts, impressions, and concerns. I will make sure to touch on framerate issues and the like during our conversation, and I will absolutely post a link to the podcast when it goes live either tonight or tomorrow.

In the meantime, I would love for community members to leave their thoughts in this thread - what do you want me to touch on? What are some of your experiences? I'm taking feedback about what you'd like to hear in the podcast, ESPECIALLY concerning glitches and the save game bug.

Thanks everyone! Look forward to hearing from you guys.

» Tue May 15, 2012 2:47 pm

Awesome. I'll check it out if I catch it on time.

» Tue May 15, 2012 8:20 am

Awesome. I'll check it out if I catch it on time.

Podcast won't be "live", it will be uploaded as an mp3 on our website either tonight or tomorrow. No need to worry about "catching it" on time :biggrin:

» Tue May 15, 2012 9:47 am

Podcast won't be "live", it will be uploaded as an mp3 on our website either tonight or tomorrow. No need to worry about "catching it" on time :biggrin:

Lol, Alright.
I'll check it out for sure then. :thumbsup:

» Tue May 15, 2012 5:34 pm

Lol, Alright.
I'll check it out for sure then. :thumbsup:

Awesome

Anything to input until then?

» Tue May 15, 2012 8:14 am

You could discuss:

That this isn't a new issue among Bethesda games, and that it affected Oblivion, Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas;
That the company didn't send out PS3 review copies beforehand (I've been told this is industry standard, as most cross-platform games are coded for 360 and ported afterwards. Still seems pretty "convenient");
The awful PR response this has gotten. I work in PR and I'm predicting right now that, if they release this patch in two weeks without a framerate fix and say nothing beforehand, the [censored] is absolutely going to hit the fan;
The mainstream media coverage this has received(Guardian UK), the gaming response this has received (check out GamesRadar's http://www.gamesradar.com/awordfromoursponsors/?zone=pc_ps3_xbox360&sendMeBackTo=http%3A//www.gamesradar.com/high-horse-broken-ps3-skyrim-was-inevitable-inexcusable-and-may-be-your-fault/ on one hand, IGN's http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1212792p1.html on the other);
The marginalization in the PR response as well. To say that "most people" aren't experiencing this is ridiculous. The http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1278283-does-anyone-have-a-savegame-over-70-hours-that-isnt-totally-effed/ I've heard of that have a savegame over 70 hours that isn't screwing up are being very careful to keep the size of the game down. That shouldn't be necessary;
The fact that Bethesda was totally beholden to the 11.11.11 release date since the game was announced. That the game came out exactly when they predicted over a year ago is rare in the industry, and it's not surprising that it's FUBAR as a result.

That's all I have for now. If I think of anything else I'll post it.

» Tue May 15, 2012 10:10 am

Honestly, there's not a whole lot to say.

They released a game that wasn't finished.

And to be honest, I don't think it will ever be right on the PS3.

» Tue May 15, 2012 9:40 am

So glad I came on these forums tonight having what happened over the passed few days I almost couldn't be bothered I will one hundred percent check the pod cast out, thank you for letting us know and I hope it goes well!

» Tue May 15, 2012 3:16 pm

Honestly, there's not a whole lot to say.

They released a game that wasn't finished.

And to be honest, I don't think it will ever be right on the PS3.

Unfortunately, I agree...

So glad I came on these forums tonight having what happened over the passed few days I almost couldn't be bothered I will one hundred percent check the pod cast out, thank you for letting us know and I hope it goes well!

...and ditto.

» Tue May 15, 2012 11:57 am

You could discuss:

That this isn't a new issue among Bethesda games, and that it affected Oblivion, Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas;
That the company didn't send out PS3 review copies beforehand (I've been told this is industry standard, as most cross-platform games are coded for 360 and ported afterwards. Still seems pretty "convenient");
The awful PR response this has gotten. I work in PR and I'm predicting right now that, if they release this patch in two weeks without a framerate fix and say nothing beforehand, the [censored] is absolutely going to hit the fan;
The mainstream media coverage this has received(Guardian UK), the gaming response this has received (check out GamesRadar's http://www.gamesradar.com/awordfromoursponsors/?zone=pc_ps3_xbox360&sendMeBackTo=http%3A//www.gamesradar.com/high-horse-broken-ps3-skyrim-was-inevitable-inexcusable-and-may-be-your-fault/ on one hand, IGN's http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1212792p1.html on the other);
The marginalization in the PR response as well. To say that "most people" aren't experiencing this is ridiculous. The http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1278283-does-anyone-have-a-savegame-over-70-hours-that-isnt-totally-effed/ I've heard of that have a savegame over 70 hours that isn't screwing up are being very careful to keep the size of the game down. That shouldn't be necessary;
The fact that Bethesda was totally beholden to the 11.11.11 release date since the game was released. That the game came out exactly when they predicted over a year ago is rare in the industry, and it's not surprising that it's FUBAR as a result.

That's all I have for now. If I think of anything else I'll post it.

I'll try to touch on these, thank you.

» Tue May 15, 2012 6:58 am

I'd really like to hear you guys discuss the very real possibility of deception on the part of Bethesda. It's no mystery now why they sent out so many 360 versions of the game to reviewers yet held back on the PS3 versions. I believe they knew if they sent out PS3 in the same quantity that there would be a possibility for reviewers on multiple sites and working for multiple publications to run into this issue. It seems only now after having seen so much buzz around this generated that reviewers have gone back and taken a closer look and already sources even inside publications like the Official PlayStation Magazine (UK edition) are reporting running into this and how game breaking it can be. I mean good god, thats OPM. They'd have every reason to act like this wasn't an issue yet there they are clear as day saying something is up.

Bethesda has gotten away with this in multiple games and frankly it's reached the point where enough is enough. Hell this isn't even just the PS3 (though our console has gotten hit the hardest). 360 users are forced to choose between installing the game and having terrible textures or not installing it and having over a minutes length in load times. PC gamers are dealing with fatal crash to desktop errors that lose large chunks of progress for them as well. But at the end of the day we, the PS3 user base, get [censored] on once again. Like always.

I've heard some mock us and say we have entitlement issues. Well we are entitled to what we paid for, we are entitled to what we were promised. Thats the only issue here.

» Tue May 15, 2012 11:43 am

I'd really like to hear you guys discuss the very real possibility of deception on the part of Bethesda. It's no mystery now why they sent out so many 360 versions of the game to reviewers yet held back on the PS3 versions. I believe they knew if they sent out PS3 in the same quantity that there would be a possibility for reviewers on multiple sites and working for multiple publications to run into this issue. It seems only now after having seen so much buzz around this generated that reviewers have gone back and taken a closer look and already sources even inside publications like the Official PlayStation Magazine (UK edition) are reporting running into this and how game breaking it can be. I mean good god, thats OPM. They'd have every reason to act like this wasn't an issue yet there they are clear as day saying something is up.

Bethesda has gotten away with this in multiple games and frankly it's reached the point where enough is enough. Hell this isn't even just the PS3 (though our console has gotten hit the hardest). 360 users are forced to choose between installing the game and having terrible textures or not installing it and having over a minutes length in load times. PC gamers are dealing with fatal crash to desktop errors that lose large chunks of progress for them as well. But at the end of the day we, the PS3 user base, get [censored] on once again. Like always.

I've heard some mock us and say we have entitlement issues. Well we are entitled to what we paid for, we are entitled to what we were promised. Thats the only issue here.

Just to let you guys know, currently recording.

I won't be able to respond actively, but keep posting what you want to hear and your thoughts!

» Tue May 15, 2012 7:07 am

I'd really like to hear you guys discuss the very real possibility of deception on the part of Bethesda. It's no mystery now why they sent out so many 360 versions of the game to reviewers yet held back on the PS3 versions. I believe they knew if they sent out PS3 in the same quantity that there would be a possibility for reviewers on multiple sites and working for multiple publications to run into this issue. It seems only now after having seen so much buzz around this generated that reviewers have gone back and taken a closer look and already sources even inside publications like the Official PlayStation Magazine (UK edition) are reporting running into this and how game breaking it can be. I mean good god, thats OPM. They'd have every reason to act like this wasn't an issue yet there they are clear as day saying something is up.

Bethesda has gotten away with this in multiple games and frankly it's reached the point where enough is enough. Hell this isn't even just the PS3 (though our console has gotten hit the hardest). 360 users are forced to choose between installing the game and having terrible textures or not installing it and having over a minutes length in load times. PC gamers are dealing with fatal crash to desktop errors that lose large chunks of progress for them as well. But at the end of the day we, the PS3 user base, get [censored] on once again. Like always.

I've heard some mock us and say we have entitlement issues. Well we are entitled to what we paid for, we are entitled to what we were promised. Thats the only issue here.

Actually, yes. I want to hear more of this.

» Tue May 15, 2012 2:29 am

I'd really like to hear you guys discuss the very real possibility of deception on the part of Bethesda. It's no mystery now why they sent out so many 360 versions of the game to reviewers yet held back on the PS3 versions. I believe they knew if they sent out PS3 in the same quantity that there would be a possibility for reviewers on multiple sites and working for multiple publications to run into this issue. It seems only now after having seen so much buzz around this generated that reviewers have gone back and taken a closer look and already sources even inside publications like the Official PlayStation Magazine (UK edition) are reporting running into this and how game breaking it can be. I mean good god, thats OPM. They'd have every reason to act like this wasn't an issue yet there they are clear as day saying something is up.

Bethesda has gotten away with this in multiple games and frankly it's reached the point where enough is enough. Hell this isn't even just the PS3 (though our console has gotten hit the hardest). 360 users are forced to choose between installing the game and having terrible textures or not installing it and having over a minutes length in load times. PC gamers are dealing with fatal crash to desktop errors that lose large chunks of progress for them as well. But at the end of the day we, the PS3 user base, get [censored] on once again. Like always.

I've heard some mock us and say we have entitlement issues. Well we are entitled to what we paid for, we are entitled to what we were promised. Thats the only issue here.

I agree with this.

» Tue May 15, 2012 7:09 am

I agree with this.

Shameless bump

» Tue May 15, 2012 11:54 am

I'd also really like to hear about the possibility they knew about this and released it anyways.

» Tue May 15, 2012 4:29 pm

I'd also really like to hear about the possibility they knew about this and released it anyways.

Noted. Thanks

» Tue May 15, 2012 8:08 am

Noted. Thanks

Hey everyone,

The podcast has been recorded and will be uploaded to vividgamer.com either tonight or tomorrow. Towards the end, we discuss at length the issues that the PS3 version is having, and I tried to include as much influence from you guys as I could. I hope you'll all enjoy it - I'll be sure to link to here on the boards as soon as its up!