Forgive me if I have trouble seeing how I win from having to deal with arbitrary delays and frustratingly obtuse communication so some people I don't know can make a bit more money. Look, I know business is business and for better or worse we've all come to accept that companies can justify damn near anything with that line. But let's not pretend that this is anything other than a calculated decision to make a sacrifice of service to a large portion of Bethesda's customers in exchange for some short-term monetary gain. Bethesda is a very successful company with (in my opinion) a lot of talent and vision, and I sincerely doubt that the quality of their future work is going to be significantly impacted one way or another by this deal. PC and (especially) PS3 users are getting objectively worse service for a game they paid the same price for as anyone else. That just svcks. No customer who is affected by this has any reason not to be annoyed by it. Honestly, I would rather Bethesda be made aware of the goodwill they burn through when the do this sort of thing. Capitalism is not companies doing whatever is in their best interest. That's only half of it. The other half is customers who look out for themselves and each other. PS3 and PC users don't like this deal, and there's no sense pretending otherwise. I'm pretty sure Bethesda knew this would be the case, and they decided it was worth the price. They don't need to be shielded from it.

Bethesda just needs to grow a pair and tell us straight up what's going on. This whole show they like to do, pretending like they have a surprise isn't cute anymore. I'm not hyped, I'm mad.

I'm wondering why people think this is a bad business decision for them.

"Let me get this straight microsoft. Your gonna give me X amount of cash, to delay the release. That way, my DLC makes me X amount of cash (which might be enough to pay for development by itself) AND all the money from the people who buy the DLC."

Well. I am not buying it now, that's for one. Not because I am dissapointed (which I am) not because I am annoyed (which I am). I just don't have the time between January and MAy next year. So, sorry Bethesda no money from me. Probably will get it at a disscount.

This just made me think of Benny and the Courier in FONV and you get a cap in the head.

I will be looking through the spoilers, could save me lots of time finding out the hard way that you can't do this or you can't do that because the stories so far have been restrictive. At least I can sit back and find out that you can't marry Serana before I try.

Sale lost until the DLC is 50% off or less, just like DG and HF.

It's not, it's amazing for them. It'd also be amazing for Valve to charge 60 USD for every new TF2/DotA 2 content patch.

Because people refuse to pay full price the PC version due to the delay. Also, every single month a game is out equals less DLC interest and thus lost sales. Games have a shelf life for content viability, and it can be illustrated pretty well with a downward-sloping curve. You also have to factor in the fact that the PC version of the DLC is going to miss Christmas, which means losing even more sales to market forces and externalities.

There is also the bad karma / image associated with taking such a deal, which makes a visible hit to the company's bottom line. Epic Games for example is no longer viable as a PC games company. PC gamers absolutely DESPISE Epic for selling out hard to Microsoft (and ruining UT3 in the process) when the 360 was at its peak and the marketing dollars were flowing like a river. Sales of Epic's games on PC now are extremely poor as a result. It's not a simple decision by any stretch of the imagination, and given that Skyrim on PC outsold the PS3 version it's an extremely questionable one. Taking such deals DO lead to huge increases in revenue for parrot breeders though.

I still haven't bothered with HF, didn't think there was any modding potential in it. We can get upset about DB not coming out until 30 days time but on the PC we have already got exclusive content the Xbox and PS3 (You poor people!) won't get - CK and Texture Packs and community mods, Xbox can wait forever it won't get them.

That's a platform limitation.

Xbox won't get community mods - Microflops won't let them happen, all the same they still won't get any of it no matter how much they might wish.

I'm more concerned that it's a bad decision for US. Cool for them if it all works out and they make a ton of money; can't say I really care much about that other than generally wishing them well because I think they're a good company in more ways than they are bad. Still, from my (not particularly authoritative, I admit) perspective, I don't think it's so clear cut for Bethesda. It doesn't seem to be a good idea to take customer goodwill for granted. Take BioWare, for instance. A few years ago they were incredibly well respected; they had a large fanbase who would buy just about anything they released sight unseen, and an almost flawless track record with critics. They seemed untouchable, and it was mostly because they had built up tons of goodwill by being an all around good developer. Unfortunately, they went and made a series of really, really bad decisions recently which dragged their reputation though the mud. These days they've got a lot to prove, and their upcoming releases are met with as much cynicism as hype. I'm sure they still do pretty well for themselves financially, but they're not the company they once were and it seems like it's going to difficult for them to turn it around. I would hate to see Bethesda go down that path. Just my thoughts on it, for what it's worth.

Come on guys, don't get each other riled up. You'll only make it worse for yourself. The more pissed off you become, the longer the days will be till DB releases.

This is the age we live in. The age of gaming consoles. Sony and microsoft both try very hard to promote their own product and this is the result. So, unless you have the money to buyout these exclusivity contracts, you should just calm down and wait it out. Making each other angry won't accomplish anything.

Think of it this way. At least this is not Red Dead Redemption.

DB? I'm still waiting for Dawnguard to release.

So everyone should just bend over and hope it's over soon?

Yeah because when something upsets you, you should just sit quietly in the corner. No. People should create as much bad press as possible or it will NEVER change. Tell me, has ANYONE met ANYONE that has actually bought a console for the sake of a timed exclusive? NO. The people that come up with this stuff are DELUSIONAL.

Having to wait 30+ days for DB just blows. Even though I expected as much.

I understand why Beth why Beth would take that path, probably getting a better deal from Microsoft and all, but I don't understand it from Microsoft's point of view. It isn't as if anyone who plays Skyrim on PC would now run off and get it for the 360.

It also makes me wonder if/why they couldn't (also) get a better deal with Valve for DLC sales. Valve seems pretty keen on deals and savings to boost turnover, and they already have a deal running with Valve for the game, the DLC's, and the workshop, so why not expand on that?

They won't reach that same pinnacle of quality with the doctor's gone.

I love the "it's just good business, nothing personal" line. Pirating is great business for the consumer but companies like Beth sure take it personally.

Does someone have the twitter address of one of our merciful overlords?

One glorious moderator deemed my thread unworthy of the Todd's eyes, so I am unable to express my gratitude over waiting for indefinite amounts of time to pay for something other people will get in a few hours! Please do hurry!

I think you've expressed it enough.

Caps won't get your point across better.

caps are used in that post as a way to highlight and emphasize those particular words

there is no problem to using it there and is not comparable in any way to all caps

This business talk only has relevancy depending upon your corporate strategy. If your strategy is to hack off a sizable proportion of your customers and alienating your core audience then yes, this is deal makes perfect sense. Bethesda/Zenimax have pursued short term profiteering at the expense of customer satisfaction, never a good route to travel in business, and they will in all likelihood, pay the price come the next TES game. Skyrim has been a cluster[censored] from start to finish.

I don't understand why they won't even let us pre-order the DLC on PC. This way, they could at least chip in on the holiday sales. They could even make it go through the roof with some pre-order bonus, even if it's just a lower price tag.