PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

The more rational game consumers will realise that Bethesda/Obsidian didn't deliberately go out of their way to release an extremely broken product... I'm sure there were a lot of frantic behind-the-scenes production deadlines that in hindsight could have been met with better preparation. After all, it is a very ambitious game to develop.

That being said, I have two large problems with the way this debacle is unfolding:

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- ONE -

UPDATES/PATCHES

Firstly, the more common feedback. Updates. Where are they? Why are they coming out so slowly? Why were there no major updates already pre-prepared before the game went on sale? By this I mean: the software was submitted to a disc manufacturer at some point, so did Quality Testing simply cease once that time arrived? Surely the developers picked up more mistakes prior to the official market release dates.

The developers are staying very quiet on the timeframes of patch release dates; personally I find the lack of communication from Bethesda / Obsidian unprofessional and somewhat alienating. It would be a very wise PR decision now to start releasing smaller, more frequent updates, and at least make it appear as though some progress is occurring. I'm certain the gaming community would rather update their products every day... than wait while Beth/Obsi hoard the fixes and then infrequently release a "major" patch.

For many reasons, the patches need to come out faster, even if it means there is less content in each. We don't want a couple of big updates in the future, we want lots of small updates now.

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- TWO -

APOLOGY, PROMISE OF IMPROVEMENT

The product has failed on an unprecedented level. This is history in the making: the most broken new title ever released on the Playstation 3 platform, by a long mile. The customer is justifiably upset, angry, and disappointed.

There is heavy use of the words "bug", "glitch" and "software issue", but these are polite expressions for "mistake". i.e., the developers made hundreds (thousands?) of mistakes - from minor ones to game destroying.

Bethesda/Obsidian have acknowledged that their mistakes exist. Fine. Good. In the real world, the next step is to apologise. And we're still impatiently waiting to hear it. The longer we wait for an apology, the less it is going to mean. Frankly, the silence currently coming from Bethesda is deafening, and the window to 'save face' is rapidly shrinking.

"A small admission gains a large acceptance" - a real apology (not another sterile memo) directly to the fans, with a promise to improve performance & rectify mistakes fully, would mean a huge amount to a large cross-section of the disappointed public. I can accept an apology, I can't and don't accept corporate 'egotism'. For a terrific game like Fallout, the companies reactions have been anything but terrific. The apology should then be reinforced with constant feedback on how/when patches will be released.

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On a final note, I might add that a delay in patching the game will have disastrous effects on the developers long term bottom line. Why?

The impending release of CoD: Black Ops will mean that (if it's still broken) the developers have given gamers a big reason to push F:NV aside and not pick it up again. CoD will quickly flatten a broken Fallout NV. I imagine this would be highly damaging to the Fallout franchise, and strip away the valuable "brand capital" Bethesda Softworks has built up.

Hence, Bethesda and Obsidian need to seriously pick up their performance, if they want to avoid becoming an example of "what not to do" for other game publishers.

It is truly in the mutual best interests of both publisher and customer!


Please feel free to add your genuine feedback or thoughts on this matter. Bethesda/Obsidian are obviously welcome to add feedback or dispute these claims.

- Jay