Bethesda tech support has finally replied to my problems with BSOD's and CTD's. After concluding that there was nothing wrong with my hardware or drivers their only recommendation was a selective start-up excluding all software including Virus, Firewall etc. every time I wanted to play the game.

But the most interesting part was the following:


"Please note that the program is not tested or supported in Windows 7. You *may* be able to run the program using compatibility mode in Windows 7, but we cannot guarantee the program will function properly in this new operating system.

Best Regards,
Dan L. at Bethesda Softworks Technical Support
support04@gamesas.com"



Somehow Bethesda forgot to mention this fact, that Fallout New Vegas is not tested or supported in Windows 7 in their advertisemant, and somehow by pure mistake Win 7 was included in the system-requirement om the box and on their website.


So since they unfortunately forgot to mention this I thought we all could help them by warning all our friends that Fallout New Vegas is not for Windows 7.

The positive this with this is of cause that anybody with Win 7 now can return their games since the advertising and box is fraudulent and misleading according to FTC rules. The rest of us has to wait for Bethesda to start developing games for Windows 7......



(Since I am not English speaking I am sorry for any spelling errors and hope the sarcasm translate)

I'm using Windows 7 64 bits, and everything works PERFECT. Infact, I didn't have ANY game breaking bugs, and the only real bugs I had were companions who were acting annoying. Out of my 50 hours of play, I only had 3 random crashs, thats it. I hear endless complaints on bugs, and 'surprisingly', they are all console users.

Hmmm No.

I use Windows 7 and my game almost never crashes - the game is Fabulous in all aspects for me. Are you using 64-bit or 32-bit out of curiousity?

Whatever your hitting, it is not a problem with all Windows 7 systems.

I am however somewhat curious that they said the system wasn't tested on Windows 7... I almost don't believe what Dan is telling you, it doesn't make any sense. My FNV box says it supports Windows 7/Vista/XP right on the side, and the company just told you that they don't (or only support it in compatible mode, which is not on the box or in the manual). Thats ... legally an unhealthy thing to say actually.

Dan L. - I love your company, please check into this - you might want want/need to change that statement a wee-tad.

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistagaming/thread/4839d3eb-7c67-4705-9f0e-d65629029018
Apparently it's a auto-message by Bethesda, which explains why he received this reply. It seems like Fallout 3 really is not compatible.

Interesting..

Well they know what they're doing, it just seems a bit odd to me.

No, it's not an auto-message. I didn't include the whole message witch starts:

"Hello,

Staffan, we apologize for the length of time it has taken for us to get back to you about your issue.

Please turn off..................................................."


But parts are probably taken from a template.

It

Weird. Both F3 and F:NW run FABULOUSLY on my Win7

Do they really? ?? (know what they're doing, that is)

The game is a Microsoft "Games for Windows" title, as such it has to support Windows 7.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee417691.aspx

It is also listed on the box.

Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Fallout New Vegas all play just fine for me on two separate Win7 (x64) installations without running in compatibility mode or jumping through any extra hoops. Win7 is, most likely, not the problem.

[spoiler]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DxDiag[/spoiler]?

Yeah actually, I do think they know what they're doing. Bethesda has been producing AAA titles for a long time now, and are among the Best companies in the industry - but that doesn't make them (or anyone) flawless. To expect such for a $60 game is unrealistic in my view.

There may be certain Windows 7 modes that are indeed incompatible, we don't know for sure. Just because we don't know all the facts, doesn't mean that Bethesda doesn't know what theyre doing.

I have the same experience - just ED-E was attacked two times and really few crashes.

I use this game on W7 and its running nice. Very nice.

Yup, says very clearly(actually I used a magnifying glass) on my collectors edition sleeve, OS: Windows 7/Vista/XP.
Maybe they should have used a magnifying glass, this thread gave me ny first laugh of the day.

He propably mixed Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Or "Not supported on Windows 7" sounds better than "I don't know! Quit bugging me!"

It's an old section of the message. Fallout 3 preceded Windows 7's release IIRC, so it couldn't be tested on release versions of Win7.

It has never had any real problem though.

I'm running Win7 and the game has always run like crap. It didn't reach a breaking point until the latest patch which made the stuttering and constantly low FPS so bad that the game is no longer even playable.

X2

Zorp,

Concerning the Following,

"Please note that the program is not tested or supported in Windows 7. You *may* be able to run the program using compatibility mode in Windows 7, but we cannot guarantee the program will function properly in this new operating system.

Best Regards,
Dan L. at Bethesda Softworks Technical Support
support04@gamesas.com"



In this regards, if you will notice on Fallout New Vegas it clearly says on the back of the box Windows 7/Vista/XP. If you meet the rest of the system requirements (And are not trying to use this on unsupported equipment - such as Labtop/Notebook video cards) I would immediately inquire about Bethesda giving you a full refund (And not the store where you purchased the product) or find some other means of resolving this issue satisfactorily. By giving you such a reply, they are indeed opening themselves up to possible law suits for false advertising.

Bethesda Softworks (ZeniMax Media company) currently has a BBB rating of, " F ". Although, Contacting the BBB on this issue will most likely result in the BBB not wanting to file your complaint.

Bethesda Softworks Technical Support, By making such a statement, Now not only owes you a explanation, but every other user of Windows 7 who has purchased Fallout New Vegas, as to why windows 7 is not supported, but is listed on the system requirement on the Fallout New Vegas Box.


I hope that a Bethesda Rep will look into this issue, and make a official statement as to what is going on. As to whether this is all just a misunderstanding or error on Technical Supports side.

Yeah I'm pretty sure this is just the case of an overworked unpaid tech support staffer saying something very wrong. He probably meant that the compatibility modes offered in Windows 7 are not officially supported regardless of whether or not they may solve the user's problems.

According to everything else- the game is officially supported on Windows 7. So one can believe that all these statements (from the official requirements to being a "Game for Windows") are either all mistakes or a concerted and conspiratorial effort to deceive the customers - or one can believe that a tech support staffer made a mistake.

I would tend to apply Hanlon's Razor:



and Occam's Razor and presume a single mistake rather than a series of the same mistake being made by dozens upon dozens of people for months or a conspiracy. Still it's a pretty upsetting mistake to be on the receiving end of when you're trying to get help with your game.

As far as their Better Business Bureau ratings go- they don't really mean much as Zenimax is not accredited and not an active participant in the Better Business Beureau. This does have an inherent effect on their score as one of the explanations of the score given is "BBB does not have sufficient background information on this business." In addition to not having enough information about them- their "F" comes from 19 complains over 36 months - only three of which were not marked by the BBB as resolved. If you browse accredited (whom would have provided plenty of information during the accreditation process) companies you will notice that this scale and response ratio will normally garner anywhere from an B to an A. Also, Zenimax is the parent company of:

id Software
Bethesda Softworks
Vir2L Studios
Mud Duck Productions
ZeniMax Online Studios
Arkane Studios
Tango Gameworks
Machinegames

So how fairly those 3 unresolved complaints can be divided up amongst the subsidiaries is arguable. It may be important to note that the listing under which it receives an F is as under "Computers - Dealers" and these complaints may be unrelated to their software products but from the sale of old computer equipment. Were one to file a complaint for Zenimax under "Computer Software Publishers & Developers" then this would create an entry for that company under that existing business category. When these complaints were filed, they were filed with the complainants selecting the description for hardware resellers. I can understand a couple people selecting the category for hardware resellers by mistake- but the fact that only one complaint was filed under anything remotely related to gaming and none under software developers makes me thing it is strongly possible that those complaints weren't related to their software.

Don't get me wrong though- I'm not suggesting they should have any particular rating. I just don't think you should trust a rating system where membership is effectively 1/3 of the scoring criteria since it is the only reliable way for a business to "provide sufficient information." Inquiries placed to their phone and email system regarding how to provide them with what they consider "sufficient information" will be routed to explanations on how to start the accredidation process. Part of what constitutes sufficient information is also, hilariously enough, providing enough information to convince them that you are abiding by the standards under which you were accredited.

Are your parents proud?

It looks like they made huge attempts to make it compatible with Windows 7. Fallout 3 wouldn't run at all on my laptop, whereas F:NV does flawlessly.

This being said, by converting an engine that's been around since Oblivion (the development of which started in 2002) to work with Windows 7, there's likely to be a few bugs.

They might be mufti-legged invertebrates with a crunchy exoskeleton but some of them feel a little more like angry lobsters than bugs.

Windows 7 64-bit here: FO3 &FONV Run excellent for me (also excluding some issues with companions and save corruptions which don't seem relevant to OS) but otherwise runs great. Holds solid 60fps with minimal crashing incidents.

I whish I had that much luck. I'm running Windows 7 professional 64-bit with a clean OS install, all drivers up to date, and nothing else running on the machine (I even tried turning off the antivirus software), but this game keeps crashing to the desktop on me every 10-15 minutes with a message about the NVidia graphics driver stopped responding.

This is getting really frustrating. :swear: