I bought FO:NV when it came out, much like the rest of the people on here, and paid the full price.

I'm not creating another post slagging of the game's bugs, etc - that's been done to death on here and I think there's not much new to add with regards to that topic.

If what I've written here has already been covered, then I apologise for not searching deeply enough, but my point to Bethesda is this...

Up to now, I've always regarded them as a company that I could really trust. Sure, Fallout 3 had bugs, etc and so did TES, but not to the game-breaking degree that Fallout New Vegas clearly has. In short, I didn't get put off buying a Bethesda game on it's release and I had a lot of respect for them as a company and the product they release.

What's happened now however as a result of the FO:NV debacle is that even though Obsidian was responsible for the game, Bethesda were ultimately responsible and as a result, my trust in them as been severely affected to the point that I just won't buy a Bethesda game on release for the full price point - what's the point since it's not likely to be properly playable for a good time.

It makes far more sense for customers to be patient, wait for the resulting inevitable patches and by then (as has happened with FO:NV) it'll most likely be a far cheaper product. I'm basically seeing it now available for around half (even less in some cases) of what it was released for.

As far as I can see, other top-tier games released around the same time haven't suffered this almighty price crash so clearly, retailers are reacting to this in a way that's ultimately going to hurt Bethesda.

If this is the end-result of Bethesda using Obsidian to develop their games, I believe strongly that it's going to have the end-result of severly damaging Bethesda's once-good reputation as a software house of quality.

Now, their customers might not matter (though I think they actually DO), but their reputation as a reliable software house MUST matter to them and the future of their company?

Any company that employed someone who's work ultimately ended up harming the company's brand surely would have to cut them loose before they eventually do irrepairable damage to the company.

And if anyone thinks that a big company is immune to this kind of bad press, just look at the history books, it's littered with companies who failed due to an initially seemingly insignificant failure, but over time, people's confidence in them just waned and the tarnished reputation never recovered.


Here's hoping that Bethesda TRULY realize what damage Obsidian have actually done to THEIR reputation. I would hope they already know this and if they don't cut Obsidian loose, at the very least would take extra steps to ensure that the quality control is far more stringent as is required when having an inept developer like Obsidian at the reins!

mich1s

The game is considered a good game EVEN with bugs present according to critics and a majority of gamers alike, so i doubt reputations will be ruined. Im also confident that a majority of the people that post these 'disappointed' messages to bethesda and obsidian will still buy the next dlc and any new games that are released and the developers know that. After all, FO3 had numerous bugs upon release and yet theres tons of customers that preordered Nv for a in game pistol. If you really want to make a stand just dont buy any of their products anymore and certainly dont preorder...thats an invitation for them to rush out products full of bugs...in fact the preorder people seemed to get the worst of the deal being that i never got one single save game bug despite hours and hours of play without the dlc or 1st patch. In fact everyone who feels jilted should come to an agreement not to purchase anymore of their products instead of posting hundreds of 'im not buying anymore from you bethesda!' threads that if youre lucky Gstaff might read and quickly dismiss.

What an excellent post!

Thank you for putting some things into perspective for me. I have been railing against Bethesda since about 4th day after release of FO:NV. Prior to the release of this bug-fest gamesas was by far my #1 Game Dev company. Sure I've encountered bugs in every one of their games, but I guess I've been fortunate that they were few and far between, not game-breaking and I save VERY often. They were minor annoyances at worst.

My friend and fellow gamer who does Q/A for 2K games and is also major Bethesda fan explained to me when I 1st whined about lagging and occasional crashes in Oblivion (my 1st Bethesda game) that a game of that size, scope and in an open-world would never be completely bug free. BUT he also warned me when FO:NV was announced not to set my hopes too high as Obsidian is notorious for ruining sequels to truly great games.

Sadly I didn't listen to him and after the masterpiece that is FO3, I salivated over every tidbit of news about NV, consquently I am deeply hurt and disappointed that the game I such high hopes for, is still unplayable for HUGE number of players 1 1/2 months after release.

My point is my reaction even with the knowledge and warnings of a friend in Q/A of a rival company, this debacle has deeply undermined my respect and trust in Bethesda and backs up the point of your open-letter. Bethesda's Q/A in publishing this game as it was released is certainly suspect, but their partnering with Obsidian has deeply tarnished their reputation.

death to obsidian!

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