Utter Disgrace : Fallout: New Vegas

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:49 am

Actually gamer demands do factor. It's "OUR MONEY" they want so sadly part of your arguement loses bite and you come off as just being a jerk. Money does make the industry go around, but the comapnies do, preform survey's and feel out for what's hot on the market and the demand from us, the gamers. As for trying to beat the holiday rush, that's a toss, given how many other games have been and are still being released around this time. The Sept-Dec months are hot buttons for game releases as Christmas is around the corner and companies want their product out to rake in the holiday cash like everyone else.

As for the topic of the glitches and bugs, I am very irate given that I'm unable to finish my Independant Vegas playthrough because everytime I try to get into the Fort to upgrade the Securitron army, it freezes my game. I started a second playthrough as a back up, but I'm always wary of how to proceed, and my copy has been mostly sitting on my shelf save for some free-roaming I haven't touched the other alternatives for the endgame out of fear of something screwing up. So I do feel that Obsidian and Bethesda, due to the increasing amount of the bugs and the number that can ruin the game entirely, should be more active in informing us of the patch status and replying to our inquires on the forum more actively. While they took too darn long in releasing a patch for Metro 2033's Ranger Pack, THQ and the developers at least did a good job via Twitter and a few other venues in keeping the gamers updated on the patches stages to release. Same for Gearbox on the 4th DLC achivement bug patch, they took awhile but their forum was updated more with news on the patches than we've seen here.

However I feel it is childish to go on about "never buying their products again", or demonizing the company beyond any needed scope, and I feel some of us here are griping beyond our understand of how development and bug testing goes. I'm not offering a get out of hot water card for Bethesda and Obsidian; but I do feel in some regards people here are critizing them unneccesarily. Given the number of bugs and new ones reported and the cross plateform avaibility of New Vegas, they have to make patches for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 (and Blu-Ray games are still murder to program for). That actually takes alot of time and effort, plus pegging down some of the random probabilities that generate these bugs is no easy feat. I grant using the existing Falout engine which already had bug issues may have contributed to this, but a sandbox game this massive and with such variety is open season for bugs that sometimes even manifest so randomly they're missed during testing.

Either way I say to those of you who are utterly fed up, trade in your game copies and just go play another game. To those of us willing to wait before turning in the towel, let us return to our vigil.

The whole multiplatform argument might have been valid, EXCEPT for the small detail of that game idon'trememberitsnameohwaitFALLOUT3+DLC. I mean bethesda has released 2 games on this game engine, and fallout 3 was a multiplatform release as well, one would think they'd iron out at least most of the gamebreaking things. Not to mention that is basically become standard to release top tier games across all platforms. And the major gripes is not about all the annoyances like floating objects and bugs that require you to reload saves or what not. Its the game ending ones, and the ones that prevents you from playing a game you purchased in good faith.

And last but not least, the history obsidian has for releasing games that are broken, (Knights of the old republic II) Wikipedia it or google for information if you hadn't heard about it.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:24 am

Dead on post. I think I too will only buy post-patch and second hand. Idiot that I was waiting on line at the midnite launch. What a smuck. I won't be fooled twice though.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 7:11 pm

We're not talking about a bug that 1/1000 people experience

Actually, we probably are. If you're going off of the reports on this forum, there seems to be a fairly limited amount of posters experiencing game breaking issues. The poll about the DLC error has 270 "yes" votes. 270, while a large amount of people for this forum, is really not that big of a number when you think about how many people have bought the game. Yes, I'm sure not everyone who has had the problem has come here to gripe about it. But that doesn't mean that everyone is experiencing game-breaking bugs.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:15 am

so it's ok if only 40% of a product works for people..

if a car explodes on only 40% of the people who bought it, it is acceptable since it is not everyone

OBSIDIAN RELEASED AN UNFINISHED GAME!!!!!!!

why is this so hard for people to wrap around their heads???

no other industry allows for such horrible practices..

basically they knew it was bugged before they released it, but they did so to make MONEY!!!

honestly, at one point i was defending Obsidian, but the PATCH IS TAKING WAY TOO LONG TO RELEASE!!!

i mean, are they on vacation now? Are they working through the weekends? Ooops, here comes thanksgiving, they can't be asked to sacrifice their family time to fix their product!!

(can you tell i'm upset?)

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:39 am

so it's ok if only 40% of a product works for people..

if a car explodes on only 40% of the people who bought it, it is acceptable since it is not everyone

OBSIDIAN RELEASED AN UNFINISHED GAME!!!!!!!

why is this so hard for people to wrap around their heads???

no other industry allows for such horrible practices..

basically they knew it was bugged before they released it, but they did so to make MONEY!!!

honestly, at one point i was defending Obsidian, but the PATCH IS TAKING WAY TOO LONG TO RELEASE!!!

i mean, are they on vacation now? Are they working through the weekends? Ooops, here comes thanksgiving, they can't be asked to sacrifice their family time to fix their product!!

(can you tell i'm upset?)

Dont worry, they are working hard on some PAID for DLC.
Well if you have an xbox 360 anyway.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:08 pm

For whatever it's worth, I would have preferred Bethesda/Obsidian delayed this game a few months into 2011 to iron out the many bugs. Most of the bugs I've encountered have been merely annoying, along with a few serious ones that impeded progress or forced reloading saves and replaying large sections. Unfortunately even the small bugs add up over time to drain the experience considerably. In my experiences, the bugs have been more frequent and frustrating than in any past Bethesda titles.

I've had friends walk in when I'm playing, see some a crazy confluence of graphical and gameplay bugs pop up, and they walk away shaking their heads, wondering why I would play New Vegas at all. That's just not good advertising for the company or the game, and I can't imagine it's going to help them down the road. An another forum I visit, a poll was conducted as to the title's overall glitches, and a little less than half of the 100+ respondents found the game either 'very buggy,' or 'unplayable.' It's hardly a scientific finding, but it at least suggests that people are having their game experience impacted by glitches.

I can sympathise with those who think complaining about bugs has taken on a whiny tone, but that doesn't obviate the developer's responsibility to address the concerns now and in future releases.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:43 pm

It's been almost a month since launch, and i have wasted over 70 hours of my life on 3 playthroughs, simply trying to play the game..

dang right i am going to take on a "whiny tone"

If one of the developers bought a child seat for their children, then they realized it was unsafe, and the manufacturer said "we are working on a fix to your child's car seat..sometimes they explode and sometimes they actaully make your child "disappear" randomly..

do you think the devs would be like "well, we did that to our customers, so i guess it's ok if it happens to us"

hells no!

they would return the broken product ASAP!!!

i can hear the Obsidian supporters now:
"oh yeah, compare a video game with something real like that, it's not even close to the same thing"

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 6:31 pm

Yes it's pointless, yes it's frivolous, but I felt compelled to post this message regardless.
...
The attitude stinks, the company's priorities are wrong and I think more people need to make their voices heard.

It's a joke.

I definitely agree. I luckily bought the game second-hand anyway, and very close to launch - so Bethesda gets none of THAT money.

I am just pissed that I cannot play the game as I want anymore. The issue with my character's reputation being applied incorrectly (specifically, I am neutral to the NCR, but am treated as an enemy) is a serious one for a game so reliant on roleplay-quests; a game where the quest givers attack you for their faction being neutral towards you :swear:. I mean, if I can't talk to the good-aligned quest givers for the quests I have been working towards through the entire game, then my save file (and purchase) feels like an effing waste. :banghead: Also, my only choice is to go to the other side and be evil apparently - I simply don't want to do that. So my choices are now: eat it, or start over.

Good effort guys, but the end result is that it feels like a waste of my money. Way to drop the ball Bethesda, on what is otherwise (bugs aside), an amazing game. :flame:

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:34 am

I think it's very sad that this game wasn't well programed because the story is great, as are the characters, the locations, and the environment. If this game worked as it was supposed to it would be hands down a perfect 10. :sad:

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:55 am

I just sent an email to them and this is the response i got :/

Hello,

The issue you have encountered is known to the developers, who are looking to resolve this as quickly as possible. Due to the nature of the issue though, it is unlikely that the update will fix the saved games themselves, but would rather prevent the issue from occurring in the first place. As a result, you would likely need to revert back to the previous saved game. We can only suggest that if you do this, and continue playing through your game, that you save often and make as many new saves as possible in all available save slots.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

This svcks :/ I was not looking forward to starting over...

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 8:00 am

From the e-mail reply to Anthony5059

We can only suggest that if you do this, and continue playing through your game, that you save often and make as many new saves as possible in all available save slots

Yeah so I tried this, with recycling 5-10 save slots and they still all screwed up, you only get 100 on the XBox so if overwriting causes problems too we are truly buggered, as we do have to save often anyway as the damn thing crashes so much!.

I do understand it must be exceedingly difficult to code for XBox given the huge variations in hardware and software each individual unit has.....

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 7:50 pm

From the e-mail reply to Anthony5059

Yeah so I tried this, with recycling 5-10 save slots and they still all screwed up, you only get 100 on the XBox so if overwriting causes problems too we are truly buggered, as we do have to save often anyway as the damn thing crashes so much!.

I do understand it must be exceedingly difficult to code for XBox given the huge variations in hardware and software each individual unit has.....

I like how your sarcasm-fu is strong.

I've personally had to start over 3 times.. I'm at the end of my pitiful rope with this game. Neither Oblivion or Fallout 3 were even remotely this buggy for me and I have both on PC and Xbox360..

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:12 am

I like how your sarcasm-fu is strong.

I've personally had to start over 3 times.. I'm at the end of my pitiful rope with this game. Neither Oblivion or Fallout 3 were even remotely this buggy for me and I have both on PC and Xbox360..

Same here.
Had Oblivion on the PC and bought all the DLC and used quite a few unofficial ones as well. No problems whatsoever.
Had Fallout on the XBox 360, nothing other than the odd graphics engine glitch (scorps stuck in the ground, etc) but nothing to worry about.
Now this, on a 5 year old engine, buggered beyond belief.

Inexcusable,amateurish and negligent, not to mention a breach in trading standards imho.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:07 am

Due to the fact I could return my second-hand copy of the game if I didn't like it (thank you Gamestop!), I decided I would just return the piece of crap. Feels much better NOT having the game. Here's how I picture me with regards to the game -> :sadvaultboy: :bolt:

I hope this is read by someone in Quality Assurance, so that the message is clear: The game isn't fun if its broken!

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:20 am

Yes it's pointless, yes it's frivolous, but I felt compelled to post this message regardless.

Only in the video game industry can a company get away with this. Imagine buying a book only to get halfway through to find that it's suddenly written in another language, or perhaps purchasing an album from your favourite band only to find that tracks 5, 6 and 7 are silent. It amazes me that this joke-of-a-situation - which basically amounts to a company releasing an unfinished product - gets ignored. Yes, there have been articles written, and we've all seen the many posts stamped on this forum, but how do Bethesda get away with it legally? Try selling a pair of shoes with holes in them and hoping no one notices.

Listen, I know we're all fed up of waiting, moaning and overdramatizing, but seriously, this situation needs to be addressed. I for one will never buy a Bethesda game on launch again. From now on I'm going to wait a few weeks and then buy a pre-owned copy (which there will be lots of). At least that way Bethesda won't see the colour of my money - plus it'll give the game time for the inevitable patch.

As for the poor excuse of 'a game of this size is impossible to launch bug free'. That's complete nonsense. We're not talking about a bug that 1/1000 people experience or a minor quibble with a character's physics: these are blatant issues that any decent testing department should have noticed. Which leads me to believe that the game was probably shipped knowing that the issues were there (yes, I also haven't been able to play my copy for 2 weeks due to the DLC bug). It's become all too easy to ship an unfinished product and just roll with the punches. Besides... where's the apology? All I seem to see in this forum and in the press is "hold on... it's coming" type messages or stern defensive words. People think it's unreasonable to expect forum replies to every comment: I totally disagree. Bethesda should be eating from our hands. They should take some of the $300 million they've made from the 5 million copies sold and pay someone to reply to every issue on this forum. At the very least - an apology wouldn't have hurt.

The attitude stinks, the company's priorities are wrong and I think more people need to make their voices heard.

It's a joke.

Agreed, I didn't take it seriously at first but the glitches have just been piling up and harming my gaming experience. I won't buy their future games on release and at full price, either. Whether I buy used or new depends on what I read about the state of the game on release date. If it's glitched to hell like this is, they don't get another purchase from me.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 6:34 pm

BETHESDA SOFTWORKS REVEALS DETAILS FOR FIRST FALLOUT?: NEW VEGAS? DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT

'Dead Money' Available December 21st Exclusively on Xbox LIVE

November 17, 2010 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks?, a ZeniMax? Media company, today announced that Dead Money, the first downloadable content for Fallout?: New Vegas?, will be available exclusively on Xbox LIVE? for the Xbox 360? video game and entertainment system from Microsoft beginning December 21, 2010.

"We're pleased to give fans a chance to expand their experience in Fallout: New Vegas this December with Dead Money," said Pete Hines, VP of PR and Marketing for Bethesda Softworks. "The release of Dead Money illustrates our commitment to creating entertaining add-on content for players to enjoy in already massive games like Fallout: New Vegas."

As the victim of a raw deal you must work alongside three other captured wastelanders to recover the legendary treasure of the Sierra Madre Casino. In Dead Money, your life hangs in the balance as you face new terrain, foes, and choices. It is up to you how you play your cards in the quest to survive.

This has to be a joke, they are releasing a DLC for 800 points (around $10 )even if most of us can't play the game!! what would happen if you buy the DLC more bugs and freezes not to mention save corruptions.

I have my game collecting dust it's unplayable, Thank good for Black Ops also for Halo Reach Noble map pack coming on the 30th of this month. Hope no one buys this DLC

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:33 am

Then there is the fact that now days developers can fix their bugs and then just release a patch for you to download instead of having to re-release a game. I support this because instead of having a couple hundred people playing a game and testing it, you'll have hundreds of thousands if not millions of people playing the game more thoroughly than an average tester, they'll be able to get much more detailed feedback this way.

Dude, I don't work for Bethesda!! I bought the game to enjoy it, not to test it. Besides, the money used to pay testers is also included on the game's price. YOU'VE PAYED FOR THEM TO TEST IT !!!!!

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 7:02 pm

On my third try with vegas, had one lock up that messed up about two hours of play, ( got too into it and didn't save) I can live with that, And i know we should be saving often, Loaded another save played for a good hour and a half with no problems( i saved after an hour of play) i entered the outer part of the new vegas strip got a black screen but could hear sound so i thought i would give it a few minutes.....20 minutes later nothing, shut off the old x-box turned it on and HAY your save is corrupt.....sigh..grumble... I consider My self an easy going gamer i can deal with lockups and glitches but it would have been nice to spend 100 bucks on the collectors edition and be able to enjoy the game. I am hoping that i will be able to finish the game this time and if it fracks me again with the DLC bug, I will wait for the new patch and see if i will be able to see the end of the game. If not am going to trade in my copy and Probably pass on any Bethsda/Obsidian games in the near future.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 5:43 pm

Dude, I don't work for Bethesda!! I bought the game to enjoy it, not to test it. Besides, the money used to pay testers is also included on the game's price. YOU'VE PAYED FOR THEM TO TEST IT !!!!!

In all my years of playing video games, I've never quite experienced anything like Fallout:New Vegas, in terms of it's lack of playability and overall shoddiness for a consumer product. This game is to the software, as RROD was to the hardware side of video gaming. At least Microsoft offered a full replacement for their hardware when the unit failed (under warranty, of course).

This probably won't happen but, if they won't give us a refund for New Vegas, I think they could at least give the upcoming DLC for free as a gesture of goodwill. AT LEAST! There must be some kind of consumer protection against this sort of crap. New Vegas has set a very dangerous precedence for the gaming industry by releasing a terribly, unfinished product to the unwary gamer.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:21 am

As the victim of a raw deal you must work alongside three other captured wastelanders to recover the legendary treasure of the Sierra Madre Casino.

If they don't fix the game and you buy the DLC, the underlined part is likely to be very very apt.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:59 pm

If they don't fix the game and you buy the DLC, the underlined part is likely to be very very apt.

'Victim of a Raw Deal' -- Lol!

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 6:01 pm

'Victim of a Raw Deal' -- Lol!

Looks like we are all victims of a "raw deal"

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:31 am

This probably won't happen but, if they won't give us a refund for New Vegas, I think they could at least give the upcoming DLC for free as a gesture of goodwill. AT LEAST! There must be some kind of consumer protection against this sort of crap. New Vegas has set a very dangerous precedence for the gaming industry by releasing a terribly, unfinished product to the unwary gamer.

What good is free DLC for a game where my saves are corrupt? What would I do with it? Even if I started over evntually the save bug will probably hit anyway.

A refund is more like it. The only DLC I am interested in is a PATCH to fix the bugs.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:52 am

Yes of course, a patch..but how many Microsoft points would we have to offer them to entice them to make such a patch? Apparently 80+ dollars of my money wasn't enough for even a modicum of beta testing...

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:08 am

From the OP all I saw was "Blah Blah Blah, I like to complain, Blah Blah Blah"

and your point being?