RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS - VISUAL NOVELS ALLOWED

[Hurlshort]

 

Not to mention we actually don't know anything about the new Fallout yet. It could just be Fallout 5 set in Philadelphia.

You do know that the game is called Fallout 76 and not Fallout 5, right?

 

 

The 76 is clearly a reference to the city of brotherly love. 

[Chilloutman]

 

thinking about it

 

If I can stomp on people as an Imperial Knight, I'm sold.

 

 

Only Inquisitor I am afraid. But I am lately sucker for WH universe

[marelooke]

 

 

 

If that last one is true then Bethesda is really trying to sink its own ship.

It pretty much tanked DOOM's modding scene in spite of the game providing you with decent modding tools from the getgo, so I'd hope Bethesda would have learned. ... Or, y'know, not.

Honestly, I hope this happens here as well. The only reason why their games keep staying alive that long is because of mods on the pc. If they are gone, Bethsoft should finally be able to feel the impact.

I am sure the consoles will make up for it on their bottom line. Though, I agree that this decision will have ramifications on the PC front. IMHO, Enderal is an example of why I own Skyrim. That is why modding is great.

 

Also, if they keep trying to elicit control over modders there is the long shot of a small company building a game engine and game with mods in mind to take advantage of the vacuum. Which would force Bethesda to up their game and give us a solid TES/FO competitor. Bethesda's mods have been their major strength on pc.

As I cant say it is their game design, combat, or story telling.

 

I do think this is a mistake. It's a mistake they have been aiming at for a long while. So, I'm not surprised.

 

 

I'm not so sure consoles will make up for it. They back-pedalled pretty darn fast last time they tried this idea. I think they're hoping they can get away with it since it's a multiplayer game (so they hope arguments like "balance" and "won't anyone think of the children?" will hold) and not a "true" Fallout 5 and that this way they can hopefully ease their consumers into the idea for TES VI/Fallout 5. Given that it's the same engine I'm not so sure the modding community will go along with it and if the modders don't fall for it then they had better release something pretty darn polished compared to the worse and worse quality they've been pushing out (because modders will fix it for free, right? Maybe not this time, Beth...)

 

Given that I'm probably not the only one thinking that that is what Bethesda is thinking (Greed is a pretty predictable demon) I wouldn't be surprised if some other companies are seriously considering whether they can release something very moddable in the timeframe given (~2 years) in an attempt to steal bethesda's lunch, breakfast and dinner. It's not like the technical quality needs to be that great, I mean, they're competing with Bugthesda and given a good enough modding platform the modders *will* fix it...

 

As for my personal opinion: if there's anything I wasn't waiting for it's a multiplayer Fallout game.

Edited June 1, 2018 by marelooke

[LadyCrimson]

In 10 years (or less) Bethesda will likely have joined the ranks of other giant game corps designated as "evil."

 

If I was into programming/had the brains and talent for such, I would definitely be trying to make my own games at this point. Not to sell. Just...for me.

[Keyrock]

In 10 years (or less) Bethesda will likely have joined the ranks of other giant game corps designated as "evil."

They've been on my **** list for many years already, I'm just waiting for the rest of the general public to catch up to my forward thinking. 

[Lexx]

Remember the stories of how Bethesda / ZeniMax liked to torpedo smaller studios so they can buy them for cheap.

Edited June 1, 2018 by Lexx

[Ganrich]

Yeah, I'm also not at all excited about a multiplayer Fallout. I half expected the next Fallout to be a Borderlands clone given some of 4's design decisions.

 

I think they backpedaled last time because the vitriol of that backlash was so great that it had the potential of hurting sales on the console side, but I could be wrong. I just dont think the PC market is very important to Bethesda anynore. At least not in their eyes. That's my perception anyway.

[injurai]

Remember the stories of how Bethesda / ZeniMax liked to torpedo smaller studios so they can buy them for cheap.

 

Saving money from going to the hands of the previous owner to spend more money on the people who they are buying. If I wasn't an owner I might actually be glad (assuming my projects weren't being cancelled.)

 

Course most of Human Head studio mostly seemed miffed so I'm just hypothesizing here. Zenimax just wanting the Prey IP but then doing their own thing was really odd.

[Katphood]

[HoonDing]

"some leaks from a reliable source"

 

 

"Remember the stories of how Bethesda / ZeniMax liked to torpedo smaller studios so they can buy them for cheap."

 

Edited June 2, 2018 by HoonDing

[Lexx]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/06/05/what-went-wrong-with-human-heads-prey-2?abthid=51af79d92aabedda5500000c

 

 

Following Prey 2s impressive showing at E3 2011, Bethesda, pleased with the teams work, promised Human Head a development extension of six months to one year all the time it needed to populate the mostly complete game world with missions, polish what rough edges remained, and ship Prey 2 in 2012 as planned. Thats when Bethesda decided to play hardball and buy the studio, said one source familiar with the situation. Another person close to Bethesda and Human Head shared a similar story.

In the following months, a source claimed, "Bethesda denied further funding of the project, and started failing milestones, asking for changes and fixes without following through on its previous promise to give the team more time. The promise, however, was not inked on the contract, so Bethesda had no legal obligation to fulfill it. In addition, a source said, Bethesda was likely concerned with the "dated planning, tools, and techniques" Human Head was using. Meanwhile, the contract didnt give the creative team any leverage: Prey 2 was the only game Human Head was legally allowed to develop on its own until the agreement expired -- to fill time and keep the lights on, the studio supported the development BioShock Infinite and Defiance. If it were to ever release, the team needed more cash and time to meet the rising demands to adjust Prey 2, which "needed a lot of work" and was "lackluster" from the publisher's perspective.

Conflict erupted Human Head asked Bethesda to provide additional time and money, while Bethesda asked Human Head to meet the criteria agreed upon by their existing agreement. At this point, Bethesda "thought they could bully [Human Head] into a corner, a source said, and the publisher made a move to buy Human Head. It was one of few studios that could work with and improve id Technology. They wanted to buy us at a sweet price, but the developer denied the buyout[/b]. Human Head didn't want to permanently marry itself to a publisher that was "bleeding Human Head dry." This would limit the studio's ability to work on its own creative endeavors down the line, potentially with other publishers.

In November 2011, in a play to keep Bethesda from purchasing Human Head, and as a result of the contract dispute, development stopped. One source called it a strike. In the following months, Bethesda and Human Head communicated sporadically, but the conversation was very one sided. The studio made reasonable offers, but nothing came to fruition. Nothing moved in 2012.

Bethesda appeared to wait out Human Head. The contractual agreement between the two eventually came to term, Bethesda got its game back without spending any more money, and Human Head went on its way the team is currently working with a new publisher on another open-world game.

 

Also https://www.bluesnews.com/a/268/open-letter-to-bethesda-softworks

 

This is just a 1 minute google result.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Lexx

[HoonDing]

 

EDIT:

 

"November 18, 2001"

 

"In two years, our Russian publisher Buka signed the publishing agreement with the well-known American publisher Bethesda Softworks. According to the contract, Bethesda was to pay 250000USD in advance (this sum was divided into 5 parts, each of which was to be paid on our finishing a certain stage of development) and to carry out a good advertising campaign in the USA and Canada. The royalty, which Bethesda was to pay us were really small (7%), and we knew that Bethesda had not published any successful products in the last couple of years. But still, we believed that Bethesda would sell the game well in North America (which is one of the world largest and the most important territory for the gaming industry)."

 

lol this is gold

 

Edited June 2, 2018 by HoonDing

[Blarghagh]

Wonder if that's what they were setting groundwork for with the whole metacritic thing.

[Hurlshort]

I remember thinking how bad that Human Head thing looked back in the day, but now that Prey 2 has been released and was the best game of the previous year, it's pretty clear that Bethesda knows what it is doing from a business perspective. 

[sorophx]

I don't know if destroying livelihoods can be considered a sound business strategy, even though it brings in money for the shareholders

[Blarghagh]

Pretty sure that means it's an incredibly sound business strategy, just not a morally responsible one.

[Oner]

Um.. that assumes Prey 2 wouldn't have been amazing. Not to mention that Prey reboot would've still been amazing just with a different title..

[Katphood]

I remember thinking how bad that Human Head thing looked back in the day, but now that Prey 2 has been released and was the best game of the previous year, it's pretty clear that Bethesda knows what it is doing from a business perspective.

True. Why bother spending money to aquire the rights to System Shock 3? We'll just name our game after another existing franchise: 'P R E Y'.

 

But wait, it didn't sell very well...at all.

 

So that's that.

[SonicMage117]

Bethesda is actually a bit better now than they've ever been... Look at what they've given us:

1. Finally a Doom that isn't retro (and doesn't suck)

2. Finally a Wolfenstein that doesn't suck

3. Wolfy 2 The New Colussus

4. The Evil Within

5. The Evil Within 2

6. Dishonored

7. Dishonored 2

8. Prey

 

And soon Rage 2.

 

I think alot of people need are judging them off of Elder Scrolls and Fallout. When were those ever good? :L

 

I've said it before ahd I'll say it again, Bethesda needs to quit making rpg's and just stick to what they've done best over the years. But yeah, they're a much better company than they've ever been. Problem is that Sony and Ubi are pushing out so many great games that I think it's intimidating them.

Edited June 2, 2018 by SonicMage117

[Katphood]

I think alot of people need are judging them off of Elder Scrolls and Fallout. When were those ever good? :L

 

I liked Oblivion.

 

...

 

:>

[sorophx]

Bethesda isn't actually making those good games, but it does make ES and FO games, which get worse and worse with each numbered release

[Keyrock]

Bethesda is actually a bit better now than they've ever been... Look at what they've given us:

1. Finally a Doom that isn't retro (and doesn't suck)

2. Finally a Wolfenstein that doesn't suck

3. Wolfy 2 The New Colussus

4. The Evil Within

5. The Evil Within 2

6. Dishonored

7. Dishonored 2

8. Prey

 

And soon Rage 2.

 

Every single one of those games you listed, while published by Bethesda, were NOT developed by Bethesda.  There needs to be a distinction between Bethesda the publisher and Bethesda the developer.  Bethesda the publisher (and their parent company ZeniMax), while engaging in some...  questionable business practices, has published quite a few good and great games recently.  Bethesda the developer hasn't produced a truly good game since 2007 IMHO.

[SonicMage117]

That's exactly what I mean, Bethesda should stick to publishing period. They should never make games again, and Fallout and Elder Scrolls ahould be put to rest as well. There comes a time Kemosabe's, where people need to just move on and accept that Fallout and Elder Scrolls were never outstanding games whether old or new. We just need to move on period and so does Bethesda

Edited June 2, 2018 by SonicMage117

[Hurlshort]

I don't know if destroying livelihoods can be considered a sound business strategy, even though it brings in money for the shareholders

Destroying livelihoods is a bit hyperbolic.

[Azdeus]

Um.. that assumes Prey 2 wouldn't have been amazing. Not to mention that Prey reboot would've still been amazing just with a different title..

 

Atleast Prey 2 looked amazing on paper, if they could've delivered the game that was promised. The prey reboot doesn't look to be worth to purchase even on a sale.