An article to Bethesda on why you failed. There is one thing that separates you from other triple A companies, it didn't used to, but something changed along the way. You became dependent on the voice of your fans, whether it is selective based on mutual feeling or who was the loudest. Your biggest fault is listening to your fans(or the wrong ones). This can be seen most blatantly in your latest video promoting Nuka World when Angela Browder, Lead Producer says, When so many times Todd Howard has stated, or Pete Hines saying, It is apparent with Fallout 4 and many of the claw-backs in design, from Preston Garvey's line of, "Another settlement needs your help." hidden, to making Marcy and Jun killable, to making a DLC to be a bad person or tacking on a hardcore difficulty post beta. Morrowind had two expansions, Bloodmoon and Tribunal, both expanding on lore and offering new areas to explore, ideas they may not have had time to implement, Morrowind also had official addons, Bethesda's mods released for free for download. Oblivion had one expansion, Shivering Isle, one dlc called Nights of the Nine, and a number of questionable addons for a cost. Skyrim had two expansions, Dragonborn and Dawnguard, and one DLC Heathfire. Each of these core titles has a character that is an easter egg called M'aiq the Liar, who hints at why the developer did not listen to the fans of the series. In Elder Scrolls it is apparent that you do make the game that you want to play, yet you rely on fans to guide you to what your DLC will be and what dialogue you striped. It shows a lack of confidence in your work, uncertainty to what you have created or that you did not in fact play your game, or that you do not share in the feelings of those that play your games. Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim all have test cells for Todd Howard, things for him to see and experience and test the games. Fallout 4 does not. Back in the day you could see Todd play testing his games, now you are lucky to get a twitch of either GStaff complaining about how bad the game is or a person that worked on the content. Developers mentioning that they were inspired by watching their kids play minecraft. (Can't find the link ) It is clear Fallout 4 is not the game you want to play or else you wouldn't sacrifice what you have created on the whim of your 'fans' I don't think most would fault you on trying to make money on a title you hold the rights to, but honestly, if you are not interested in playing your game, how can you expect other to be? I myself have developed mods that have quests, npc's, voice acting and the whole nine yards, yet when someone tells me I should have done it differently, I take it with a grain of salt. I make what I want. If others don't like it there are other fish and other seas. My visions will be liked by many and toughs are the people I am happy to share my stories with. If I were to bow down to what 'fans' asked for, I would loose that vision and my efforts would be a mishmash of what other people wanted and in the end I would not like my own creation. You own the rights, but if you are not enjoying your own creation, that means you did something wrong. It doesn't mean that Fallout needs to have hockey or football in it, but that the core design is clawed and you need to start over. What do YOU want Fallout to be? Do you want Fallout to be the game where you shoot and loot stuff and watch what wacky things people make with contraptions? Or do you want Fallout to be a place where players and yourself can be totally immersed in the rich world of characters? I have seen reviews from PC players, and console players and the common review is, "It's a good game, it's just not a good Fallout game." That is what Fallout 4 will be remembered as by a majority. I don't have access to developer statistics, but will use what I have access to, Steam, baring in mind there are very similar comments for PC and Console so it is safe to assume that the reviews are relatively equal across all platforms. #1 Fallout NV 95.70 % #2 Fallout 1 91.94 % #3 Fallout 2 91.88 % #4 Fallout 3 82.44 % #5 Fallout Tactics 81.53 % #6 Fallout 4 78.15 % Fallout 4 is the least liked Fallout in the franchise. Per like ratio, more people were happy Fallout tactics than Fallout 4. Some might argue that you don't pay attention to numbers like this or that not winning game of the year or any awards for that matter isn't a big deal, well I know that your folk frequent the Internet to get info on how your games are doing and this site is the "do not mention." site. Unfortunately, this is only one of the problems that plague your company, albeit a big one. And on a final note, your, 'fans' having been telling you for a long time what we want, it wasn't raiders, but you failed to come through. Some more Stats Fallout 4 DLC 50.87% Avrg Nuka World 48.67% Contraptions Workshop 34.40% Vault-Tec Workshop 31.15% Far Harbor 84.66% Wasteland Workshop 32.67% Automatron 73.65% Skyrim DLC 87.69% Avrg Dawnguard 87.38% Dragonborn 89.34% Hearthfire 86.34% Fallout New Vegas DLC 78.55% Avrg Lonesome Road 85.68% Honest Hearts 79.56% Old World Blues 91.97% Dead Money 57.00% Fallout 3 DLC 63.65% Avrg Operation: Anchorage 59.95% Broken Steel 68.69% The Pitt 64.94% Mothership Zeta 61.23% Point Lookout 63.45% And just to add a bit more. It is sad that the spinoff garnered more praise and happiness then two core games. I get that you want the glory of making the best Fallout game, but when will you admit that you don't know what you're doing? You need help. Pride doesn't mean much when your product is disliked to this degree.
Nuka World is exaggeration of just what you said. You pay Bethesda to learn why they go their own way and not listen to the fans. Because they fuck up everything if not by design then they'll fuck things up intentionally. Apparently they tired of making easter eggs because it's too unclear for the audience. Seems like Nuka World is even more unclear since F4's recent rating gone up to 69%... Aaand Nuka World itself rated 51%.
Trying to listen to the internet is akin to trying to listen a schizophrenic with a microphone. But don't worry, Bethesda can get out of this rut. All they have to do is use their intuition fine tuned from over 15 years - phhhftt ha ha ha! of- ha ha quality RPGs! Hah! Who cares that you made the Phantom Menace of video games? Lucas is personally helming so many Star Wars projects after the bold and visionary direction he took his series it's unreal right now! It's all fine! I'm sure ZeniMax is totally understanding! Bwahaha!
Christ. These stats makes me wonder what the percentages would be if the Fallout 3 and Fallout 4's DLCs were swapped. Even Point Lookout -- a DLC revered by many -- scored a whole 20% less than what is, in my opinion, the vastly inferior Far Harbor. This is perfectly indicative of the gaming industry's falling standards and genuinely makes me concerned for the future.
I love Dead Money. I don't know why its gets so much hate. I guess gamers don't bother to look around for the radios in that DLC or also hate the fact that they can't take all the gold bars from the vault.
I think it is the setting to be honest. I never played Dead Money, so take this with a grain of salt. But well ... just from the trailers, is just doesn't scream Fallout at me. The whole premise sounds simply ... to strange, it looks more like a horror survival game in a haunted mansion, and that's not what I expect in a post apocalytic game about exploration. But I applaud Obsidian for trying something different. That's what DLCs are there for I think, experimenting and trying something new. Becaus at the end of the day, it is just a DLC/Addon, and you can simply ignore it if it's not your taste.
Is is indeed more of a survival horror game, but I actually loved the setting and felt it fit in very well in the Fallout world. The whole casino thing has a strong 50's vibe, but with futuristic technology that works as a backbone for the gameplay. It's very dark and dystopian and playing through it is one of moments within the Fallout world where I really felt for the people it had affected. This part, with the hologram of Vera Keyes always makes me really uneasy (in a good way). I don't really get why people don't seem to like it. Maybe because you actually had to think and do some problem solving to get through it. On the other hand, I don't see why Old World Blues is so universally praised. It had some excellent writing and some really good humour, but I also found it way too wacky and "out there" and not fitting in with the Fallout universe at all.
Just goes to show many people didn't understand the message of Dead Money. I'll admit the radios can be annoying from time to time, but I still think it's a great DLC. The atmosphere, characters, themes, especially the tragic story of Fredrick Sinclair and Vera Keyes.
I was't over keen on dead money its probably my least favorite FNV but Jesus Christ I appreciate a story that makes sence and some decent dialogue
You know guys, you shouldn't be so quick with your judgement. The thing is, I feel like you agree with 'negative' reviews when it comes to Bethesda, the majority has spoken right? While you're relatively quick with dismissing the statistic for Dead Money as, the players simply didn't get it. I am not saying that this is necessarily false, but again, I can just say that Dead Money simply doesn't feel like It would offer me personaly what I crave in a post apoc game. It just feels to whacky, but most of the DLCs give me this feeling. I don't mind some amount of whacky, but it reminds me to much to Fallout 2 rather then Fallout 1, where the whacky stuff was kept to a minimum really. The fact that the game engine is not aging very well, doesn't help much either. But that one's on Bethesda.
What this all basically comes down to is that Fallout 4 does not afford players the freedom they require in a Fallout game. In the older games you could literally murder an entire town, loot the place, and move on. What really grinds my gears is Bethesda just doesn't understand that amount of work or I should say lack of work required to allow great deals of player freedom. The moment to prevent the player from interacting in the world in the way they see fit you have failed. Example: Un-killable NPC's, completely linear game play, un-controlable stats, etc... When it comes to Fallout, Bethesda has attempted to assert structure in a system that does not require it. In doing so have forced all their would be players to shell out additional cash just to have the "freedom" that they should have had the entire time.
I'm auguring with stats but again it very subjective. I got playing fo3 FNV there four it would be hard for me to rank them above fallout 4 same with orginal fallouts. I think i relpy ever fallout game to make my own judgement and i do feel fallout 4 will be lowest because of its lack of replay ability a generally good game should have reliability expect rare games like last of us witch i feel just has a great oen time story. But yeah I think the stats are pretty fair myself. Fallout 4 has been the weakest fallout yet and we know it however the gmaing industry has expanded and more people get to player it therefore its a 'bigger thing' But i think if you really look at the rating ect you will know that early fallouts are simply better ect.
Of course it's all very subjective, but personally why I wonder why Dead Money isn't very popular is exactly because I feel it is very true to Fallout in a lot of ways. For one, there's nothing wacky about it. Second, the characters are well put together with backstory and their own agendas. The futuristic technology of the Sierra Madre has gone haywire and is working against you. You have to explore and make do with what you find since supplies are very scarce. You're also pretty quick with your judgement considering you judge things you haven't tried out for yourself
Tbh i still don't know why dead money would goten that low sorce. I thought it been little bit higher but i thought operation anchorage would of been higher too again its subjective but there you have it
Bla bla bla, subjective, bla bla, (...), didn't I already said that you should take my opinion with a grain of salt, see it as an ... note by an outsider :p. If we would be all agreeing with each other all the time, this place would become boring real quick I think .
I didn't like Dead Money, but that doesn't mean I dislike like. I think the assets in it are awesome, from buildings, to weapons, to creatures, to actors and voices. I think the design was top quality, from art, to layout, to effects, to lore, to RPG options. If I had to give it a score I would give it somewhere between 80-90 out of 100. I don't like bomb collars on my neck, I most certainly don't like when they beep. And I really don't like that at 10 Int, 100 Explosives, 100 science and almost every skill maxed out with almost every associated perk, Father Elijah surpasses my ability in a gamey way and I have no way (without mods) to disarm his trap. I understand why they did it (Story) and my opinion is subjective, but for a Fallout game, I would expect that maxed skills and perks would allow an alternate path. Even if I can't remove the collar, why does Christine have the ability to slow it down? Perk Signal Interference. Being the Int 10, Science 100, Explosives 100, I have no way of improving on this, I mean, he let me keep my Pipboy, that has a radio, theres also radios everywhere. I can use Science, Int and Explosives in the Mojave to disarm them, but not in Dead Money. I am also very forgiving when it comes to DLC, so I will play Dead Money and would rate it high, but I feel it needs a mod to make it immersive.
I think that Dead Money "is there" for: - Showing what happened to a big part of the high class from pre-war society (and not say EVRYONE WENT INTO A VAULT AND SH*T HAPPENED) - Make a bigger deal out of "Survivability", especially if in HC mode; as broken gear and low supplies stop being a problem around 10 hours in Vanilla, you can actually reach critical levels on the primary needs and getting a leg ripped by Ghosts is not funny. - Player home! Abandoned BOS Bunker gets spicy with some GECK action, but The Sink bested it (in looks and simplicity, i prefer the bunker) - Expand upon a character from a loading screen, lol Making Old World Blues' lore a prequel: - Become the conclusion of Elijah's and Christine's "storyline" going on in Old World Blues, and also Veronica by extension (she gets sweet perks if you get it straight) - Research from Big MT being applied, the Saturnite, Holograms, Stealth Armor, Expender Machines, hazmat suits, etc. I frickin' love this DLC, but i found these flaws that must annoy some players: - No Side Quests, although they are perfectly expendable in this occasion (who or what would give it to you? and where?). Side exploring would be nice instead, the A World Of Pain mod adds some extra time of locations and loot (a hidden 12.7mm pistol <3) so it could have been that way. - Linear-ish Main Quest, not really "The Crew" ones but the ending, it could have been considerably extended - Speakers. I didn't mind them much, except for that single one in the ending, as it requires you to run up to a terminal and hack it with your "time stop" abilities, and it gave some sense of disbelief. - More ghost variants, but again, it would have defeated the point and required of a bigger area. - The Casino and the Hologram trade is pointless gameplay-wise, as it's very close to the conclusion of the DLC. I guess that you can make big money if your build is useful for that, and get huge amounts of supplies via SM Chips.