Is Bethesda becoming another EA?

[lacktheknack]

And the lawsuit against Mojang over a single word, which they lost.

Did they? I don't think they did. I believe it was settled out-of-court... because they were totally in the right for that one.

Don't believe me? You should look up exactly WHAT Notch had in his trademark application. He's a bit of a dunce, sometimes.

OT: People often forget that these "bad business practices" are STANDARD business practices, EA just gets all the hate because... some reason. Valve and CD Projekt are the very rare exception (and Valve is starting to slip).

If you hate these practices, get ready to move to the cottage industry (indies), because they're the only ones that don't try EA's antics.

 

[natster43]

I think Bethesda is evil because they are making a Elder Scrolls MMO and not another damn Fallout game and can get away with releasing unfinished games like it isn't a problem. Those are my problems with them. Also 20 dollars for a single DLC expansion? That better be at a pretty damn awesome expansion.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Lest I'm mistaken, Dawngaurd is an expansion pack. You know, the kind of thing that's been a part of PC gaming for well over a decade now. How exactly is doing something that by now is common practice bad business?

EDIT: Yes, I read the OP. It's not like there's any company these days that has an untarnished record, but none can match EA. NONE!

 

[Lunar Templar]

Blaming Bethesda's business practices on EA. That's impressive.

A company with questionable business practices isn't new, and it certainly wasn't started by EA.

i agree with Hazy, sides, 1 law suit? and 1 over priced DLC pack? really? come on, two incidents do not an evil company make

i also agree with Hazy in terms of his title, takes a secure man to ware pink

 

[crazyrabbits]

Apples and oranges. The "Scrolls" lawsuit and Dawnguard fiasco are small beans compared to the garbage other developers have done in the past.

Although, I thought Bethesda learned their lesson after the Horse Armor fiasco.

 

[Windcaler]

Ok, before I throw myself into this, I need to clarify something.
Please note that I am talking about Bethesda the publisher, not BGS(bethesda game studios) the developers.

Right, moving on...

So EA is a company known for their ugly business practices and general stupidity. Just recently they publicly announced that Zynga's recent stock troubles was due to not being able to "diversify" their product lineup -which followed the announcement of their eighth Sims 3 expansion.

In the recent days Bethesda appears to be taking some vile pages from EA's 'Big book of appropriate business practices', like the most recent PC release of Dawnguard - for 20 euro(that's 2/3 the price I paid for the full game on launch day). And the lawsuit against Mojang over a single word, which they lost.

I fear that the recent actions made by Bethesda might in fact be influenced EA's general behavior over the years, and if I'm right that means that the piss poor practice of EA is causing some form of cross company peer pressure.

Any thoughts? (examples and counter-examples would be welcomed.)

Off-topic: The captcha for this post was "banana bread", delicious!

To be fair, Bethesda had to sue Mojang over trade mark infringement or risk not being able to do so again. Thats how trade marks work. Bethesda is even on record for saying they didnt want to be forced into that lawsuit but the fact was the people that handle trademarks said it had to be done if they wanted to continue owning their Elder scrolls trademark. Its a stupid law but its still the law

Now with DLC, its my opinion that generally Bethesda gives the best bang for your buck in the DLC market. They have always been more like expansion packs rather then little DLC bits you get from other developers. Dawnguard was the same. Having played it I personally dont think Dawnguard is worth $20 but it still added some interesting bits to the game. For me Dawnguards failing was how vampirism is not really a curse, Its very similar to Twilights style of vampires where you get a bunch of power with no curse and that goes against the very idea of vampire folklore. Still it came with big ideas and while I dont think that $20 is worth this DLC neither do I think them asking for $20 is outrageous (especially considering the state of our economy)

Personally I dont think they are acting anything like EA. I dont see massive lay offs to make them look better to share holders. I dont see them buying out companies and running them into the ground. I dont see them pulling their games from digital distribution platforms and forcing gamers to use their brand of spyware to play them. I dont see them whining like a petulant child that no one uses their services.

So no I dont think theyre acting anything like EA

 

[Buizel91]

Ok, before I throw myself into this, I need to clarify something.
Please note that I am talking about Bethesda the publisher, not BGS(bethesda game studios) the developers.

Right, moving on...

So EA is a company known for their ugly business practices and general stupidity. Just recently they publicly announced that Zynga's recent stock troubles was due to not being able to "diversify" their product lineup -which followed the announcement of their eighth Sims 3 expansion.

In the recent days Bethesda appears to be taking some vile pages from EA's 'Big book of appropriate business practices', like the most recent PC release of Dawnguard - for 20 euro(that's 2/3 the price I paid for the full game on launch day). And the lawsuit against Mojang over a single word, which they lost.

I fear that the recent actions made by Bethesda might in fact be influenced EA's general behavior over the years, and if I'm right that means that the piss poor practice of EA is causing some form of cross company peer pressure.

Any thoughts? (examples and counter-examples would be welcomed.)

Off-topic: The captcha for this post was "banana bread", delicious!

........Seriously?

EA is like the Galactic Empire of the gaming industry, and that's putting it nicely, Bethesda are no where near EA in terms of greed/stupidity/ignorance.

Bethesda may of done a couple of stupid things, but pretty much every company on earth has done that. EA on the other hand does at least 3 stupid things every few weeks, and continue to do so.

 

[Cabisco]

They both make games I like

As for Dawnguard, my version of Skyrim seems to work fine even though I haven't bought it so I don't feel betrayed or forced into buying the dlc.

 

[Jeremy Meadows]

Pretty sure every company is doing shotty business practices like EA. EA just does it the most. Just wish more people would do something about it.

 

[Levethian]

I suspect that the Euro was a much stronger currency in November 2011. Dawnguard is £14 (?18) in the UK, which is 40% price of Skyrim at launch.

 

[Darkmantle]

Depends on how big and awesome dawnguard is, it might be worth the 20 dollars, and we know it isn't made up of important elements cut from the game a la me3

 

[Ryotknife]

Yea dawngaurd is overpriced, but still a better deal than any DLC that comes from EA (15 dollars a few hour DLC in mass effect). Not to mention, their DLC will go down in price unlike EA.

EDIT: derped and put COD DLC instead

Here is a wild suggestion.

If you dont think the DLC is worth the money... dont buy it?

I mean are they evil for offering it?

I have a brain in my skull. I can go "Yay" or "Nay" to it. Do you not have that privilege?

I am not buying it. EA is evil if they offer something that is worth significantly less for more money AND give no alternatives. If they want to cash in on the idiots with more money than brains, that is fine.

Even with Dawnguard at 20 dollars, it WILL go on sale just like other bethesda expansions. So even if the price irkes you, there are alternatives other than never buying it. I will probably never buy EA or activision DLC because most of the time they are a blatant ripoff meant to squeeze every ounce of money from their loyal fans with absolutely no regard to their image.

course, by your logic a company can never do anything evil. If a company released a game for full price with over half of its content locked that you have to shell out 60 dollars more....well by golly you can just say nay!

also, i could have easily reported you for implying that i do not have a brain. I wont because it would serve no real purpose. But there are other posters on these forums who would start a crusade against you for such demeaning behavior.

 

[DRes82]

Bethesda has a publishing company? I was certain that Zenimax was their parent corp. No, Bethesda is just like Bioware. A company who has made pretty amazing games and might be corrupted by the gamble of making their most beloved franchise into a MMO.

That said, EA is no worse than any other big corporation. I'll still buy Bioware's games, regardless of who owns them.

 

[kortin]

I think Bethesda is evil because they are making a Elder Scrolls MMO and not another damn Fallout game and can get away with releasing unfinished games like it isn't a problem. Those are my problems with them. Also 20 dollars for a single DLC expansion? That better be at a pretty damn awesome expansion.

Bethesda isn't making TESO.

No, Dawnguard is an expansion, and if you lived before the Reign of the DLC, you would know that $20 is a rather normal price for an expansion pack.

 

[Blazing Steel]

No... just no. Bethesda has made a couple of missteps, but they haven't fallen off a cliff just yet.

 

[natster43]

I think Bethesda is evil because they are making a Elder Scrolls MMO and not another damn Fallout game and can get away with releasing unfinished games like it isn't a problem. Those are my problems with them. Also 20 dollars for a single DLC expansion? That better be at a pretty damn awesome expansion.

Bethesda isn't making TESO.

No, Dawnguard is an expansion, and if you lived before the Reign of the DLC, you would know that $20 is a rather normal price for an expansion pack.

Okay I didn't know the thing about the MMO. And Yeah I didn't get into PC gaming until this gen, so I am not used to them costing that much, also am used to their expansions for the Fallout games, which was 10 dollars each.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Sure why not. I honestly believe with how tightly gamers hold grudges eventually every company will make a few mistakes and they will all be labeled 'EA bad'. Maybe after that happens we can stop taking potshots at companies because everyone will see them as equally bad.