Poll: Bethesda Softworks - What is up with these people?

[Shycte]

Fallout 3's setting and that stupid V.A.S.T thingy ruined that game for me. But in essence it was good.

Yeah, I never liked VATS either, but it's weird because I got the Game of The Year Edition and all the guns seem strangely accurate and usable outside of VATS.

Really? I thought the shooting outside VATS sucked just as much AS VATS....

Maybe they did something diffrent in the GOTY version...

 

[Doug]

Spoiler: Reduced for space

Bethesda published Wet and Rogue Warrior, they didn't make them.

I said they produced them, not made them. Published/Produced/Distribution, thats all pretty much under the same heading.

It doesn't really change the issue that they did nothing, except, potentially, give Electronic Arts a bit of a better reputation as a producer/publisher, while suing Interplay over something they could very well do themselves and probably do better than Interplay would do it.

There is simply no logic to Bethesda producing Wet and Rogue Warrior while sitting on the Fallout IP and having a legal tussle with Interplay over it.

Screw the lawsuit, get to work, is what I'm saying. Everyone wants to know what MMO will take down WoW? Fallout Online....done right, will be the one to do it.

Apparently someone in the Bethesda corporate hierarchy doesn't like money.

Ok, let me make it simple for you.

Interplay sold Bethasda the rights to make Fallout games, apart from MMO's, because Interplay are still delluded enough to think they can make games anymore thats worth more than shit.

[small]Always remember, Interplay did this[/small]​

The clause of the contract is something like 'Bethasda get the rights to do a Fallout MMO if Interplay don't start production by 2009' or something like that, and 'has to be released by 2011'.

So, why aren't Bethasda working on there own Fallout MMO? Because they legally can't yet - they are trying to get the rights to do it, and the only way to do that is to prove in court that Interplay haven't lived up to there end of the contact.

Some non-US versions of the game were censored due to local regulations on violence or the portrayal of children in computer games. In particular, the UK and German versions both had children removed from the game and had some violence options disabled. This affected the gameplay for certain missions in game. This was particularly noticeable in Modoc where the mission to rescue Jonny from the wishing well was crippled. Since the original release of the game, fan made patches have made it possible for owners of European versions of the game to play the game as originally intended. Despite these patches being available, the US version is arguably more desirable for collectors.

Basically, the sooner Bethasda can remove the MMO from Interplay's useless hands, the better.

The reason they sued Interplay is not for the fact that they haven't completed it yet, but they have not shown any real progress. They've been throwing out a lot of concept art, but no actual art yet, which is pissing Bethesda off.

And as stated, when they already own the trademark, why bother being pissed off about it? Buy Interplay, get to work. Its much simpler and will probably cost less than the lawsuit itself..and will produce results and profits far more quickly.

Because if the shareholders or owners of Interplay don't want to sell, amazingly, they don't HAVE to sell it to Bethasda.

Well this is good information, as the reporting on the contractual agreements and party obligations has never been very clear cut. The way its been reported is that Interplay agreed to develop a Fallout MMO, as part of the sale of the intellectual property, and that Bethesda who now owns the intellectual property, is suing them for not producing it under an agreed upon time frame.

Now, with it established that apparently Interplay is living in fantasy land where they think they still have the development muscle to actually produce a realistic next generation MMO offering, then we have a slightly different viewpoint on the issue. And the lawsuit makes a little more sense and seems less frivolous in nature.

Regardless that still doesn't make 2009 any less of a crap year for Bethesda. Lets hope for better in 2010, but, if this lawsuit drags on, the potential of a Fallout MMO some time before 2015 gets pretty damn low.

Fair enough. The agreement is available here: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1057232/000117091807000324/0001170918-07-000324.txt

No Mutants Allowed (the 'main' Fallout fansite) has a summary here: http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35621

As of April 9th, 2007, the Fallout IP is no longer in the hands of Interplay, but has been sold to Bethesda Softworks for the sum of $5,750,000 as can be read in this 8-K report filed today. The meat of the statement is as follows:

As of April 4, 2007, the Company entered into, an Asset Purchase Agreement (the "APA") and a Trademark License Agreement (the "License Back") with Bethesda Softworks LLC, a video game developer and publisher ("Bethesda"), regarding "FALLOUT", an intellectual property which was owned by the Company (the "IP"). Although such agreements were signed on April 4, 2007 they were agreed not to be binding until closing which occurred on April 9, 2007.

Under the APA, the Company sold all of its rights to the IP to Bethesda for a total amount of $5,750,000.00 payable to the Company, subject to various conditions, in three cash installments. The first installment of $2,000,000.00 was paid following closing when $200,000.00 was paid to the Company and $1,800,000.00 was deposited into an escrow account to satisfy various liabilities. The Company expects to have fulfilled its obligations under the APA and to receive full payment during the third quarter of 2007. The Company had previously, on June 29, 2004, entered into, an exclusive licensing agreement with Bethesda, regarding the IP which was superseded by the APA.

Under the License Back the Company obtained an exclusive license, under certain conditions, to use the IP for the purpose of developing an Interplay branded Fallout Massively Multiplayer Online Game ("MMOG").

Interplay pledges to obtain funding for and start the development of the MMOG within two years and to successfully launch it within six (which entails securing the continual patronage of a minimum of 10,000 paying subscribers), or else forfeit this license. Some additional excerpts:

2.6 RESERVATION OF RIGHTS. Any and all rights not explicitly granted to Interplay hereunder are reserved by Bethesda.

5.3.2 Interplay shall not offer or provide any products or services whose nature or quality does not comply with the quality standards of Bethesda.

7.0 PAYMENT OF ROYALTIES. Interplay agrees to pay Bethesda a Royalty of twelve percent (12%) of the Net Cash Receipts derived from the sale and distribution of the FALLOUT MMOG, including sales of subscription fees or access fees to the FALLOUT MMOG or any other revenues generated by the FALLOUT MMOG, in the Territory during each calendar quarter following the commercial launch of the FALLOUT MMOG.

Thus Fallout takes another step in its desert walk away from the vault doors of Interplay, but for now, the separation remains incomplete.

So, the deadline for starting the project was April 2009, and release date deadline of 2013.

Now, technically, I suppose Bethasda MIGHT be able to develop there own Fallout MMO, but whilst Interplay are pretending too, as best there would be competition.

I suppose Bethasda might be trying to develop their own MMO and haven't released info or press info yet. As for suing over the Fallout Trilogy, I think its a case of Bethasda or their parent company pointing out Interplay need to keep there hands off the franchise now.

As for the rest of the names Bethasda published, I don't know. Wet was...meh. I meant, it wasn't bad and it did have a few good idea's, but the end result was less than the sum of it's parts. Rogue Warrior, I know nothing about.

And sorry if I sounded alittle combative earlier. I somehow mistakely got the impression you where trying to defend Interplay, and I'm sick and tired of fanboys of the first 2 games trying to turn Interplay into some sort of 'final hope for Fallout games'....anywho, sorry if I did come across as that, as it was uncalled for.

 

[CJ1145]

Personally; I haven't ever liked Bethesda. I wasn't a fan of the Elder Scrolls series and for me; Fallout 3 was a disgrace to the series.

Oh dear, someone's a little stuck in last gen.

The first 2 Fallout games were indeed great games (Tactics was shit), and whilst they were very different to F3 that does not make it a bad game. That's like comparing any current FPS with Wolfenstein 3d and stating "OMGZ IT SUX CAUSE NOT THE SAME".

It was a re-skinned version of Oblivion - a game which I loathe more than the Halo series... Need I say more?

No, you don't, because it just became obvious that you only exist to hate things because they're popular. Saying you hate Halo and Fallout 3 in the same sentence is the biggest sign of an idiot that only hates games because other people like them the gaming industry has at the moment.

 

[Numbert]

I agree Bethesda is a pretty awful producer, but you have to realize that Bethesda's producers and Bethesda's developers probably have never even seen one another. They are entirely different branches connected only by title. I still trust any game they develop themselves to be awesome.

 

[Moosebomber]

Maybe they did something diffrent in the GOTY version...

Yeah maybe. I owned the original when it first came out and my Chinese assault rifle bullets went in every which direction, now the spread is reduced. Maybe it was a patch but its interesting playing Fallout real FPS style. Except when they get up close, THEN you have to use vats, but at a distance its great, also there is a weapon called Paulsons revolver which has higher chances of Critical hits outside of VATS.

 

[Axolotl]

That's not what bethesda meant, if I say I couldn't hurt a fly, do you think I mean I literally couldn't hurt flies?

I'm sorry I don't have telepathic powers that allow me to read peoploes minds, this means that when they say something I have to assume that's what they mean and that they're not just making things up.

Bethesda called it Oblivion with guns, because it's a sandbox RPG set in a universe where guns exist. But really even if Bethesda had meant that it was literally was "oblivion with guns", that is irrelevant when the game clearly isn't. It is not a rehash of Oblivion. If we pretend for a moment that, that was really their objective, then they failed. If you can't see this it is because you refuse to, or you have no idea what makes these games what they are.

It runs on the same engine, has the same basic gameplay, the same game structure, the same quest style, the same style of location design. Aside from the addition of dodgy gunplay, and VATS, most of the changes from Oblivion are largely superficial.

 

[Alphavillain]

Developers like Bethesda have to make money and balance this imperative with making quality games with small teams. Obviously, a relatively small team of devs isn't going to make more than one or two games a year, so they have to get behind other products and hope they sell.

 

[SextusMaximus]

I loved Oblivion, didn't really like Fallout 3. If they make a new Elder Scrolls game (which they will in the LATE future) then I'll buy it, if they make a new Fallout game (MMO OR NOT) then I wont. Simple as that.

 

[CloggedDonkey]

well, they published wet and rouge worrier, which is a way of getting some money with out any production cost. and please, stop being a bit of an interplay fanboy, I hate fanboys. I get it, they made some of the best games, doesn't mean you have to go "TEH R TEH AWSOMENEZZEZ AD R BETTAH TANH BETHEZDA LOLOLOLOLOLOLZZZZZZZZ". that wasn't at you specifically, just you seem mad at them for suing someone who did not do a job they where paid to do because of who was supposed to do the job. I admit this is better thought out than most "do you still like blank?" threads, which most of the time go down to "TEH R TEH KEWLEST GAME PEBLISER EVAR LOLOLOLOLZZZZZZ" FOLLOWED BY "TEH R TEH SUCKZORZZZZZ LOLOLOLOLOLZZZZZZZZZZZ". and that avatar really creeps me out, get the mask away!

 

[Axolotl]

Regardless that still doesn't make 2009 any less of a crap year for Bethesda. Lets hope for better in 2010, but, if this lawsuit drags on, the potential of a Fallout MMO some time before 2015 gets pretty damn low.

Except for the fan made ones of course.

 

[Callate]

Ok, let me make it simple for you...

THANK YOU. The [willful?] misunderstanding of the relationship between Interplay and Bethesda was making my head hurt. I'm glad not to have to try to explain it myself.

I haven't played Fallout 3 yet; I'm about five games behind right now. But having played through Oblivion, I grimaced when I heard "F3" was going to be by the same people. Whatever one would say about Fallouts 1 and 2, and they did have their flaws, they were still hugely innovative in the number of different ways the player could go about doing things, and the number of different possibilities the game was ready to deal with without "breaking" it. It's definitely the only game I've ever seen where the arch-evil could be defeated by...

Spoiler

...Pointing out the logical flaws in his master plan.

By contrast, Oblivion failed to consider some possibilities I would have considered fairly obvious. The Arena champion has given up his will to live? What if I don't want to fight him? Yes, I'm taking the stolen loot from a pair of murderous thieves; what if I want to return it, rather than being part of their plan or stealing it for myself? Things like this made me worry that however well they might re-created the setting, the "heart" of Fallout would be missing. And I haven't seen much in reviews to illuminate for me whether my fear is justified or not.

Anyway, back to the original topic... Anyone can have a bad year. And unusually, the lawsuit doesn't seem to be a case of the big bad company stomping on the little guy; they just want proof that the shred of Interplay that remains isn't just squatting on what little IP they have remaining that's worth something. Failing that, they'd like to get started on branching out from that same IP that their work has just re-invigorated for the present generation. I don't see the year's events as anything like a conclusive sign that the company is headed into a tailspin from either a financial or a creative standpoint. But I'd also note, I've never recommended going to BethSoft for anything outside the RPG genre.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Yes. Because I liked Wet. Good weekend killer.

And they just published them. They didn't MAKE them.

 

[DayDark]

It runs on the same engine, has the same basic gameplay, the same game structure, the same quest style, the same style of location design. Aside from the addition of dodgy gunplay, and VATS, most of the changes from Oblivion are largely superficial.

Largely superficial? as in complete overhaul? It is the resemblance that is largely superficial. Level system is different, Dialog is different, Fast travel is different, Choice and consequence is different, difficulty is different, even the level of maturity is different.

Even the things that are most recognizable as being derived from the same source are different, such as graphics and animation. Graphics are enhanced and the animation (bad as they are), are more advanced than Oblivions.

 

[koshypops]

I never bought Wet or Rogue Warrior because I read reviews I played a demo of them and thought,"You know what I don't like these games." So for me I couldn't care less about the politics. If they want to sue the guys behind Fallout fine as long as I continue to get the sort of games I do enjoy at the same and ever increasing standards of awesome.

 

[e2density]

I personally chose Pie because I am impartial to them.
I don't like the style of Fallout 3, how everything is painted in a dark ugly gray, and the music gives me a headache...

Not the style of game I enjoy.

But I can't say it's not fun watching a Super Mutant explode into 400 pieces when shot by a pistol.

 

[Axolotl]

Largely superficial? as in complete overhaul? It is the resemblance that is largely superficial. Level system is different, Dialog is different, Fast travel is different, Choice and consequence is different, difficulty is different, even the level of maturity is different.

The level system has very little impact on the game though, you're stats are largely irrelavent the only part of the leveling that matters is the gaining of HP, which works like it did in Oblivion, sure the XP system works differently but due to the way it's implemented it ends up working in the same way.

Dialog is still bad (not as bad), they've just added meaningless stat options and replaced the rubbish dialogue wheel system with a random roll but that doesn't realy matter due to the small impact that spech actually has on the game.
The Fast Travel system is identical to the one in Oblivion except you don't start with any locations avalible. There is still only poorly done choice almost no consequence (just like Oblivion), same general difficulty and OK I'll give that Fallout 3 is much more immature than Oblivion.

 

[Booze Zombie]

I've never liked them as a company or from a gaming standpoint due to them releasing the most glitchy games I've ever played in my life.

STALKER crashes less than Fallout 3 and Oblivion both.

 

[I Stomp on Kittens]

Personally; I haven't ever liked Bethesda. I wasn't a fan of the Elder Scrolls series and for me; Fallout 3 was a disgrace to the series.

Oh dear, someone's a little stuck in last gen.

The first 2 Fallout games were indeed great games (Tactics was shit), and whilst they were very different to F3 that does not make it a bad game. That's like comparing any current FPS with Wolfenstein 3d and stating "OMGZ IT SUX CAUSE NOT THE SAME".

It was a re-skinned version of Oblivion - a game which I loathe more than the Halo series... Need I say more?

. I hated Oblivion but I loved Fallout 3 enough that beat 100% of the game my point being is that they're completely different. How could you possibly hate it? Ounce you actually get into it it's amazing.

 

[Shru1kan]

I like Bethesda games because of how they give you a feeling of doing whatever you want. That and the modding communities for their games on PC are pretty active.

Was with you up till that last part. Mods may make it better, but the base game also has merits on it's own.

 

[Spygon]

Bethesda Softworks are amazing.

Really what do you want them to do keep bringing the same games out every 5 seconds until your so sick of them you never play any of them ever again.

Bethesda are being clever they are putting a the time into improving longevity in there games with dlc to give themselves the chance to spend a lot of time perfecting the games that are the quiet juggernauts of the gaming industry.