Nuclear Winter to shut down in September.
Tag: Fallout
Fallout 76 Doesn’t Have The Guts For A Successful Meat Event
Ya ain’t got the chops, copper!
Continue reading “Fallout 76 Doesn’t Have The Guts For A Successful Meat Event”
Bethesda Offers Free Fallout 76 On Steam To Beth.Net Owners
Not that you were planning on buying twice.
Continue reading “Bethesda Offers Free Fallout 76 On Steam To Beth.Net Owners”
2019 Developer Report Cards: Bethesda Softworks
There should be no surprises in this report card.
Bethesda’s performance in 2019 indicates a company that has become wholly incompetent and is either incapable of or unwilling to fix its flaws, but instead has chosen time and time again to double down on everything that it does wrong and throw consequence into the wind. Let’s look at Bethesda’s 2019 release record:
- Fallout 76 – I could spend hours writing about how Fallout 76 continued its uncontrolled blaze in 2019. Of the numerous screw ups in 2019, perhaps the most insulting comes in the form of Bethesda delaying the Wastelanders update, that big content dump that was supposed to add in the human NPCs and do…something. Instead Bethesda shat out a paid service for which the services people paid for straight up didn’t work. I have long since given up on the people still spending money on Fallout 76. If you get fleeced by Bethesda, you have no one to blame but yourself.
- The Elder Scrolls: Blades – It doesn’t surprise me at all that Elder Scrolls Blades is a commercial success considering in the mobile sphere you could feed people the video game equivalent of asbestos and they will happily throw tons of money at you and ask for more. At the end of the day it is still a low quality, low effort facsimile of an Elder Scrolls game that punishes you for playing it and always has its hands out for another tenner.
- Rage 2 – Does anyone even remember that Rage 2 released in 2019? Rage 2 peaked at 13 thousand players on Steam and in one month more than 85% of those people dropped off and went to play something else. Reviews point to Rage 2 being boring, repetitive, and short. Rage 2 also implements a ridiculously convoluted system to buy DLC expansion. You can’t buy the expansion outright, you have to buy bundles of Rage Coins and use those. The first expansion costs 1,500 Rage Coins ($15) but you can’t buy 1500 Rage Coins, you have to buy the 500 RC pack and 1,100 RC pack which is $15 anyway and leaves you with 100 RC left over.
- Wolfenstein Youngblood – On the subject of things nobody asked for, Wolfenstein Youngblood comes hot on the heels of The New Colossus dividing Wolfenstein fans. Youngblood released at half the cost of Rage 2, which doesn’t quite explain how the game managed to hit less than half the peak number of players. Youngblood was a smattering of bad ideas; Obnoxious protagonists? Check. Forced coop with awful AI? Check. Obtuse RPG mechanics in a shooter? Check. Microtransactions? Of course.
- Wolfenstein Cyberpilot – And speaking of things nobody asked for, how about a game that nobody purchased? Cyberpilot is a VR spinoff that peaked on Steam at 24 users. That’s not a mistake, twenty four user peak at launch for a game that costs $20 and so far could only convince 92 people to leave a review. And this was a collaboration between Machine Games and Arkane Studios! Not enough players at peak to fill up a Battlefield server and only 36% approval.
- Commander Keen – As of this writing (November 13), there has not been hide nor hair of the mobile Commander Keen game since it was unveiled at E3, but I am going to talk about it because it is germaine to the conversation. Nobody wants Commander Keen on mobile, and Bethesda’s embarrassing announcement trailer was unlisted because of the dislike ratio. None of the Keen social media accounts have been updated at all since the announcement. If Commander Keen the mobile game was silently killed off, it would do less damage to the franchise than releasing it.
Bethesda (and its subsidiaries) shoveled out more unwanted garbage in 2019 than any company with its size, franchises, and experience ever should. The Fallout 76 team has shown nothing but incompetence over the entire year, not to mention a complete lack of caring for systematic and repeated lies made to the public. Their releases in many cases not only floundered, but may have done long term damage to their associated brands. In the case of Rage 2, you have the most disappointing awaited sequel since Dambuster messed up Homefront. For Cyberpilot, a low-effort attempt at cashing in on a trend. In Commander Keen? The shameless skinning of a beloved old IP.
With all of that considered, I have to give Bethesda in 2019 the grade of:
Community Concerns: Sorry Fallout 76 Players, You’re On Your Own
I hit the breaking point with Bethesda and Fallout 76 so long ago that I couldn’t honestly tell you when I got sick and tired of hearing about this game. In fact, it’s hard to believe that Fallout 76 just hit its one year anniversary. It feels like this game has been a living parasite for roughly a third of my life. I don’t know how many times the public can say “Bethesda can’t get any more incompetent,” only for Bethesda to turn around and indignantly reply:
History should look upon this past week, that of October 20, 2019, the year of our Lord, as when Bethesda threw off the veil and admitted to the world that it just doesn’t care about its reputation, its integrity, or about the quality of its games. Bethesda is going to Bethesda, and Bethesda knows that when Bethesda launches a game, that its legion of sycophant fanboys are going to give them lods of emone. They don’t need to care about quality because their customers don’t expect quality.
Rewind the clock a bit and you have Bethesda admitting to what everyone already knew: That Pete Hines is a Peter Molyneux-tier liar and Bethesda had no intention of keeping to its promise that the atom shop would be cosmetic only. That much was obvious once they started adding in repair kits, but admitting that it has a problem is the first step in Bethesda’s ultimate corporate suicide.
But before I get into the latest heaping pile of trash that Bethesda has served as chicken kiev, I have to ask a simple question: Did anyone expect Fallout 1st to not be a bug-riddled dumpster fire? Anyone? Really? After all this time?
Fallout 1st is a subscription program for Fallout 76, a premium-priced substandard service to complement a substandard game. It’s like paying $13 for a cup of Nescafe instant coffee to complement your entree of a steel-toed boot to the crotch. Fallout 1st had already raised criticism over its blatant pay to win elements; an unlimited scrap stash, placeable fast travel camp, and being forced to pay monthly for non-permanent private servers. Oh and in case you missed the implication, modding is going to be tied behind a paywall if that ever comes to Fallout 76.
But not to worry, because if you thought Bethesda was going to let players pay a premium and reward them you are sorely mistaken. This is Fallout 76, a game that punishes you for showing faith in its improvement.
Keeping in line with Bethesda’s quality standards, Fallout 1st has launched as an absolute wreck. Those private servers you’re paying a premium for? They aren’t private. Players are logging into the worlds only to find themselves in recycled servers that other players have already gone through, complete with dead NPCs and looted zones. Unlimited scrap stash sound too much like pay to win? Bethesda is on it, since a major bug is causing scrap stashes to be completely and irreversibly wiped. Second portable fast travel point sound too powerful? Well you’ll be glad to hear that people are experiencing crashes to desktop when placing them. Evidently Bethesda is utilizing the Rian Johnson approach to subverting expectations.
And all for the low, low price of $99 annually.
I don’t know what to say anymore, folks. There are people who are still playing Fallout 76 and for some reason enjoying it (and more power to them if they are), but the players outraged over the quality of this launch have nothing to complain about. Bethesda threw your asses overboard before this game even launched, and for some reason you keep paying for another ticket to get back on the boat. You keep going back to Big Louie’s House of Turds and then complaining when the poopoo platter you ordered is covered in crap. You know, the same as it was the last time you came to this obviously named restaurant and pre-paid for the same damn order. Someone is smoking meth in this transaction and I’m pretty sure it’s not me.
Fallout 1st is a con, Pete Hines is a compulsive liar, and Bethesda is a racket squeezing whatever it can out of Fallout 76 players. MMO Fallout’s thoughts and prayers go out to those who bought the annual pass for Fallout 1st which will undoubtedly see some major price reduction as another gigantic middle finger to the community. I also have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, you gullible peons.
Otherwise I have no opinion on the matter.
[Less Massive] Interplay’s Latest Legal Trouble
Fallout developer Interplay has gotten itself into more legal trouble. Those of you who have been keeping score will remember that our saga began in 2009 when Bethesda sued Interplay over the company’s not-so-honest claims that Fallout Online was in full production, meaning 30 million in funding minimum. Interplay, in its multiple attempts to fight off bankruptcy, sold most of the rights to Bethesda in 2009 with the rest following for an additional $2 million in 2012. Prior to this, Interplay had already been sued for using the Dark Alliance Engine in their games without paying for the license.
Just a few days ago, Good Old Games pulled down the Descent titles without notice from their online store, however they are still available and running a sale on Steam (although they shouldn’t be). In a post on the GOG forums, Matt Toschlog & Mike Kulas revealed that Parallax Software is behind the takedown, and that Interplay hasn’t been paying royalties since 2007. Even after being served with legal notice, Interplay did not pay royalties, resulting in further action.
Parallax Software still exists and still owns the copyrights to the Descent games. Under our 21-year-old agreement, Interplay has the exclusive rights to sell Descent and Descent II, and they have been doing so on Good Old Games and Steam. The problem is that Interplay has not paid to Parallax any royalties since 2007. We’ve talked to them about this numerous times over the years, and finally took action this fall. We served Interplay official notice that they were in breach of the contract, and when they still failed to pay we terminated the agreement.
While Parallax owns the rights to the first two games, Interplay currently owns the trademark and rights to both develop and license new games in the franchise including the early access title Descent: Underground.
(Source: GOG.com)
Fallout MMO Back On The Table? Zenimax Working On F2P MMO
It’s been a while since we’ve had an opportunity to talk about the long dead Project V13, since January when Bethesda won its lawsuit against Interplay and subsequently terminated the Fallout MMO. Meanwhile, Zenimax Studios continues its long development of The Elder Scrolls Online, an MMO adaptation that has left fans curious and the media rather underwhelmed. But with the lawsuit now over and done with, players want to know: Will we ever see a Fallout MMO?
The answer is possibly. Rich Vogel, formerly of Bioware, has joined Zenimax Studios under a brand new development team, Battlecry Studios. So far Zenimax has only commented that the team is working on an unannounced project, however job listings at Battlecry are looking to fill the position of monetisation designer. The MD’s jobs entails designing an economy around the unannounced game, managing prices of virtual goods and maintaining a balance between the free and paid currencies.
Now remember that there is no specific mention of Fallout anywhere, but with The Elder Scrolls already undergoing the MMO treatment and Bethesda’s determination to grab the MMO rights back from Interplay, it stands to reason that this could be an online Fallout title.
Interplay To Bethesda: No, You’re Absurd!
Back in April I happily announced that the Interplay Vs Bethesda lawsuit was over, after an investor reported to Joystiq that Bethesda had dropped their suit. Of course, as we discovered in our long and incredibly painful interrogation of investor Frymuchan, Bethesda confirmed that they were not dropping the suit, and planned to continue full steam ahead.
Last month, Bethesda made a claim so ridiculously absurd that I did not report on it out of strong suspicious that the report was fake. As we know so far, Interplay has the rights to create a Fallout MMO, which is what spawned the whole lawsuit in the first place (Bethesda wants those rights back). In their latest claim, Bethesda made the statement that they only gave the rights to the name Fallout for the MMO, and that Interplay had no rights to use anything else from the franchise in said MMO. So…Interplay agreed to making a Fallout MMO that has nothing whatsoever to do with Fallout aside from the name? Bethesda may have had a stronger case just having their lawyer shout out “if the glove don’t fit, you must acquit,” during trial.
Interplay, of course, fired back yesterday calling the claim “absurd” and “without merit,” surely far more conscious words than many of us would use to describe such statements (I’ll start with juvenile, desperate, pathetic, and you can fill in the rest). For a company that is worried about the Fallout MMO never making it to light, Bethesda sure is spending a lot of time and effort to cripple Interplay through legal fees and wasted time.
Then again, when the genre is continuing to take more serious turns, we can always use two clowns in the corner honking their horns and throwing pies in each other’s faces. For comedic purposes. It’s a good thing Interplay talked about the Fallout MMO being light hearted and humorous, because the game itself is already a running joke, not unlike Duke Nukem Forever. Not the happy funny either, but the depressing funny, like laughing at the crazy homeless guy with the tinfoil hat and the “The end is nigh” cardboard poster.
(Source: Gamasutra, linked above)
Interplay To Bethesda: No, You're Absurd!
Back in April I happily announced that the Interplay Vs Bethesda lawsuit was over, after an investor reported to Joystiq that Bethesda had dropped their suit. Of course, as we discovered in our long and incredibly painful interrogation of investor Frymuchan, Bethesda confirmed that they were not dropping the suit, and planned to continue full steam ahead.
Last month, Bethesda made a claim so ridiculously absurd that I did not report on it out of strong suspicious that the report was fake. As we know so far, Interplay has the rights to create a Fallout MMO, which is what spawned the whole lawsuit in the first place (Bethesda wants those rights back). In their latest claim, Bethesda made the statement that they only gave the rights to the name Fallout for the MMO, and that Interplay had no rights to use anything else from the franchise in said MMO. So…Interplay agreed to making a Fallout MMO that has nothing whatsoever to do with Fallout aside from the name? Bethesda may have had a stronger case just having their lawyer shout out “if the glove don’t fit, you must acquit,” during trial.
Interplay, of course, fired back yesterday calling the claim “absurd” and “without merit,” surely far more conscious words than many of us would use to describe such statements (I’ll start with juvenile, desperate, pathetic, and you can fill in the rest). For a company that is worried about the Fallout MMO never making it to light, Bethesda sure is spending a lot of time and effort to cripple Interplay through legal fees and wasted time.
Then again, when the genre is continuing to take more serious turns, we can always use two clowns in the corner honking their horns and throwing pies in each other’s faces. For comedic purposes. It’s a good thing Interplay talked about the Fallout MMO being light hearted and humorous, because the game itself is already a running joke, not unlike Duke Nukem Forever. Not the happy funny either, but the depressing funny, like laughing at the crazy homeless guy with the tinfoil hat and the “The end is nigh” cardboard poster.
(Source: Gamasutra, linked above)
News On Fallout Online? Hurray!
Fun Fact: The last Project V13 article was almost five months ago (June 27th).
When I read the latest description of Fallout Online, it reminded me of Xsyon in nature. Being an MMO, the game can’t give you a simple task like finding a chip to fix the water recycling, or escaping the vault to find your father because the overseer wants to kill you. In Fallout Online, the only conceivable goals would be surviving the post-apocalyptic world and helping to rebuild it. Interplay is going for both.
I think [Bethesda] miss a lot of the humour. Our Fallout MMOG will be extremely funny. At the same time, an MMOG must be a lot deeper than a standalone game… you can shoot, but it’s a very small portion of the game. The game itself is about reconstructing the world.
Interplay is looking to follow their own brand of Fallout, rather than the latest iteration set forth by Fallout 3 and New Vegas (the latter of which attempts to reach back to Fallout 1 and 2). Eric Caen was kind about Bethesda’s shaping of Fallout 3’s world, but had his criticism:
“We appreciate some portions of [Bethesda’s work], and we’re not necessarily fans of everything. I think they miss a lot of the humour, and the fans seem to agree with that. Fallout 3 was a little bit too serious – that’s definitely not where we’re going. OurFallout MMOG will be extremely funny.”
According to Caen, president of Interplay, the Fallout Online team is 90 men strong, and the game is still on track for a 2012 beta and release (hopefully giving players enough time to gain survival tips for the real end of the world later that year).
You can check out the partial interview on Edge’s website, with the full interview appearing in the magazine.
Read more information on Fallout Online here. Want new MMO Fallout breaking stories sent directly to you? Subscribe in the top right hand corner, or follow us on Twitter @mmofallout. Leave a comment, no email address required.
MMO Fallout 