Skyrim - v1.7 Beta

About Dawnguard, see GameFront's article posted today; Hines: ‘We Have Not Announced Dawnguard for Any Other Platforms’. Bit of a surprise there.

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RPGFool said:

About Dawnguard, see GameFront's article posted today; Hines: ‘We Have Not Announced Dawnguard for Any Other Platforms’. Bit of a surprise there.

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This was announced back in August 2011. They did a promotional deal with Microsoft where MS helped to pay for the cost of advertising Skyrim. They have some kind of a blackout period where they can't promote the DLC for other platforms for a certain period of time, and even announcing the date is a form of promotion.

On November 11th, Bethesda Game Studios brings us the next installment in The Elder Scrolls franchise with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Xbox LIVE will be the first to bring players the experience of Skyrim's add-on content in this revolutionized open-world fantasy epic where players can explore any way they choose.

The first two add-on content drops for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be releasing exclusively on Xbox 360, 30 days before it's available anywhere else.

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Don't worry, it's still coming to the other platforms at some point, only after the end of the timed exclusive window for Xbox360. They will probably announce the dates at QuakeCon.

^ *sigh*

The GameFront post specifically references the blackout period, and states "the usual 30-day XBL exclusive" has now expired. Your linked information confirms the blackout period as 30 days ("The first two add-on content drops for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be releasing exclusively on Xbox 360, 30 days before it's available anywhere else.") Thus, "the timed exclusive window for Xbox360" officially announced by Bethesda as "30 days" has in fact expired.

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I guess it's a good thing I quickly become bored with TES games and don't follow DLC launches.

RPGFool said:

^ *sigh*

The GameFront post specifically references the blackout period, and states "the usual 30-day XBL exclusive" has now expired. Your linked information confirms the blackout period as 30 days ("The first two add-on content drops for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be releasing exclusively on Xbox 360, 30 days before it's available anywhere else.") Thus, "the timed exclusive window for Xbox360" officially announced by Bethesda as "30 days" has in fact expired.

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You are reading into the announcement terms of their agreement with Microsoft that have never been disclosed.

We have no idea whether there is a marketing blackout period following the end of the timed exclusive release window. This kind of thing is very common in many industries, for example, if I were Microsoft, I might want a contract provision preventing Bethesda from immediately starting to promote the DLC on other platforms the day after the timed exclusive distribution window ends.

Or the exclusive distribution window could even be longer than 30 days. The announcement was made last August, before Skyrim's release. Perhaps following Skyrim's tremendous success, Microsoft renegotiated some of the terms of this deal, possibly investing even more into the advertising costs than they initially planned.

The point is, it is coming to PC and PS3 eventually, but clearly Bethesda is contractually obligated not to announce any dates, because that is a form of promotion. Quakecon is next weekend, there will probably be some sort of announcement there.

I'm not reading anything into Bethesda's press release that isn't specifically there. You, on the other hand, are speculating beyond anything Bethesda has said, with no basis whatsoever.

To repeat, the Bethesda release specifically says,




The Bethesda release states that the exclusivity period is 30 days; it's hard to imagine that "releasing exclusively on Xbox 360, 30 days before it's available anywhere else." could mean anything other than 30 days exclusivity on XBox 360.

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It's typical of Bethesda actually. If I recall it took over 3 months to get the dlc for fallout 3 after the Xbox.The PS3 gamers had to wait over a year for the dlc. Obsidian handled the dlc for Fallout NV and was faster with there releases.

Moronic actions like this is why there is so much bad blood between different platforms. Pulling shit like this serves only to embitter and alienate a percent of your consumer base. Timed exclusive deals really need to stop.

You're on target there. See the following comment posted in response to the GameFront post:






LOL

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RPGFool said:

I'm not reading anything into Bethesda's press release that isn't specifically there. You, on the other hand, are speculating beyond anything Bethesda has said, with no basis whatsoever.

To repeat, the Bethesda release specifically says,

"The first two add-on content drops for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim will be releasing exclusively on Xbox 360, 30 days before it's available anywhere else."​

The Bethesda release states that the exclusivity period is 30 days; it's hard to imagine that "releasing exclusively on Xbox 360, 30 days before it's available anywhere else." could mean anything other than 30 days exclusivity on XBox 360.

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Except 30 days have passed, and the PC and PS3 versions were not released and no date has been announced.

Either they have some severe technical problem and have no idea when they will ship the DLC for PC and PS3 (which seems extremely unlikely);

Or the Microsoft exclusive distribution window was renegotiated and extended beyond 30 days;

Or they are simply contractually bound not to promote the release on other platforms for a specific period of time following the end of the 30-day period. This is common with many co-op advertising deals.

Or, as you also speculated earlier:




Or, any of a thousand and one other reasons.

Point is we simply don't know yet.

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RPGFool said:

Or, as you also speculated earlier:

" They will probably announce the dates at QuakeCon."​

Or, any of a thousand and one other reasons.

Point is we simply don't know yet.

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It's pretty clear they have been contractually bound not to promote the DLC on other platforms. Todd Howard could not even answer when asked directly on live television during E3. When pressed, he said something to the effect "I have no idea when it's coming out for the other platforms."

This is a common provision in content licensing and co-op advertising deals. If I have an exclusive deal for my platform or TV network, etc., I certainly don't want the partner to start promoting competing platforms during my window. Even announcing the dates is a form of promotion.

I wish consumers would unite and not buy a single copy of any exclusive. That would put an end to the nonsense but that will never happen. The consumer is the single most powerful force in the economic world yet they are to weak to ever take advantage of it.

Can't blame companions when it's we as consumers that allow them to do what ever they want.

I wouldn't blame Bethseda for the delay. You forget that MS incentivises their developers into deals like this. And PS3 (cell processor) programming is extremely difficult. Would you pass up free money?

As for the Kinect dragon shouts, they are awfully touchy. Mine always picks up background noises and interprets them as shouts. I do like the quicksave and quick inventory options however.

I've had Dawnguard for three weeks but I'm not motivated to play it. I'm bored of Skyrim now it seems. Great game - very few issues.

The dungeons are too linear though and the quests simple, with few if any real consequences. Is it me or are we seeing overly simple quests lately as a trend in RPGs?