Opinion - Bethesda: Stop Breaking your Games

BoboTheMighty said:

I just want to tip my hat to Dart&Chien, the tireless defenders of Bethesda, that despite all their efforts, keeps screwing up and making their job harder and harder.
Meanwhile we've learned after nylon bags incident, they're also now leaking your private information.

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Chien is defending Bethesda? How can you tell?

I think I would need a Tricorder to fully understand Chien.

Ivanwah said:

But it was designed for them. It was designed to be mod friendly, modding tools were released, etc. They knew full well some people would not like the base game, but will love mods. It's not like it was their first game. It's not like mods just happened to them. I believe it was even marketed as mod friendly, but I can't really remember. And even if it wasn't, and I hate repeating myself, it is the biggest modding platform to date. It is The Product for people who want to get into modding, even if they don't necessarily like TES games.

Edit: This was written seven years ago, before Skyrim launched.

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It was not about Bethesda's products supporting mods. It was about mods making them money.

Not the case. Bethesda make money not from mods but out of players who are so self centered they can not bear the thought that a product is not dedicated to them and find in the modding option, an exit door.

By the way, by the line of thought displayed on this forum about recouping the price of a game, Bethesda delivers the mod support for free.

It is possible to recoup the price of the game (1$ per hour) on the vanilla version only. Any time extension delivered through the mod support option is in fact a free extra and provided graciously by Bethesda.

zahratustra said:

If it means what I think it means, that's one of the dumbest comments I've heard in a while from you Chien.

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There are multiple versions of the stuff phrased differently already. There will be more. At some point, people decide by themselves what they choose to understand.

BoboTheMighty said:

I just want to tip my hat to Dart&Chien, the tireless defenders of Bethesda, that despite all their efforts, keeps screwing up and making their job harder and harder.
Meanwhile we've learned after nylon bags incident, they're also now leaking your private information.

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That would mean playing Bethesda's products.

There are still people out there who can stomach that a product is not designed for them and did not feel the urge to bash a product on the sole ground it does not fit their tastes and was not designed to revolve around a little belly button.

ChienAboyeur said:

That would mean playing Bethesda's products.

There are still people out there who can stomach that a product is not designed for them and did not feel the urge to bash a product on the sole ground it does not fit their tastes and was not designed to revolve around a little belly button.

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On that we agree. Games should not revolve around anyone's belly button.

Again with that agreeing to disagree stuff.

Games will always revolve around somebody's little belly button. If that did not happen, it means no customers, no players.

Here, it is about players who can not stand the idea that a product might be designed to satisfy other people than themselves.

Themselves or nobody else.

No, no, I was replying to your remark that "the game is not for them", demonstrating that it in fact was. I don't care what makes Bethesda money.

And what is that $1/hour bs? Why such an arbitrary number? Why not $2? Why not $10? Why $? Why not £ or €?

BoboTheMighty said:

On that we agree. Games should not revolve around anyone's belly button.

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A bit of academic discussion IMO. There are very few games indeed which revolve around anybody's belly button. And even those that do, revolve around developer's belly button (looking at you Shroud of Avatar)

Ivanwah said:

No, no, I was replying to your remark that "the game is not for them", demonstrating that it in fact was. I don't care what makes Bethesda money.

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Them: players who are so self absorbed and busy gazing their navel they think every piece of mass consumption must be tailored to fit their expectations and can not bear it when they are shown otherwise.

Bethesda's modding scene does not work miracles and it wont save them from Bethesda products not meant for them.

And what is that $1/hour bs? Why such an arbitrary number? Why not $2? Why not $10? Why $? Why not £ or €?

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Because majority of posters on this site hails from the US and from comparing to other leisure activities (movies, books etc)

ChatMiauleur said:

I give you numbers anyone can check you give me the bullshit they taught you at that Bethesda cheerleader school. You just have been telling us BS upon BS on those games as if we did not know them as much than you to say the least.

Skyrim Ultimate edition in 2016 was launched with bugs already present in the first edition of the game in 2011. Bugs corrected in some mods weeks after the launch.
That says everything about that company.

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You know all the big words, don't you

Unfortunately, you still utterly fail to come across as sensible in terms of your previous sales statement - and now you're turning it into what I already knew it was - your problem with the company, and nothing factual, fair or relevant.

joxer said:

I don't think anyone said that.

Data from 2016, Skyrim sold 30M copies total:
http://www.loadthegame.com/2016/11/22/skyrim-sells-over-30-million-units-best-selling-bethesda-game/

SteamSpy estimated PC copies at cca10M 3 years ago so it should be higher today:
http://www.upcomingtechnology.org/its-not-even-funny-how-badly-reported-pc-game-sales-are/

But it's not 15+M definetly which would mean half of sales. Because from data about 10 alltime best selling games on steam (this year) the 10th game on the list did not reach 15M and Skyrim is not on that list at all:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/882708/all-time-best-selling-games-steam/

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Exactly. Meaning that even if we assume that 100% of PC owners (including grandmothers) use mods to a significant degree (which, before CC, means downloading Nexus and configuring that) - my point would still stand.

I think anyone with the slightest bit of brain in his or her head would agree that there's a significant amount of PC owners who use NO mods or only use mods sparingly. I will make a conservative estimate and say that at LEAST 1/3 of PC owners are like that. So, something like 20 out of 30 million users use NO mods or FEW mods - which was my point.

Hence, I was 100% right with close to 100% certainty.

Good on me, or whatever.

Again, if people want to bash Bethesda (or Bethsoft?) - then at least have the decency to come up with a coherent reason.

Naturally, mods are part of the appeal - but it's BY FAR not the primary reason for their success.