Escape Radio Episode Three

Russ Pitts

Russ Pitts

The Boss of You
May 1, 2006
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Escape Radio Episode Three

It's time for Escape Radio, the audio program with half of the calories but twice the flavor. On this week's program, hosts Russ Pitts (associate editor of The Escapist) and Shawn Andrich (editor of Lance Hayes [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/newsroom/].

Visit the Escape Radio page [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/radio/] for subscription links and more.

Download Escape Radio Episode Three [http://downloads.escapistmagazine.com/radio/Escape_Radio_2006_08_25.mp3]

Music Track Listing:

0:02:57 - Escape Radio Theme, Ian Dorsch [http://www.willowtreeaudio.com]
0:06:07 - Podunk Stomp, Ian Dorsch [http://www.willowtreeaudio.com]
0:13:43 - Panties, Elliott Feinberg [http://mrtunes.ca/]
0:26:08 - Waiting for Mr. 7, Lance Hayes [http://www.djdm.com/]
0:37:21 - Roadclub Oriental, Jonatan Crafoord
0:54:01 - Escape Radio Theme, Ian Dorsch [http://www.willowtreeaudio.com]
1:00:02 - Escape Radio Theme, Ian Dorsch [http://www.willowtreeaudio.com]

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Goofonian

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I'm curious, do you stay up till midnight on thursdays just to post this? Or is there some sort of automated system that does it for you?

As much as I can imagine you frantically trying to finish editing the show until the late hours of a thursday night, I would like to think your a little more organised than that :p
 
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Goofonian

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Finally got a chance to have a listen.

um

Russ Pitts said:
This is all part of that 'shawn likes being on top' thing. I'm feelin' it right now by the way.
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ah...hmm
 
Russ Pitts

Russ Pitts

The Boss of You
May 1, 2006
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thewanderer14 said:
Good show... But, seriously, I wanted at least a little talk about Fallout 3... Tell me there's more in the can for next episode? Please? (begs a little)
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There is.
 
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Bowlringer

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I have to take issue with Mr. Howard saying when they wrapped Oblivion they only had some ideas about DL content. C'mon, the Orrery was totally pre-planned. In the retail version there's a locked door leading to it and people standing around it as sales people, "The Orrery is beautiful, when it works!" and such. They knew they were adding it, I'd bet it was part of the game that they decided they could pull and nickel and dime you for later.
 
Russ Pitts

Russ Pitts

The Boss of You
May 1, 2006
3,240
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Bowlringer said:
I have to take issue with Mr. Howard saying when they wrapped Oblivion they only had some ideas about DL content. C'mon, the Orrery was totally pre-planned. In the retail version there's a locked door leading to it and people standing around it as sales people, "The Orrery is beautiful, when it works!" and such. They knew they were adding it, I'd bet it was part of the game that they decided they could pull and nickel and dime you for later.
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I'd have to listen to the interview again (for the tenth time) but I believe he mentions that there are some downloadables that were elements they'd wanted to include in the retail game, but ran out of time to implement. The Orrery would seem to be one of those.

In any case, I think your criticism is misguided. Any content offered alongside a 100+ hour game is a bonus, not a rip off.
 
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Bowlringer

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If that's the case I dunno, that might be something they could have provided as a free download. Especially after the Horse Armor debacle, they could have used a nice PR bump. Providing something that they fairly obviously already had planned and mostly if not completely created as a freebee would have smoothed over a great deal of the hullabaloo. Because sorry Fletch, $2.50 for horse armor isn't a bonus, it's a rip off. I think it proved that just because you CAN charge for a thing, it doesn't mean you SHOULD charge for it.

Don't get me wrong, I love Oblivion, but I'm a tightwad when it comes to downloadable content. I'm one of those types that fears the slippery slope being forecast with words like 'microtransaction' and 'consumable,' they make me cringe. Ideas like that make me feel the industry thinks of me as a rube.
 
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Goofonian

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I'm still very undecided on the downloadable content issue. I'm not a big fan of the idea of microtransactions either and consumables is definately a bad way for the industry to be going, but in the case of something like the orrery it really is unfair to acuse bethesda of trying to nickel and dime the consumer. They had to draw the line somewhere so that they could get the product released and even if it was completely coded and ready to be added into the game, it still would have needed to be tested and would have added time to the process. I have no problem with paying 5 or 10 dollars for additional content (maps/quests/etc) that extends the life of a game and if the developer spends time working on this stuff after completing the game they need to make their money back somehow. Where I have a problem is when companies start charging for insignificant things that should have been included in the first place, like decals for a car or game specific gamertag pics.
 
Russ Pitts

Russ Pitts

The Boss of You
May 1, 2006
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Bowlringer said:
Sorry Fletch, $2.50 for horse armor isn't a bonus, it's a rip off. I think it proved that just because you CAN charge for a thing, it doesn't mean you SHOULD charge for it.
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Mr. Howard seems to agree. Again, from the interview, he says that in spite of the fact that the horse armor remains their #2 best-selling add-on, they realized from the public outcry that they had charged way too much for it and altered their pricing scheme accordingly.

At the risk of presenting myself as a Bethesda apologist, I think you should really take a longer look at the company before you start slamming it for being anti-consumer. What you've got at Bethesda is an independent company full of talented, dedicated artists and designers who are committed to making fun games ? and that's it.

Again from the interview (and here I paraphrase) Todd says that they intentionally jammed Oblivion with as much content as they possibly could specifically so that a consumer would look at the $60 price tag of the game and still feel as if they were getting more for their money than with any other game. How many other companies look at the business of game publishing that way? How many can afford to?

Goofonian said:
Where I have a problem is when companies start charging for insignificant things that should have been included in the first place, like decals for a car or game specific gamertag pics.
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Or weapons for Chromehounds. I agree wholeheartedly.
 
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Bowlringer

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Well, taking issue with something and slamming someone are two different things, but that's semantic. Like I said, I love Oblivion, 90-some odd hours in (I'll get around to finishing that main quest eventually) and I can still go back to it. It is a great deal, by far the best deal on the 360. But I think their online content strategy in those first months was flawed. It seems they have a better handle on it now. The add ons they have released recently have been true add ons, significant new content created after the release of the game, not things they had withheld (for whatever reason). Which is where my real complaint lies, and it's industry wide (see: Chromehounds, Madden).
 
Russ Pitts

Russ Pitts

The Boss of You
May 1, 2006
3,240
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0
Bowlringer said:
Well, taking issue with something and slamming someone are two different things, but that's semantic.
Click to expand...
It is.

And I think your concerns are shared not only by many of the people here (including myself), but by Bethesda as well.

But the issue you raise about "withheld" content is an interesting one, and I think speaks more to the issue of "consumer expectation" than anything else. Productions of all kinds are often forced to cut or not address planned content, and oftentimes you'll never hear about it, much less get a chance to actually enjoy it after the fact as an add-on. My question is this: would you still be upset about The Orrery add-on if they'd deleted it from the retail release entirely, THEN released it as a download?
 
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