Bethesda Announces New Digital Platform Bethesda.net

[Sgt Pepper]

"Bethesda.net is already being used to support The Elder Scrolls Online across every platform for "millions of players."

Great, given the login issues I had with ESO when I played it I look forward to trying to play FO4 and Dishonored 2 and being told I'm logging in on a new PC when I'm not and then being told to go check my email for a validation code that may or may not arrive.

Anyone else have a feeling this is going to be a step towards how they lock out modders so they can enforce paid mods?

"Over the last year we've been working on how to expand, and how gamers should create and share that content."

Most definitely, sadly.

They announce some great games then go and do this.

 

[Smooth Operator]

But I do wonder why so many publishers are so keen on launchers - no one likes them and they make it a pain in the bum to play the games.

Because Steam has become the new acceptable norm, so everyone else can sneak in another DRM system under the claim of "no worse then the ones you already have".
And then they end up in control of their own library or rather in control of every users library, then they can start squeezing out more and more rules and pennies with every passing year without having to answer to anyone else.

And yes you can fully expect this to be their paid mods launch platform with their closest game coming, which would be Fallout 4. "Oh but they wouldn't!"... why the fuck not, golden rule of business is if shit makes money you go for it and this shit will make lots of money.

 

[Hairless Mammoth]

Origin (as much as it blows to have to use another client because EA wants more money) at least is some competition to keep Valve in check. uPlay, on the other hand, is trash, that still has to run even if you bought a game that requires it from Steam. As long as this new thing isn't DRM that stacks with Steamworks, or other clients' DRM, they don't take their games off Steam to be exclusive to this new distribution system, and it doesn't lock us into a paid mod ecosystem, I'm fine with it.


But, hey, they didn't tell us anything other that they are working on a vague platform and loaded it up with PR bullshit, so I'm actually not fine with it. I'm not forgetting the paid mod fiasco, even with DooM and Fallout 4 blinding others with hype. Tell us more soon, Bethesda. I only have so much time to devote to sharpening the tines on my pitchforks and dipping my torches in oil.

 

[Therumancer]

Anyone else have a feeling this is going to be a step towards how they lock out modders so they can enforce paid mods?

That, and for those that have been paying attention Bethesda is one of those companies that loves it's censorship. I still remember back with "Oblivion" when Bethesda was freaking out over all of the "adult" mods (nudity and such) and their inability to control content given the criticisms they had apparently received from people who didn't "get" that mods have little to do with the company.

So yeah, I think right now Bethesda's eventual plan is to make it so mods can only be distributed through their channels, that way they can make them all paid (and take a cut) as well as decide what gets to be distributed.

Really, I am finding it a pain to see every company wanting to open it's own company-specific launcher and paid DLC platform. It would be nice if there was some way to stop this, but as we gamers did not put our foots down with EA and Ubisoft and kept buying their products and using their platforms, we're seeing everyone doing it.

I might have missed it but I have noticed that Bethesda seems to be keeping pretty quiet about mods and their plans for "Fallout 4", to be honest I'm not sure if I've even seen any confirmation of it being moddable, people just seem to be assuming it will be because all Bethesda's games are.

That said it will be interesting given all of the Fallout 4 pre-orders, including on STEAM, if Bethesda eventually decides that you need to own the game and play it on their platform to be able to use Mods.

 

[RicoADF]

Since Yahtzee did warn of this in his Valiant Hearts review I will just point to Rockstar games & Square Enix doing their website silliness with Steam, Uplay and even Origin to Uplay if you wanted it... Also Kalypso launcher, GOG.com, GreenManGaming... Just what Jim Sterling said as well 3 years ago.
Captcha: "two hands" sounds about right, all hands on deck, publishers do not think the customers are worth providing a good service to.

GoG and GreenManGaming aren't the same, their alternative stores to buy your games (like gamersgate, ozgameshop etc etc). They do not have a required launcher to play the games (unless the game is a steam game which is the devs fault not the store).

Origin and Uplay are different, on one hand it's good to see competition to steam, on the other I don't agree with how they've gone about it with restricting their games to their platform, thus killing any chance of shopping around (which is a corner stone of free trade and competition).

 

[Gunner 51]

But I do wonder why so many publishers are so keen on launchers - no one likes them and they make it a pain in the bum to play the games.

Because Steam has become the new acceptable norm, so everyone else can sneak in another DRM system under the claim of "no worse then the ones you already have".
And then they end up in control of their own library or rather in control of every users library, then they can start squeezing out more and more rules and pennies with every passing year without having to answer to anyone else.

And yes you can fully expect this to be their paid mods launch platform with their closest game coming, which would be Fallout 4. "Oh but they wouldn't!"... why the fuck not, golden rule of business is if shit makes money you go for it and this shit will make lots of money.

That's quite frightening when I think of it. I have to admit that PC gamers have it tough from the likes of Steam, U-Play and Origin. But in recent times, even the console gamers aren't safe from it either. Farcry 4 was rather rude about badgering me into signing up for U-play every time I started the game. (Though I refused every time it asked me.)

But as a console gamer, I sure hope PC gamers would continue to fight against publishers using the launchers to be complete dicks to gamers.

 

[Janichsan]

After that we will have a launcher for those launchers. It will be a launchception!!!

Actually, that's not a bad idea. A launcher to streamline the individual launcher bullshit from developers. Someone get on that!

Isn't that basically Steam?

 

[OldNewNewOld]

Oh boy, one more publisher I probably won't get anything from since I don't want more unnecessary shit installed on my PC. Steam is kinda okay, Origin was forced on my with Tittyfall. I don't need more. No thanks.

Especially not Bethesda's non-game software. Those guys can't make a Hello World program that isn't full of bugs. I can't imagine a client they make to work even remotely as they want it to work.

And then there is the can of deadly neuro-toxin called paid mods waiting to be opened with Fallout 4.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Actually, that's not a bad idea. A launcher to streamline the individual launcher bullshit from developers. Someone get on that!

Isn't that basically Steam?

Not really. Steam doesn't manage everything and it's also selling products itself. Personally, I quite like Steam, but I really wouldn't want to give it a complete monopoly position. Just a service to centrally manage launchers would be nice, though.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

My interest in Fallout 4 has been killed.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Great. More shit to pile up on top of our games. Just one DRM isn't enough apparently.

 

[Alfador_VII]

Sign up to Bethesda.net for all your favourite Fallout 4 and DOOM mods, from only $5 each!

Join now for free Dog Armour for Fallout 4!!

 

[Namehere]

Seriously? Do these companies look at one another? Do they realize how good they have it before they stick their foot in the same mistake a competitor made six to four months earlier? One could be forgiven for thinking all these AAA publishers are taking their cue from the same lunatic. If this turns into a U-play it will simply be another AAA company I can't and won't buy from.

Just because we can do a thing - BETHESDA - doesn't necessarily mean that we should do a thing. Can you make this? Sure. But 'should' you? But of course the lunatic in the minds of the people behind this crap has spoken. There is no way that doing this is going to improve the games Bethesda is creating and it will not serve to improve customer experience. After the paid mods thing it sounds like the love affair with Bethesda is over. It's a shame to, I was looking forward to Fallout 4.

 

[Kargathia]

Anyone else have a feeling this is going to be a step towards how they lock out modders so they can enforce paid mods?

Little hard info on this, deliberate dodging of all questions regarding paid modding in FO4... that's not a fish market you're smelling.

 

[JET1971]

Nobody here watched the E3 announcement? Bethesda.net was mentioned for DOOM maps and nothing else. If FO4 was going to that platform rather than Steam it would've been a big enough of a deal to announce it during the FO4 announcement.

 

[Worgen]

Blegh, I'm hoping this is an optional thing and not a new damn uplay/origin since uplay/origin has kept me from playing some games I really want to play.

 

[StatusNil]

"Bethesda Proudly Presents: Bplay!" Like Uplay, but with a mod store attached for your mod shopping needs. That's what I'm getting out of this announcement on headline alone.

Well, there was all that "playbor" going under-exploited. Can't have that.

 

[shrekfan246]

No, no no, bad Bethesda. I do not want another fucking launcher! I already have Steam and Battle.net and that's still 1 too many, even if the latter is actually stable and functional for once.

This, except also add in Origin and Uplay.

I ain't signing up for yet another program I'm rarely going to use and never remember my details for. I have five million different things I need to remember already and I'm constantly forgetting them whenever I need to log in every few weeks for whatever reason.

Also, it's Bethesda. Which means this platform is going to be even buggier than any of the other ones have ever been.

So, basically, what little interest I have in Fallout 4 is tempered by whether it will be tied to proprietary DRM bullshit or not. Because, sorry Bethesda, I don't like you or your games enough to put up with another launcher.

 

[Baresark]

As long as it's not another layer of DRM, they can do what they want. But I have doubts in their overall intelligence since ESO. We'll see what happens.

 

[VondeVon]

"Supporting mods is just one of the ways Bethesda is pushing the boundaries of what is possible in games. Over the last year we've been working on how to expand, and how gamers should create and share that content."

Aka "There's money in the world that still isn't ours. If people love mods enough to build them for free, they HAVE to love them enough to pay for them too!"