Therumancer said:
That said, I'm becoming a little wary of Bethesda getting their hooks into the Fallout liscence so solidly right now, because I have some suspicians that they might want to lock it down just to sit on it and prevent anyone else from using it.
Bethesda own the license completely. It is 100% theirs. Part of the deal was that Bethesda licensed it to Interplay to create an MMO by a certain date, and that hasn't happened. Actually, there's been very little progress seen by the public from Interplay. What Bethesda are doing is trying to get Interplay off the game because they're not pulling their weight with it. Bethesda want their license back, and likely any and all assets created by Interplay/Masthead for the game, probably so they can give it to someone else or do it internally. As dickish as Bethesda seem in this, they're just doing what they have to. Interplay aren't holding up their side of the bargain.
I also think that there's an aspect of Bethesda's methods that is trying to crush Interplay. They're not the same publisher they were under Fargo, and they're run by the most notorious brothers in gaming (The Caen brothers). They're sat on various IPs, they're not really doing anything of note and really it's just a shambling corpse, a shadow of what it once was.
cerebus23 said:
What obsidian cannot make a game properly? New vegas was no more buggy than any other game developed on the gamebro engine that includes oblivion and fallout 3 both made by bethesda.
Gamebryo was utterly butchered by Bethesda. If you look at its implementation in Civilization IV, you'll see just how badly Bethesda broke it. It was at its most stable with New Vegas, but it still has massive stability problems across all three games. A change in driver can turn Fallout 3 from a beautiful looking game into a blue screening nightmare.
JPArbiter said:
When Bethesda handed off Fallout to Obsidian I had a feeling of dread, thanks to my experiences with KOTOR 2 (buggy, delivered late and the story missing an entire second act, plus the make everyone a jedi mechanic sucked.)
Not fair. Obsidian were screwed over with KotOR2 as much as the consumers were. They had 18 months for the complete project, and they started just as KotOR ended. That means they had 18 months to plan, write, develop, bug test, learn to use the engine, record voices, correct and, well, everything else that goes into making a game. Alpha Protocol they've admitted to screwing up with, although it has done quite well, and as for New Vegas? They inherited a bad lot with it and I think they did an admirable job. Yes, it does have problems, and some quite serious, but they weren't exactly in the best position with it.
jpoon said:
Good for them, I'd prefer for masthead/Interplay to be able to make this game. Screw what Bethesda thinks (even though I am a major fan of their games). Can't say I feel sorry for Bethesda in this situation at all.
Current Interplay =/= Old Interplay. The Interplay you're thinking of is mostly in inXile Entertainment, BioWare and Obsidian Entertainment. The new one has no real talent, no real financial support and absolutely no ability to make a decent Fallout title. Chris Avellone, who is
the Fallout guy, is with Obsidian, as are a lot of the Black Isle devs who worked on the series. Bethesda have experience with RPGs, Obsidian are formed from the remains of one of the most loved RPG studios in PC history. Interplay now? It's nothing. Absolutely nothing. The biggest title they've put out in recent years is Earthworm Jim HD. The IP is in
much better hands with Bethesda.
You don't need to feel sorry for Bethesda. You need to look at the facts and see that Interplay is not going to ever deliver Fallout Online, and whilst Bethesda are being almost too aggressive with their litigating against Interplay, it is necessary. Interplay do not have the finances to make the game, they do not have the talent to make the game, they do not have
anything.