Bethesda's Todd Howard Baffled By Facebook Gaming

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
14,499
0
0
Bethesda's Todd Howard Baffled By Facebook Gaming



The head of the studio that put out Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Fallout 3 doesn't understand the whole Facebook gaming craze.

Bethesda Game Studios executive producer Todd Howard is not into FarmVille. In fact, he's not into the current wave of social networking games and all, and says that he doesn't "get it."

Tens of millions of people are playing Facebook games every day apparently, but Howard indicates that Bethesda isn't going for a piece of that pie. In an interview with Industry Gamers [http://www.industrygamers.com/news/bethesdas-todd-howard-on-rpg-development-3d-not-supporting-nintendo-and-more/1/], Howard said of Facebook gaming: "I've got to be honest: I don't get it. I look at it and try to understand but for now I've just decided to ignore it (laughter)."

Howard sees merit in what Facebook games do, but the gameplay is not his bag. "I think, one day, maybe I'll figure it out, but until then, I don't see the allure of those kinds of games," he continued. "There might be a way to connect people. I think that's always a good goal: to connect people through your game. So I've kind of looked into that, how we might be able to do some of those things. But as far as a game on there, I don't know."

It seems Howard's confusion partially relates to the constant acquisition of farm animals and the virtual piscene. He says: "The light bulb hasn't gone off for me ... I get these little messages: 'I've got a new horse, or fish?' I don't know."

A world like Oblivion that's inhabited by real people sounds cool, but there's a place for expansive single-player games so I'm glad we've still got a friend in Bethesda for now. I wouldn't mind if Bethesda put its development effort into something really, really cool that could be played through Facebook though, of course. I'm still waiting for that huge Facebook RPG that will engross me totally while connecting me with friends. Wait, I guess that experience is basically given by World of Warcraft, isn't it? Fair enough.

Just for the record: No, Howard didn't say anything worthwhile about the next Elder Scrolls game or the current Bethesda Game Studios project. That is, other than that he's working on something and we have to be patient to find out what it is.

Source: Industry Gamers [http://www.industrygamers.com/news/bethesdas-todd-howard-on-rpg-development-3d-not-supporting-nintendo-and-more/1/]

Permalink
 

DeadlyYellow

New member
Jun 18, 2008
5,141
0
0
What's to understand: It's experimentation by Zynga to see if how well they can balance success with massively alienating their fanbase.
 
Apr 28, 2008
14,634
0
0
Sinclose said:
I'm baffled as to why so many facebook gamers refuse to try out other games at all.
Considering all the hate hurled at them from players of other games it doesn't surprise me.
 

HK_01

New member
Jun 1, 2009
1,610
0
0
Aww, I was hoping for something about the next TES. I have that hope everytime there's anything about Bethesda on any website.
 

garfoldsomeoneelse

Charming, But Stupid
Mar 22, 2009
2,908
0
0
Irridium said:
Sinclose said:
I'm baffled as to why so many facebook gamers refuse to try out other games at all.
Considering all the hate hurled at them from players of other games it doesn't surprise me.
Gonna have to second this. The "casual vs. hardcore" snobbery is indirectly self-destructive to all gamers. When you polarize a potential audience, you're cutting potential sales of complex games severely, and starving free-to-play game developers of traffic and ad revenue. Neither industry is particularly crippled by this, but it sure as hell isn't helping anyone.
 

Plinglebob

Team Stupid-Face
Nov 11, 2008
1,815
0
0
Sinclose said:
I'm baffled as to why so many facebook gamers refuse to try out other games at all.
I'm baffled as to why so many gamers refuse to try out facebook games at all.
 

Kiefer13

Wizzard
Jul 31, 2008
1,548
0
0
I agree Todd, I agree. I just don't understand why some people get so addicted to them. I'm just glad you can choose to hide notifications from them. Haven't seen a "X has just found a lost cow" message in months, thankfully.
 

sephiroth1991

New member
Dec 3, 2009
2,319
0
0
He's not alone, they all just plain simple and easy maybe thats why people like them, even flash games have a difficulty curve.
 

xyrafhoan

New member
Jan 11, 2010
472
0
0
Facebook games are pretty much the Neopets for people who have outgrown Neopets. It's not particularly fun, but it's social, and it's incredibly easy for anyone to play. It's World of Warcraft distilled into meagre button clicks that are then spammed onto all of your friends' pages. I don't see what's not to "get" when you start thinking that Facebook games are just the next evolution (or de-evolution) of MMOs.

Blad that Bethesda isn't going to touch the things, though. Facebook games are all about money over substance.
 

shaboinkin

New member
Apr 13, 2008
691
0
0
I don't understand how people get so caught up in those games?
When my roommates laptop died, he was always on my computer (when I didn't need it of course) doing shit to his facebook games. He plays pretty much the same stuff as I do, but he gets so into waiting 15 minutes for a burger to be done to just create another one, then wait 2 days for some other meal to be done, etc...CONFUSING!
 

Rad Party God

Party like it's 2010!
Feb 23, 2010
3,560
0
0
I wouldn't mind if BethSoft creates a really cool game (in Facebook standards) about the Elder Scrolls universe, something like a dungeon crawler of sorts, Diablo style. Or a simple port of the old Fallout classics. I think Facebook can do way better than simple still images to click, click, click.

But, I'm glad BethSoft didn't get greedy and started dumping out more shovelware for Facebook.
 

the1ultimate

New member
Apr 7, 2009
769
0
0
I can understand that point of view.

There isn't much to Facebook games when you try to break them down...

I happen to appreciate Bethesda for focusing on expansive single-player games, when everyone else is trying to enmesh their games in social networking as much as possible, no matter how inappropriate it may be.

I mean, if you don't like Bethesda, they're a pretty benign company, and if you do like them, it's probably for the niche they fill.
 

Wolfram23

New member
Mar 23, 2004
4,095
0
0
It baffles me too. I tried a couple and they all suck. Bad. I haven't touched one in a while. I read the article on Cow Clicker and honestly, I find that hilarious and also a rather awesome poke in the face of facebook games... they're so bad. There is no gameplay... You just collect... stuff... /shrug