Fallout 4 Has Sold 12 Million Copies

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

It depends on the loss.

I just keep coming back to the idea that most of the reported sales were physical copies. Steam takes a pretty big cut of all digital sales, surely it would be cheaper to sell physical copies than to lose (I think) 25% off each digital sale.

 

[Strazdas]

It depends on the loss.

I just keep coming back to the idea that most of the reported sales were physical copies. Steam takes a pretty big cut of all digital sales, surely it would be cheaper to sell physical copies than to lose (I think) 25% off each digital sale.

Steam takes 30%. The standard for physical distribution is 30%. Now it may be a special contract that does it for less, but in general steam is actually one of the cheapest ways of distribution around.

 

[pookie101]

There needs to be an interface a la fallout shelter for settlement populace management. It's pretty obvious they're planning a crafting DLC and that's why they released the crafting system in the state it's in. The dialogue system is, predictably, crap. At least Bioware does the wheel properly when they do it. The weapon balance s dependent upon the x% perk system to be relevant, especially on higher difficulties. Basically, there's a lot of lazy or shoddy design decisions.

its.. odd to say the least you cant craft armour, weapons and ammo, especially basic stuff like leather or raider

 

[Lightknight]

Reading any individual reviews is just getting anecdotal evidence. Aggregate data is the only thing painting an overall picture.

The point is that the game is fun and people enjoy it. It's just far from bug free.

It would be so if the reviews were random. however reviews are sorted by "usefulness" which on steam is basically a measure of how many people agree with the review. when the negative reviews turn up with 80% agreement of thousands of people while the spammed positive ones end up in the "0 of 1 people found this useful" bin its not just random anecdotes. Like i said, the overall number is not representative on steam, top reviews are.

So people are still buying this in droves because their friends are telling them not to?

It might be that we're dealing with a scenario where your (royal you) capacity to deal with glitches in a game this large and complex greatly impacts your preference for the game.

Actually, if you'll turn back the time machine and run an internet search for Witcher 3 bugs you'll see a variety of articles on the early game breaking bugs that were fixed and people were very much upset about. I just think there was so much to do in Witcher that people weren't finding them any time soon.

i went back to the month of may and you seem to be correct [http://www.geeksnack.com/2015/05/29/the-most-frustrating-glitches-in-the-witcher-3/]. Still from the numerous google results i found these bugs seem to be happening for very small group of people for Witcher. maybe thats why it went so much under the radar on reddit since majority vote ends up the main sight there.

It might be, but we don't really know how many people are impacted with either side or what the percentage is. Please understand that there are 12 million copies of the game out there from the launch alone. The last numbers I saw on the Witcher 3 were 6 million copies sold in six weeks. Now, 6 million is still HUGE. But we're talking about Fallout 4 selling double in one day what the Witcher sold 6 weeks.

So let's think about this. If both the Witcher and Fallout 4 had similar bugs impacting a similar percentage of users, then wouldn't that mean that Fallout 4 would be experiencing twice the number of complaints thanks to the larger consumer base?

Don't forget that people who are experiencing a problem are the ones who go to the internet. Remember when the PS4 first launched and a handful of people made us think the PS4 had a RROD scenario until a couple weeks later when we could finally establish that the rate is even better than the industry standard of hardware defect ratios?

Likewise, let's not forget that this is all 12 million or so on day one whereas the 6 million for witcher was spread out over 6 weeks and a couple million may not have seen the game until after a patch or two.

 

[Strazdas]

So people are still buying this in droves because their friends are telling them not to?

It might be that we're dealing with a scenario where your (royal you) capacity to deal with glitches in a game this large and complex greatly impacts your preference for the game.

We dont know how many people buy the game. like, at all. we know how many bethesda shipped, but not how many are stuck in stores unsold. We know that steam estimates (which are not sales numbers but rather an extrapolated survey of randomly accessed accounts) estimate it at around 6 million for PC (steam is necessary to play the PC version). Also important to note that first week sales are mostly counting pre-orders rather than actual sales. the second week usually shows whether people who wait for reviews/youtubers/friends/etc are going to keep buying the game. Remmeber when GTA5 on PC has been a TOP seller on steam for over 2 months BEFORE it launched? thats going to impact the day 1 numbers a lot.

I think that scenario exists in every game that is buggy. there were people who enjoyed Atkham Knight too, but WB pulled it due to how buggy it is. There were people who enjoyed AC: Unity, but it is generally considered the worst PC port since GTA4.

It might be, but we don't really know how many people are impacted with either side or what the percentage is. Please understand that there are 12 million copies of the game out there from the launch alone. The last numbers I saw on the Witcher 3 were 6 million copies sold in six weeks. Now, 6 million is still HUGE. But we're talking about Fallout 4 selling double in one day what the Witcher sold 6 weeks.

So let's think about this. If both the Witcher and Fallout 4 had similar bugs impacting a similar percentage of users, then wouldn't that mean that Fallout 4 would be experiencing twice the number of complaints thanks to the larger consumer base?

Don't forget that people who are experiencing a problem are the ones who go to the internet. Remember when the PS4 first launched and a handful of people made us think the PS4 had a RROD scenario until a couple weeks later when we could finally establish that the rate is even better than the industry standard of hardware defect ratios?

Likewise, let's not forget that this is all 12 million or so on day one whereas the 6 million for witcher was spread out over 6 weeks and a couple million may not have seen the game until after a patch or two.

Yes, that would mean that the Fallout 4 players would be reporting bugs twice as often. as it turns out, its more like 200 times as often, though. the attitude was also different. for Witcher 3 it was "yes the walking animation is janky but the game is best thing since sliced butter" whereas for fallout 4 we more often hear a "and they still havent fixed that bug since skyrim/oblivion".

i dont think many people believed in the PS4 RROD thing. most comments i saw on sites i visit at least were commenting that a single broken console does not show a trend and were pointing out that the 360 failure rates were probably the worst industry has ever seen.

 

[Lightknight]

So people are still buying this in droves because their friends are telling them not to?

It might be that we're dealing with a scenario where your (royal you) capacity to deal with glitches in a game this large and complex greatly impacts your preference for the game.

We dont know how many people buy the game. like, at all. we know how many bethesda shipped, but not how many are stuck in stores unsold. We know that steam estimates (which are not sales numbers but rather an extrapolated survey of randomly accessed accounts) estimate it at around 6 million for PC (steam is necessary to play the PC version). Also important to note that first week sales are mostly counting pre-orders rather than actual sales. the second week usually shows whether people who wait for reviews/youtubers/friends/etc are going to keep buying the game. Remmeber when GTA5 on PC has been a TOP seller on steam for over 2 months BEFORE it launched? thats going to impact the day 1 numbers a lot.

The 12 million number and the 6 million number used for Witcher III are both number of games shipped. The numbers being preorders does not change the number that was purchased either. Many of the Witcher III sales were likely preorders too.

It's important to understand that the people ordering more copies from Bethesda have algorithms and a long history of making a living at anticipating demand. They aren't wasting their money buying copies they don't anticipate selling or haven't already sold.

It might be, but we don't really know how many people are impacted with either side or what the percentage is. Please understand that there are 12 million copies of the game out there from the launch alone. The last numbers I saw on the Witcher 3 were 6 million copies sold in six weeks. Now, 6 million is still HUGE. But we're talking about Fallout 4 selling double in one day what the Witcher sold 6 weeks.

So let's think about this. If both the Witcher and Fallout 4 had similar bugs impacting a similar percentage of users, then wouldn't that mean that Fallout 4 would be experiencing twice the number of complaints thanks to the larger consumer base?

Don't forget that people who are experiencing a problem are the ones who go to the internet. Remember when the PS4 first launched and a handful of people made us think the PS4 had a RROD scenario until a couple weeks later when we could finally establish that the rate is even better than the industry standard of hardware defect ratios?

Likewise, let's not forget that this is all 12 million or so on day one whereas the 6 million for witcher was spread out over 6 weeks and a couple million may not have seen the game until after a patch or two.

Yes, that would mean that the Fallout 4 players would be reporting bugs twice as often. as it turns out, its more like 200 times as often, though.

Come on dude, you and I have managed to have a dozen well informed intellectual discussion. Don't stoop to hyperbole you can't back up if you can help it. "200 times more"?

If anything, I think the frustration is just that it's the same issues as before, like you said. I assume they just didn't want to build an entirely new engine from scratch or the one they built isn't finished yet. The way Bethesda works on engines I just wouldn't be surprised if they considered it too much an expense to do AND also build the game when the previous engine is perfectly serviceable (and it is). At least with Witcher there is the feeling that it's a pretty damn small studio that is basically building top tier AAA with little resources. So there is additional forgiveness there. But it doesn't mean that their work is actually that much better. It could have been exactly the same but treated better based on the size.

 

[Reasonable Atheist]

I love fallout 4 , LOVE IT

95% of my solitary time has been plunged into devouring the game on survival mode since release.

I love the graphics
I love the characters
I love that my hand is not being held
I love that there is challenging situations to overcome
I love being nuked totally by surprise from on high
I love consulting a drug addled quazi mystic and having the option to benefit from her drug abuse, or council sanity
I love the undertones and overtones of conspiracy
I love the doubt the game casts on itself and its systems
I love that im expected to find that object i saw streaking across the sky without a quest marker
I love the weapon and armor customization
I love that i sound like the fonz with high charisma
I love how quests can go totally different directions and have effects on multiple characters and events depending what you do (looking at you telltale)
I love that the enemies and computer logs they make will be different depending what you have and have not done
I love how dense the wasteland is
I love scavaging
I love trying to appease as many followers as possible by planning my actions bassed on who is with me
I love the promise of shapiwthe wasteland in my image (chr not high enough yet)
I love that there is no level cap
i love that it seems crafted for adult audience
i love the music!

I could go on and on, having an absolute blast with it iterally and figuratively

I guess the point I trying to get accross is that fallout is good in my opinion, and im not surprised in the least that most of my steam friends are playing it at any given moment.

 

[Strazdas]

The 12 million number and the 6 million number used for Witcher III are both number of games shipped. The numbers being preorders does not change the number that was purchased either. Many of the Witcher III sales were likely preorders too.

It's important to understand that the people ordering more copies from Bethesda have algorithms and a long history of making a living at anticipating demand. They aren't wasting their money buying copies they don't anticipate selling or haven't already sold.

The point i was making was that high numbers of preorders means we cannot know how much of a "friend told me its bad so i wont buy it" effect there is. that only shows up later once the initial first day adopters pass away as they could not have heard their friends say anything for or against. And yes, this was true for Witcher 3, but the stats are for 6 weeks as opposed to 1 which gives more time for the world-of-mouth to travel.

Come on dude, you and I have managed to have a dozen well informed intellectual discussion. Don't stoop to hyperbole you can't back up if you can help it. "200 times more"?

If anything, I think the frustration is just that it's the same issues as before, like you said. I assume they just didn't want to build an entirely new engine from scratch or the one they built isn't finished yet. The way Bethesda works on engines I just wouldn't be surprised if they considered it too much an expense to do AND also build the game when the previous engine is perfectly serviceable (and it is). At least with Witcher there is the feeling that it's a pretty damn small studio that is basically building top tier AAA with little resources. So there is additional forgiveness there. But it doesn't mean that their work is actually that much better. It could have been exactly the same but treated better based on the size.

The point was that the ratio of complaints is much higher even taking into account sale numbers. Certainly, it being same bugs only increases the frustration. I dont think many people care about company size when it comes to whether they like the game or not. but perhaps you are right, there is that tendency at least when it comes to very small indies.

Bethesda is using an engine for Fallout 4 that they created in 1997. Creation is just Gamebryo with Havoc physics shoved in it. First game to release with it was Morrowind. Bethesda does not even need to develop a new engine, they own ID Tech 5. It is a multitude of times better engine than the one they currently use. And no, GameBryo is not serviceable. it wasnt serviceable when Skyrim launched. Its just one of the downsides of Bethesda games you have to get over to enjoy thier games. and yes, many people do get over it. does not make it a good engine.

 

[Naqel]

I love that my hand is not being held
[...]
I love how quests can go totally different directions and have effects on multiple characters and events depending what you do (looking at you telltale)

Oh yes, I love how I'm able to shoot people in the face and tell them I hate them, only for them to idolize me later on anyway and offer sex-on-demand after a charisma check(I hate Piper).

The only reason they're not holding you by your hand, is because they're dragging you by your feet.

 

[Reasonable Atheist]

I love that my hand is not being held
[...]
I love how quests can go totally different directions and have effects on multiple characters and events depending what you do (looking at you telltale)

Oh yes, I love how I'm able to shoot people in the face and tell them I hate them, only for them to idolize me later on anyway and offer sex-on-demand after a charisma check(I hate Piper).

The only reason they're not holding you by your hand, is because they're dragging you by your feet.

What, you would prefer it to be like dark souls? One accidental keystroke and piper never speaks to you again? Its a game, piper is not a woman.

I have accidentally hit my companion characters with machetes, shot them in the chest by mistake while trying to skip dialog and the game is like "its cool man we get it, no need to reload over that"

Thanks for pointing out something else i love about fallout 4

Ps. I like piper, shes a tough cookie. I especially like her dialogue with the supermutant "strong" but then again all of strong's dialogue is great.

 

[Naqel]

What, you would prefer it to be like dark souls? One accidental keystroke and piper never speaks to you again? [...]
I have accidentally hit my companion characters with machetes, shot them in the chest by mistake while trying to skip dialog and the game is like "its cool man we get it, no need to reload over that"

There's a perk to prevent you from being able to inflict damage to your active companion.

Under all other circumstances, I should be able to make them hate me, I should be free to kill them, and that extends to all the NPC's.
I should be allowed to make mistakes, and for those mistakes to have consequences.

In Fallout 4, you are not allowed to make mistakes, and your experience is inherently poorer for it.

 

[Reasonable Atheist]

What, you would prefer it to be like dark souls? One accidental keystroke and piper never speaks to you again? [...]
I have accidentally hit my companion characters with machetes, shot them in the chest by mistake while trying to skip dialog and the game is like "its cool man we get it, no need to reload over that"

There's a perk to prevent you from being able to inflict damage to your active companion.

Under all other circumstances, I should be able to make them hate me, I should be free to kill them, and that extends to all the NPC's.
I should be allowed to make mistakes, and for those mistakes to have consequences.

In Fallout 4, you are not allowed to make mistakes, and your experience is inherently poorer for it.

If you want piper to hate you, try being a little more creative, stealing or killing the innocent (or who she perceives as innocent) wull build disdain for you from piper