Game News Oblivion will wait for the next holiday season

[Whipporowill]

PR should do their job, I'd hardly blame them for getting the game delayed but they should have:

a) Postponed release prior to the news leaking out.

a.1) Failing that, issue a press release with "the truth" (some absurd spin about how gamers will benefit from the delay).

a.2) Fire themselves

That's my final word in the blame game.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I don't think anyone's blaming PR for the delay, but they completely fucked up the response. Shit has already happened. Even the dumbest motherfuckers at the official forums are starting to get a clue that the game may not be in stores this holiday season (but they will check it anyway), so Pete might as well stop hiding in his office and acknowledge the obvious.

The real dumbfuck is Todd, but we already know that, so Pete doesn't need to announce that.

 

[Chefe]

I won't point fingers or anything, but this is the kind of PR snafu that gets people fired.

We can only hope.

Had they met the 360 launch deadline they could very well have been the next Bungie -- meaning a M$ acquisition and tons of $ for the execs on top of high sales of Oblivion 360.

M$ acquisition? Zenimax owns Bethesda. Why would they sell of Bethesda?

["they stole our gaem" response?

When I read that I imagined Bethesda setting around talking like those rednecks in that one episode of South Park: "They took 'errr jyobs!"

 

[Balor]

Wha? Mark and recall axed?
Mwhahahahaha!
That will not take long before it will be modded back into the game, with you being able to mark more then one place, too, heh.
I found it a bit too unbalancing, myself (at least with number of 'beacons' not being dependant on your skill), but anyway.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Wha? Mark and recall axed?
Mwhahahahaha!

The idiots figured that with the fast travel who needs good ol' Mark & Recall thus proving once again that they have little clue about the gameplay.

 

[franc kaos]

For such a friendly, caring company, their devs are awfully scared of rocking the boat. They won't say aught but what they're given permission to say, I don't know if it's that way with all softco's, but what a sad way of working.

I don't know if spears (and whatever) are 'officially' confirmed as in or out, but they can't be worried about another games company stealing spears and putting them in their own game, so why the utter silence? Are they now trying to cram them into the game engine - well don't; leave them for a download, (and proper staves please).

If the delay is due to Microsloth and the 360, then fuck'em, release the PC version anyway, whilst giving Microstitch the one fingered salute. They don't own the games continuum.

Of course, if its showstopping bugs, then congrats on having the balls to say you need more time - take it, fix the game (and get staves back in as melee weapons).

'Do what you will shall be the whole of the law.'

 

[Drakron]

I guess they could rename "Radient AI" to "Retarded AI" ... next time they sould not base their AI paterns off the TES forums users ...

 

[Chefe]

Of course, if its showstopping bugs, then congrats on having the balls to say you need more time - take it, fix the game (and get staves back in as melee weapons).

Ah, but the thing is, they don't have the balls to do that. The information was released in their publisher's financial reports a few days ago, and still no official word from the devs.

Pussy-ass bastards.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I don't know if spears (and whatever) are 'officially' confirmed as in or out

Not that I know of, but the 4 *skills* are confirmed: Blade, Blunt, Bow, HtH. If spears are a part of any of those groups (spears have blades on one end, and they are blunt on the other :shock, then they could be in, otherwise...

Of course, if its showstopping bugs, then congrats on having the balls to say you need more time - take it, fix the game (and get staves back in as melee weapons).

There are many issues, to say the least.

 

[Rendelius]

Still no official word from Bethesda? Wow man...this is a major PR crisis. I won't point fingers or anything, but this is the kind of PR snafu that gets people fired.

Baghdad Pete is a dumb fuck for sure, but he was probably getting his info verbatim for the press releases from the producers vis-a-vis time table, condition of game, etc.

The exec. producer is probably feeling most of the heat right now and if he's smart he'll shift the lion's share of the blame on QA for not finding all the bugs that (probably) caused them to fail M$ certification.

The QA lead & manager should definitely be fired if this is the case -- especially if they are hiring new Oblivion testers at this late stage in crunch time. That shows gross mismanagement and a failure to have adequate staff for what is arguably the most important title in the company's history.

That they failed to get certification (if this is the reason Take2 bumped the date) then this is highly significant in regards to their future.

Had they met the 360 launch deadline they could very well have been the next Bungie -- meaning a M$ acquisition and tons of $ for the execs on top of high sales of Oblivion 360.

But now that they've missed the launch window, not only will sales be lower, the chance of a M$ acquisition have probably diminished -- If they didn't have the talent to get this done then maybe they'd be a risky investment, and maybe the TES IP is getting played out, and maybe this means they won't be able to pull off Fallout.

The executives are no doubt well aware of all these things and heads will roll for sure.

Is that you, Nostradamus?

 

[Shagnak]

spears have blades on one end, and they are blunt on the other

And NPCs wil automatically choose which end to use!
Radiant! :shock:

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

Removing Mark and Recall is like putting the Diet into Cola. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[pseudo intellectual]

M$ acquisition? Zenimax owns Bethesda. Why would they sell of Bethesda?

This may be news, but people make money by buying low and selling high. If you'd read the Washington Post article I linked a ways back there was some indication that the former owner wasn't adequately compensated, so I imagine Zenimax acquired Bethsoft for cheap.

No doubt they made a fair profit on Morrowind -- which was then dumped back into Oblivion development, so now they probably have liquidity issues.

If they'd passed certification for the 360 launch then they'd have a unique opportunity to offload bethsoft for > market value in addition to the huge windfall from a 360 launch title that would sell a huge number of copies.

So you go from a liquidity problem to a position where you can conceivably sell your assets and IP for top dollar.

Add to this a board of directors that includes several luminaries from the Democratic party who are no doubt investors who expect a high rate of return on their investment with limited risk. The opportunity to dump Bethsoft for maximum profit would not escape their notice.

Another option would be to parley the success of Oblivion (had they met the launch window) into an IPO.

 

[iago]

Bloody Hell! Sorry to burst into topic but I had an urgent need to burst. I thought all the people that were quoting the ES official forums were joking. Those TES people are hilarious. I recommend a visit to TES Forums to anyone, bar none. It is refreshing and ego-boosting. An experience never to be forgotten, oft to be repeted. I just had the funniest 20 minutes of my day.

There, that's it...you can get back on topic

 

[Chefe]

This may be news, but people make money by buying low and selling high.

Ho ho ho, you're a riot.

If you'd read the Washington Post article I linked a ways back there was some indication that the former owner wasn't adequately compensated, so I imagine Zenimax acquired Bethsoft for cheap.

They did, of course, Bethesda didn't have much cash and wasn't turning out big selling titles (they won many awards, but didn't do well in sales).

What I was saying is that if Oblivion turned out to be a huge money making hit, then why would Zenimax sell their most profitable series. Bethesda is pretty much Zenimax. It's their biggest division. It would be like Sports Authority selling off all their sports equipment. Yea, they have shoes and clothes, but it's the equipment that makes up their bulk.

Unless, of course, Zenimax was still in financial trouble after releasing Oblivion, despite its success (if it had any). Do we know their current status? I thought they had gobs of cash on hand.

 

[Drakron]

Microsoft already got several studios ... every year I hear the "MS is going to buy BioWare!" rumor that never materialize.

There is no point for MS to get Bethsoft, MS also created Mistwalker for RPG developement so there was no reason for then buying Bethsoft.

 

[pseudo intellectual]

They would buy Bethsoft if they saw that TES had Halo potential -- and it's certainly the title that's generated the most buzz around the launch.

I'm fairly certain that "Jade Empire" appealed to M$ (remember it was xbox exclusive) due to their desire for Asian market capitalization.

Acquiring an RPG company with a long history to develop RPGs for an asian market might be something they'd consider -- especially given their long term goals for LIVE. I'm sure they'd love to develop a 360 exclusive LIVE rpg that 2 million Korean subscribers -- but first they need to sell the units in Asia, something that they've failed to do.

Chefe:

Yes keeping the company intact after Oblivion sold big would make sense in the context of taking the company public, but this move would hinge on the willingness of the investors (and I have no idea who owns what percentage of Zenimax) to continue to risk their capital in the venture.

So if the investors wanted to get out now, then selling to M$ or EA would be their best bet had they met the 360 launch window. But if the investors were in it for the long haul, an IPO would make the most sense.

 

[Soil_Erosion]

Is that you, Nostradamus?

the guy that posted to which you retardedly responded actually had a point. Ignorig your overly hillarious jokes would probably be a good thing to do, but what the hell, i thought i would give you a clue. So, my dear one-liner, did i miss anything? the point maybe?

 

[bryce777]

" ... next time they sould not base their AI paterns off the TES forums users ...

Excellent point.

Probably fixing the retarded animations as shown in that unofficial preview.

 

[aboyd]

aboyd, give me a link. Prove it. You can PM me if you want.

How can I prove it when I was expressing scepticism and asking for proof myself?

And how does my post imply ANYTHING other than there's no leaked version of the game? :D

Uh, it doesn't? Which is why I was challenging the post -- not by you -- that asserted that a beta did exist.

I think maybe you need to reread my post. You apparently ascribed malice where there was none.

-T

 

[Dreagon]

For such a friendly, caring company, their devs are awfully scared of rocking the boat. They won't say aught but what they're given permission to say, I don't know if it's that way with all softco's, but what a sad way of working.

I don't know if spears (and whatever) are 'officially' confirmed as in or out, but they can't be worried about another games company stealing spears and putting them in their own game, so why the utter silence? Are they now trying to cram them into the game engine - well don't; leave them for a download, (and proper staves please).

If the delay is due to Microsloth and the 360, then fuck'em, release the PC version anyway, whilst giving Microstitch the one fingered salute. They don't own the games continuum.

Of course, if its showstopping bugs, then congrats on having the balls to say you need more time - take it, fix the game (and get staves back in as melee weapons).

'Do what you will shall be the whole of the law.'

Spears were recently confirmed to be out. Yeah, they had people asking about it on their forums (me included) for months. In their typical style, they just don't answer questions that they know people aren't going to like the answer too.

I also found it interesting how they immediately starting discouraging any speculation on whether or not the Xbox 360 part of the game may be where the problem is, in the spirit of "we don't want a XBOX vs PC flamewar. Sounds like a dodge to me.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Removing Mark and Recall is like putting the Diet into Cola. Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Why would you need mark and recall in a game that allows instant transport via the map?

Mark and recall is just an exploit that makes the game too easy, hence its removal. What next? Whining about how Fallout and BG don't have town portals? Because that's what it is - a town portal. It's lame. Oblivion isn't a roguelike.

 

[Drakron]

Because you dumbass there is no "instant travel", there is map travel that only happens in the outside, you cannot use map travel to go back to a dungeon entry.

The main use of "mark/recall" was always been not having to walk the way back to a dungeon entry since we could only have one mark active.

 

[MrSmileyFaceDude]

And as an exploit to get around being over-encumbered.

 

[Lowry]

Why would you need mark and recall in a game that allows instant transport via the map?

They were useful spells, i dont believe they in any way were an exploit but we all have our opinions i guess.. If the planes of oblivian are randomly generated as im sure i have seen mentioned, then i guess thats why those spells are out. Though i cant see why they couldnt just be unusable in those areas.

EDIT: How can THAT be called an exploit in a single player game in which you can just open up a console and get anything you want ?