Editorial Some thoughts on the Fallout 3 article

[Cimmerian Nights]

multiple endings, multiple paths, the credibility of these pledeges are reinforced because of the 20 level cap.

Please explain that one, i'm fascinated by the possibility that logic actually went into reaching that conclusion.

One ending involves you clawing your eyes out of your skull, another has you abandoning cRPGs as a viable hobby anymore, another invovles retreating into a narcotic shell of denail and shame for humanity, and yet another has you exhume and shoot Ronald Reagan in order to gain the attention of Jodi Foster.
Or did you mean in game?

Fallout 3 is going to do for cRPGs what American Idol has done for music.

 

[Rei]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! Damn it. Fuck you. Fuck your mother.
...
And i thought "Oblivion with Guns" was a joke.
It's like hell. You think it's a joke but they're dead serious.

Edit: DAMN IT NO! STOP! STOP DOING THAT! I HATE THAT!


uh... dialogue options should be stolen directly from idiocracy.

If i'm stupid i want to be able to not get completely fucked over.

Let me put it this way:

"I like money."

"I'm gonna mistrial my foot up your ass if you don't SHUT UP."

"Now I'm no botanist but i know that if you put water on plants they grow."

"Water? Like out of the toilet?"

 

[Rei]

Oblivion was American Idol. Fallout 3 is like the death of jazz.

 

[cuthbert]

oblivion with gunz is what the game is no question. its the " they got the whole feel of fallout that gets me" an article and pictures dont convey that. Fuck hoping for the best, just expect the worst by the way found this cool page of guns that would be badass in a post-nuclear game. http://englishrussia.com/?p=965

 

[Vault Dweller]

Missed a spot:

"Before you can enter, you're thrown back as a huge building crumbles nearby. From its wreckage saunters a behemoth of a mutant - a giant by any definition. As the soldiers you're with desperately unload, you see a fallen body nearby with a strange device in its hands. Picking it up, you recognize it for what it is - a Fatman. Arming this portable nuclear catapult..."

The giantness of the mutant aside, looks like it's another scripted and unavoidable event. What's interesting about it is that it looks like the only way to continue is to kill the mutant with a very specific weapon. So much for "you can play the game in different ways! You can even talk or sneak!"

 

[psycojester]

And for chrissakes, how can they judge the story based off of a brief paragraph like that? Maybe the BoS had a perfectly legitimate reason to be out patrolling like that.

Every year the BoS take the giant balloon over to the east coast for some R&R and bring along some caged super muties for hunting fun?

 

[Excrément]

multiple endings, multiple paths, the credibility of these pledeges are reinforced because of the 20 level cap.

Please explain that one, i'm fascinated by the possibility that logic actually went into reaching that conclusion.

20 level cap implies it's not open endless RPG a la Oblivion
so it implies it won't be a game for people who enjoy to max out everything (be the boss of every guilds....)
so it implies there are restrictions and so consequences
and so it implies in order to not finish the game in 15hours and because you don't have any fun to continue your party Bethesda has to make another way to improve the "replayibility" and so the multiple endings and multiple paths.

 

[JarlFrank]

Missed a spot:

"Before you can enter, you're thrown back as a huge building crumbles nearby. From its wreckage saunters a behemoth of a mutant - a giant by any definition. As the soldiers you're with desperately unload, you see a fallen body nearby with a strange device in its hands. Picking it up, you recognize it for what it is - a Fatman. Arming this portable nuclear catapult..."

The giantness of the mutant aside, looks like it's another scripted and unavoidable event. What's interesting about it is that it looks like the only way to continue is to kill the mutant with a very specific weapon. So much for "you can play the game in different ways! You can even talk or sneak!"

I hate scripted events, especially in RPGs. They're okay for linear FPS, like Call of Duty, but they suck in RPGs where you decide over your deeds. This shows Bethesda's incompetence again.

 

[John Yossarian]

Oh my god. How exactly are they supposed to show off dialogue in screenshots?

Well, I'm not gonna click on the link so I can keep the miniscule hope I have that VD made that up.

 

[hiciacit]

I hate scripted events, especially in RPGs. They're okay for linear FPS, like Call of Duty, ...

Ever since Far Cry they suck in FPSs as well. That's why Half Life 2 was such a piece of shit. Scripted events in RPGs instantly brings Biowares 'story driven' games to mind. Perhaps that's what Bethesda are shooting for, who knows, you might be able to romance your dad in Fallout 3.

 

[merry andrew]

 

[Section8]

I hate scripted events, especially in RPGs. They're okay for linear FPS, like Call of Duty, ...

Ever since Far Cry they suck in FPSs as well. That's why Half Life 2 was such a piece of shit. Scripted events in RPGs instantly brings Biowares 'story driven' games to mind. Perhaps that's what Bethesda are shooting for, who knows, you might be able to romance your dad in Fallout 3.

They've even managed to nail Bioware's retard idea of morality, lovingly bundled with complete implausibility:

Here's a township built around an undetonated nuke (don't ask why) and an NPC sitting around in a bar (don't ask why) waiting for a stranger to come along so he can ask them to detonate the nuke (don't ask why). He's offering to pay you (don't ask why), so instead of just killing him and taking both money and detonator (don't ask why) you decide to traipse off to safe distance and detonate the nuke (don't ask why). However, of all the directions you could head to get to safe distance, you're told to go through an area infested with supermutants (don't ask why).

On the way, you find a computer that controls a ticket collector robot armed with lasers (don't ask why), so you haxor it to kill some mutants. Then the BOS appear (don't ask why), and apparently they're fighting the supermutants (don't ask why). They tell you you're an idiot for risking your life out here, then invite you to join them in further danger (don't ask why).

Anyway, long story short, a bunch of shit dies, and you catch up to Burke who apparently had a supermutant free ride to the same spot (don't ask how) and together you blow up the town (don't ask why) and gaze lovingly into each other's firelit eyes (don't ask why).

 

[Rei]

....why? *hammered*

 

[Kingston]

Indeed, why the fuck would you nuke a town just because some smelly drunk asks you to? A beth dev would answer that that is the beauty of the game, you don't HAVE TO do it. You can forget the quest. Awesome.

 

[JarlFrank]

Indeed, why the fuck would you nuke a town just because some smelly drunk asks you to? A beth dev would answer that that is the beauty of the game, you don't HAVE TO do it. You can forget the quest. Awesome.

I guess it's the sense of humor that Todd and Pete spoke off. That certain Fallout humor they promised to bring into the game. Like, you splattering an enemy's head and the pipboy showing you his thumbs up. This is exactly the same kind of shit.

 

[robur]

Ok. Let me get this straight. Some idiots built a town around an undetonated nuke. Some guy wants you to detonate the nuke because it's a "blight on the urban landscape". Looks like the fact that a nuclear explosion would wipe out and contaminate that very landscape doesn't occur to him. Then again, in this setting people use nuclear explosions to light up cigars, so maybe it's not that bad. A well designed quest!

Anyway, did you notice that the article does not mention any option to do something differently? One would think that Todd would have illustrated or at least mentioned all the options while playing through this quest. Something like "of course, you can blow a hole in Mister Burke's head instead" or "you can talk to the sheriff", etc. So, either these options are not present and the game railroads you or Todd doesn't think that these options are interesting / have consequences / worth mentioning. Either scenario is alarming.

Here's one thing to think about. Just because the article didn't mention any different choices, what makes you think that there aren't any? Maybe the journalist should have had asked more questions or taken notes during the presentation to ask them afterwards instead of doing the old "everything's soooo awesome" article. I've sat in many game presentations over the last 14 years and have been constantly amazed about the type of questions some US journos are - not - asking.

I'd love to debunk some of the bogus above, but then I'm under NDA.

 

[Edward_R_Murrow]

Here's one thing to think about. Just because the article didn't mention any different choices, what makes you think that there aren't any?

A little thing called track record coupled with some inference.

Maybe the journalist should have had asked more questions or taken notes during the presentation to ask them afterwards instead of doing the old "everything's soooo awesome" article.

Of course they should have. But if shit sells, why put work into things, eh? Plus there is always the matter of "other incentives".

I've sat in many game presentations over the last 14 years and have been constantly amazed about the type of questions some US journos are - not - asking.

"Gaming journalism" is one of the biggest jokes ever.

I'd love to debunk some of the bogus above, but then I'm under NDA.

Sure you are....and I'm the ghost of Edward R. Murrow risen from the grave, upon the internet, to fight against the rape of CRPGs. Do pardon my skepticism, but this is the internet after all.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Ok. Let me get this straight. Some idiots built a town around an undetonated nuke. Some guy wants you to detonate the nuke because it's a "blight on the urban landscape". Looks like the fact that a nuclear explosion would wipe out and contaminate that very landscape doesn't occur to him. Then again, in this setting people use nuclear explosions to light up cigars, so maybe it's not that bad. A well designed quest!

Anyway, did you notice that the article does not mention any option to do something differently? One would think that Todd would have illustrated or at least mentioned all the options while playing through this quest. Something like "of course, you can blow a hole in Mister Burke's head instead" or "you can talk to the sheriff", etc. So, EITHER these options are not present and the game railroads you OR Todd doesn't think that these options are interesting / have consequences / worth mentioning. Either scenario is alarming.

Here's one thing to think about. Just because the article didn't mention any different choices, what makes you think that there aren't any?

You've failed your reading comprehension roll. See the OR option.

I'd love to debunk some of the bogus above, but then I'm under NDA.

And? Unless Robur is your real name, you can say anything you want, NDA or not. Interesting enough I see several different posters claiming similar shit at NMA: "you guys are all wrong. I wish I could explain how awesome and true FO3 is, but I'm under NDA..."

Bethesda's new PR strategy? Attack of the Plants?

 

[robur]

I'd love to debunk some of the bogus above, but then I'm under NDA.

Sure you are....and I'm the ghost of Edward R. Murrow risen from the grave, upon the internet, to fight against the rape of CRPGs. Do pardon my skepticism, but this is the internet after all.

I *love* "Good Night, and Good Luck". On my shelf here right now and I dressed up as Edward R. Murrow for an Oscar party last year.

I agree that it is getting harder and harder to get any information out of any game developer that isn't greenlit by the PR & marketing department first. But honestly, that's all over the map - look at any subject the media is reporting about. Very rarely do you get stuff like a crazy senator from Wisconsin or a crazy President whose minions are breaking into a hotel and then uncover all that. Anything that is in the news today is sanctioned one way or the other - how else would you explain that e.g. the big feature stories on TV news are the ones where kids get hurt by a falling tree or a bunch of whales swimming up a river?

That said, I *did* ask the question. And you'll find the answer in a magazine next month. Only caveat is that it's neither published in the US of A nor in English.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Let me guess, it's in German. For this site: http://www.austinat.de/blog/

I'm sure that Bethesda insisted on this fine gaming media establishment attending its private press party.

 

[robur]

Ok. Let me get this straight. Some idiots built a town around an undetonated nuke. Some guy wants you to detonate the nuke because it's a "blight on the urban landscape". Looks like the fact that a nuclear explosion would wipe out and contaminate that very landscape doesn't occur to him. Then again, in this setting people use nuclear explosions to light up cigars, so maybe it's not that bad. A well designed quest!

Anyway, did you notice that the article does not mention any option to do something differently? One would think that Todd would have illustrated or at least mentioned all the options while playing through this quest. Something like "of course, you can blow a hole in Mister Burke's head instead" or "you can talk to the sheriff", etc. So, EITHER these options are not present and the game railroads you OR Todd doesn't think that these options are interesting / have consequences / worth mentioning. Either scenario is alarming.

Here's one thing to think about. Just because the article didn't mention any different choices, what makes you think that there aren't any?

You've failed your reading comprehension roll. See the OR option.

I'd love to debunk some of the bogus above, but then I'm under NDA.

And? Unless Robur is your real name, you can say anything you want, NDA or not. Interesting enough I see several different posters claiming similar shit at NMA: "you guys are all wrong. I wish I could explain how awesome and true FO3 is, but I'm under NDA..."

Bethesda's new PR strategy? Attack of the Plants?

You've failed your creativity roll. Ever thought that there might be another OR option?

I actually can't say anything I want because I did sign an NDA. With my real name. Ask Desslock.

Now, if you read my posts closely, you will learn that I didn't say that Fallout 3 was the shizzle or teh suckage. I merely stated that sometimes not all the questions you and I would ask are being asked. It's good old Gauss - apply his distribution to asking questions: some ask dumb, some ask good, but the majority asks average questions.

Personally, I'm bored by "how many weapons/levels/monsters/quests/etc./etc. does the game feature" questions. I'd rather ask about the player's/the character's motivations.

Of course, you can write and rant all that you want, proven or not. This is the Internet, after all.

 

[robur]

Let me guess, it's in German. For this site: http://www.austinat.de/blog/

I'm sure that Bethesda insisted on this fine gaming media establishment attending its private press party.

You failed your reading comprehension roll. The link above is merely my private blog. A blog is not a magazine. A blog is not getting printed on paper, sold at news stands and distributed to the subscribers per mail.

I appreciate linking to my blog, though. Should really update it and put some more Amazon ads on it.

Oh, and you failed your privacy roll, too.

 

[Vault Dweller]

You've failed your creativity roll. Ever thought that there might be another OR option?

There could be many options, but only two are likely.

I actually can't say anything I want because I did sign an NDA. With my real name. Ask Desslock.

Ask Desslock what? Did a forum poster named robur sign an NDA with his real name?

Oh, and you failed your privacy roll, too.

You've forfeited your privacy rights when you started making claims that beg to be verified. Anyway, let's assume that you've actually been to the press party and asked the right questions, the answer to which can't be made public at the moment.

Please introduce yourself and the magazine you represent then, and find a way to prove this identity. Changing your email to your work email should do the trick. Your turn.

 

[robur]

There could be many options, but only two are likely.

The logic for that escapes me. Options that are not likely to you aren't feasible options? Interesting.

You've forfeited your privacy rights when you started making claims that beg to be verified.

Forfeited - aren't we a bit serious in here? The only "claim" (note the singular) I could think of would be the suggestion that there might be more than two options, based on a) logical thinking, b) experience from covering the gaming biz since 1993 and c) having indeed attended a showing of a game.

Please introduce yourself and the magazine you represent then, and find a way to prove this identity. Changing your email to your work email should do the trick. Your turn.

Sure, no biggie. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't post that e-mail and the link I just sent you here. These are my private thoughts and not those of any of my employers. Thanks.

 

[pkt-zer0]

Just throwing in my two cents.

Well, if everything in the article is more-or-less true, it should be a good game. Not Fallout by any stretch of the imagination, but good enough. The combat, however abominable, shouldn't matter much if there are viable non-combat options, and as long as you can blast your way past people using a weapon-focused character. If the story is nicely presented, non-linear, with good dialogue and interesting NPCs, I'll enjoy the game.

So, I hope that VD is just a cynical bastard, and ends up being horribly wrong for the most part.

Chances of that happening, though? Not terribly great, by the looks of things right now.
We'll see a clearer picture as more info is released, at any rate.