Einhanderc7
Vat dipped, grown and still oozing with perfection
Hello everyone,
I have begun this open letter mostly in the hope that this could possibly bring about change that could benefit not only Bethesda but the fans as well. Feel free to post your thoughts as well (No inflammatory posts please). My intention is to either leave this letter here publicly on the forums or post them directly on the Bethesda forums. I completely expect Bethesda to be confused as I'm sure they would assume Fallout is a massive success in their eyes.
I have given considerable thought on how to appease everyone regarding the Fallout universe. From what I have experienced there will not be any way to please the original fans. To be honest from Bethesda's actions its nearly impossible to do so with the current state of the franchise.
For the newer fans each title develops what I could only describe as "tribal" groups of individuals that mainly attempt to justify a single title. Quickly getting into the trap the original fan base is stuck in.
However while the above statement is a overall detraction from the game I believe a solution is still possible. I have given this a considerable amount of thought on what my idea would do if acted upon to for the fans. I have also considered Bethesda's perspective and for profit business for their want to continue selling this franchise.
My idea is simple, wipe the slate clean. This should not be difficult considering the constant retcons of lore material and the inherent unstable nature of the lore. However considering Bethesda has full control over the IP they are capable of doing what ever they do so choose. While my idea may seem radical consider the following for a moment.
While I can say as a fan of the originals, I would be more pleased with Bethesda actually fixing the multitude of issues they added to the IP. However I am willing to compromise for everyone's benefit. If Bethesda simply generates a coherent time line, lore points, and characters I strongly think the IP can be repaired from the perspective of an original fan. However to do this they would have to immediately come to terms with in doing such an action this would render all current Fallout games non-canon to actually make this plan work.
This would not only allow for greater freedom with the IP, but also allow the fan base to actually come back together albeit in a compromised way, rather than a fractured foundation. I understand that this is the "nuclear" alternative to solving the many issues the game is plagued with, but lets be honest. The Fallout franchise is getting towards "Ultima 9" levels of insulting for everyone involved. For those unfamiliar with the Ultima 9 reference please feel free to watch Noah Antwiler's Ultima Retrospective; https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpaNqz1vDmSixriNnNTD3FKXJ5D_y9wKS for a more in depth understanding on how an IP, can go from beloved to down right insulting. (Yes I know it's a lot of material, but going in depth like this will convey the correct meaning I wish to imply.)
I completely understand that reading thus far everyone is confused, I will elaborate. The Fallout IP as it currently stands has very little in common with the game mechanics employed by the original titles. While some may say that the originals are the detractor that is holding back the IP, I will agree and disagree. The problem we are facing is the same the Command and Conquer IP failed to properly tackle. One in which the entire game was changed to the point that the game mechanics and lessons learned from previous titles were rendered inert. This has also happened in Fallout 4.
The reason I bring this up is to prevent fixing what isn't broken from the original titles. While some would say that this perspective is born from "nostalgia" I would have to disagree. From the perspective of a game developer any time you change a core mechanic of game franchise (Fallout being the basis of design) you run the risk of completely alienating your fan bases (Example: Fallout 4 completely alienated the Original Fallout fanbase.). In doing so you are informing the player that the lessons they learned from the titles they purchased previously are now worthless, now rendering the previous titles pointless. Why would someone go back to play a previous title of a franchise if it is completely different from the modern titles? Why would a long time fan purchase a new title when they know the game will be completely different and have very little in common with its predecessor? Most players today would not commit to such an action.
Another point I wish to make is the very adult nature of the Fallout franchise. Bethesda has greatly diminished the original theme of the game to the point of making and "adult" game intended for adults and allowing them to be marketed to individuals too young to comprehend the mature themes involved. The original Fallout's (Basis of design) included such concepts like rape, child murder, suicide, slavery/human trafficing, (Real slavery not Bethesda's child friendly version aka the "Disney Pirate") Genocide, body horror, and mass extinction events. Now please consider this for a moment, the game is rated for mature 17+, however the rating for a Fallout titles in a 3D setting should be adults only 18+ considering the violence and themes. However to ensure that Bethesda could take advantage of younger players they watered down these themes to make the game within the acceptable standards of the mature rating.
MATURE
Content is generally suitable for ages 17 and up. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
ADULTS ONLY
Content suitable only for adults ages 18 and up. May include prolonged scenes of intense violence, graphic sexual content and/or gambling with real currency.
Now I'm sure everyone just quickly ran to the ESRB site to double check the ratings for the Fallout titles, and yes Fallout 1 and 2 are rated mature. However considering the limited graphics, it is reasonable that the original titles did not receive an adult rating due to the nature of the game mechanics and art style of the game. But if you were to take those same games and make them 3D, it would be much different. In this case I would say push the envelope instead of only alluding to adult themes to sell more titles. (TLDR: Grow some balls.)
However in doing this there is the capacity to actually take from the original titles or focus more on completely going in another direction with the IP all together. At least then the fan base will know how Bethesda intends to actually develop the IP.
I also suggest that any developers who do intend to work on any future Fallout releases that they take the time to play the original titles in depth. When I say in depth I would expect a developer to really dig into the game mechanics, themes, styles, and messages contained within to understand their purpose.
In conclusion if Bethesda simply rebooted the franchise based on how they want to run the IP I would expect the result to be of benefit vs. counter productive for gains. This would also prevent Bethesda from stringing along broken fan group based on the hope of what it could be vs. what it is. Because lets be honest, that's false advertisement.
Typically at this point I would generate a pro and cons for cost-profit analysis. But to be honest I sincerely doubt anyone at Bethesda would actually take my advice so I don't see the point. Plus from my perspective the IP is already dead with what I would assume would be a loss of almost all of the original fan base now choosing to ignore future releases due to Fallout 4's release; and the massive deviation for the core elements such as its theme and game play mechanics.
I have begun this open letter mostly in the hope that this could possibly bring about change that could benefit not only Bethesda but the fans as well. Feel free to post your thoughts as well (No inflammatory posts please). My intention is to either leave this letter here publicly on the forums or post them directly on the Bethesda forums. I completely expect Bethesda to be confused as I'm sure they would assume Fallout is a massive success in their eyes.
I have given considerable thought on how to appease everyone regarding the Fallout universe. From what I have experienced there will not be any way to please the original fans. To be honest from Bethesda's actions its nearly impossible to do so with the current state of the franchise.
For the newer fans each title develops what I could only describe as "tribal" groups of individuals that mainly attempt to justify a single title. Quickly getting into the trap the original fan base is stuck in.
However while the above statement is a overall detraction from the game I believe a solution is still possible. I have given this a considerable amount of thought on what my idea would do if acted upon to for the fans. I have also considered Bethesda's perspective and for profit business for their want to continue selling this franchise.
My idea is simple, wipe the slate clean. This should not be difficult considering the constant retcons of lore material and the inherent unstable nature of the lore. However considering Bethesda has full control over the IP they are capable of doing what ever they do so choose. While my idea may seem radical consider the following for a moment.
While I can say as a fan of the originals, I would be more pleased with Bethesda actually fixing the multitude of issues they added to the IP. However I am willing to compromise for everyone's benefit. If Bethesda simply generates a coherent time line, lore points, and characters I strongly think the IP can be repaired from the perspective of an original fan. However to do this they would have to immediately come to terms with in doing such an action this would render all current Fallout games non-canon to actually make this plan work.
This would not only allow for greater freedom with the IP, but also allow the fan base to actually come back together albeit in a compromised way, rather than a fractured foundation. I understand that this is the "nuclear" alternative to solving the many issues the game is plagued with, but lets be honest. The Fallout franchise is getting towards "Ultima 9" levels of insulting for everyone involved. For those unfamiliar with the Ultima 9 reference please feel free to watch Noah Antwiler's Ultima Retrospective; https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpaNqz1vDmSixriNnNTD3FKXJ5D_y9wKS for a more in depth understanding on how an IP, can go from beloved to down right insulting. (Yes I know it's a lot of material, but going in depth like this will convey the correct meaning I wish to imply.)
I completely understand that reading thus far everyone is confused, I will elaborate. The Fallout IP as it currently stands has very little in common with the game mechanics employed by the original titles. While some may say that the originals are the detractor that is holding back the IP, I will agree and disagree. The problem we are facing is the same the Command and Conquer IP failed to properly tackle. One in which the entire game was changed to the point that the game mechanics and lessons learned from previous titles were rendered inert. This has also happened in Fallout 4.
The reason I bring this up is to prevent fixing what isn't broken from the original titles. While some would say that this perspective is born from "nostalgia" I would have to disagree. From the perspective of a game developer any time you change a core mechanic of game franchise (Fallout being the basis of design) you run the risk of completely alienating your fan bases (Example: Fallout 4 completely alienated the Original Fallout fanbase.). In doing so you are informing the player that the lessons they learned from the titles they purchased previously are now worthless, now rendering the previous titles pointless. Why would someone go back to play a previous title of a franchise if it is completely different from the modern titles? Why would a long time fan purchase a new title when they know the game will be completely different and have very little in common with its predecessor? Most players today would not commit to such an action.
Another point I wish to make is the very adult nature of the Fallout franchise. Bethesda has greatly diminished the original theme of the game to the point of making and "adult" game intended for adults and allowing them to be marketed to individuals too young to comprehend the mature themes involved. The original Fallout's (Basis of design) included such concepts like rape, child murder, suicide, slavery/human trafficing, (Real slavery not Bethesda's child friendly version aka the "Disney Pirate") Genocide, body horror, and mass extinction events. Now please consider this for a moment, the game is rated for mature 17+, however the rating for a Fallout titles in a 3D setting should be adults only 18+ considering the violence and themes. However to ensure that Bethesda could take advantage of younger players they watered down these themes to make the game within the acceptable standards of the mature rating.
![ratingsymbol_m.png](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fesrbstorage.blob.core.windows.net%2Fesrbcontent%2Fimages%2Fratingsymbol_m.png&hash=ae2f7c785894266b2a76868a61280135)
MATURE
Content is generally suitable for ages 17 and up. May contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and/or strong language.
![ratingsymbol_ao.png](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fesrbstorage.blob.core.windows.net%2Fesrbcontent%2Fimages%2Fratingsymbol_ao.png&hash=52661ffa50f200127d660d230b35d4ef)
ADULTS ONLY
Content suitable only for adults ages 18 and up. May include prolonged scenes of intense violence, graphic sexual content and/or gambling with real currency.
Now I'm sure everyone just quickly ran to the ESRB site to double check the ratings for the Fallout titles, and yes Fallout 1 and 2 are rated mature. However considering the limited graphics, it is reasonable that the original titles did not receive an adult rating due to the nature of the game mechanics and art style of the game. But if you were to take those same games and make them 3D, it would be much different. In this case I would say push the envelope instead of only alluding to adult themes to sell more titles. (TLDR: Grow some balls.)
However in doing this there is the capacity to actually take from the original titles or focus more on completely going in another direction with the IP all together. At least then the fan base will know how Bethesda intends to actually develop the IP.
I also suggest that any developers who do intend to work on any future Fallout releases that they take the time to play the original titles in depth. When I say in depth I would expect a developer to really dig into the game mechanics, themes, styles, and messages contained within to understand their purpose.
In conclusion if Bethesda simply rebooted the franchise based on how they want to run the IP I would expect the result to be of benefit vs. counter productive for gains. This would also prevent Bethesda from stringing along broken fan group based on the hope of what it could be vs. what it is. Because lets be honest, that's false advertisement.
Typically at this point I would generate a pro and cons for cost-profit analysis. But to be honest I sincerely doubt anyone at Bethesda would actually take my advice so I don't see the point. Plus from my perspective the IP is already dead with what I would assume would be a loss of almost all of the original fan base now choosing to ignore future releases due to Fallout 4's release; and the massive deviation for the core elements such as its theme and game play mechanics.