Bethesda-Interplay lawsuit details

[Syraxith]

Hey, I wrote that, not Fargo.

Props to you sir

And Fargo is not exactly a saint, y'know. For starters, he wanted to cancel Fallout while it was still in development.

Huh, I never knew that. Did that decision he almost made happen to involve the GURPS licensing issue?

Moreover, Herve would never had gotten his grubby French paws on Interplay if Fargo had not nearly run it into the ground with his mismanagement.

I forget much of the finer points of the whole debacle, how did Brian go about leaving and Titus taking over? Shareholder vote?

 

[swampcat]

DRAMA

Beth have really screwed Interplay (and Fallout) over this. But Interplay agreed to it all so they only have themselves to blame.

Bethsoft and Interplay are both guilty but Bethsoft screwed things more and made the biggest troubles.....
And the main trouble is called "Fallout 3"...

IMHO ..... just my 2 cents....

 

[Crni Vuk]

I talked to an insider, and it looks like Bethesda never intended to approve anything Interplay would send to them.

Eh? What kind of policy from Bethesda is that ... for the case its true well thats some really bad attitude for a company.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

I talked to an insider, and it looks like Bethesda never intended to approve anything Interplay would send to them.

Eh? What kind of policy from Bethesda is that ... for the case its true well thats some really bad attitude for a company.

They let Herve dig his own grave, jump in it, and cover himself with dirt, and they walk away with all the marbles. Pretty fucking shrewd actaually.

Sheds a lot of light on this quote from Todd from a few weeks ago:

Toddler[/url]]As far as the Fallout MMO stuff, you probably have as much information as I do, there's really nothing new that I know of on that front, and it'll work itself out in the right ways, either legally or development-wise, I'm sure.

This was in the cards from the beginning.

Again, Bethsda, Interplay what's the difference? Neither one have either the want or talent to make a proper Fallout RPG.

 

[cronicler]

Yes, I do agree that TicTacs bears only a semblance of resemblance to Fallout Universe but sadly it is still in the top 5 Tactical games out there. Just consider it non-cannon and enjoy the game

 

[Sander]

This was in the cards from the beginning.

Again, Bethsda, Interplay what's the difference? Neither one have either the want or talent to make a proper Fallout RPG.

Interplay has at least Chris Taylor (who was heavily involved with Fallout 1,2 and Tactics).

 

[Sorrow]

1 and Tactics. He only wrote manual for 2 and he didn't/couldn't do much to make FoT a good Fallout game.

Yes, I do agree that TicTacs bears only a semblance of resemblance to Fallout Universe but sadly it is still in the top 5 Tactical games out there. Just consider it non-cannon and enjoy the game

There isn't much to enjoy - unbalanced missions, labyrinth mission design, indestructible terrain, linearity, etc. Even X-Com 3 was a better tactical game than Tictacs.

 

[UncannyGarlic]

I talked to an insider, and it looks like Bethesda never intended to approve anything Interplay would send to them.

Well if Interplay submitted all of the materials they were required to then it's possible that the case could be dismissed or that Interplay could file a counter suit arguing that Bethesda acted in bad faith. Fact is, they both sound like they were in the wrong but if Interplay never submitted any materials then they're fucked.

I honestly saw a legal case over something ridiculous in the contract coming the moment I read the contract as it was a horrible, horrible deal for Interplay. I would have gone with another company that didn't have such shrewd lawyers and hired better lawyers myself. Another thing that I noticed was that Bethesda had the head of their legal department sign it and Interplay only had Herve so I question if Herve even had a lawyer involved in the negotiations.

Again, Bethsda, Interplay what's the difference? Neither one have either the want or talent to make a proper Fallout RPG.

Indeed, neither are trustworthy or dependable caretakers. I just wish that Brian Fargo could get Fallout back and give it the proper treatment it deserves, be that leaving it alone or making a proper game.

There isn't much to enjoy - unbalanced missions, labyrinth mission design, indestructible terrain, linearity, etc. Even X-Com 3 was a better tactical game than Tictacs.

I enjoyed Tactics for what it was, it could have been a lot better but it wasn't a bad game. It was probably around a 6/10 but I still like the look of the game, even if it only looks slightly more like Fallout than Fallout 3.

 

[Sorrow]

Well, it was pretty interesting game - but neither as a tactical game, nor as a Fallout game. I enjoyed it a bit - I would enjoy it more if it wouldn't crash on my comp in every mission.
I would give it 5/10 if it wouldn't have stability problems.

 

[Ausir]

Another thing that I noticed was that Bethesda had the head of their legal department sign it and Interplay only had Herve so I question if Herve even had a lawyer involved in the negotiations.

I don't think they were able to afford a lawyer at that point.

 

[Public]

Yes, I do agree that TicTacs...

Sorry, I couldn't resist

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

did the inclusion of the fan patch get them into trouble i wonder?


and yeah, the boxart is misleading lol

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

I don't think they were able to afford a lawyer at that point.

So even when Interplay was nothing more than a name and a legacy Hervey boy pretended to be a game publisher.

 

[Sorrow]

Bethesda also claims that the name Trilogy constitutes unfair competition, since it suggests that the pack includes Fallout 3.

I suppose it could be misleading for a newcomer, but who could have missed this whole "it's nawt fallowt!!1!" debacle?

I wonder what's the deal with the whole "misleading" thing. The box contains three Fallout games made by Interplay so it's a trilogy, has their logos on the box, their names are in the product description - it's impossible to confuse it with Fallout 3.

 

[Goweigus]

well if another star wars trilogy edition was released except it had episodes 1, 2, and the non cgi clone wars feature that wouldn't make much sense... (even though they are 3 star wars bits = trilogy by that logic)

I don't think it matters if anyone defames the name of the Fallout franchise at this point, because the only people that would care love the originals enough that it doesn't matter to them.

Yes interplay must have messed up on many points in the contract, no doubt, and surely Bethesda would have dismissed anything that had been sent their way. ( if they had really loved the franchise the way they should have, they would have at least done something to help some of the original devs to get something good done)

It is soo unlikely a Fallout anywhere close to the first 2 will ever come out, the best we can hope for is decent post-apocalyptic RPGS

 

[Sorrow]

well if another star wars trilogy edition was released except it had episodes 1, 2, and the non cgi clone wars feature that wouldn't make much sense... (even though they are 3 star wars bits = trilogy by that logic)

Except that in this case Fallout 3 is the one that wouldn't be a real part of the trilogy. It's an FPS.
At least F1-FoT share the turn-based SPECIAL system, traits, perks and isometric view.

Though, I find the name misleading too. It suggests that all the three games are fully Fallout.
It should be more like Interplay Trilogy - The Decline of the Fallout Series.

And the advertising slogan should be: "It gets worse and worse" .

 

[UncannyGarlic]

Well, it was pretty interesting game - but neither as a tactical game, nor as a Fallout game. I enjoyed it a bit - I would enjoy it more if it wouldn't crash on my comp in every mission.
I would give it 5/10 if it wouldn't have stability problems.

I don't have the stability issues on XP (I don't think, been awhile since I played it).

I don't think they were able to afford a lawyer at that point.

Yeah, I was thinking about both the limited time and the money issues might have been the reason...

Sorry, I couldn't resist

Awesome.

I wonder what's the deal with the whole "misleading" thing. The box contains three Fallout games made by Interplay so it's a trilogy, has their logos on the box, their names are in the product description - it's impossible to confuse it with Fallout 3.

It also predates Bethesda's Fallout 3 so it's a bogus argument anyway.

Except that in this case Fallout 3 is the one that wouldn't be a real part of the trilogy. It's an FPS.
At least F1-FoT share the turn-based SPECIAL system, traits, perks and isometric view.

Indeed. Say what you will about Tic-Tacs, at least the fundamental gameplay was the same, if not as good. Fallout 3 and FOBoS belong together if you ask me, they are both ARPG clones of popular ARPGs (Diablo and TES).

 

[Ausir]

Yeah, I was thinking about both the limited time and the money issues might have been the reason...

Maybe Herve didn't even read it and just went "Meh, tl;dr, where do I sign for teh monies?"

 

[Dionysus]

It also predates Bethesda's Fallout 3 so it's a bogus argument anyway.

I don't think it does predate FO3. Before FO3, I remember the Fallout Collection, the Fallout Saga, and the dual jewel. The "trilogy" came out earlier this year in the U.S.

And it is a little confusing for the uninitiated. If you bought a Matrix "trilogy" box set, you wouldn't expect Revolutions to be replaced by the collection of animated shorts. I can see why people would assume that the Fallout trilogy is Fallout 1-3.

 

[rcorporon]

And it is a little confusing for the uninitiated. If you bought a Matrix "trilogy" box set, you wouldn't expect Revolutions to be replaced by the collection of animated shorts. I can see why people would assume that the Fallout trilogy is Fallout 1-3.

Except, if the Matrix box said on the very cover, what it contained, then only idiots and blind people could make that mistake.

See:

It says the names of the included games right on the box. If somebody bought this and then was upset that it didn't have FO3 in it, they're an idiot.

-

Edit:

Seems that there are two boxes, but this one shows the titles as well: