Does anyone have any faith in the future of this franchise at this point?

[Iprovidelittlepianos]

It’s possible that Microsoft eventually hands the Fallout IP off to a different studio that is capable of making a decent RPG, and that would be better than nothing I guess. But I don’t see Fallout ever recovering from being the goofy wacky unserious wasteland that it has become. I also guarantee that the anti-capitalism angle will continue to be emphasized at the expense of other themes more relevant to the post-war world.

 

[Post-War Tribal]

Fallout got the Saints Row treatment.

 

[Anaphylaxis]

Fallout 4 was pretty abysmal and the Creation/Gamebyro Engine was very much showing its age and limitations even then. The show doesn't bother me as much as what Bethesda put out with Starfield. They're clearly out of energy and the writers do not give a shit anymore. Starfield was supposed to be their crowning achievement, and Todd Howard said as much and made that game out to be some kind of lovechild he's been building for years now, but its writing is shameful and the gameplay is horrible, repetitive, and frankly boring. TES6 has been "right around the corner" for what? Like ten years now?

I don't believe Bethesda is even capable of making a semi-decent looter-shooter (which Fallout 4 basically is) let alone an RPG on the caliber to fit Fallout or The Elder Scrolls. My final judgement will probably wait until after TES6 releases, which will probably be right before Hell freezes over at this rate.

 

[Gizmojunk]

I don't believe Bethesda is even capable of making a semi-decent looter-shooter (which Fallout 4 basically is) let alone an RPG on the caliber to fit Fallout or The Elder Scrolls.

Their target demographic has no desire for an RPG. The devs themselves likely doubt the sense or purpose of one. For them it's the Brawndo argument in reverse.

Spoiler

 

[Mr Fish]

Bethesda was basically just a fancier Piranha Bytes studio making quirky janky RPG's that aren't amazing but had a charm to them that captivated a certain type of audience. The difference between them is that Bethesda got way way too big for their own good and were never one of the "big boys" and can never really be one of the "big boys" in the AAA landscape. They caught lightning in a bottle at juuuuuust the right time with juuuuuust the right marketing to be blown into superstardom and they have no idea what the hell to do next.

If Starfield was meant to be their magnum opus then... Well I mean it's over then innit?

I said it before, the melee combat hasn't improved since Skyrim, and Skyrim's melee combat wasn't even that deep or complex to begin with. And It released in 2011. We've had 3 games since then and all three of them have had no improvements to the melee combat system. So... If they couldn't incrementally improve upon it how the hell are they supposed to AAAA improve upon it for a high fantasy game where melee is a far bigger component to the gameplay formula? They've been twiddling their thumbs for 12, 13 years. You don't let your muscles atrophy and then just suddenly decide to pick up being a gymnast again. That's not how it works.

Bethesda is a fancier Pyranha Bytes studio but with the added pressure of Microsoft breathing down their necks. TES6 is fucked.

Their target demographic has no desire for an RPG. The devs themselves likely doubt the sense or purpose of one. For them it's the Brawndo argument in reverse.

Spoiler

Yeah I think someone from Bethesda said somewhere once that they don't want to limit what players can do. And without limitation, when everything is served to the player on a silver platter, how much of an RPG can it really be?

 

[Anaphylaxis]

Their target demographic has no desire for an RPG. The devs themselves likely doubt the sense or purpose of one. For them it's the Brawndo argument in reverse.

Yeah I think someone from Bethesda said somewhere once that they don't want to limit what players can do. And without limitation, when everything is served to the player on a silver platter, how much of an RPG can it really be?

The most egregious thing is one of their lead writers, or it might have actually been THE lead writer, said that he prioritizes environmental storytelling (That is to say, skeletons in funny poses and holotapes) over quest design since they want the play to "see" the world or something.

 

[Krizu]

Yeah, I think it might be better that Bethesda is beholden to someone else for a change if they fail, I think if elder scrolls 6 fails on a commercial or critical level maybe that would be enough to return them to their roots,

I only hate Bethesda’s treatment of fallout, Morrowind is a masterpiece and it’s clear they once had strong RPG roots but it makes me sad they don’t even make RPGs anymore,

Even than, Microsoft overall has been dropping the ball since the end of the XBox 360 so who even knows what to expect at this point,

It's kind of beside the point, but I've been wondering, in regards of Bethesda:

Who's really to blame?

Is it Bethesda? Or is it Zenimax?

I might be biased, but I refuse to accept that game developers themselves, would conciously ruin an IP, or an idea. That includes Mr. Beautiful Lies T. Howard himself too, to an extent. I can't help but feel like he, as essentially the spokesperson, is just a massive culprit. It doesn't mean that he isn't to blame (I mean, he has been on stage to lie his face off), but even that doesn't necessarily mean that they were his lies.

I just dunno. Cause what I've realized, is that Tod has been there for since the early-to-mid 90's. He's worked on daggerfall, and been the project lead for Redguard and Morrowind, and has aknowledged the step-back that Oblivion took from Morrowind, which imo is the hands down best Elder scrolls game to date.

I know people can change for the worse, and often do, and that Bethesda today is not the same Bethesda that made morrowind as much of the staff has probably changed since then, but it still feels strange to me that the shift from late 2000s to what it is now, would've happened within bethesda.

My hunch is, that starting with Fallout 3's and Oblivion's success, Zenimax went "more this", which led to skyrim, which was such a massive hit that Zenimax's big suits essentially went "more of this. Forever."

In either case. When Bethesda crumbles down and burns, the ashes will probably contain the ingredients for an incredibly interesting behind the scenes documentary as to what really has been going on in there, post morrowind.