The anger in the Fallout fan community was well earned by Herve and Co through their (his) idiotic, bordering on criminal, mismanagement of Interplay, BIS, Micro Forte, and the Fallout property. The only vision Herve has is a view of the inside of his own colon.
Really, to allow Interplay to lose the D&D rights, thereby killing the cash cow that was Baldur's Gate, is inexcusable. If Interplay had had any kind of halfway responsible board of directors, Herve would have been sacked for that alone.
The combat system in Fallout is brilliant; it is good enough to support a game on its own. The problems with Tactics were, in this order,
1. Fallout fans wanted Fallout 3.
2. Tactics was not faithful enough to the Fallout universe, and did not successfully capture the atmosphere.
3. Herve screwed Micro Forte.
BoS deserved the drubbing it got. People interested in Fallout again wanted Fallout 3. There was no demand for a brainless console title ripped off from a previous console title. Herve served up a steaming pile of merde on a 5 1/4" disc.
If not for the hardcore Fallout fan base keeping the faith, Interplay would not have gotten $1+ million for the rights, and there would have been no market to justify Bethesda spending the money.
It is unfortunate and, I think, somewhat inevitable, that some of the anger of the Fallout fanbase transferred to Bethesda.
I want my Fallout 3. I want it on the SPECIAL system with a 3rd person isometric view (camera rotate/zoom would be cool) and turn-based combat. I want the vacuum-tube, no microprocessor, 50's idea of the future, M-rated, shoot a mutant in the nards, blackout when the player character gets laid atmosphere.
I will not condemn Bethesda until I see the game. Nor will I be an apologist for them until I see the game. The only established fact at this point is that the game will use the Gamebryo engine, which IS capable of presenting a true Fallout game (though the system requirements WILL be higher than those for Fallout 2). I pray that they did not shell out a million bucks to defecate all over Fallout a la Interplay.
I would rather see the Fallout franchise die than see the name slapped on Oblivion with guns (though I will admit, perhaps to my own peril, that I did enjoy both Morrowind and Oblivion). Better to let the wound heal so we can look at the scar and cherish our memories (Planescape: Torment) than to keep ripping open the wound.
