Planet Fallout interviews Jeff Gardiner

[Brother None]

Planet Fallout interviews Jeff Gardiner.<blockquote>Planet Fallout: Speaking of DLC launching, the last two (The Pitt and Broken Steel) both had problems that were not just glitches and bugs but issues from the get-go. Is this something that has really been looked at?

Bethesda: I’ve lost tons of sleep on this. Unfortunately, both of them were totally unforeseeable errors. I call it a “solar flare”. Sometimes solar flares affect your cell phone. Literally, both of these were that. But both Microsoft and us are very conscientious. I’m a gamer, too, and I would hate to experience this in a game I love and I apologize for this. Trust me; it has literally kept me up at night. Point Lookout has been thoroughly tested – again- and we’re going to try our best to ensure that we won’t have to repeat those problems.
(...)
Planet Fallout: Now, we talked about the monsters being almost a little bit like Broken Steel cap type monsters. Now, is that going to be a continued thing, we’re going to have the level 30 kind of monsters, like the Overlord in the new DLCs, or will they have to have Broken Steel?

Bethesda: You do not have to have Broken Steel to play Point Lookout. We needed to make sure that it [Point Lookout] is a challenge for the higher levels but still playable from 15-20. There are ways to tweak the numbers to ensure that any player can play it at that level and enjoy it.</blockquote>

 

[Per]

Sometimes solar flares affect your cell phone. Literally, both of these were that.

Literally?

Both of your DLCs launches were literally cell phones being affected by solar flares?

*head explodes*

 

[UnidentifiedFlyingTard]

give this man a Nobel Prize!

 

[eternaut]

Watch out for the next edition of the Guiness, this will be under the "most idiotic excuse ever" category

 

[whirlingdervish]

they need to literally hire some game testers who are literally not a bunch of yes-men who say that everything works fine when it literally is non-functioning.

literally.

:stupid:

 

[Ausir]

With the DLC and everything going kind of a little bit everywhere while staying on the east coast, and I know you’re not with Obsidian so you’re not talking about Fallout New Vegas, but is that canon? Is this still the same world? Like eventually, at some point, would Fallout New Vegas receive DLC that would be somewhere near Washington?

New Vegas having DLC on the East Coast? What kind of retarded question is that?

 

[Brother None]

It's badly phrased, so I'm not sure I get it, but maybe he means that since the DLC areas of Fallout 3 are pretty spread out geographically, New Vegas could potentially grab back into the East Coast.

Seems unlikely, plus I really don't see what the DLC Q has to do with the "is it canon" part of the question. I hate it when interviewers do that. Ask a question and then ask another, unrelated question over it, leaving the first unanswered

 

[Per]

I interpret the question to mean that since Fo3 is now the "real" Fallout, NV won't be proper Fallout unless it somehow connects geographically and/or plotically to Fo3. Having it be set much closer to the locations of the original games doesn't count.

 

[Brother None]

That would be too idiotic, even for a Fallout 3 fansite like PF, Per.

 

[Ausir]

That would be too idiotic, even for a Fallout 3 fansite like PF, Per.

Well, I don't see what else they could mean by this. They don't ask if it's canon because it's being made by another developer, but it does seem like they mention canon in terms of geography.

 

[Ausdoerrt]

I interpret the question to mean that since Fo3 is now the "real" Fallout, NV won't be proper Fallout unless it somehow connects geographically and/or plotically to Fo3. Having it be set much closer to the locations of the original games doesn't count.

Yup, that's exactly what it sounds like.

But, man, asking "is it canon?" in FO after FOPOS and FO3 is like a sick joke

 

[Black]

That would be too idiotic, even for a Fallout 3 fansite like PF, Per.

That would be too idiotic

too idiotic

Heh, you're so young and innocent B)
You should know by now there's no such thing like "too idiotic".

 

[Ausir]

I talked around and apparently folks over at Planet Fallout interpret "Hines added that this title will have no impact on what Todd Howard and his team are working on. " as New Vegas not being canon.

For me it's pretty silly. Bethesda are too much of control freaks to allow for anything like that to be published without their creative oversight. It just won't affect any current Bethesda projects like the DLC.

 

[Crni Vuk]

well the thing is imagine Aus, if New vegas would actualy be a better roleplaying game then Fallout 3. Now how would that make Bethesda look like ?

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

well the thing is imagine Aus, if New vegas would actualy be a better roleplaying game then Fallout 3. Now how would that make Bethesda look like ?

Yeah, they can't risk their second bananas to out stage them.

 

[Ausdoerrt]

Well, a) it's a big "what if", especially given Obsidian's last title NWN2 isn't really my definition of a "good RPG"

and b) eve if it's a miracle, and they manage to make sth the people at this forum would enjoy more that FO3, Beth will sure be able to market it as either their own success, or as being inferior to FO3.

I mean, I'm not really worried about Beth's public image here, seeing how they're more concerned with PR and marketing than game developing, and how the were able tp make ppl buy the PoS that's called FO3, it's not gonna be a problem.

However, making it "non-canon" is pretty ridiculous, because a) it's probably going to be closer to the original canon, and b) since when do the devs go around deciding that? The fans will have the final word anyway (although, considering what the current FO3 fanbase is...).

 

[Ausir]

since when do the devs go around deciding that? The fans will have the final word anyway

Actually, the devs do decide what is and isn't part of the official canon. Although fans are free to have their "personal canon" or "fanon".

And yeah, most Beth fans will likely end up thinking New Vegas is inferior to Fallout 3, even if to us it's better. And if they do like it, they'll praise Bethesda for it (just like Fallout fans will end up blaming Bethesda if they don't).

 

[Brother None]

And if they do like it, they'll praise Bethesda for it (just like Fallout fans will end up blaming Bethesda if they don't).

Depends. Obsidian can't fix the combat or other base mechanics, but story, dialogue and quest design are squarely on them. And if they once again fail to properly plan their budget and schedule and end up with a buggy release then that'll be some debate, but I'm not a big fan of developers who consistently do that, and you can't keep blaming publishers (as people do with Troika and Obsidian).

 

[Ausir]

Depends. Obsidian can't fix the combat or other base mechanics, but story, dialogue and quest design are squarely on them. And if they once again fail to properly plan their budget and schedule and end up with a buggy release then that'll be some debate, but I'm not a big fan of developers who consistently do that, and you can't keep blaming publishers (as people do with Troika and Obsidian).

Yes, I'm not saying that if Obsidian fucks up it will solely be Bethesda's fault. I'm saying that if they do, many Fallout fans/Obsidian fans will end up blaming only Bethesda for it.

 

[lugaru]

With Obsidian I'm expecting a better product, I mean everything is already done for them and they just need to build stories and art and stuff within a finished game, something lots of mod makers already do.

My only fears would be that it does not get finished or that it comes out with some deadly bugs. Overal I'm optimistic though, we've talked before of "if not them than who" and most people seem to like them.