All Things Fallout, A Non Game Specific Discussion Thread Options

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Khajiit had something to say related to the Fallout series but didn't see a thread that it would fit in. So he made one!

This one was thinking that he would love to see a spinoff game from the main Fallout series that takes place in post apocalyptic China. Khajiit thinks it would be interesting to see things from their point of view and to see what is going on over there after the Great War ended.

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

@SubRosa - Got to push back on this one a bit. The predecessor to Obsidian, Interplay, is who screwed over Obsidian with their bungling of the IP in the first place, especially when Hervé Caen took control of the company. If they didn't run Fallout into the ground, Bethesda doesn't even have the opportunity to buy the rights and, for better and for worse, make it a lucrative big-name franchise. And franchise rights legal battles are always messy. Someone always gets the short end of the stick.

I can't seem to find the interview with Feargus Urquhart that I was referring to, but he talks about this and more. Now, maybe one can say he doesn't state his true feelings in the interview, but it is much easier to take his words at face value. While I can't remember exact words, Urquhart says more or less that 1) Obsidian was responsible for missing the Metacritic cutoff, 2) Bethesda added that stipulation after the original contract signing as an extra incentive, and 3) Obsidian underestimated how intensive it would be to make an open-world game somewhat like what Bethesda makes, among other things that escape me right now. Obsidian agreed to the year-and-a-half contract and fully knew what they were getting into. And a year-and-a-half is a tough window to make a game like New Vegas in, but they also had the benefit of the vast majority of the engine, assets, etc. being already made, which takes up a considerable length of game development time.

And from what I understand, including in statements by Obsidian current and former execs and (I think) an article or two on the company's business practices, is that Obsidian did not exactly conduct business well in those days. If they are hedging their bets on that Metacritic bonus, that's a bad gamble on their part, and I'm by no means a business expert. That's not to say that Bethesda is blameless or anything like that—I don't remember the part about Bethesda being tasked with quality control, but well...their QA on their own games leaves a lot to be desired even with how huge and complex the final products are. But I think Obsidian gets too much leeway.

That being said, I do wish Obsidian were given more time to fully realize what they wanted to put in the game. New Vegas is already fantastic, but the amount of cut content, like with Bethesda games, is a bit disappointing to see not be in the game. Apparently, we were supposed to get a lot more content in Arizona where Caesar's Legion is in control, among many other things that got cut. Josh Sawyer is also on record stating that the Legion was never meant to be a morally grey faction (and it's mind-boggling that there are real-life fans of the Legion that legitimately believe that), but that they would've been much more fleshed-out than they turned out to be. What Obsidian managed was incredible, but there is still a "what could have been". Maybe the people developing the mod "Fallout 4: New Vegas" will be able to do something with that.

@Renee - Yep, he's a real dude (though Easy Pete isn't his actual name, and in real life he is white instead of black like in-game). He even signed a poster I bought at the general store! I've known that he was based on a real person for some time, and the fact that Easy Pete's thing is dynamite is actually related to the fact that the real guy worked in the mines as security for a living, and he had to handle explosives at some point. I forget the full story.

This post has been edited by RaderOfTheLostArk: Feb 24 2023, 02:22 AM