Guilty about doing what? Running a business/making business decisions? Enforcing a contract that the other party agreed to?

I think it's perhaps a little unfair to liken Bethesda (or any game developer) to a football team when it comes to artistic integrity.

I sincerely believe Bethesda to be far less cynical than any Premier League team.

On topic, I saw from Ausir's link that the unspecified 'Project V13' is apparently still in development, so perhaps further details will emerge in time.

Random thought:

If Iplay were to lose the franchise license, it will be interesting to see if they continue with Masthead to create a Fallout free V13. If so, I wonder if the traditiona fans would be more, or less inclined to try out a V13 created by original BIS people over a Fallout online created by ZeniMax.

What I said was a joke well only a half joke!

In an ideal world were bunnies roam without fear of foxes or chelsea tractors I imagine that Interplay and Bethesda could arrange a partnership in the fallout franchise or at least co-operate at a closer level. I mean FO: 3 is by no stretch of the imagination a bad game but it might have been nice if more of the original developers were perhaps called up on an off the record basis and asked for tips and pointers - that might well have happened but I heard nothing of it though thats somewhat logical considering it would have been off the record.

I understand the business world is all about making maximum profits for minimum loss but you cant deny its sad from a unbyaist point of veiw that the tables have turned on Interplay so that the franchise they have created (which admittedly they sold) has probably had its last Interplay related connection severed. Of course I'm talking about this from an emotional perspective. Business wise it all makes sense but for a shallow oppertunity to add some intellectual clout to this post from an ex Pink Floyd member.

Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense
Expressed in dollars and cents,
Pounds, shillings and pence
Can't you see
It all makes perfect sense

- Roger Waters

Anyway I wasn't flaming Bethesda and I hope it didn't appear that way I was just speaking from this bleeding heart ^_^.

Funny, I don't see it that way. IMO, the deal reflected what both sides brought to the table - and on Interplay's, at the time, that was practically nothing. This was a bailout, not a partnership of equals. Bethesda gave the current management one more chance to deliver on their grand promises, and when they couldn't even manage that...

At worst, all Beth has done is finally take the brain-dead body off life support, or call in the marker of a compulsive gambler and deadbeat.

You're right about one thing, though: this was predictable. If not for the infusion of cash they got by selling off the IP, the company would have gone bust years ago. They had no product and no realistic chance of making any. The deal just delayed the inevitable.

You want to be mad at someone? Try the people who ran a once-beloved and successful company ("By Gamers, For Gamers") into the ground.

I'm not sure if Chris Taylor will stay at IPLY if they do lose the license.

Yep. Most licensing agreements expire after certain conditions are met, or not met. If, after this time, Interplay still doesn't have the resources to finish this I can see why Bethesda would want the license back. If Interplay has made some good headway in the developement of V13 than hopefully the two can find a compromise that suits both sides.


Yeah, perhapse we'd see him head over to InXile like Jason Anderson.

Well, I'd rather have him work on Wasteland 2 than on Fallout Online myself.

Let me reiterate this point. Please do not turn this in to a discussion of whether FO3 was a good game or a worthy successor to the originals. While this does have relevance to the thread, bringing it up will only derail the discussion.

I've deleted a few posts, but if the problem continues it will only get the thread locked, and I'd really rather not have that happen.

I imagine what made Bethesda's offer so attractive to Herve Caen in the first place was their willingness to let him work on his pet project, the MMO. Of course Bethesda isn't stupid, they knew Herve Caen is an idiot and would never be able to follow through on his side of the agreement. Just read the agreement from 2007 and tell me Bethesda didn't know all along this would happen. Who's going to invest in a failed company run by the very guy that caused it to fail in the first place? The same guy who couldn't even pay the back salaries of his old employees? Meh. I have a strong suspicion that Bethesda never wanted the MMO in the first place, they just did what they had to do to fully own the IP for the game they were already developing.

I'm not mad at anyone, I'm actually delighted this happened. Herve Caen and his zombie Interplay killed my beloved Black Isle Studios, I can't wait till that company gets hacked up and sold for parts. It's beyond time.

Herve Caen did get what he deserved, but I am sorry for Chris Taylor.

Way to kill Interplay, Bethesda. They deserve it for giving us Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.

One can only hope! InXile sounds very much like the makings of a new Black Isle (in some aspects) and in my eyes that's one better than a second Iplay


This is what I'm hoping for. I mean c'mon, why did Chris Taylor stay with Iplay to work on V13 if not just for V13 itself, I reckon InXile would pickup his contract if he offered it.


Exactly, damn that man.

I can see a plus in either scenario, either the MMO license is lost to Beth so the Taylor can finally work towards a worthier project with a worthier company. Or V13 is continued, giving Fallout one last trademark of Black Isle's sole remnant.

Makes me wish they hadn't sold the IP and had just died, heh.

That's not even an Ideal World, it's pure fantasy even in an actual Ideal World. No offense, mind.


I'm not sure, really, what they could have contributed that would have improved FO3 all that much. I've always felt that FO3 captured the inner essence of the Fallout setting extremely well. Obviously, it's not perfect ... and bears room for improvement (how much room there is, differs from person to person ... nd a mod has asked us not to go there, so let's just leave it at "there is room for improvement" and not split hairs any finer than that, shall we?). But I think the critical, key point, Bethesda got darned well ... at least for me: it feels like a Fallout game.

If you want to discuss this point with me further, I think we'd best take it to PM, or start a different thread entirely. We're way over by the margin of the map on this one, and I think the nearest label reads "THERE BE MODS HERE" ...


Interplay dug it's own grave, and not recently. My tears for Interplay were shed long, long ago. I refuse to shed any MORE tears just because it's bloated corpse keeps insisting on twitching every now and then.


I don't remember the screen name (and never knew their real name), but back when I was young, foolish, and *twitch* on AOL ... I actually knew one of the creative sorts from Interplay, in passing. Fellow regular in the RPG-Community chatroom. HIM, and folks like him - the ones that REALLY gave us Fallout, not the Suits and Stuffed Shirts that ran the company into the ground - that's who I miss. (Especially since I was chattign with him semi-regularly while the whole "unpaid salaries" thing was happening, IIRC.)


If that had happened, they'd've dragged Fallout down with them. And no matter what anyone may feel about FO3-vs-FO1&2? At least there's a Fallout at all. Which means, there's hope for the future. If Interplay had kept the Fallout IP, and taken it to the bottom along with their rusty, leaking tub of a ship ... then we wouldn't have that, at all. We'd be left with nothing but memories.

I was unaware we were beggars, to be glad for any scrap that comes our way, heh. And we'd be left with more than just memories, the other games still work.

Aren't we supposed to not get into this debate? I've held my breath, afterall. Hard thing for me to do on that subject

I hope that this game never gets made. Bethesda did a grand job at wrecking Fallout 3, lets not see them destroy another product with the Fallout logo.

As much as I disagree with the second half of this I agree that a MMO would destroy the feel of the wasteland

:foodndrink:

Ouch... you don't pull any punches, do you?

Ouch! You really pick your anologies, don't you?

(For the uninitiated, Pink Floyd's break-up in 1985 was one of the most spectacularly acrimonious in recent music history. :blink: )

I like to hope that this will all be resolved quickly and without any bitterness. It seems from what I've read online that Interplay fully intend to release 'Project V13' in any eventuality, so basically it looks like the Fallout fans are going to get a post-nuclear MMO roleplaying game, but whether or not it's a Fallout MMO is what remains to be determined.

It would be pretty ironic if some of the fans displeased at the direction Fallout 3 took felt that a non-Fallout MMO was closer in spirit to their beloved game than the 'official' Fallout games (from 2008 onwards). Or it could be that Interplay pull some last-minute deals and end up releasing a game called 'Fallout: V13'. We don't know yet.

Either way, whether you're more of a fan of Bethesda's games or Interplay's, there's a huge potential for fans of both to be pleased. For example, though I wasn't a fan of the gameplay of the first two games, I'm particularly interested to see how that works in a multiplayer setting (I think I'd enjoy it more), so even though I like one more than the other, there's a big chance I'll end up liking both. I think many fans will be in the same position, so that's win-win all round.

See ? This is the problem right there.
People don't actually think that STEALING (yeah, interplay created fallout, they still HAVE the rights on the fallout MMO...why would bethesda get them?) is that bad.
What would you say if a big company tried to rip you off and steal something you created ?

I could care less about a fallout MMO, but i think bethesda has crossed the line. They seriously have to cut that kind of crap.

Think about it this way: Interplay are [censored].
Either bethesda owns the rights, or nobody does - short of divine intervention, Interplay aren't making any MMOs any time soon.

Uhhh ... its not stealing when you pay $5+ million for the entire Fallout IP. Bethesda has spent a significant chunk of change developing Fallout 3 and has every reason to protect that IP. They leased it back to Interplay to produce that MMO on the legal promise that serious development would have started my now. (it evidently hasn't) Alas interplay is not the same interplay that it once was (and it hasn't been for awhile).