http://www.gamespot.com/articles/fallout-4-dev-defends-dlc-announcement-coming-befo/1100-6430553/?utm_campaign=54d2d62a71b11e98090044c1&utm_source=weekly_newsletter&utm_medium=email&bt_alias=eyJ1c2VySWQiOiJmMjI5YjY4Ny1kYzY3LTRmY2ItOTRjNS1kNzc1ZmVlMTM5OWMifQ%3D%3D

Not everybody is happy about a season pass, with little to no details, being announced for Fallout 4. Pete Hines, VP of Bethesda Softworks, has been scrutinized and critiqued for this controversial move that is uncustomary of BGS.

Personally, while I understand wanting to inform the public of what BGS' future plans were, I don't believe the timing was entirely appropriate. Had there actually been some details to go along with the season pass, such as what it will likely entail, instead of just a price tag, that would have been more sufficient.

Instead, we've had snippits of the game, are aware of a $30 season pass that will allegedly containt "$40 of content," and are receiving cheesy videos on the SPECIAL attribute system, of which most of us are already familiar with what it does, regardless of the tweaks.

It's a bizarre and strange, new marketing strategy that BGS is approaching with Fallout 4 and it may or may not ultimately be a benefit. We'll only know after the game is released. But, it certainly is at least leaving me scratching my head and wondering what the heck BGS and gamesas are thinking.

Any word on artificial delays for certain platforms for DLC release?

But they did say that there would likely be about the same amount of DLC for this game that there were for other games.
Also... it's optional, so I am not sure what all of the (fake)rage is about. It isn't as if they have said people cannot still buy DLC a la carte, as per the norm.

Hahhh...

BGS: "We are going to have a season pass for DLC."

People: "What are the DLC's going to be."

BGS: "...We...aren't going to tell you that? It's a surprise? You'll have to wait for the official announcement and it's release for those details?"

People: "BGS IS THE NEW EA!"

This is what I'm hearing.

I don't understand why anyone would be upset over this. We knew there would be DLC eventually; all they did was announce you could basically preorder it for a lower price. If you're not willing to take it on faith that the DLC is worth it... then wait and see when it comes out. That won't cost you much extra. Is it that they don't know what the DLC will be specifically? That's a good thing - it means they've been focused on making the base game as complete as possible and won't stoop to day 1 DLC.

One flat price to get the DLC at no extra charge for a lesser price than if you bought them all a la carte.

Of course then, with that statement, we'll have people who will actually waste their time calculating content vs dollars to prove that we were shilled.

And on top of that, no-one's forcing people to buy the season pass now - it's not a time limited offer or anything. I certainly would never buy a pass until the first DLC it's for had been announced & detailed (it's how I've done it before).

Kind of like how, outside of the people wanting the Collector's edition's, no-one has been forced to pre-order the base game.

So, yeah. This seems like more of the general internet rabble-rousing - the people who deliberately spend their time moaning about stuff, and downrating games because they have (optional) features that they don't like. (The anti-anime doods who go into every Steam forum for a visual novel ranting about "why is this trash on Steam"; the anti-microtransaction doods who go into every forum for a game with MT's and rant; etc..... some people just enjoy being angry.)

It's cool to be an angry gamer. Thanks Youtube.

When I see details on the first DLC, and I feel it's worth the season pass...Sure I'll drop the dosh for it. BGS has yet to release a DLC that I didn't enjoy and have a good time with. Some were better than others, but all elicited that emotional reaction of enjoyment, and fun having, and allowing me to destress and unwind, which is why I play video games to begin with.

For any other company I'd be worried. To me, a company getting money for a product they haven't yet released is incentivizing them to put less work in. However, the team over at Bethesda seems to hold themselves to a higher standard with their content. I'll give Bethesda my trust on this one.

I like beth low key approach, like Peter stated in a interview, they are not trying to aggresivly convince people to buy there game, they just give us a bare basic understanding of what the game is and if you like what ya see, they be happy to see you buy it.

I can see Bethesda saying, "You don't like that we are offering Season Pass? Fine, pay us more when you buy them one at a time, no skin off of our collective nose."

No. More than likely, given the relations between BGS and Microsoft, there will be timed exclusivity again. We still certainly see the practice with other games and BGS has been doing it since Oblivion.

That means nothing as Skyrim had two moderate DLCs and one fluff DLC, Fallout 3 had five small DLCs, and Oblivion had one expansion, one moderate DLC, and a variety of fluff DLCs. I don't see how BGS is able to argue all of those games with very different approaches to DLC were valued at "$40 of content." We have no idea what we'll get with Fallout 4 other than an empty promise that can easily be broken.

It's a common practice to at least give people a general understanding of what the season pass will contain. All the major publishers do it. Will it be story DLC? Cosmetic/fluff? We have some semblance of knowledge to know what our $30, which is expensive for a season pass, is going towards. Right now, we are paying $30 for something that will allegedly be worth "$40 of content." That means nothing.

I don't care that a season pass was announced. What does bother me is we know nothing about it and BGS is already placing a price tag on it. That's the problem. It wouldn't be hard for them to say "we are releasing two story DLCs and a fluff DLC like Skyrim." Problem solved. Fallout 4 is already content complete so there is no need for them to be "focused on making the base game as complete as possible." It has been done for a while.

You prove my point that it's silly to announce a season pass without any details. Having some details on it is all anybody truly wants. It's common practice for any season pass in the industry. The fact we don't know anything is what is truly odd about this situation. BGS' track record of DLC packs isn't helpful either as they have done something completely different with each game since Morrowind. No, people aren't angry for the sake of being angry. This is a legitimate concern because we are paying $30 on an empty promise. That's a very questionable business practice. You don't invest into something you don't know anything about.

Its still rage for raging sake because people lack something called patience, since the first dlc wont hit until early 2016 there is obviously a good amount of time to tell us what that pass covers post 10th of November. This early announcment was just a prelude and a oppertunity for early adapters to jump on.

If you dont like that uncertantity, just use some patience and wait for further detail.

ARGGHGHG! How dare they do a season pass! I hate getting a better price on dlc, especially dlc i know i'll buy on the day it comes out. I just don't get the hate, its not day one dlc or anything like that. Nobody is forcing you to buy what they're making. They said they plan on doing $40 dollars worth of dlc, and they're giving you the chance to buy it at $30. So what if its four small dlc, or 2 dragonborn type expansions, its still going to be $40 bucks worth of content (pricewise anyways). If you trust bethesda to make content you'll like buying the season pass is a good deal. If in the past you haven't liked their dlc then it wouldn't be worth it to buy the season pass...it seems pretty obvious.

That's the point. BGS could have waited to announce a season pass and a price tag once they had actual details. There was no benefit to announcing it weeks ago. It's not benefitting "early adapters" in any way as folks knew DLC would be coming. It hasn't changed anything. All it has done is tell us Bethesda Softworks is copying EA/Ubisoft/Acitivision by going with a season pass model like the rest and they are providing us with even less details than those major publishers. There was zero benefit to this early announcement. Again, pointless and without benefit.

How is this any different from any other Season Pass that was announced? The first DLC might be announced with those other Season Passes, but you are still paying for something where you don't know what you are getting.

I mean, sure - was it silly for them to announce the pass before they had some details and/or not at the same time as they announced the first DLC? Absolutely.

Is it torches-and-pitchforks worthy? No.

(but, then, I think that 90% of the torch-and-pitchfork rioting that the internet gaming community gets up to is stupid.)

I don't plan on buying the season pass until at least the first DLC is released. With Steam, the season pass is still available even after all the DLCs have been released.

If they had released any info on any of the DLCs, then we'd see people screaming in the forums that Bethesda stripped content out of the base game to make DLCs. More so then we see now.

Precisely. This is undergarment contortion, plain and simple.

Mountain out of a molehill.

I sort of like getting a deal for taking a chance. But that's just me and I'm fairly certain I'd buy them all anyway even at full price so....saving a few dollars is worth it to me.

If it turned out they were all crap I'd just have to chalk it up to a lesson learned. But yeah, I often take chances to save a few bucks. Usually it pays off that I do.

• That article is complete "fluff" and states nothing anyone with an ounce of thought could have figured out.
• Depicting that article as proof Beth is "under fire" is pure hype by the OP.
• I don't deny that announcing this before the game releases really does nothing but give BGS critics something to complain about. They could have easily waited until a day after release and sold these just as well so it does appear to be an attempt to garner advanced sales (just like every other Publisher / Dev out there). Concern noted.
• Until the season pass deal turns out to be a failure or a rip-off, I find the critics of this program to be simply looking for something to bash Bethesda over. This is really nothing new either.

Slow news day.

Tons of people know they're going to buy all the DLC, no matter what. Here's a way for them to save a couple bucks. It won't affect you if you don't buy it. End of story.

No issue here but internet people feigning upset over trivial matters.

As I have said many times before... If you don't want to buy the season pass wait until the dlcs release individually; it will cost you a total of $10 more; which is the cost of an XL papa johns pizza.

People these days tend to riot, freak out over small things, and always look for something to be offended by

Shut the heck up and stop complaining about BGS. They can do whatever they want and the consumer can decide whether to go along with it. They obviously have a ton of success to this point in time meaning they are doing something right... People are such moronic babies these days.

And for those saying the dlc content should all be in the base game... Just quit at life. If they kept adding content to the base game the base game would never release. You are getting like 450+ hours of entertainment for $60+$30 if you buy the dlc. If that isn't a good deal to you then don't buy it.