Does Bethesda listen to the community? : V - Skyrim

» Sat May 28, 2011 2:24 am

The TES games are my favorite game series, and Bethesda my favorite developer for two main extrinisc reasons: they listen to the community and the games are extremely moddable. There are many intrinsic reasons to like TES too, of course.

» Fri May 27, 2011 8:34 pm

Well we wanted horse armor and look what we got!

Beth listens to their community and it's cool to see Gstaff and Nick around

» Fri May 27, 2011 2:52 pm

I hope they don't listen to too much of our complaining. I would hate to see Skyrim be just a collection of fan service. Star wars Episode 2 had all that and tanked because they didn't include what the fans really loved: characters and a story that were interesting. We got more Boba Fett, Yoda using a lightsaber and some pointless yet huge battle scenes. I'm hoping Bethesda has some original tricks up their sleeves for Skyrim.

» Fri May 27, 2011 10:55 am

they so do, look at the improvements between Oblivion and Fallout and you tell me that they didn't take our advice to do things like change the level system

» Sat May 28, 2011 2:51 am

While they do listen its a givenj fact they are about as likely to give us any info on.. say the magic system... until 10 seconds before its gold as they are to sprout flaming atomic bats from thier arses singing klingon opera.

So we will have no idea if they actualy got it this time or are going down anouther horrid idea. Until its far too late to yell at them about it effectively... its never too late to yell at them about anything ineffectively mind you and its FUN TOO!

» Fri May 27, 2011 6:00 pm

I think Bethesda does really listen to what we are saying, but you have to remember that the main player base is going to be the main-stream players who aren't going to be posting on the forums, so sometimes in order to keep everyone happy they can't do exactly what we TES fans want. But theyll do their best :liplick:

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:09 am

they listen, and the community is also INCREDIBLY responsive.

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:41 am

We're listening to you right now.

We know when you are sleeping. We know when you're awake. We know when you've been bad or good -- we change your ending depending on it.

Did he just hint at multiple endings for Skyrim?

[...yeah, I stopped reading after Nick's post.]

I noticed I didn't see a "no" anywhere.

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:17 am

Bethesda is very interactive with their community...

Oh right. We told them after Morrowind: "Please no strong lvl scaling..." and then Oblivion cam out = Full lvl scaling... we told them "NOOO WAYY! we dont like this" and then Fallout 3 WITH lvl scaling cam out... and then new vegas...

So...yes they are very "interactive" xD

» Fri May 27, 2011 5:29 pm

So is this a confirmation of multiple endings for Skyrim? :ninja:

Hi there

We're not discussing gameplay specifics right now. You'll want to check out the February issue of Game Informer for that... should be on newsstands next month.

» Fri May 27, 2011 9:19 pm

Thanks for the info.

Super excited about the release!

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:05 am

I'm pretty sure they check out what mods are popular among the community and try to include similar stuff in their game (Weapon Mod Kits for Fallout 3 was implemented into New Vegas for example), which is certainly a good thing as many mods adress the need for new cool features or "fix" some things a lot of players are unhappy with.

» Fri May 27, 2011 11:22 pm

I dont know if they actually listen or not.

Some evidence seems to point to the fact that they do listen (tho starx your example is erroneous as Obsidian is not Bethesda mate - your example means that Obsidian paid attention to FO3 criticism not Bethesda) and other evidence seems to say that they dont.

The writing, storyline, dialogue, quests etc all got worse from Daggerfall to Morrowind and then worse Morrowind to Oblivion and then even worse again (to appallingly bad) in Fallout 3 from Oblivion; then there is the fact that their games are always buggy messes on release and that never seems to change.
And then the fact that the patches are half assed and the games end up abandoned and left to the community to sort out. MW, OB, and then F3 all had massive community patching projects because Bethesda doesnt patch their games anywhere near as well as they ought for the money the charge for games, dlc, and expansions. And each game has always had at least one patch that in true Bethesda fashion breaks more than it fixes (example the F3 patch that broke VATs and they never fixed it properly).

All that says Bethesda dont listen - at least not to the fans or community.

The only time I really have seen Bethesda actually respond and act on fan criticism was the whole Horse Armour debacle; but I believe that was because media and review sites were picking up on it as well and bringing up the issue too and they were indanger of a PR disaster occuring over it.

On the other hand there has been occassions where fan made suggestions have made it into their games, the example that comes to mind is having to switch from "melee" to "magic" combat "modes" in Morrowind in order to cast a spell such as a healing spell - which was very very annoying. You could literally be killed in the time the game took to animate the PC putting away his sword and reading to toss off a spell. It seriously gimped magic combat.
So in Oblivion that was gone and your PC could brandish a sword in one hand and blast off a fireball with the other. It was much more fun, making magic less of a pain in the backside to use. Yay for progress.

So I cant really answer the question I am afraid. I feel if they truely listened to the community they would have stopped releasing games at beta stage, and started supporting said games better with more thorough patches. Not relying on the community to fix what they broke. But you could make a strong arguement for either side I suppose.

Personally I think Bioware and Blizzard are two companies that do a better job of at least appearing to listen more thoroughly and thoughtfully to their respective fan communities.

» Fri May 27, 2011 5:28 pm

Question is not do they listen. No one is immune to influences. Question is to whom of us do they listen. I guess none of us could tell them to whom they shall listen.

» Fri May 27, 2011 11:31 pm

Man this is going to be a loooooong year.

» Fri May 27, 2011 8:05 pm

We'll find out. If there is painfully obvious and immersion shattering level-scaling then we'll know they do not, as the vast majority of fans do not like it.

» Fri May 27, 2011 8:29 pm

If they implement a hardcoe mode based around immersion (no map markers, fast travel etc) I would believe so.

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:42 am

snip

Personally I think Bioware and Blizzard are two companies that do a better job of at least appearing to listen more thoroughly and thoughtfully to their respective fan communities.

Ouch. That was rude.

Anyway, BLIZZARD and BIOWARE? Seriously? Hah, Bioware screwed with the RPG mechanics in Mass Effect 2. It destroyed Dragon Age.
Blizzard turned Diablo 3 into Torchlight with all those cartoony graphics and they are just lazy. Especially now with Bob Kotick on their side.

I think Bethesda listens A LOT. They improved a bunch with Fallout 3. The whole gameplay and mechanics were better. People say the dumbed the writing but IMO it was better than Oblivion's. The problem is that it's a new franchise and it was their first game, they still have to learn how to write like Fallout 1 and 2. Also, just take a look at BethBlog and see how much they post about Elder Scrolls mods and other things fans do. Also, you can see they are pretty active here on the forums and on twitter.

If I had to compare about how much they listen to their fans it would be: Bethesda > Bioware > Blizzard.

» Fri May 27, 2011 10:57 pm

We're listening to you right now.

We know when you are sleeping. We know when you're awake. We know when you've been bad or good -- we change your ending depending on it.

Aww man. I guess I know where I'm going.

bliviongate:

» Fri May 27, 2011 3:15 pm

Firstly It wasnt rude at all.

Not one thing I said was rude. You need to look up the meaning of the word if you think it was. Not agreeing with prevailing opinion is not being rude. Its called being devils advocate.

Secondly. I dont agree at all.

I honestly dont see how you can actually think Fallout 3's writing was an improvement? Maybe its just me cos im an amatuer writer myself and I found the writing in it stupid, boring, and vapid. It seemed to me that the Devs sacked their writing staff and wrote everything themselves.
Ill give you the gameplay was improved from OB to F3. But that doesnt mean it wasnt buggy game that was released at what felt like beta stage.

I dont dislike Bethesda. And I do like the Elder Scrolls Universe (and I LOVE the Fallout Universe). I just acknowledge where they are weak. As I said there is plenty of evidence for both arguements; its really quite hard to say from where I am standing.

As I said also Bioware and Blizzard seem to me to give the APPEARANCE (which is the operative word in that sentence) of listening to their fans better than what Bethesda do. I didnt make a definitive statement of truth here.

Thirdly.

If you are willing to not be a rabid fan boy acting like id insulted your mother then we can have a civil discussion on the topic - if not then I am going to ignore you from now on because I am not willing to get the thread locked and get a warning. lol.

» Fri May 27, 2011 8:17 pm

Ouch. That was rude.

Anyway, BLIZZARD and BIOWARE? Seriously? Hah, Bioware screwed with the RPG mechanics in Mass Effect 2. It destroyed Dragon Age.
Blizzard turned Diablo 3 into Torchlight with all those cartoony graphics and they are just lazy. Especially now with Bob Kotick on their side.

I think Bethesda listens A LOT. They improved a bunch with Fallout 3. The whole gameplay and mechanics were better. People say the dumbed the writing but IMO it was better than Oblivion's. The problem is that it's a new franchise and it was their first game, they still have to learn how to write like Fallout 1 and 2. Also, just take a look at BethBlog and see how much they post about Elder Scrolls mods and other things fans do. Also, you can see they are pretty active here on the forums and on twitter.

If I had to compare about how much they listen to their fans it would be: Bethesda > Bioware > Blizzard.

As far as I'm concerned Bioware are the most active on any forums for any game developer I have ever seen, so please don't go and slag them off.
With saying that though, I am new here so lets see what Bethesda can show me :biggrin:

» Fri May 27, 2011 8:58 pm

Man this is going to be a loooooong year.

Roger that.

» Fri May 27, 2011 8:08 pm

Hmm, Didn't someone say that they should release it on 11.11.11? It was either a good guess or they found it as awesome as we all did. (Tes future game speculation thread)

11.11.11

» Fri May 27, 2011 8:33 pm

One is viewing this thread as I am posting.

» Fri May 27, 2011 7:09 pm

Personally I think Bioware and Blizzard are two companies that do a better job of at least appearing to listen more thoroughly and thoughtfully to their respective fan communities.

Blizzard listened to their customers TOO much. I don't see how listening to your customers TOO much and effectively gutting out everything good in your games (namely WoW) is a good thing.