» Wed May 09, 2012 12:44 pm Some of you may be curious, or confused as to why I would call this game incomplete, but if you look deep enough inside it you will easily find many, many shortcuts, errors, bugs, glitches, or things simply missing from the game which should be included. Take the .44 magnum pistol I have equipped on my character, right now, modded with both the scope & heavy frame. The basic model for the gun is finished, but that is where the work on it appears to have ended. The colors of it are very basic, one note, and bland, like something you would perform if you were game making in MS Paint. The handle itself shows very little design, with a light element of effort went into making it look wooden. Now also look at the scope for the gun, which is a stark contrast to the rest of the gun. All parts of it are textured beautifully, with a glow from the light of the room on it, even a lens glare on the user side of the scope's glass. Why is it that one aspect of this weapon was done so masterfully well, and in a way that one would expect something that came from a big game company to look, and another to look like something that was an amateur effort at best?
Even if you leave alone many of the weapons models, we can also count numerous clipping errors, throughout every single part of the game. Nearly 75% of the guns my character equips on most of his clothes (or at least the 2 he wears most often) will be shown as "shoved through" his jacket/coat, really drawing away from the immersion of the game. I sometimes also will notice that when equipping certain armors, he will for a time have another method of storing his guns when holstered, which does not cause huge clipping, however after a short time of wearing the regular armor again, it will return to the old, bad-looking ways.
Next are the quests, which are generally across the board up & down. Some of them are entirely fantastic, such as GI Blues, others of which I felt were very weak and rushed. Anyone who likely spends a good bit of time on the NV Wiki will also realize there are tons and tons of side quests, which have actual names for them in the game, but were never completed and turned into full on quests, like the huge volume of quests that were in FO3. Also of special mention are the multitude of ways in which quests were not robustly tested, to ensure all possible paths would be easily completed, and not confusing or difficult to understand directions. (You know that one quest, the White Glove one, the one about the dinner party? Yeah I had no idea I had even completed it by the time I had it done. I figured I had to handle the situation with the "accident" first, then go and find the guest of honor. Doh...)
Bugs. I doubt not a single person reading this who has ever spent any amount of time playing a Bethesda game for any amount of time needs any explanation from me why this issue needs to be addressed. Compared to other big game companies, with pristine, shining games that have excellent gameplay, graphics, and elements across the board, that are never detracted from by bugs or glitches, Bethesda could be considered the "Roach Motel" of the gaming world. It is nice to see that Bethesda is doing work after a game's release to try to fix major problems, however the main issue with this as there should not be major problems with a released game in the first place! I realize that in the huge NV patch, over 200 bugs were fixed, however those are 200 bugs that should never have been experienced by the public, that if the game's release date were pushed back, would improve the image of Bethesda as not just another money grubbing [censored], looking to pimp out its product ASAHP to make the quick buck, and figure they can just fix it later. Now hearing that they have withdrawn support of NV makes me shocked they would declare it so soon after the game has been released, especially with the announcement of the Ultimate Edition. I can only hope that the decision to halt working on fixing bugs & other errors has been reversed in light of this, if not I see a very bad future for Bethesda if they release an "Ultimate" version of one of their popular games, and refuse to support it!
So in closing, I will please ask that whoever is responsible for deciding when a game should be "finished" take a good look at the huge fan base of Bethesda games, and realize that money spent in supporting the games after launch is money well spent, as it earns true loyalty to a company and their brand. I'll leave you with a quote from a very important game company, you may have heard of them, they sort of began this whole "Fallout" thing: By Gamers, for Gamers. Please keep this in mind, those of you whom are gamers yourselves in the industry, what kind of game experience you want to have, and share with your fellow gamers, peace.
