One thing that bears bringing up in these conversations:

Aside from bugs (which obviously should be fixed,) almost every suggestion or criticism is rarely unanimous on this forum. Member A posts that they want something or don't like something, then inevitably Member B comes in and says they don't like that suggestion or like that feature just as it is. So when it comes to listening to suggestions there's the contradiction that you can't please everyone all the time. They can't add in every thing that every member wants on this forum, because you'd just end up making everyone upset.

I agree with your point on small suggestions, but they really, really should be aknowledging huge and game-breaking bugs (such as the ridiculously large number of people on PC having crashes after pressing "play" on the launcher window). Is there any other way to bring LARGE things like this to gamesas's attention? PC users have made tons of posts on the tech support forums to no avail, as well as sending in help requests by the dozens. I am asking for your advice especially as a Mod here thanks in advance.

Moderators aren't Bethesda employees, we're volunteers from the community. We don't have that much insight into the inner workings at Bethesda.

There are Community Managers whose job it is to disseminate info from the forums and other media and get that info to the right people, and the QA guys to look at the support forums to know what bugs to look into. Beyond that there's not a lot I can comment on without putting words into Bethesda's mouths - I can't speak for the company itself or their policies, that's their job unfortunately. I can speak from my own knowledge and experiences though.

Bethesda just doesn't have the most involved presence on their forums, as compared to other companies. As above, I can't speak to why that is. I have been a moderator on this forum since just prior to the release of Fallout 3. They have never released a game and not put out a number of bug-fix patches. I don't know what their timetable for that is at the moment, but of course there's one coming. (Unfortunately this is Bethesda - their games have bugs, and it's part and parcel to the games they make.)

I know first-hand tech support reads the support forums. We do get occasional feedback from them (either directly or second-hand through the Community Managers.) Generally they complain that it's a total mess for them to read through, because it's just the nature of these forums that people with problems don't look to see if a similar topic has been posted yet and 9 times out of 10 post them in the wrong section anyway. (Immediately follow a game release, most of our time is just getting threads in the proper forum - QA is busy trying to sort through the tech forums and the bevy of threads all talking about the same issues, so may not always spend time in General Discussion. Our first priority is getting threads to the right place where they'll actually be looked at by the right people.)

At every game release, no matter how long it takes, people are going to be upset with how long it takes for a patch to come out, and no matter how many times a dev does post it won't ever be enough. (One thing I would like to see on this forum is for threads where a dev posts gets marked so people can see it - often times their posts just get overlooked.)

If this release is anything at all like every single one in past seven or so years we'll see a pinned update from one of the Community Managers some time soon about upcoming patches. Then people will clamor for specific details, then the first patch will come out, it won't fix everything for everybody (and sometimes it leads to dragons flying backwards anyway ) and the process starts over again.

Hey, it'd make my "job" easier if the devs talked more here, in some instances. But they have their reasons for doing things I'm sure - I just can't speak to what they are. In short, I'm sure a patch is coming; I can say with a fair degree of certainty that QA is aware of the issues, and an announcement will be made on the timetable Bethesda decides on. We won't know the specific patch details until they're released and we won't know how long it'll be but yes there will be many patches containing bug fixes.

Hey Nu, I appreciate your reply and your candor. I definitely understand your position, especially as volunteers and not employees, I've been one myself once upon a time in a different game. I'm glad that techsupport does indeed read the forums, and I do know that gamesas support does give a very limited number of replies. It's just very disheartening that there has been no post or information given about this specific and incredibly widespread and severe issue. I've checked every post I could about this topic, so I am almost 100% certain. I definitely understand the nature and complexity of these bugs. Just gamesas saying "we know this is an issue, we'll fix it as soon as we can!" is enough at this point, frankly, because right now, we're adrift completely.

Don't get me wrong, none of this frustration is directed towards you or the moderator team. You guys do a great and mostly thankless job.

Hopefully, we do indeed get some aknowledgement or even an annoucement of a patch soon, because us PC users with this issue are really hurtin' out here :/

svck it up? What's the point in being the emotional punchbag to hatetards? Trolls are all over the internet and any knowledgeable person will tell you to ignore them as their fuel is response. It's the same reason when a guy in the bar is trying to stare you down that you don't stare back, you're giving feedback and invitation to escalate aggression further. This is psychology, and BGS employees had to learn the hard way from what I can tell. I've worked many years on software in this industry and not once have I responded to irrationality, personally, if you want to live in a pile of hate, go do it over there.

If the devs are reading, it would be great if they could just say so once in a while. When you point out issues or ask them to consider changes it feels like you're praying, hoping someone out there will listen

Thing is its been a lot longer than 4 days. They released the program a long time ago. This is why most companies have a patch the same day the game comes out.

How do sales demonstrate feedback outside of "a lot of people bought the game."

I guarantee at least one dev is reading this forum right this very moment. Responding is a whole different thing, which can often be impossible due to the many... perks of the internet. That's why it's mostly just Gstaff who responds, and he generally has to be brief.

This!

(PS: Can't wait to see if you have any grand plans for big FO4 mods. Martha's Vineyard perhaps? lol)

Oooh...what are they wearing??

Yes, Bethesda listens to what their customers say. They have stated this repeatedly after each game release and it is obvious when you check some of the changes they make from game to game (some of which wind up garnering criticism from people who were fine with the prior system(s)). They also check mods to see what is popular and what is not to get ideas of things that might be included in their next effort.

What many people may not realize is that Todd's team has a fundamental tenet, their "prime directive" if you will, that they must adhere to. Todd, as the project lead for the team, has directed every member to never defend what they have done. Any and all criticism is accepted because Todd's philosophy is that people pay money for their products so anything they have to say is fine because it's their money, after all.

Personally, as someone who has managed employees in various capacities, I think that philosophy is good. However, it does not excuse the vitriolic comments from various people, including posts that are flat-out wrong as well as posts that are at the very least inaccurate. Todd's philosophy also applies to Bethesda itself (i.e., they spent millions of dollars acquiring Fallout and millions of dollars developing the new installments as well as millions developing TES installments, let alone years of their lives). There are professional and polite ways to offer feedback but many people think that a game should be made according to their own personal specifications. Such people are free to invest their own millions and develop their own game, after all. No company has been able to compete with the products that Todd's team produces so far despite some efforts to do so (e.g., Bioware with Dragon Age and Mass Effect).

Has a single dev posted here or anywhere else to respond to reported issues with Fallout 4? If so could you link it. And I don't mean a vague "we're listening", I mean an actual direct response to particular issues.

Dragon Age and Mass Effect are not the same type of game as Elder Scrolls or Fallout, they are not competing with each other. And let's be honest, Bioware's writing and story-telling are far superior to Bethesda's.