Bethesda started out strictly PC based and had stayed that way until Morrowind, which did get a port to Xbox (though I hear it was not very good). Even then, there was still a lot of catering to PC in Oblivion and even Skyrim, and not just because of mod support. But now with Fallout 4, the game is clearly designed for consoles. Everything from the dialogue wheel, the UI, the faster combat, the limited settlement sizes, is meant for mainstream console audiences and it shows. PC version has considerably more bugs and issues too, which is one of the reasons it has a lower rating on Metacritic than the console versions.

The only real reasoning I can think of for this is because they get more money from console players since there are definitely more of them, but I also don't want to believe one of the most creative and talented game studios would dismiss their cRPG roots just because of that. Although the amount of console gamers rises, so too does the amount of PC gamers. (there were about 500k playing fallout 4 on steam at the same time on launch day, a record for game launches on steam). Bethesda has provided the best mod support for their games compared to any other company, but it seems they put less effort themselves into Fallout 4 on PC. We should've gotten a lot more customization options for interface, including the layout of the dialogue options (modders were able to make it display full lines on the second day, why couldn't bethesda make it an option?)

What are the real reasons that the PC port of FO4 is less refined and missing support compared to the console versions, besides obviously selling better on consoles?

Commercially it makes sense. Focus on your larger audience.

Its a pain but I don't so much considering mods will pretty much shift the pc version to it's full potential.

Just look at skyrim. SKYUI, SKSE, Ai mods, graphicall enhancements etc

Because it's where the money is. The bottom line is important for game developers.

Well the game seems to have sold more on PC than Xbox one, so explain that. Weird that Microsoft and Bethesda has such a close relationship, but its only about Xbox. One would think Microsoft cared about Windows as a gaming platform, sigh.

People complained that Oblivion was made for consoles too, back in 2006. Heck even old Daggerfall players complained that Morrowind was streamlined in order to make it compatible for the XBox.

As long as I have been on these forums I have heard people complain about how consoles hurt Bethesda's games. I think it's time we just accept multi-platform game development and move on.

the reason the PC market is seen as a slight "joke" (I'm quoting someone within the industry) is because of sites like the Arrrrr Ye Matey!. Developers loose ALOT of money on PC games because of piracy, way more then anything on console.

EDIT: holy crap they blocked the site name, see that proves it (its like Piracy Coast)

PC gamers did a marvelous job of ruining their own potential as a prioritized marked in the decades that piracy was rampant. It's gotten better the last years as Steam has become a "de facto" publishing platform and publishers/developers has found a way to incorporate ways to force users to be authenticated online for their games to work properly (though often suffering big complaints from users). I think the focus on consoles is fully understandable.

However this is not a console game ported to PC. It's a PC game ported to consoles. The dialogue system, UI, fps focus vs. rpg focus, etc. has nothing to do with it being a console release. It's perfectly possible to make all of these things work entirely differently on a console. It's more a result of "trying to keep up with the times" aka doing what everyone else is doing, and their perception of what their customer base is or could be. I don't agree to all of their choices, but I understand where they're coming from. I'd much prefer them to do their own thing and going more old-school than getting on the fast-food games bandwagon that is becoming so pervasive.

But then again, I'm not managing a multi-billion dollar game company.

Well they are a business, there job is to make money *shrugs*

Console consumers do not differ that greatly from PC consumers, most console consumers own a PC as well. It is not the platform that is the issue, there were SEGA 16 bit games back in the day with complex rpg mechanics.

And also probably not to repeat the same mistake as they did when they released Skyrim on PS3.

The larger audience is PC.

Pc gamers lager in total then console gamers... I'm a pc gamer but i don't think that is correct.. Could be wrong off course....

Not really, most PC users have PCs FAR worse then the console's specs are.

PC has the far smaller viable install base.

Sadly I think this is the reason. I also really feel like they have lost a lot of their unique feeling of "doing their own thing" and being unique in the industry. There is so many things in this game that just feels like someone who is not at all interested in making the best and most unique open world free rpg game anymore sat down and looked at other games in the market to see what they thought would resonate with the masses and generate the most money (and not really succeeding at it of course, just pissing off people judging from metaratings etc). That is why we got the dialogue weel and the voiced protagonist with dumbed downed dialogue with it, legendary loot drops etc that feels ripped from games like Borderlands etc etc. I have really feelt a respect for Bethesda in the past, as one of those rare studios that really does not just ape after other games, but truly try to do their own thing and what is best for their own vision for their projects as a coherent whole. While Fallout 4 still have a lot of great qualities intact still I love, it is worrying and I can't help but feel a bit afraid that they will loose more of this with every coming game. Resulting in less of games that feels truly unique and something you only can get from the Bethesda studio, and more of just a generic typical samey game as others in the industry. I mean even now, for someone who would just take a quick look at the game in dialogue they would probably not even think they are looking at a Bethesda game, but a Bioware game.

Sold 12 million copies on launch, and only 500k-1million were PC Steam sales.

It's all about the dollaz dollaz

Also opinions are like.. you know.

Why not? Why are PC gamers so entitled?

Because console gaming is for video games, what burgers and pizza are for fast food. In / out, quickly devoured, quality not topnotch food since you'll want another in a few hours time. Consoles are popular because there often is less fiddling with it, inexpensive compared to gaming PC's, easy and quick access. More upsides than downsides in a fast moving world. So the growing numbers of consoles, will of course get focus attention, if it is there, they can make the bulk of their sales. It is a bane for PC-users when a company gets too big, which is starting to happen with Beth. Suddenly the pressure of making sales, gets that higher, since there are more bills to pay, and they have to push games out faster to keep up with the expenses. First thing to get sacrificed on the altar of money, is quality and integrity when talking videogames, always has been, always will be. All, in my own subjective opinion of course.

Depend on the game, oblivion sold pretty bad on PC, high hardware requirements and too much piracy reduced sales.

Skyrim sold very well steam reduced piracy, hardware requirements was modest as the consoles was old.

Fallout 4 is likely to sell a bit worse because hardware demands has jumped up and many has not upgraded for current generation yet.

Primary Market Share.

Last http://www.vg247.com/2015/11/16/fallout-4s-digital-sales-topped-100m-in-3-days/ I looked at showed digital sales at day one on Steam (PC) at 1.2 million vs .67 million for combined digital console sales. So numbers say PC is the bigger market.

Very simple question to answer:

1. Ease of development. With a console you have one version, with PC, endless variation.

2. PC base too small. If it would be PC only it would be an unviable product.

Which is kinda silly o.O ... or atleast irrelevant... If you can make x number of millions on pc's, isn't that all that matters. No to x millions because in a perfect world you could have gotten x plus y millions?

That are only digital sales. I guess most of the console players are still buying their games retail.

There are several reasons why developers prefer console over pc.

Larger core audience. I don't have the figures to hand but xbox and play station together would probably be larger than pc player Base. I could be wrong on that.
Less piracy on console than pc.
Most important reason ; universal specs! The nightmares development teams have trying to get a game working on different combinations of OS, harddrives, sound cards, video cards, network cards, is an almost endless task. Hence you see more bugs on pc than console. It's not because they ignore pc users but that it's impossible to get it right for every possible type of pc setup.

Imagine the overtime and amount of hours they have to put in to a developed product with each new bug found. It's far easier and more cost effective to develop for consoles only. Saying that if Beth bothered to outsource CAT and UAT phases, open beta testing then a lot of of those issues would be found before release. I haven't seen any sign of product testing beyond debug and alpha phases in fallout 4. Hell Most the game breaking defects were found on the media evaluation copies of the game! That is a PR nightmare. Good job they paid for those reviews!

Actually, piracy on PC causes much smaller losses than people buying used games on consoles.