Bethesda Warns Against "Spectacular" Bugs in Fallout 76 Beta

[VSG]

Okay, let it all out right now: "A Bethesda game with bugs? Color me shocked!". With that preemptively mentioned, the context here is a little different and worth mentioning. Bethesda took to Twitter via a letter to their fans earlier today, a letter that is trying to keep expectations low when trying out the Fallout 76 early access program, which they call the Break it Early Test Application (B.E.T.A, get it?). The letter goes on to bring up examples of other large games with massive in-game worlds, with Bethesda's own Elder Scrolls and Fallout series brought up as examples. To be more specific, the letter mentions "Given what we're doing with 76, we know we're opening everyone up to all new spectacular issues none of us have encountered. Some we're aware of, such as areas where performance needs to improve with lots of players. Others, we surely don't. We need your help finding them, and advice on what's important to fix."

There is a whole other discussion to be had on how private and public beta programs are now becoming glorified unpaid quality assurance work in the so-called AAA game industry today, and Bethesda in this venture does not do anything particular egregious either. But combined with all the other negative press Fallout 76 has been getting thanks to questionable choices made by the publisher, and also noting that only those who pre-ordered the game get to try out the beta beginning in a short while today, things are looking bleak for the participation numbers in said beta program. If you happened to be one of those participating, please do share your experiences in the comments section on this story.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Bansaku]

" We need your help finding them, and advice on what's important to fix. "

Like WTF Bethesda?! Is it not the job of your own programers and beta testers to smooth things out before launch?! What self respecting game company operates like this... (rhetorical folks, we all know the answer).

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Or you could be like EA... Have two waves of closed and open betas, tell the players youre listening to all their feedback then release the game with the same bugs still present in the game no matter how many times its been reported. nevermind the rest of the feedback which just gets ignored anyway. but its OK. EA always says they will learn from their mistakes and do better before tripping on the same problem again with their next game.


As for Bethesda. Fallout and Skyrim have always been a bit of a buggy unoptimised mess anyway. Fallout 76 wont be any different.

 

[Th3pwn3r]

As for Bethesda. Fallout and Skyrim have always been a bit of a buggy unoptimised mess anyway. Fallout 76 wont be any different.

Yes it will, it'll be a lot worse.

 

[Mescalamba]

If gaming companies werent idiots, they would bring back demo versions.

Remember fuckup called Diablo 3? Yea, that had demo. And that demo was reason why me and couple of million others pre-ordered it (and flipped a bit or a lot later).

But point is, they showed pretty finished product, responses were mostly fine and they sold shitload of.. well shit.

Definitely better than doing open betas (or in some cases open alfa).

Yes it will, it'll be a lot worse.

Thats not the best part. Best part is.. You cant fix it!

Skyrim (every version) has unofficial patches which fix pretty much everything there is possible to fix via modding (thankfully nearly everything). Also its possible to manually clear game files themselves (highly recommended).

Aaand that wont be possible with F76.

I think Bethesda missed that only reason their games are played and liked is mods. Vanilla Skyrim is obsolete game in pretty much every aspect and on top of it looking like a turd (especially compared to W3) and mods are usually only reason why it still sells and is played. F76 is without proper single player and mods pretty much dead before being made.

 

[N3utro]

" We need your help finding them, and advice on what's important to fix. "

Like WTF Bethesda?! Is it not the job of your own programers and beta testers to smooth things out before launch?! What self respecting game company operates like this... (rhetorical folks, we all know the answer).

They did that already, it's called an alpha test. But between an alpha running on a few top end computers and hundred of thousand of possible setups, there is a gap they have no way to test themselves.

What i find more questionnable is the fact that you have to pay for the beta test, which limits drastically the number of setups tested, increasing the chances of future problems.

 

[Mescalamba]

" We need your help finding them, and advice on what's important to fix. "

Like WTF Bethesda?! Is it not the job of your own programers and beta testers to smooth things out before launch?! What self respecting game company operates like this... (rhetorical folks, we all know the answer).

Money is answer I bet..

 

[DrCrow]

You think bethesda studios have a lot of employees but reality no one there because this company does not even realese patch to fix their own games Fallout 76 will be no different.

 

[Steevo]

" We need your help finding them, and advice on what's important to fix. "

Like WTF Bethesda?! Is it not the job of your own programers and beta testers to smooth things out before launch?! What self respecting game company operates like this... (rhetorical folks, we all know the answer).

At the same time what other company created Skyrim, then made it X64 as the modding community wanted it, then has supported games like Enderal which is free to those owning the game, and steam supported.

Good game studios should be supported.

 

[sepheronx]

At the same time what other company created Skyrim, then made it X64 as the modding community wanted it, then has supported games like Enderal which is free to those owning the game, and steam supported.

Good game studios should be supported.

Agreed. Bethesda right now is either a hit or a miss. Either they make a fantastic game like Morrowind, Skyrim, Evil Within, etc. Or they end up making crap, like Fallout 4. Nothing can be perfect.

I will continue to buy Bethesda games. But Fallout 76 is one I am going to avoid.

 

[kastriot]

O boy i have feeling this game is gona be total dud.

 

[Frick]

Bethesda is the only company who treats bugs as features. I'm surprised no has said "but you can mod it" it yet.

 

[Keullo-e]

I can't even remember how many times Fallout 3 crashed when entered a door and it saved there. It may had work on first, or tenth try. Are they going to make this even "better"

 

[laszlo]

there are no bugs... just radioactive cockroaches ....

 

[Vayra86]

At the same time what other company created Skyrim, then made it X64 as the modding community wanted it, then has supported games like Enderal which is free to those owning the game, and steam supported.

Good game studios should be supported.

*created Skyrim and asked everyone to pay for it about three times over. FTFY. 'Made it x64'... again business decisions. The modding community is as much a blessing as a curse for them. You see this in their failing attempts to monetize that community in some way. So, failing that, (because they will never succeed there, if they monetize it, it will be dead the next day, everyone on to greener pastures) they just make their ancient, five dozen times rehashed assets and shitty engine and add online play. That'll teach em!

Its not like they've done any kind of charity work here. They made a product and it sold well, then they milked it and they still are to this day. With their success came stagnation and repetition, not great new games. Fallout 3 is where it should have 'ended' for Creation already. It looked ancient even then. We're in 2018 now and the best they've added was godrays and higher res textures, at the cost of major FPS drops and stutter. New Vegas had an OK narrative because Betheseda didn't write it. Skyrim's vanilla campaign is just plain weak. FO4's vanilla campaign is... horrible writing all over the place. If there is a trend, you could say that their products get progressively worse. The fact that the largest community of fans is still on Skyrim is telling - its almost 7 years old now.

Seriously people give Bethesda way too much credit. FO76 will fail miserably, its clear as day. Bethesda now needs to fix their shitty code by themselves, and they've proven incapable of doing so.

Instead of praising this company, we should be wondering why they haven't done so much more with that gold mine of a fanbase and franchises they are sitting on. But according to you, we should be supporting them for writing us this nice letter, which really is a statement of incompetence.

 

[enxo218]

Bethesda needs to be serious officially declaring not just bugs but "spectacular" ones at that weeks before game launch screams incompetence, I wonder how they will cope without modding community since its an online title.

 

[Octopuss]

I am not touching anything made by Bethesda ever again in my life, and in the improbable case I would want to, I sure as hell wouldn't pay for it.
They can't fix anything and they don't give a shit.
For example, Skyrim SE is still unplayable with internet connection pretty much a year after the problem was reported for lots of players: https://bethesda.net/community/topic/148732/can-t-run-the-game-with-an-active-internet-connection

 

[Ahhzz]

...
As for Bethesda. Fallout and Skyrim have always been a bit of a buggy unoptimised mess anyway. Fallout 76 wont be any different.

...
Thats not the best part. Best part is.. You cant fix it!

Skyrim (every version) has unofficial patches which fix pretty much everything there is possible to fix via modding (thankfully nearly everything). Also its possible to manually clear game files themselves (highly recommended).

Aaand that wont be possible with F76.
....

These a hundred times. Bethesda has gotten away with sub-par products in the past due to the extensively experienced and imaginative modding community. Without that community to support them in an online only game, they'll be hosed. Now, if they allow full mod support, a la Tribes 2, which just have to be loaded by all players in an instance, it would be ok. But I don't see that happening. I love Bethesda, and the TES series rank in my top three, but this is not going to end well. And I seriously frown on the "Not only will we not pay someone to bug test our game, you'll need to pay us for the privilege"....

 

[Easy Rhino]

Fallout 76 is a very ambitious game especially for Bethesda. If you mind the bugs early on then wait for 3-6 months. I am not seeing what all the complaining is about. Developing is hard and running a game development shop is harder.

 

[Ahhzz]

Fallout 76 is a very ambitious game especially for Bethesda. If you don't mind the bugs early on then wait for 3-6 months. I am not seeing what all the complaining is about. Developing is hard and running a game development shop is harder.

... I disagree, except for the development part. Noone here doubts (and some know for a fact) how hard it is to run a dev shop and create a product.

For myself, my main complaints are the lack of a free beta test, and instead an exclusive paid testing period, and that their track record in ESO shows they can put out an MMO, but not necessarily well (and definitely not without major bugs). In the past, Bethesda has relied heavily on the modding community to pull their fat out of the fire, and an MMO won't allow that. ESO supports that view.

I get that a beta test is more than a "Woohoo!! Free gamez for my leet skillz!!". I've done enough, and submitted enough reports to get an idea what is desirable from a tester. But I've always balked at the idea that a company wants me to pay to be allowed to help them fix their game. The only compensation I want is to be allowed to try out the game, or the router, or the mouse, etc. But to be expected to pay for the ability to do their work for them? Not really my cup of tea, and I love tea

 

[Easy Rhino]

... I disagree, except for the development part. Noone here doubts (and some know for a fact) how hard it is to run a dev shop and create a product.

For myself, my main complaints are the lack of a free beta test, and instead an exclusive paid testing period, and that their track record in ESO shows they can put out an MMO, but not necessarily well (and definitely not without major bugs). In the past, Bethesda has relied heavily on the modding community to pull their fat out of the fire, and an MMO won't allow that. ESO supports that view.

I get that a beta test is more than a "Woohoo!! Free gamez for my leet skillz!!". I've done enough, and submitted enough reports to get an idea what is desirable from a tester. But I've always balked at the idea that a company wants me to pay to be allowed to help them fix their game. The only compensation I want is to be allowed to try out the game, or the router, or the mouse, etc. But to be expected to pay for the ability to do their work for them? Not really my cup of tea, and I love tea

I am just going to say there is a reason why video games are still $60 and not closer to $100 as they should be to keep up with inflation...

 

[Vayra86]

I am just going to say there is a reason why video games are still $60 and not closer to $100 as they should be to keep up with inflation...

Yes, the reason being that the target audience has vastly increased. Gaming used to be nerd territory, now its at the same level as movie and music.

Its not like Bethesda makes a better game when it costs $100,-. In fact you could defend that Skyrim easily costs more than that, and so does Fallout with its DLCs.

Minimal effort for maximum gain is simply maximizing profit. If you need paid beta testing to have a profitable product, its not even viable.

 

[Ahhzz]

I am just going to say there is a reason why video games are still $60 and not closer to $100 as they should be to keep up with inflation...

Because my paycheck hasn't increased?

Game prices are definitely creeping up, but then I'm old and get-off-my-lawn. Have we seen a statement on monthly fees on it yet?

 

[lexluthermiester]

Fallout 76 is a very ambitious game especially for Bethesda. If you mind the bugs early on then wait for 3-6 months. I am not seeing what all the complaining is about. Developing is hard and running a game development shop is harder.

This is true and beta testing such a big game is going to be an involved process. What dev houses really need to consider is opening a beta program where those who sign up get the final game at a good discount like 50% off after release.

 

[Easy Rhino]

This is true and beta testing such a big game is going to be an involved process. What dev houses really need to consider is opening a beta program where those who sign up get the final game at a good discount like 50% off after release.

Isn't that called the Early Access discount? You agree to purchase the game at reduced cost in exchange to reporting bugs. I think that is the most fair method for public alpha/beta testings.

The reason why studios do not pay a ton of testers is because it would involve tens of thousands of man hours to test a game like Fallout 76. And because of the downward pressure on game titles they are going to ask kids to test it for them for free.