News of the opening of Bethesda's official Fallout 3 forums has been spreading like wildfire throughout the gaming community, and there have been a few notable comments along the way. From the point of view of a Bethesda insider, Ashley Cheng had this to say on his blog:
<blockquote>We've opened the Fallout 3 forums. Everyone here has on their peril sensitive sunglasses ...</blockquote>Tycho from Penny Arcade also had his thorough opinions on the proceedings:
<blockquote>The forums for the new Bethesda interpretation of Fallout are now open, and the sound is like a hundred thousand bats shrieking as they swirl around a jutting spire of obsidian. When I speak with fervor on topics that interest me, do I sound like them? It makes a strong case for a monastic existence.
Acting as their own publisher, Bethesda has the power to do what Denis Dyack has (perhaps correctly) suggested is the optimal scenario: withhold materials from a game until a developer can show it on their terms. In practice, it has been like shaking a soda bottle continuously for more than a year, so that when an opportunity to relieve the pressure was presented the result is volatile.
The history of Fallout as a franchise has all the trappings of a spiritual epic, replete with false messiahs and long persecution. Those who still hew to this strange religion are quick to call out Bethesda's many crimes, but they have no idea what Bethesda intends to do with Fallout. No-one does. The forums must have gone up for a reason, let us hope we will soon have genuine facts to discuss.</blockquote>From the forum itself, there have been numerous polls about what elements are preferred for Fallout 3, the results have been interesting.
<blockquote>How do you think the plot should be ?
Mature, Morally Ambiguous, Where Right and Wrong are just a matter of POV and morals with decisions that are personal and have consequences. [120] - 96%
Epic, Save the Wasteland ! The Big Struggle of good against evil, raiders against towns, mutants against humans... [5] - 4%
Black humour in F3?
No! [6] - 4%
Yes! [147] - 96%
Should Fallout 3 use enemy and item auto scaling?
No, absolutely no auto-scaling! I want my character to actually feel like he/she is improving! [384] -95%
Yes, bring back Oblivion's auto-scaling so that my character never truly improves! [21] - 5%
What perspective do you want Fallout 3 to be?
Old Perspective (Classic) [65] - 75%
First Person [9] - 10%
Close Third Person [13]- 15%
Turn Based, What do you want?
Turn based! Keep it classic, keep it Fallout. [250] - 70%
Real time! [36] - 10%
Real time with option to pause, ala KotOR. [45] - 12.5%
Don't care. [27] - 7.5%
Minigames in Fallout 3?
Yes/it'll be great!/not like Oblivion at all/you stooge! [27] - 16%
No. Absolutely not. [141] - 84%</blockquote>Considering that the polls represent the largely silent majority, who don't become involved in the raging discussions on the forum, there is a clear preference towards the elements of the origial Fallout games.
<blockquote>We've opened the Fallout 3 forums. Everyone here has on their peril sensitive sunglasses ...</blockquote>Tycho from Penny Arcade also had his thorough opinions on the proceedings:
<blockquote>The forums for the new Bethesda interpretation of Fallout are now open, and the sound is like a hundred thousand bats shrieking as they swirl around a jutting spire of obsidian. When I speak with fervor on topics that interest me, do I sound like them? It makes a strong case for a monastic existence.
Acting as their own publisher, Bethesda has the power to do what Denis Dyack has (perhaps correctly) suggested is the optimal scenario: withhold materials from a game until a developer can show it on their terms. In practice, it has been like shaking a soda bottle continuously for more than a year, so that when an opportunity to relieve the pressure was presented the result is volatile.
The history of Fallout as a franchise has all the trappings of a spiritual epic, replete with false messiahs and long persecution. Those who still hew to this strange religion are quick to call out Bethesda's many crimes, but they have no idea what Bethesda intends to do with Fallout. No-one does. The forums must have gone up for a reason, let us hope we will soon have genuine facts to discuss.</blockquote>From the forum itself, there have been numerous polls about what elements are preferred for Fallout 3, the results have been interesting.
<blockquote>How do you think the plot should be ?
Mature, Morally Ambiguous, Where Right and Wrong are just a matter of POV and morals with decisions that are personal and have consequences. [120] - 96%
Epic, Save the Wasteland ! The Big Struggle of good against evil, raiders against towns, mutants against humans... [5] - 4%
Black humour in F3?
No! [6] - 4%
Yes! [147] - 96%
Should Fallout 3 use enemy and item auto scaling?
No, absolutely no auto-scaling! I want my character to actually feel like he/she is improving! [384] -95%
Yes, bring back Oblivion's auto-scaling so that my character never truly improves! [21] - 5%
What perspective do you want Fallout 3 to be?
Old Perspective (Classic) [65] - 75%
First Person [9] - 10%
Close Third Person [13]- 15%
Turn Based, What do you want?
Turn based! Keep it classic, keep it Fallout. [250] - 70%
Real time! [36] - 10%
Real time with option to pause, ala KotOR. [45] - 12.5%
Don't care. [27] - 7.5%
Minigames in Fallout 3?
Yes/it'll be great!/not like Oblivion at all/you stooge! [27] - 16%
No. Absolutely not. [141] - 84%</blockquote>Considering that the polls represent the largely silent majority, who don't become involved in the raging discussions on the forum, there is a clear preference towards the elements of the origial Fallout games.
to people who didnt hear about them...
