My rant on Todd Howard.

[zegh8578]

Todd Howard is a figurehead. Soulless corporate overlords control these games.

In their head quarters, as with any self-respecting business centre, there is a small closed lid with the other elevator buttons. You unlock it with a small key, and are granted access to the hidden level. This comprises of three entire stories - all in one floor, with high ceilings, dim lighting, and at the end, a long table, with dark velvet curtains draping the walls.

This is the brandy room. Here the real decisions are made, and always under the influence of copious ammounts of opium and ketamine, coupled with pastries made from semen and menstruation blood, concluded by sessions of prostate stimulation

 

[TheGM]

I liked it, and it's certainly not bad, imo.

Whatever goodwill may have came from the gameplay was absolutely murdered by one of the most annoying and abrasive supporting cast in gaming ever and had made people wish there was an option to join the Nazis in game because of them.

 

[TheHouseAlwaysWins]

thats cause they were nazis in the first place

 

[KingArthur]

Whatever goodwill may have came from the gameplay was absolutely murdered by one of the most annoying and abrasive supporting cast in gaming ever and had made people wish there was an option to join the Nazis in game because of them.

You seem disgruntled, yngele, is there problems with your schmeckle?

 

[0wing]

Yeah, this rant seems kinda aimless.
I dunno if Todd is really a big part to blame here. Yeah, he is director on a lot of these games, but he still has to bend over to over People.
Honestly, he seems like a really chill guy who just allows these ideas to be implemented in his games without knowing if it'll work or not.
I'd say Todd really isn't the problem.

If the leaks were correct, then it's more Pete and Emil who are at fault. Emil is just a very bad and lazy writer while Pete comes across as a tosser.
Yeah, Todd is a dweeb and it's fun to take the piss out of him, but he is far from the problem.
If anything, he needs to say no to more ideas. But he is just some guy who actually wants to just make games.

No. Times can change. After Fallout 4 made billions of money in shorter timespan than Skyrim and Todds masters became too generous on his bonus payment to afford luxuries, he clearly changed. Started to brag about his wealth, talking shitty at public events, saying he's buddy of Elon Musk, even though he's just one of those extra nice and wealthy customers who thought Tesla is a good vehicle that totally worth its price, basically every negative parts of character one can notice when watching him from outside perspective. A behavior of an omega male who suddlenly got successful at serving to the real masters exploiting his ability to speak lies and be nice at the same time. He thinks it's normal and gets confirmation after every succesful TES or Fallout release, he just becomes more and more noticeable shitter, with every failure or scandal following his so-called games. And OP got it right.

 

[Walpknut]

Guy seems to be kind of a hack that can't manage projects properly but from that to dedicate him any more vitriol seems like a waste of energy.

 

[BigGuyCIA]

Guy seems to be kind of a hack that can't manage projects properly but from that to dedicate him any more vitriol seems like a waste of energy.

He's a cool "bro" guy to hang out with. It's mentioned around in the interwebs that he's regarded as largely inept at managing projects - so definitely not the first time I've heard it mentioned.

I think any ire that Petey gets, on the other hand, is warranted. Dude cancels interviews with you if the company you represent tweets memes making fun of Fallout 76 announcements.

Petty Hines.

 

[KingArthur]

So what you’re saying is that this is less accurate than if it was Pete Hines

 

[TheGM]

You seem disgruntled, yngele, is there problems with your schmeckle?

Are you mocking my supposed Jewish heritage?

uncool.

 

[Walpknut]

Pete Hines is indeed a vindictive douchebag.

 

[Millim]

No. Times can change. After Fallout 4 made billions of money in shorter timespan than Skyrim and Todds masters became too generous on his bonus payment to afford luxuries, he clearly changed. Started to brag about his wealth, talking shitty at public events, saying he's buddy of Elon Musk, even though he's just one of those extra nice and wealthy customers who thought Tesla is a good vehicle that totally worth its price, basically every negative parts of character one can notice when watching him from outside perspective. A behavior of an omega male who suddlenly got successful at serving to the real masters exploiting his ability to speak lies and be nice at the same time. He thinks it's normal and gets confirmation after every succesful TES or Fallout release, he just becomes more and more noticeable shitter, with every failure or scandal following his so-called games. And OP got it right.

Eh... I kinda forgot all about that.
Yeah, he does indeed seem like a tool.

 

[BigGuyCIA]

View attachment 13213
So what you’re saying is that this is less accurate than if it was Pete Hines

There's a picture floating around where someone photoshopped Pete's face to look like a Fallout 1 Super Mutant...

Here we go:

 

[KingArthur]

There's a picture floating around where someone photoshopped Pete's face to look like a Fallout 1 Super Mutant...

Here we go:

It’s both hideous and oddly aesthetically pleasing.

 

[TheGM]

Horrors that have been snipped

BURN IT WITH THE HOLIEST OF FLAMES!

 

[KingArthur]

I don't know why but that made me think of Crusader Kings II. Good times.

 

[Sublime]

I've got the impression that Todd is Literally Hitler. In other more politically correct words, yes he is charismatic, except he's a pathological liar. Todd just makes up his cool stories about life - about him and Ugly Pete being Fallout fans, about the chess club, him (not bugthesda) being open to criticism, him loving STALKER, him actually developing games, you name it. Why? So he would fit into whatever environment he has to infiltrate or whatever excuses he has to make for his behavior and the harming course bethesda takes.

The "Ugly Pete" part had me dying in laughter

 

[Nyaren-Chan]

I don't think he really cares about how his consumers view him, he is not a Political Leader, he makes video games. He has tons of money, and like mentioned previously, those complaining about him are probably less happy than he is.
I don't think he cares, he's making money, and unfortunately for us he makes that money by using our game franchise.. but hey, that's what most of those big video games companies does..

 

[Crni Vuk]

Everyone who's in such a position cares about what people view and think about them. How could they not? It's merely human. Have you seen the images from Todd when Witcher 3 pretty much wiped the Floor with Fallout 4? Yes Todd is a hack and all that. But he is at the end of the day a human being that was for years the head of a development company releasing games that received all kinds of praise not just from gaming press but also millions of gamers. They managed to sell more and more copies with each new game. Does he believe his products are nothing more than burgers and fries for the masses? Who knows. He might REALLY believe at this point that he's making very intelligent games and real role playing games. And then suddenly something from a small polish company comes along and everyone is like, THIS, this is what a real open world RPG should be like! And it wins a lot of awards while Fallout 4 is getting nothing. I think a lot of frustration was also released in that moment where the Witcher 3 was used like a big middle finger to Fallout 4 by a lot of gamers. I mean ... heh ... even long time Bethesda fans had some serious trouble with their cognitive dissonance going on. On one side defending Bethesda and Fallout 4 despite the fact that it's nothing more but a buggy and glorified shooter with mediocre gameplay and even worse story. I think I have spend a couple of hours watching die hard Beth apologetics with their youtube channels explaining how the game is shitty but still being a fun role playing game ... without being a role playing game. Anyway yeah this is all just speculation but my feeling is oh Todd Howard does care about what the Interwebs and the gaming community is thinking about it. I mean in this business popularity is also equal to money. And in Germany we have this saying which goes like winning makes you stupid. When you never have someone criticising you work, questioning your ideas and concepts at the right moment or in general getting you back to earth you really start to believe that you might be the next Jesus or something. You can become very full of your self. You know there is this anecdote they tell about Roman generals. Once a General in Rome won a huge battle and successful campaign was the only time when a general was actually allowed to enter Rome with his troops. They would have a huge procession with thousand of people chanting while the General was sitting on his chariot with his troops marching trough. Must have been an impressive sight. Now the anecdote goes as follows. Every general had also a slave on his chariot who would whisper in his ear, all men are mortal and every glory is short-lived. Go figure.

 

[SquidWard]

I feel like if you get memes made about you, it's hard to not feel some sort of way about it.

At the end of the day, he likely does his job, goes home, and doesn't think about it constantly. Sure, he wants a good image for his company and to keep making money working in his position there but he doesn't care about critical acclaim as much as he cares about what his boss says about his job stability.

When you never have someone criticising you work, questioning your ideas and concepts at the right moment or in general getting you back to earth you really start to believe that you might be the next Jesus or something.

I feel like this is what probably happened to George Lucas. People probably helped refine his ideas for the original trilogy but when it came for the prequels he had enough fame and money that no one could really say, "Hey George, is Anakin bitching about sand a really good idea? Also, what's with this Jar Jar guy?" and make him reconsider.

 

[Sublime]

Everyone who's in such a position cares about what people view and think about them. How could they not? It's merely human. Have you seen the images from Todd when Witcher 3 pretty much wiped the Floor with Fallout 4? Yes Todd is a hack and all that. But he is at the end of the day a human being that was for years the head of a development company releasing games that received all kinds of praise not just from gaming press but also millions of gamers. They managed to sell more and more copies with each new game. Does he believe his products are nothing more than burgers and fries for the masses? Who knows. He might REALLY believe at this point that he's making very intelligent games and real role playing games. And then suddenly something from a small polish company comes along and everyone is like, THIS, this is what a real open world RPG should be like! And it wins a lot of awards while Fallout 4 is getting nothing. I think a lot of frustration was also released in that moment where the Witcher 3 was used like a big middle finger to Fallout 4 by a lot of gamers. I mean ... heh ... even long time Bethesda fans had some serious trouble with their cognitive dissonance going on. On one side defending Bethesda and Fallout 4 despite the fact that it's nothing more but a buggy and glorified shooter with mediocre gameplay and even worse story. I think I have spend a couple of hours watching die hard Beth apologetics with their youtube channels explaining how the game is shitty but still being a fun role playing game ... without being a role playing game. Anyway yeah this is all just speculation but my feeling is oh Todd Howard does care about what the Interwebs and the gaming community is thinking about it. I mean in this business popularity is also equal to money. And in Germany we have this saying which goes like winning makes you stupid. When you never have someone criticising you work, questioning your ideas and concepts at the right moment or in general getting you back to earth you really start to believe that you might be the next Jesus or something. You can become very full of your self. You know there is this anecdote they tell about Roman generals. Once a General in Rome won a huge battle and successful campaign was the only time when a general was actually allowed to enter Rome with his troops. They would have a huge procession with thousand of people chanting while the General was sitting on his chariot with his troops marching trough. Must have been an impressive sight. Now the anecdote goes as follows. Every general had also a slave on his chariot who would whisper in his ear, all men are mortal and every glory is short-lived. Go figure.

It was actually emperor Marcus Aurelius