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Nine hours into Fallout 4, I'm stuck inside an elevator

M

MThanded

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016
Bethesda, the creator of the modern Fallout games, has a reputation for releasing buggy software in which characters fall through the ground or citizens of the apocalyptic wasteland wander loose into the distance like an unmoored schooner on a stormy day. In Fallout 4, I hoped to find something more polished. But now I'm reluctant to even continue with the game, at least until it's been thoroughly patched and improved via the countless updates these games receive in the months after their release.

When a game asks me to give dozens of hours, I in turn trust that my progress will be respected. As an adult, I have less and less time for games, and the couple of hours without distractions is precious. To lose that progress is discouraging, but what's worse is weighing my solutions:

-Do I choose an even older save file, and progress to the same point in hopes the game has repaired itself?
-Do I abandon this mission and hope all elevators aren't stop signs preventing me from moving forward?
-Do I restart and repeat the same dozen hours, trying to recreate the character from memory and a good bit of luck?

Whatever I do, I feel as though the game could break at any moment, making any additional investment meaningless. At best, I'm treating my play time like an unpaid quality testing assignment. At worse, my investment proves to be a wash, and late in the game this bug prevents me from reaching the conclusion.

So that's where I'm at. Nine hours in, I'm stuck in an elevator wondering if it's even worth getting out.
Click to expand...

http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/9/9696186/fallout-4-bugs
 
U

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
A leopard can't change it's spots, it's a Bethesda RPG so everyone should have been braced for this. If you want a decent experience then wait 6 months until it's properly patched.
 
F

Familienoberhauptvogel

Banned
Just keep multiple save games and save frequently and with reason, oh and try restart the game.

Sucks to not play on PC,if I mess up there I can always just use a savegame editor or something to get me out of it.
 
E

EloquentM

aka Mannny
Oh great more bugs like what happened to me in fo3. In the past I've stated how some fallout bugs can be hilarious but shit like this is completely unacceptable. Someone get the bingo card ready for the infection from both sides of the coin in the review thread will surely spread to here. Interesting to see how people will blindly defend buggy games like this due to the names attached to it.
 
Rodolink

Rodolink

Member
Thats why I wait until the GOTY edition with all patches, DLC's and lower price. Open Worlds are difficult to mantain and develop I still remember the horrible water game freezing bug in Skyrim >.<
 
E

EloquentM

aka Mannny
Rosolink said:
Thats why I wait until the GOTY edition with all patches, DLC's and lower price. Open Worlds are difficult to mantain and develop I still remember the horrible water game freezing bug in Skyrim >.<
Click to expand...
This is a Bethesda game. They have a track record of not fixing their shit and just riding it out on positive fanboy word of mouth.
 
Z

ZzzZombi

Neo Member
As an adult, I have less and less time for games, and the couple of hours without distractions is precious
Click to expand...

Yeah, this type of sentiments are bullshit. A game developer shouldn't (and doesn't) think about your inability to create time to entertain yourself. Here's a product, like most products it has flaws. Criticize that, try to have fun in other areas but don't drive the criticism to the game stealing your precious little free time.
 
Zok310

Zok310

Banned
so tempted to call up Sony and cancel my preorder and just put my 60 bux towards something else on PSN.
 
D

Dachande

Member
And this is why, although I'm excited for FO4, I'm resisting the urge to pick it up tomorrow and hoping to wait until the first couple of patches are out...
 
C

CorrisD

badchoiceboobies
More games need to take the approach that say Deus Ex HR and from memory Arkham Knight did, multiple save files. I believe Deus Ex has like 3 save files, a main and two back ups. Bethesda games should especially have multiple saves, though I thought Fallout or maybe it was New Vegas, maybe Skyrim even, would save when entering a big new area so you could easily restart.
 
B

balladofwindfishes

Member
ZzzZombi said:
Yeah, this type of sentiments are bullshit. A game developer shouldn't (and doesn't) think about your inability to create time to entertain yourself. Here's a product, like most products it has flaws. Criticize that, try to have fun in other areas but don't drive the criticism to the game stealing your precious little free time.
Click to expand...

Of course game developers think of your time...

They literally sell boosters in games to make stuff take less time to appeal to people who have more money than time...
 
S

striferser

Huge Nickleback Fan
Well, it's bethesda game...
So yeah,that kindnof major bug are usually the norm, and that was inevitable due to the scope of their game
 
D

Dabanton

Member
Like I said in the review thread I'll be waiting to let some of you guys give this a two week test to see how buggy it is before I make my purchasing decision.
 
F

Funyarinpa

Member
ZzzZombi said:
Yeah, this type of sentiments are bullshit. A game developer shouldn't (and doesn't) think about your inability to create time to entertain yourself. Here's a product, like most products it has flaws. Criticize that, try to have fun in other areas but don't drive the criticism to the game stealing your precious little free time.
Click to expand...

I think that's mostly trying to say that the developer needs to respect the player's time, and a bug that can cause the player to lose significant progress is of course not exactly fitting that criteria.
 
F

freenudemacusers

Member
Yeah after getting stuck in a rock in skyrim on PS3 (never mind the degrading performance) there is no way I'm day 1-ing a Bethesda game or playing one on a non-console accessible system again.
 
A

afternoon delight

Member
Save every single time before you transition levels in Bethesda games. EVERY TIME. I spent so many hours staring at those goddamn splash screens only to realize lo, that save is wrecked.
 
J

Jacksinthe

Banned
ZzzZombi said:
Yeah, this type of sentiments are bullshit. A game developer shouldn't (and doesn't) think about your inability to create time to entertain yourself. Here's a product, like most products it has flaws. Criticize that, try to have fun in other areas but don't drive the criticism to the game stealing your precious little free time.
Click to expand...
I assure you we think of time.

We don't think of how you will make time but we think of time management per task - pacing. The rest is up to the end user.
 
P

Par Score

Member
ZzzZombi said:
Yeah, this type of sentiments are bullshit. A game developer shouldn't (and doesn't) think about your inability to create time to entertain yourself. Here's a product, like most products it has flaws. Criticize that, try to have fun in other areas but don't drive the criticism to the game stealing your precious little free time.
Click to expand...

A game should be respectful of the player's time to the point that they don't have to restart it at 9 hours in due to a bug.

I don't think that's a particularly entitled or unreasonable request, I would suggest it is a flaw deserving of critique.
 
S

SomedayTheFire

Member
ZzzZombi said:
Yeah, this type of sentiments are bullshit. A game developer shouldn't (and doesn't) think about your inability to create time to entertain yourself. Here's a product, like most products it has flaws. Criticize that, try to have fun in other areas but don't drive the criticism to the game stealing your precious little free time.
Click to expand...

No. Missions should not be bugged to the point of being unable to finish the mission or game as a whole.
 
D

Dance Inferno

Unconfirmed Member
Ushojax said:
A leopard can't change it's spots, it's a Bethesda RPG so everyone should have been braced for this. If you want a decent experience then wait 6 months until it's properly patched.
Click to expand...

That's not an acceptable excuse for buggy software. If we keep giving Bethesda a pass they're going to keep releasing broken games, which, incidentally, is exactly what seems to be happening.
 
T

Triggerhappytel

Member
Ushojax said:
A leopard can't change it's spots, it's a Bethesda RPG so everyone should have been braced for this. If you want a decent experience then wait 6 months until it's properly patched.
Click to expand...

Pretty much. When their games stop selling so well perhaps they'll have to actually hire some QA staff and try a little harder to win their audience back.
 
G

Ghost

Chili Con Carnage!
ZzzZombi said:
Yeah, this type of sentiments are bullshit. A game developer shouldn't (and doesn't) think about your inability to create time to entertain yourself. Here's a product, like most products it has flaws. Criticize that, try to have fun in other areas but don't drive the criticism to the game stealing your precious little free time.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's fair for a couple of reasons, firstly, it is possible for a game to both suck up all of your time and feel rewarding in all of it, or at least the vast majority. So the fact this has sucked up all his time and that he doesn't feel like it was time well spent is a valid criticism regardless of his personal circumstances.

Secondly, context is everything when understanding criticism, "I don't have much free time and as such this game doesn't feel like a great use of it" is a way more instructive criticism of a game than "this game feels like a waste of time" which is what you're asking for. If his situation isn't the same as yours then you can rest assured that your experience may well be different. If you don't even know his situation you've got no way of knowing how relevant this opinion is to what your reaction will be (which is ultimately the point of the article, to give you a better idea of how much you'll like Fallout).
 
D

depward

Member
Ushojax said:
A leopard can't change it's spots, it's a Bethesda RPG so everyone should have been braced for this. If you want a decent experience then wait 6 months until it's properly patched.
Click to expand...

That's just the kind of unacceptable attitude we shouldn't have for the gaming industry.

Pretty sad that thinking is pretty much a standard, canned response. Not sad for you, personally, but just sad all around.
 
Z

Zen_Arcade

Banned
SocksAndShoes said:
Literally every open world game has issues at launch. This is not new, and it's certainly not a Bethesda issue.
Click to expand...
It's a Bethesda issue because they have a consistent track record of it, and rarely get called out for it by the people reviewing the game.

When there are people in threads going "Well it's a Bethesda game, you should have seen that coming." (Obviously that person wasn't excusing it, just commenting on how frequent it is for the company. But still, the fact that that sentence can even be said legitimately is ridiculous.) and the review thread is still full of glowing reviews when the game contains issues plenty of other series would be panned for, then there is obviously something wrong.
 
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