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Editor, DLC Coming To Fallout 3
Bethesda has announced that an editor for the Windows version of Fallout 3 will be coming in December. They also said the first additional downloadable content for the Windows and XBox 360 versions will follow in January. MTV's Multiplayer blog got a few more details from Bethesda's Pete Hines, who said additions to Fallout 3 will resemble the Oblivion expansion pack Knights of the Nine in size and scope. MTV then brought up the question of how early publishers should provide DLC, pointing to Fallout 3 and Fable II as examples of games for which the expansions were planned to go live only a few months after launch.
Heh, maybe they'll somehow manage to get the rights to do System Shock 3 next. *shudder* Or Thief (screw the critics, I even liked 3).
Thankfully they do release very capable modding tools, and a lot of problems can probably be fixed, but they left a number of holes that just can't be filled by anyone other than a professional team without seeming out-of-place or of inferior quality, largely due to the ubiquitous voice acting in the game.
I wish they could find the people who generate the good ideas at Bethesda (they do generate a lot of those, which is what keeps me coming back to their half-finished games), give them all raises, and then fire the ones who push unfinished products out the door and create or approve totally goddamned stupid things. They could replace them with some fresh blood, and, oh, I don't know, maybe start running their games by some playtesters and paying attention to what they say, so they'll spot things like, "huh, it's weird that I can't actually join the Sixth House, when the story and a few specific bits of dialogue seem to indicate that I can. I bet those quests would be fun!" or, "Jesus, these Ayleid ruins are boring, can't you give them some variety and/or create some free-form quests to make them worth visiting?", or "wow, that was dumb, why the hell did my dad just do that? I don't feel sad, I feel confused and irritated."
You're right. I never really believed the number of endings they were touting to having, in all honesty I've only heard about that once. What I was looking forward to was the chance for there to be any sort of different endings, but none of that is in this game.
They promptly half-assed the ending. If you go into the video folder where you installed the game and use Bink and Smacker tools, you'll find out that the ending breaks down to only 3 choices (*spoiler* You do it, someone else does it, you let it explode */spoiler*) and after that, it only shows one, maybe two quests you have completed (depends on how high your karma is I think) and that's it. Its a photo montage ending that doesn't explain or end anything. I seriously have doubts of me playing it again until more mods come out to make it more of a decent game like Oblivion and Morrowind are now with mods.
For me though, I knew Bethesda would end up giving the same effort they've given all their games from Elder Scrolls 1 and on. They make sure it runs (mostly), plays like an rpg they were aiming for, then send it out to market when they deem it big enough. With consoles and DLC, they now have more of a reason to not expand on things that should of been there to begin with. I'm just glad these guys are pretty faithful to the modding community when it comes to the tools and ease of access to their content for people to modify and create anew. It's their saving grace and the real reason I bought the game. Like Morrowind and Oblivion, the game will last me more than a few years on community support alone.
You can also get speech options for all the other SPECIAL attributes, if they're high enough.. although you're right, I never saw anything for having an attribute too low.. my 3rd character, a highly specialized killing machine, has 1 charisma and 1 perception and makes it by just fine.
If you're just a total bastard throughout the game the ending is pretty funny, and it does mention some specific things, but you're right that it doesn't really mention side quests. I do think the main quest got a little silly and felt rushed at a certain point, which sucks because before that it was sweet.
As far as Oblivion: at least Bethesda improved on that by hand-placing stuff in the world this time around. Oblivion just wasn't worth playing once you realized it was all leveled and you could just tool around the same starting areas as you leveled up to get the best items, and even worse, that you COULDN'T get those items at an earlier level. Fallout 3 vastly improves on the fun and replay factor of Oblivion with VATS and hand-placed items and locations.
And Morrowind: sure the NPCs were lifeless, the combat sucked, et cetera.. but at the time, had you ever played such a vast and hand-detailed game, with so much freedom? At least Morrowind's main quest was actually interesting (it had a ton of back story at every turn if you were willing to read) and took you through all sorts of places and trials, unlike most of Oblivion's and half of Fallout 3's. Although, you're right: in Morrowind even, Bethesda managed to make the ending feel half-assed, among other things.
Regardless, Morrowind still ranks as my favorite game of all time, just for the initial 250 hours or so of amazement as I explored every little nook and cranny of that world. And Fallout 3 is still a game I keep installed now, because it's so much more FUN (if you don't do the main quest after a certain point) to just explore and kill things. And Oblivion, well, I loved it at one point, but Fallout 3 has totally eclipsed it, since it is essentially a better version of Oblivion.
WHO NEEDS SHIFT WHEN YOU HAVE CAPSLOCK/ DAMN1
There's your problem, relying on a commercial game site to provide you with accurate information on a game. You'll often glean more facts out of the "official" game forums, you may get to a critical thread before they delete it.
Personally I no longer buy a game until I've heard what proper game critics have to say about it. I now work on the theory that I should find out everything that's wrong with the game and if I can live with the problems (weather they be technical, story or gameplay related) then I'll consider purchasing the product.
Fallout 3 is a PC game ported to PS3 which would explain why he PS3 is having the worst problems. I purchased the PC version and it had no problems running at full spec on my 2 yr old gaming box. I was even able to get it running smoothly on a 4 yr old gaming box (granted at a low resolution) that my housemate had. Whilst I've had a few crashes on PC its nothing show stopping, I would prefer however that Bethesda would fix the damn bugs rather than release additional content.
Once again I'd say this is a PS3 issue, my mate who has all three consoles plus a gaming PC said that the PC version I lent him was considerably less buggy than his PS3 version. This kind of thing happens when a port is rushed and half arsed. Personally as a PC gamer I'd rather they spent the time on porting the half finished game on polishing it on the PC.
Apart from releasing a buggy port Bethesda has done nothing wrong (no draconian DRM, I don't like Tages but I can live with it) and if the bugs matter that much to you don't buy it. Piracy will not send a clear message to Bethesda or the games industry about bugs.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.