Will Beth try it's luck by...

[Tchos]

Making games last for 10 years is not something most publishers would see as a good thing. You buy the game once, so why would they want to make it last longer than the release of their next game (in this case being FO3)?

 

LHammonds brings up a good point about the inherent failure of DLCs that don't live up to some fan-made mods. I'd hate to see them withhold a CS until after they've released as many DLCs as they think they can sell... Now, if all of the DLC was as nice and extensive as Shivering Isles, it would be a different story. They could release a CS and I'd still want something like SI.

 

Of course, there is the possibility that some extra sales are made due to people originally buying the game for a console, then buying it again for the PC when they see all the great mods that are available for it.

[madcow2008]

And if they don't release a CS or enable modding then the game maybe has a shelf life of 1 year unless they pump out some serious DLC. The (Hardcore) gamer might rip through this game in 1 week, 2 if there is alernate ending and such and then move on. This is strictly from experience and opinion: Most games that have opened the doors to its source code or SDK has been a long living and successful games.

 

Also, they are releasing FO3 1 week after the release of Dead Space. Which may or may not be a flop. But it will warm up the crowd for some Sci-Fi genre FP action. And both games seem to deliver that.

 

I don't know who will be better, but I have both reserved at my local gamestop.

[doomjockey]

I'm not willing to throw my poorly supported opinion on the fire just yet, but as a player of mods (not a shaper) I would have course, love to see a CS released to the community. Gives me great reasons to add shelf life to a game. Oblivion mods led me here to some very cool people too. *wave*

 

I'd hope for a similar experience with the upcoming Fallout.

 

But the posts so far make some good points concerning DLC and the CS. It's a lot to consider and I can only hope Bethesda will do something to appease us all. Personally, I would want the CS over DLC; Oblivion's (SI included) did not impress me nearly as much as some of the great user mods floating around here.

[Stupidguy]

That would be a mistake if they didn't. I be really irritated to :verymad:

[Vagrant0]

I'd be tempted to say that the failure (atleast for PC users) of the DLC mods deals more with how half-assed most of them are rather than how good some modders are. The first few DLC mods were actually things which were cut from the original game in order to be packaged seperately afterall. That behavior right there was reason enough for me not to ever buy one. The fact that I can't use any of the content from those side mods gives me even more reason not to bother... It's just another meaningless mod which I'd have to fix, play for 5 minutes, get bored, and uninstall. Even if there weren't other mods available, I wouldn't be buying those ones. I disagree with the whole micropayment model entirely, and see it merely as a way for a company to force people to buy more substandard products. Micropayment only works with online games, and at that, only works because there are people willing to pay ingame currancy for company currancy. This alternative doesn't exist for other games, so there aren't people paying more real money to sell the currency to others.

 

As far as the game goes, if it doesn't have some sort of modding potential, I won't be buying it. I don't have much money to spend on games, and as is I'm lamenting the fact that I bought spore just because of what a piece of crap it turned out to be.

So no CS means that I'd probably be passing on this game until it was being sold in the bargain bin, and even then I may think long and hard before buying if they go pulling any of this security software garbage.

[Skotte]

Making games last for 10 years is not something most publishers would see as a good thing. You buy the game once, so why would they want to make it last longer than the release of their next game (in this case being FO3)?

 

IMHO it's in a company's best interest to keep their titles as commercially viable for the longest period possible, Look @ Id Software, last I checked "Doom 1" is still being bought (not bad for a PC game nearing it's fifteenth *birthday.) While Classic Doom may not be a "Mega money maker" lately I don't think Id would not like the money it still brings in.

 

 

*-Doom 1 was released Dec 10th 1993

[Tchos]

I was surprised to find that Doom 2 is still buyable from iD's web site, indeed. (I couldn't find Doom 1 to use as an example, but it may be there too). However, it appears they're asking $20 for it, which is more than 4 times the amount I see it being offered for in the Amazon Marketplace, in used condition from resellers. iD would not be getting any money if I chose to buy it, because I as a thrifty consumer would opt for the lower priced one. Certainly, at some point that copy surely came from iD ultimately, but it may have been resold used many times since it originally came out, and I have no idea.

 

Actually, I own a pack of iD software titles in a nice box with colour manuals and all, which I bought from a public library sale a few years ago for a very low price (can't remember exactly how much it was) for the sake of owning a piece of video game history, but iD was not involved in that transaction.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

Id has most of their lineup on Steam these days, dating all the way back to their 2D platformers. I don't know if they're still making it, but up until very recently there was a single-disc compilation of all three original Doom titles bundled with a disc of bonus materials for Doom 3- I bought that for around $15 a few years ago.

 

It pays to keep supporting games- if people know you've supported your titles for years after other companies would've abandoned them, they're more likely to become customers and keep buying your products. Mod tools are a relatively effort-free way of doing that- release it once, let the community do the rest, and- BAM!- free advertising for the lifetime of the game. Gamers love games that are easily moddable, even if they aren't modders themselves.

 

Oh, and Bethesda isn't releasing the mod tools with the game. I haven't got the link, but it was posted on Slashdot not terribly long ago. They *may* release the tools at a later date, but they aren't gonna be in the box with the product. I'm gonna buy it anyway, but it's a major letdown... :/

[doomjockey]

Eh. Well let's hope the vanilla game is a darn sight better (or more 'epic' if you will) than Oblivion's. That or I'll buy it when the CS finally sees release. Or not at all if it doesn't happen. No biggie.