Fans Interaction

At one point on the Fallout 3 Forum GreenEyes asked if the developers would come out of the sandbox to post in other topics, when they are finally allowed to talk about Fallout 3, and got several positive responses, like this one from Orin “lancekt” Tresnjak:

If we have time, sure.

A positive development, followed by a question by an anti-Fallout Fan troll:

How do you feel about the negative comments and predictions taken by some of the Fallout community? Has it affected your opinions in anyway? What do you feel towards such pointless and nonconstructive comments?

Here are some of the replies, first by Ricardo “Socrates200x” Gonzalez:

Is there a such thing as a forum without trolling and other brands of negativity? Could such a thing even be called a forum qua forums? Doubtful. What I’ll say about the FO forums is that most complaints here are paired with concrete and even reasonable solutions, with which I agree and disagree on my own terms. There are certain forum communities that’ll remain nameless ( *cough* WoW General *cough* ) that make a e-career out of flaming for flaming’s sake, which makes me greatly appreciate the constructive, albeit sometimes harsh, criticisms I find here.

And now from Erik J. “DoctorSpooky” Caponi:

I do read most of the forums and of course, I’m very aware of the things that people have to say. Behind a lot of the negative comments, there are some good ideas and genuine criticisms, so I try to peel away the negativity and see those for what they are. And of course, there are some people who just enjoy being negative. Having written my share of vitriolic diatribes, I certainly see the appeal. Righteous anger just feels… good. But, the best thing to do with those people is to tune it out and not take it personally.

You learn to develop a thick skin pretty quickly when you’re in game development. You have to. No matter what you do, no matter how many people praise it, and matter how many people buy it and love it, somewhere, someone thinks that it sucks and they just can’t wait to tell you all about it. And thanks to the power of the internet, they can. Frequently. But, it can serve as a not-so-gentle reminder that no matter what you do, there’s always room for improvement.

And now for Fred “fizzbang” Zeleny:

Well, that last question was a bit leading, wasn’t it? But I think I get your gist.

I used to dread the idea of posting on the forum, because I had heard (and seen) so many horror stories on various fan fora – not even just on games, but on all sorts of topics across the internet. But having had the chance to talk to folks on this list, and getting to recognize some of you as individuals, it’s been a lot more pleasing and rewarding than I had expected. A lot of you have provided valuable insights and perspectives on what you most loved about the game, and I really enjoy the discussions – even if I can’t talk about anything particularly juicy, yet.

As for the “nonconstructive comments”, I can entirely understand the anticipation and anxiety that a lot of Fallout fans have about us working with the franchise they’ve loved for a decade. Hell, even I occasionally feel anxiety about being able to live up to what I consider two classics in the medium – any creator does, to some degree. And considering how badly the loyal fans have been burned in the past, I can understand the bitter distrust of anyone else with it – you can only get screwed over so much before you get mean. Add that to the long, long wait since a game worth the name came out, and you have to expect a certain degree of frustration and nastiness.

So there are a lot of negative comments that I don’t really mind – in a lot of cases, I chalk them up to worried but well-intentioned people blowing off steam and venting frustration. And that’s no problem, because I know how they feel, and I don’t begrudge anyone the occasional complaint. Especially not when they’re intelligent and reasonable. I’d much rather hear a well-reasoned, harsh critique of my work from someone who respectfully disagrees with my choices than receive vapid fawning and bootlicking from someone who only likes my work because I’ve got a fancy logo next to my name. At least the critique can lead to better work in the future.

The only thing that bothers me – and this happens on all over the internet, not just here – is when someone goes way out of their way to find something “bad” about an otherwise fine piece, and uses that smaller imperfection to tar the whole piece as being terrible. That’s the sort of thing that can be frustrating to any creative type who’s pouring their heart into their work, and that just hurts the final piece. And we all want the final piece to be the best it can be – even when we don’t all agree on exactly how it should be.

Pretty reasonable stuff, you can check more at the Bethesda Fallout3 Forum.

Busy day

There’s so much going on the Fallout 3 Forum that it’s impossible to report on everything. If you want to keep up with what the devs are saying head out to No Mutants Allowed “Meet the Devs” collection of quotes (a great idea by SpaceKungfuMan).

So I’ll just add a few examples, starting with Gary “VXSS” Noonan, character animator on Fallout 3 and a Bethsoft veteran:

What have you drawn on for inspiration in developing Fallout 3? Books, movies, music, etc would be fine, if you don’t want to name any games.

Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics mostly. As for movies, I find some fair inspiration with Mad Max, Road Warrior, Waterworld (sorry, hate to say that, but the structures, costumes, and vehicles are great in that), and believe it or not just about any WWII film since it has that visual wartime atmosphere with mass destruction of cities, etc.

Please don’t use Tactics as an inspiration, with the hairy deathclaws wrongly taken from early Fallout concept art and Mutants that looked like they were taken from a Super mario game…Please?

I played each title within the week they hit the shelves. FO, FO2, FO:T, and FO:BoS. Back in the day, FO and FO2 where simply awesome. I could never get into Tactics because the pace felt so drawn out. And BoS was simply a guilty pleasure action bore. I went back and played through ALL of them (yes, I own all of them and even keep the whole franchise together in a shoebox) recently and strangely enough, found Tactics to be the better of them all. Now before you beat me with my own severed limbs, let me just say that actually playing Tactics with Turn-Based OFF made it a whole new experience. One I welcomed since it added a new feel and moved the game along well. Like I said previously though, I do have a knack for liking RTS titles.

Oh yeah, Tactics Real Time combat with the rush/rush/rush tactics as the only possible gameplay was so good that made the single player game unforgettable and the multiplayer a success. Wait, no it didn’t…

Now onto Michael “Sentinel” Wagner and his message to the fans that say the concept art released so far does not have enough Americana and Retro Futuristic Fallout style:

Patience

I could swear he had written something else before, but I forgot to copy it…

More quotes later

Breaking News-Fallout 3 East Coast and a voice

 

 

New teaser concept art at the official Fallout 3 site!

 

Also we have this press release:

 

Bethesda Softworks Announces Award-Winning Actor
Liam Neeson to Play Lead Role in Fallout 3

May 8, 2007 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks® is pleased to announce that highly acclaimed international actor Liam Neeson will lead the cast providing voice work in Fallout 3. Neeson will play the role of the player’s father and will appear prominently throughout the game. Fallout 3 is currently under development at Bethesda Game Studios, creators of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion®, which won numerous Game of the Year and RPG of the Year awards in 2006.

“This role was written with Liam in mind, and provides the dramatic tone for the entire game,” said Todd Howard, Executive Producer of Fallout 3. “Liam is absolutely amazing to work with.”

Neeson is known for starring roles in blockbuster films such as Schindler’s List, Star Wars: Episode I, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Batman Begins. Throughout his illustrious career, Neeson has been the recipient of numerous honors for his work in film and theater, including Academy Award, Golden Globe and Tony Award nominations.

“It’s been a pleasure bringing the father to life and working with the wonderfully talented people at Bethesda on Fallout 3,” said Neeson. “I hope the fans of the franchise and the game will be excited by the results.”

I hope so too.