Fallout 76...

[Rapier]

This just in:

Bethesda to face class-action lawsuit for not fulfilling Fallout 76 refund requests

Shocking! o.0

I'm not shocked. It's a pretty common tactic for (US particularly) law firms to put out press releases saying they're investigating bringing this or that class-action suit, to see how much business it's likely to drum up if they were to actually do it. It's still several steps removed from Bethesda actually having to do anything about responding to a class-action.

[muppetts]

https://www.pcgamer.com/bethesdas-solut ... _pcgamerfb

Now i'm not a big fan of the special edition games but I can see some people get excited for some cool items but I do feel that this must come as false advertising as the bag in 'bag gate' was supposed to be canvas and other have noted that the word 'canvas' is now being removed from various online descriptions (why bother, horse bolted, barn burned down and they built a Starbucks by now).

[felter]

The bag issue is one thing that may just get them into some serious trouble, because as Muppets pointed out that's is false advertising which is illegal in most countries. Making changes now to how it was/is advertised after the fact will not help them in the least, neither will the current offer they are making to disappointed customers. I also don't buy the excuse we couldn't get the canvas material, and why replace it with nylon, they went from one material of quality to probably one of the cheapest and worst materials out there.

Update:

I went online and did a quick search, I had no problems finding many traders dealing in materials that had plenty of canvas material for sale. For example: WBL Fabrics that's UK based manufacturer and retailer there are tons of Chinese ones. Nylon is a different matter it comes in many different varieties and colours from the cheap to the very expensive and there is no shortage of it around. To me it sounds more like it was easier for them to buy the bags pre-made in bulk made from nylon, rather than spending time and resources to source and acquire a custom made bag out of canvas, which probably would have cost them a lot more to get them made. So no surprise as I do think they told a blatant lie about the bags, and a quick online search proves it.

[Stars_InTheirEyes]

From bad to worse...

"Bethesda leaked Fallout 76 customer names, addresses, contact details
[...]
The data protection breach happened last night, as customers filing support tickets with Bethesda began receiving support tickets from other people, too - which included usernames, names, addresses and other contact details.

Screenshots posted to Twitter showed customers had somehow been given access to details usually confined to Besthesda's own internal customer support system - which was full of complaints about those damn Fallout 76 bags that Bethesda is now going to replace. [...]"

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018 ... ct-details

[muppetts]

Someone just got fired

[Antilogic]

At this point it wouldn't surprise me if they got promoted.

[Morkonan]

At this point it wouldn't surprise me if they got promoted.

Holy $417ballz... that was funny.

I can see the "high fives" going around the Bethesda office, right now.

[Mightysword]

At this point it wouldn't surprise me if they got promoted.

Holy $417ballz... that was funny.

I can see the "high fives" going around the Bethesda office, right now.

Eh on a serious note this may not be something that just gonna go away with meme. I don't know the extend of this snafu yet, but if it involves European clients then things can get quite unpleasant and costly for Bethesa under the GDPR compliance.

[Morkonan]

Eh on a serious note this may not be something that just gonna go away with meme. I don't know the extend of this snafu yet, but if it involves European clients then things can get quite unpleasant and costly for Bethesa under the GDPR compliance.

If they can show that it wasn't due to negligence and was, instead, an "honest mistake" (lolz) then I doubt they'll face much in the way of fines/penalties for this. I know that the EU wants to take this stuff seriously, so it's possible they may rattle their microphones at this. But, I don't think anything will come of it. It's not a traditional "data breach" sort of thing, where some hacker jumps in and grabs a plain text file full of customer info and credit-card numbers because a company didn't want the inconvenience of having to manage certificates. At best, what did the receivers get? One/three person's real-life info?

It's funny that this coincides with Bethesda's seemingly uncaring attitude towards customer fulfillment. Their "customer service support" system... is borked. I'm sure they spent dozens of minutes putting it together...

[felter]

I'm sure they spent dozens of minutes putting it together...

Just like their games.

[Morkonan]

The Pruld does "Take me home, country roads."

The subtitles are priceless.

[felter]

Todd Howard was one of the judges for the Game Awards student game award last night. I can't say much for his Judging, especially as he judge Fallout 76 as a game worth launching or even some of the issues that has arisen around it, I wouldn't want him judging anything.

[Mightysword]

Eh on a serious note this may not be something that just gonna go away with meme. I don't know the extend of this snafu yet, but if it involves European clients then things can get quite unpleasant and costly for Bethesa under the GDPR compliance.

If they can show that it wasn't due to negligence

Wouldn't be a lot harder to prove this comparing to them simply being hacked? If they got hacked by, say, the Russian mafia then they can at least say they did all they could and can't help it. Seeing this is an self-inflicting wound, they'll need quite a bit of luck to convince anyone this is NOT due to negligence.

[pjknibbs]

You know, maybe rather than linking developer bonuses to the Metacritic scores (as Bethesda famously did with Fallout: New Vegas, where the developers Obsidian missed out on a big bonus because the game's Metacritic score was only 84 rather than the required 85), it should be the salaries and bonuses of the top guys that depend on those? Maybe Todd Howard and his ilk would be less willing to push a clearly unfinished piece of trash like FO76 onto the buying public if his own take-home would be affected.

[Morkonan]

...it should be the salaries and bonuses of the top guys that depend on those? Maybe Todd Howard and his ilk would be less willing to push a clearly unfinished piece of trash like FO76 onto the buying public if his own take-home would be affected.

While it sounds like a possibly good idea, it's really not. Nobody wants their salary linked to the "opinions" of someone else. They want their salary based upon how well they performed their job. Unless they work in government... Then, they want their salary linked to how long they've managed to survive.

IMO, if there's some sort of performance factor involved, it should be linked directly with performance. IF Bethesda sells a bajillion copies, those who worked on it should get their promised bonuses. If they don't... they shouldn't. I don't think Todd is going to be crying about a lack of a paycheck at the end of this.

Look at the latest "Big Hit" movies. Most of them are probably crap in terms of "worth." But, people go see them and the money rolls in and people get paid for making them. Were they worth making? Well, for money returns, sure. Were they worth seeing? Eh... It depends on what you like to watch. Were they artistic masterpieces? Definitely not and they'll be forgotten in five years.

[Mightysword]

Look at the latest "Big Hit" movies. Most of them are probably crap in terms of "worth." But, people go see them and the money rolls in and people get paid for making them. Were they worth making? Well, for money returns, sure. Were they worth seeing? Eh... It depends on what you like to watch. Were they artistic masterpieces? Definitely not and they'll be forgotten in five years.

Pretty much define Michael Bay Transformer series. I was shocked when I found out its earning is in the top 10

[pjknibbs]

While it sounds like a possibly good idea, it's really not. Nobody wants their salary linked to the "opinions" of someone else.

I wasn't being entirely serious, I just mentioned it because of what Bethesda did to Oblivion with FO:NV where they most definitely *did* determine they pay based on someone else's opinion.

[Tycow]

While it sounds like a possibly good idea, it's really not. Nobody wants their salary linked to the "opinions" of someone else.

I wasn't being entirely serious, I just mentioned it because of what Bethesda did to Oblivion with FO:NV where they most definitely *did* determine they pay based on someone else's opinion.

Seems karma is finally paying Bethesda back.

[Tycow]

Sorry for the bump, but this was too good to not post it.

Bethesda are adding the an optional paid subscription to Fallout 76. For the low low price of $12.99 per month / $99 per year, you can get things they originally promised in the base game!

Become a Fallout 1st Member Today!
Fallout 1st is a premium membership aimed at enhancing the Fallout 76 experience, offering members access to Private Worlds, unlimited crafting component storage with the Scrapbox, a second Fast Travel point with the Survival Tent, exclusive cosmetic items, and best value 1,650 Atoms each month.

Catch an overview of the current Fallout 1st membership bonuses below, and then click here to become a member today. If you’d like even more details on Fallout 1st, read our recent article on Fallout.com.

Private Worlds
Private Worlds have been among the most popular requests within the Fallout 76 community since launch, and we’re excited to announce that they have officially arrived today with Fallout 1st.

As a Fallout 1st member, you gain access to an exclusive Private World that you can use to play alone or invite up to 7 of your friends to join you at any given time.
Only the owner of a Private World is required to be a Fallout 1st member. As long as the owner is currently in their Private World, they can invite friends to join them.
If the owner leaves, the world will stay active as long as one other player in the world is a Fallout 1st member.
If no Fallout 1st members remain, all players in that Private World will receive a notification that the world will soon shut down.
Private Worlds do not currently support mods and behave just like Adventure Mode as you know it today.

Scrapbox
Hoard crafting components to your heart’s content with your own personal Scrapbox container.
The Scrapbox is a separate container from your Stash and offers unlimited storage space for all your components.
The Scrapbox is exclusive to Fallout 1st members and can be used in both public and private worlds.

Survival Tent
Quickly set up a forward operating base during your next adventure in the wilderness with the new Survival Tent.
Once placed, the Survival Tent acts as a second free Fast Travel point, in addition your existing C.A.M.P.
The Survival Tent comes complete with a Stash, Scrapbox, Sleeping Bag, Cooking Station, and even an instrument to help you wind down after a day of exploring Appalachia.
Like the Scrapbox, the Survival Tent is exclusive to Fallout 1st members and can be used in both public and private worlds.

Monthly Atoms
As a Fallout 1st member, you’ll receive the best value for an Atom bundle to date, with a monthly bonus of 1,650 Atoms that you can use freely in the Atomic Shop.
In addition to the bonus Atoms each month, you will also gain access to exclusive sales in the Atomic Shop.

Exclusive Cosmetics
Explore Appalachia in iconic Fallout style with the Ranger Armor Outfit and show off your membership status with a set of unique Fallout 1st Player Icons and Emotes, all of which are exclusively available to Fallout 1st members.

These guys have no shame... needless to say, the community backlash has been delightful. Someone has snagged the domain name for Fallout First... it is something!

http://falloutfirst.com

This just strikes me as tone deaf given the utterly rubbish state the game was in at release; has it improved enough to justify this? Probably not. I know it is optional, but seriously? I enjoyed this quote on Reddit:

For $99 a year, EA will let you play basically any game in their library, over 240 games, including new titles.

For $99 a year, Bethesda will let you have a private server in one game, Fallout 76, and you have to already own the game. They throw in a few other in game things, including putting the solution to players' stash size complaints behind a paywall.

[pjknibbs]

When EA are offering a better deal than you are, you really need to be examining your life choices.