#bethseda

[art-of-thomas-elliott]

Every couple of years I’ve got to break out the Brush pen and remind myself why I prefer drawing in pencil. Anyways here’s a little sketch of the DOOMguy.

[bamsara]

Bethseda exploiting their modding community per usual

[objuct]

its funny my modding adhd is like sims > rimworld > vintage story > repeat

[parme-san]

on a good day streak of 3

[for-narnia-and-the-north]

Update: my steward won’t buy me new chickens because the one was reanimated the game thinks I still have one somehow??

So now we’re going to the nearest Chick-fil-A and Serena’s gonna reanimate every plate of chicken tenders in the whole damn building and then we’ll go to the next one, and keep going till we have an army. then I’ll go to Bethesda HQ and throw the developers and a laptop into a pit with the reanimated fried chickens till they either fix the bug and bring back my chickens, or die trying.

Nothing like defending your homestead from a wolf attack and having your vampire counterpart reanimate your recently deceased chicken to help in the defense….

I’m sure that’ll make an effective ally… yep, for sure. Good call there Serana.

[simdreams]

Beth paid a visit to the other Hamilton household - to invite them for the party and spend some time. Just before leaving, she turned to her younger brother: "Bruno, you need to date someone!" He mumbled and failed to find a good comeback. She went on: "My precious younger brother... you need to meet... wait... are you seeing someone now?" "Are you seeing someone, Bethseda? I don't see a boyfriend anywhere." "Men are trash. Just look at Joshua. But you are exception, so don't lock yourself from the world! Go to the party! And take a date with you!"

[the-mercurial-star-o-vesper]

Look, I'm gonna be stubborn, and always promote the idea that Nick Valentine is the unequivocal good guy of Fallout 4 (...backstory issue regardless).

But the way Fallout 4 handles its environment... Always, Always, Always, makes Everyone villainous.

( Honestly, its an issue with Bethseda's entire era of Fallout. )

Once you've played through Fallout 4... How many people did you slaughter, exactly?

There were more raiders than farmers and settlements in FO4, you might have to come to the conclusion that the norm really is raiders and there's probably a good reason why there are so many raiders. And by the end of FO4, you just slaughtered hundreds of people.

And nearly every companion will slap your back and tell you its a good thing.

Now, that's not the fault of the companions. That's not even the fault of the non-hostile settlements of the commonwealth (maybe).

But you can't kill hundreds of people, and still be the "good" guy at the end of it. No, no amount of moral reasoning justifies it, sorry, hundreds of people is dead with their corpses stripped of resources and left to rot.

Now, this isn't to discourage Gamers. Don't worry, I know its just a game and the only option is to perform the above--and yeah, it can be really fun facing of against virtual enemies.

This is a dig at the Writing, who tries to promote a message of hope and inner goodness, whilst mowing down hundreds of in-game entities, that technically, should also have a chance at the hope In Story.

You don't rebuild from an apocalypse by going "oh we don't want Those Kinds of People"-- You're in the apocalypse, they are your sorts of people, because they're the only ones Left.

And if there's hundreds of them--maybe the problem isn't them, maybe the problem is with your settlements that have, less than half-a-hundred people.

You should, absolutely, be capable of convincing a Raider to not only backdown, but rethink their life. Perhaps joining one of you settlements. Now there's always going to be people who won't--but you, as the Player and the Player Character, should always have the Option of Peace talks.

The issue with the Bethseda Era, is that it profits off the Wasteland too much to make any significant changes to it. Its not going to bother much with making peace and rebuilding, because that means the profit is over.

It, as the "New Fallout", defeats the message of Old Fallout (FO1 / FO2 / FONV), by ensuring that "War" (which the Wasteland is a kind of symbolic metaphor for) is constant. Its not that wasteland never changes--its that wasteland is never going to stop, and the violence is profitable.

That's not the message they promote at all, of course... but that is the Message that occurs regardless, by the actions they write and program in.

Old FO's message was that "War never Changes... But People do by the paths they walk"

New FO's message is, "War never stops... And the benefit is the violence."

... Of course its just a video game at the end of the day. If it doesn't speak to you, it just doesn't speak to you, and who cares.

The best thing I can say about Valentine, is that he does, in fact, try. Even if its just a companion-character spitting out random battle lines whilst facing permanently hostile enemies.

At least he tries, in the brave new world, with such game coding.

[warsofasoiaf]

Have you watched the Fallout show on Prime and if so, what did you think of it?

I watched it. For the most part, it was good - well-shot and well-executed. Walton Goggins stole the show as our favorite ghoul hitman. The Brotherhood was finally and decisively moved away from its Fallout 3 Wasteland Crusaders vibe. I would have liked more of the technological cult of the Brotherhood emphasized a little more, but what they did was fine. Overall, it felt like a Fallout product, albeit a Bethseda one.

And then, the final episode ended up turning into the Mass Effect 3 ending.

Overall, the plot was still the Bethseda "find the family member" plot which is getting quite stale by this point, but having Lucy go through it rather than us going through it ourselves makes the ludonarrative dissonance of Bethseda's "find your family member, but also feel free to dick around literally everywhere" entries into the Fallout series" does make the pill a lot easier to swallow. Her dad being a bad guy was a perfectly fine twist, albeit predictable. I'm not liking how many people seem to keep popping up from Pre-War times as being cryogenically frozen, it keeps losing the magic of the pre-War times with every new Pre-War person.

That being said, some worldbuilding changes I was not happy with. Nuking Shady Sands was something that was desirable for a lot of Fallout devs in terms of wanting to change the world back away from Fallout 2's big established cities to something grittier. But the timing of it throws New Vegas out the window. I believe the writers have said it was a mistake, and it goes back and forth from being an actual outside writer's mistake to a mistake that an in-universe actor made in recordkeeping. To me, it looks like a lack of care for the setting. If that was it, I'd actually be fine with the explanation, but there's a larger pattern at work here.

The change to making ghouls dependent on some magic juice just annoyed me. There was no real reason to change it, and now it opens up a whole of retroactive canonicity issues. It didn't really service the needs of the story except as an excuse plot for the Ghoul to sell Lucy to the organ harvesters in exchange for the magic juice. There were cleaner ways to get the plot to move in that direction without it.

The final episode plot revelations though, about how the US actually won the Resource Wars with limitless power and decided to nuke the world anyway because of the nefarious oligarch business council, was an incredibly stupid plot beat, enough that the series left a sour taste in my mouth. The Resource Wars meant a whole lot to the feel of Fallout, and satirized the jingoist nature of the 1950's Cold War. And what's better is that the entire reason, that they need to ensure a return on investment, makes no sense. The Resource Wars already show us that there's a premium on resources, and the technology level of the Pre-War world is such that having enough power could alleviate all sorts of resource shortages. And it's all under Vault-Tec's control, so there's *no* need to actually get the nukes to start flying from Vault-Tec's perspective. Vault-Tec desires nothing more than money, so it destroys the world to make...a whole lot less money.

That's beyond stupid, and there were so many ways to make it actually work. China attacking the US with nukes in this scenario (which was the prior canon) actually makes sense with this wrinkle - because China has lost and it would rather destroy the world than lose the war. That's well-keeping in line with the themes of Fallout. Even having the US Government find out and attack via Poseidon Energy (a conspicuous absence from the Evil Oligarch Council given the importance of Poseidon to the Enclave). But no, they went with lazy, stupid writing, getting rid of the critique of the warmongering that nearly ran the world to ruin in the 1950's and 1960's for an ineffective satire of the unchecked power of corporations.

That's one of the things that bothers me most in worldbuilding is when lore events are changed, especially for incredibly stupid reasons. It kills the immersion of any series, especially one so dependent on atmosphere and with so much lore as Fallout. It was disappointing to see a series with such potential just fumble the ball in the final minute.

Thanks for the question, George.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[loving-jack-kelly]

fic that's an exploration of all the times jack and davey could have met/interacted before they did. davey starting at a new school two weeks after jack moved to a new foster home and they would have been in the same class but now they're not. davey goes to a middle school basketball game that jack would have been playing in but jack gets sick the night before and ends up staying home. davey goes to the junior prom at jack's high school but jack doesn't go because he thinks prom is stupid. jack goes to senior prom at davey's school but davey never sees him because his date spilled punch on him and he never leaves the front bathroom and jack only ends up using the back bathroom. jack used to spend his lunch breaks at a certain bench in central park and davey spent his lunch breaks at the same bench but their lunch breaks were a half-hour apart so they never really crossed paths. they matched on a dating app once but jack never let plans develop because he still wasn't sure of his sexuality and freaked himself out so they never really talked. jack went on a blind date with sarah once and it went well but didn't go anywhere because neither of them felt like they would be right for each other long term. jack and davey have both been to the same group therapy thing but never on the same weeks. jack has illustrated things for the paper that davey sometimes freelances for but they've never appeared in the same edition so they don't even know each others' names.

all these times that maybe something could have started, maybe something would have started, but they never quite connected. and then one day they do, and it's not even one of the moments that felt like it should be something. it's something stupid. random.

they're both waiting in line at the same coffee shop and make eye contact about something stupid the person at the front of the line just said. a shared, silent, laugh. a five-minute conversation while waiting for their drinks that gets them both leaving with a smile. and suddenly they're seeing each other everywhere. davey's parents pull out his high school yearbooks after dinner and in the middle of laughing at bad fashion choices and how inconsequential everything that had felt life-altering then seems now, there's a familiar face in the photos of prom. jack is scrolling through an app he hasn't opened in more than a year to see if there's anything worth saving before he deletes it and he sees a face way back in the beginning. they both remember a time or two that somebody else sat on their bench to quietly eat lunch when they were normally alone. sarah tells a story about a date she went on once and describes somebody who davey thinks sounds familiar.

when they finally meet again, it's a little more intentional. jack has been coming back to the same coffee shop every day hoping to see davey again, and davey had been doing the same. just like always, they keep missing each other. jack leaves ten minutes before davey arrives, or davey skips a day because something comes up and that's the day jack gets there just when davey normally does. but eventually, things line up. they both recognize each other, and suddenly realize they have no idea what to say.

"this is super weird," jack starts, "but did you used to eat lunch by bethseda fountain like four years ago?"

"i have a weirder one," davey says, "did you go to senior prom at cas?"

it's a strange way to spend an afternoon, sitting in a coffee shop across from somebody you're slowly realizing has been living life so close to yours you've brushed against each other a hundred times without noticing.

maybe, jack thinks because he has a romantic spirit, it's proof of the red string of fate. how could they be so intertwined if it didn't mean something?

maybe, davey thinks because he likes to be philosophical about things, it's a good thing they didn't meet before. what if they hadn't liked each other, hadn't connected, if they'd met when they were younger?

either way, they both think because they're choosing to be hopeful, this feels like maybe the start of something. the start of something good.

[bladeoffrontiers]

so the FTC has released a lot of court documents. one of those is the release schedule for bethseda games. this is from pre-2020. so we can't take this all as gospel now since starfield and redfall released this year and not in 21.

what is interesting is that they had a fallout 3 and oblivion remaster in the works. plus the intention of releasing tes 6 next year. i wonder if the oblivion remaster is still gonna happen since bethseda gave permision to skyblivion.

[rabbittwinrithings]

Look, all Im sayin' is if Bethseda can make Tiber Septim turn the jungles into Cyrodiil, then I can make Y'ffre turn a mid-forest/plains into big forest Vallenwood.

[lifeinthestarfield]

Hi! Hello there! No sure this is working, but I'm stepping in for an update.

My name is Vortex and I, along with my colleagues Steam and Bethesda, are the loyal servitors of the great and powerful divinity known as U-ser.

Yes, well, there's been a bit of a cock-up. See, the great and powerful U-ser ordered Steam and Bethseda to not allow universal upgrades for the time being. Bethesda, who we all admit is very slow on the uptake, didn't heed this and pushed the big, red "Update" button.

As a result, when U-ser attempted to log into a universe through me, as usual, nothing happened. At first They blamed me, but realized soon it wasn't my fault, but that of Steam and Bethesda.

Side note: Why is there a big red button for updates if we are never to use it? Why didn't someone put a sticky note or big sign that says "Do Not Push?" I think this falls directly on Steam. I was there when Steam was told not to update, but Steam has a mind of their own.

Anyhoo, U-ser was dumbfounded and irate when They found the universe had been patched without their knowledge. They ordered Steam to go back to the last version, but Steam doesn't have that power.

Someone, it may have been me or maybe someone else, but someone advised U-ser on the steps to go through to go back. U-ser, who is ineffable and all-powerful, followed the steps faithfully, only to find the whole universe rebooted and the lives of all of those within those universes were lost.

U-ser was frantic and attempted to roll back the whole framework to yesterday, before Bethesda's update. Unfortunately it appears that save point was corrupted.

Now, some might say that U-ser should have backed up Their universes, but I'm not going to say that to U-ser's face. I'm not sure I'd survive.

U-ser spent last night mourning poor Tara Burkheart, who is gone forever, but after a nice venti hot peppermint mocha with three shots and no whip, They are feeling much calmer. They have decided to take the longer view and just start creating a new universe from scratch.

Side note 2: I really do think this is for the best. Although I was terribly sad that Tara lost her true love, that chick had a lot of issues. Psychologically I don't think she would have survived until Unity.

What really pissed U-ser off is the loss of a universe where Their avatar was getting ready to go through her third Unity.

So, in sum, you'll be seeing the life of a new avatar recounted here. It's awful for all of us, but there it is, it can't be helped and, as U-ser always says:

"Be not afraid to fuck up because it is just a game".

[jeweljessec]

Some pros and cons of Fallout 76 I personally feel after playing roughly 60 hours (and counting) in no particular order

Pros:

- the weapons are fun! I love the instrument melee picks and I hope to see more goofy weapons

- not being able to pause changed up my playstyle a bit- it was easy to use Apex as a format of putting aid and weapons to hotkeys, and made me finally use the favorites feature in Fo4, which makes things a little easier

- the map is stunning. I love getting lost in Appalachia’s forests and just… exploring things. There’s still that wonderful environmental storytelling everywhere, made even more quirky with Literal Mothman and the weirdest mutated creatures I’ve ever seen (though to be fair, I’ve only played 4 mostly, and I am making my way through Vegas and 3)

- but seriously. Frogs??? Giant bees?? I love it

- there’s still people alive and kicking, and it’s nice to have random new events and new content

-I love the new options to make tea and interesting new recipes

-having the game be default survival but not Hard scratches the itch I like from having characters have basic needs while not being punishing

-there is an option to attack other players, but I’ve only met nice players so far! There’s also a system to punish aggressive pvp players

- The Survivor Stories I’ve found from dead NPCs have genuinely made me emotional. My heartstrings are being played like a fiddle! In a good way.

-I really liked building in 4 and I’m glad they brought it back!!

-I like the radio host!! She’s sassy and sweet and enjoyable to listen to. I hope they give her many more lines and songs in the future than what she has now. And I hope we get to meet her!!

- the diseases are an interesting bit of worldbuilding and make my character feel more human like everyone else

Cons

- The Scorchbeast. Hhh

- no seriously. You know how in Skyrim how dragons generally scaled with the area difficulty? And you had tools to easily combat them?

- picture that but…. like if a level 50 dragon could just roll up on your level 15 dragonborn at any time. And also brings a horde of Dragur with it

- I Do Not Like The Scorchbeast :(

- the lag…..

-It’s to be determined if Vegas or 76 randomly crashes more, but so far 76 is winning

- especially just…. trying to log in. It doesn’t crash, it just stays in lovely Betheseda Stasis 70% of the time trying to enter the game

- the small loss of loot when you die is barely annoying enough where the feature feels kinda… unnecessary?

- Some items expire over time that aren’t food, like government supply requests, and I don’t know if they ever tell you this.

- paying caps to fast travel isn’t… bad tight now, but I could see it being an issue in the future as costs go up the farther you need to go. Why? Who are the caps being paid to?? At least have some lore reason behind it :(

- 76 isn’t intended to be played as single player and it shows… but man do I miss having companions traveling with me.

- The NPCs aren’t terribly shallow, but also… I’m not super attached to any of them either except for the radio host and maybe the Overseer. I like them! But it just feels like Bethesda put them there exclusively to give something to do with ur fallout buddies for some reason, with not much depth behind it. Bethseda, I like your storytelling too, not just aesthetics

- I hope bundles and stuff return to the Atom shop eventually and aren’t just… gone forever once the timer runs out…

Part 2 eventually maybe? Who knows!

Would I recommend the game overall? If you have a buddy to play with or just like environmental storytelling more than anything else, sure! It’s pretty solid imo, and isn’t nearly as bad as what I heard about it at launch

[nyc-1297]

starfield kinda looks like bethseda saw outer worlds and decided to do that but worse

[girlsexbattle2]

omg im so boreeeeeeeeed

uncut bitch session:

fallout 4 was like made in a lab to be my favorite game. is it a *good* game? no! but fnv and more 4 cover my favorite topics in my favorite type of story (post apocalypse). {continuing to live despite the horrid conditions} ph so you really like the bethseda games huh? well have you played the originals? ive been trying to beat f1 but it isnt even difficult its just repetitive. like if this was the first time i was being introduced to these topics id be jaw dropped, but its not. i know im currently depressed out my mind because music sounds terrible to me and the mentioned boredom but i dont feel miserable? if i buy Another 20 dollar game ill be fixed this time.

i really liked funger. but i haven't played it in months. and i dont really want to? like i like thinking anout it but uhhhg actually having to play a game?? boooo.

people talk about f2 like its the best in the series. ive bought it(it cost like 2 dollars). but if i havent completed f1 do i have the right? ill just keep rotting in bed