Author Topic: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?  (Read 3339 times)

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Great Rumbler

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Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« on: June 18, 2014, 12:58:20 PM »
I like Bethesda's RPGs. Judging by their sales [4-5 million each for the two Fallouts, 20+ million for Skryim] so do a lot of other people. There's obviously a market for these games, but I can hardly think of any games released in the past couple of years that really try to do something in the first-person, open-world, exploration RPG genre. A few European games, although most are third-person and more likely to have more segmentation instead of one massive world, and the Ravensword series, although those are necessarily smaller and more compact since they were developed specifically for mobile platforms. And that's really about it, unless you want to throw Minecraft in there [but the simplistic graphics and greater focus on crafting put it way out in the tall grass].

It's not a devotion to Bethesda, or a love of their specific style, or even their level of quality, there just aren't any alternatives at all, and that's disappointing. I'd love to see somebody else come along and try some new things, push the envelope a little bit, and try a setting that isn't D&D or a post-apocalyptic desert. Maybe something like Mass Effect, or Blade Runner, some cool scifi world to explore. Prey 2 looked like it was going to be like that, before it got shelved forever.

So what's the deal? I know they don't care about genre saturation at all, otherwise we wouldn't have a dozen military shooters every year.
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Stoney Mason

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2014, 01:01:02 PM »
Kingdoms of Amalur

 :jawalrus

Himu

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2014, 01:02:27 PM »
Expensive to make? The amount of npcs, dialogue, writing, assets to make a Bethesda first person rpg clone must be off the charts.
IYKYK

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #3 on: June 18, 2014, 01:09:52 PM »
Kingdoms of Amalur

 :jawalrus

Garbage MMO without actually having multiplayer.

Expensive to make? The amount of npcs, dialogue, writing, assets to make a Bethesda first person rpg clone must be off the charts.

Virtually every major release these days costs an insane amount of money. I'm skeptical that a Bethesda-style game costs more than the latest Call of Duty or Battlefield.
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Cascade

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2014, 01:14:23 PM »
I take it you didn't watch the E3 Nintendo Direct.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2014, 01:16:08 PM by Cascade »

Steve Contra

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2014, 01:14:37 PM »
Bethesda games cost tons, and take forever to make.
vin

Himu

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2014, 01:17:57 PM »
Kingdoms of Amalur

 :jawalrus

Garbage MMO without actually having multiplayer.

Expensive to make? The amount of npcs, dialogue, writing, assets to make a Bethesda first person rpg clone must be off the charts.

Virtually every major release these days costs an insane amount of money. I'm skeptical that a Bethesda-style game costs more than the latest Call of Duty or Battlefield.

Yes and because games cost that much more, there will be less variety on the high end by virtue of that. Because Bethesda games well well doesn't mean someone else's rpg will, because western RPGs are reaching full demand - Bethesda aside.  I full expect to see Bioware struggling this generation for that reason.
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Cascade

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #7 on: June 18, 2014, 01:18:15 PM »
Bethesda games cost tons, and take forever to make.
Nope and nope. All of their games have had less than 100 people working on them (I think FO3 was only 75) and Fallout 3 and Skyrim only took 3 years to make. Oblivion took 4 years to make but only had like 60 people working on it. Bethesda games probably have the best cost to profit ratio of any AAA games.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2014, 01:20:13 PM by Cascade »

Steve Contra

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #8 on: June 18, 2014, 01:19:42 PM »
Bethesda games cost tons, and take forever to make.
Nope and nope. All of their games have had less than 100 people working on them (I think FO3 was only 75) and Fallout 3 and Skyrim only took 3 years to make.
3 years to make and an 80 million dollar budget.  Wow, why doesn't everyone make games like these?
vin

Eel O'Brian

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #9 on: June 18, 2014, 01:29:16 PM »
They're certainly taking cues from Skyrim. I think the Witcher 3 and DA3 dudes readily admit the influences.
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benjipwns

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #10 on: June 18, 2014, 01:43:11 PM »
This is why we need gamers to have more say in how developers and companies are run. Just think if every gaming company had a board in which 50% + 1 of the seats were held by members of the gaming community which had to approve or disapprove every decision down to gameplay and art. Then the game companies would work for gamers instead of the other way around. I am absolutely sure that under this more logical and efficient system you would see a Bomberman Skyrim hybrid released within six months or less.

Great Rumbler

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #11 on: June 18, 2014, 01:47:13 PM »
Because Bethesda games well well doesn't mean someone else's rpg will, because western RPGs are reaching full demand - Bethesda aside.

That hasn't stopped a whole host of companies from dumping ungodly amount of money into trying to make the next WoW. Though there's obviously a greater potential payoff in an uber-successful MMO.

Bethesda games cost tons, and take forever to make.
Nope and nope. All of their games have had less than 100 people working on them (I think FO3 was only 75) and Fallout 3 and Skyrim only took 3 years to make.
3 years to make and an 80 million dollar budget.  Wow, why doesn't everyone make games like these?

That's pretty normal for games these days, though.
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Takao

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #12 on: June 18, 2014, 01:48:01 PM »
Based on the reported amount of bugs, I think EA and Dice took inspiration from Bethesda for Battlefield 4.

Great Rumbler

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #13 on: June 18, 2014, 04:10:26 PM »
Based on the reported amount of bugs, I think EA and Dice took inspiration from Bethesda for Battlefield 4.

:hitler
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Raban

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #14 on: June 18, 2014, 11:15:01 PM »
That's pretty normal for games these days, though.
I don't know for sure but I think you're mistaken here. Bethesda's games are extraordinarily expensive and immense in scope in a way that publicly-owned game publishers can't really get away with making. Most AAA games are on a 2 year dev cycle... the ones that are properly scheduled and budgeted anyways.

Stoney Mason

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #15 on: June 18, 2014, 11:29:42 PM »
Because Bethesda games well well doesn't mean someone else's rpg will, because western RPGs are reaching full demand - Bethesda aside.

That hasn't stopped a whole host of companies from dumping ungodly amount of money into trying to make the next WoW. Though there's obviously a greater potential payoff in an uber-successful MMO.

I think this is the main reason right here. Most of the talent in rpg's in recent years had gone towards making mmo's because people thought if you are going to do all that work in world building, you might as well try to go for that wow money.

Like somebody mentioned earlier Dragon Age 3 and the Witcher 3, seem like perfect examples of people trying to skyrim their game in the wake of skyrim.  These kind of games take awhile as the art generation and world building required for them takes a good bit of money and time.

Great Rumbler

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #16 on: June 19, 2014, 09:43:54 AM »
It's not even remotely on the same level as Elder Scrolls, but it is in the same genre at least:

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #17 on: June 19, 2014, 10:09:55 AM »
Everything since Fallout 3 was a snoozefest

maybe thats why

thisismyusername

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #18 on: June 19, 2014, 11:17:20 AM »
Real physics,

Was this added in Oblivion? Because playing Morrowind, I'm in total :comeon mode.

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #19 on: June 19, 2014, 11:20:29 AM »

Tasty

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #20 on: June 19, 2014, 11:57:12 AM »
Show me any other game with a persistent world as detailed and interactive as Skyrim's.

Ill wait.

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Stoney Mason

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #21 on: June 19, 2014, 11:59:35 AM »
lol. Here come the skyrim haters.

 :umad

Howard Alan Treesong

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #22 on: June 19, 2014, 12:11:30 PM »
Show me any other game with a persistent world as detailed and interactive as Skyrim's.

Ill wait.

http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/

Oh, you said AS detailed as Skyrim, not massively more complex. :smug
乱学者

Great Rumbler

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #23 on: June 19, 2014, 12:38:04 PM »
Everything since Fallout 3 was a snoozefest

Quite a few people don't seem to agree with that assessment.
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Trent Dole

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Re: Why don't developers rip off Bethesda?
« Reply #24 on: June 19, 2014, 01:07:58 PM »
Nothing like a world where your horse can climb any mountain. :teehee
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