Why Bethesda won’t listen to the fans

With a franchise as devoutly beloved as the Fallout series, Bethesda must have known known it was getting into treacherous, fan-infested waters when it chose to undertake the development duties of Fallout 3. The hardcore fanbase of any product is rabid, largely unhinged, and will jump at the chance to decry anything as a betrayal of their emotional lifeline. These zealots have had their hands full with Fallout 3.

Bethesda has ignored the screams of Fallout fans in the production of a game that resembles an FPS more than an RPG. The roleplaying elements will be there, but it can’t be argued that the game is going to be a very different beast from the one that players were expecting. Bethesda, however, has recognized a need to be ruthless and explained exactly why it’s not listening to the outraged war cry of a thousand angry gamers. Lead designer Emil Pagliarulo had this to say on the matter:

“That’s always the toughest question. You listen to the fans and respect their ideas, but once you start designing a game that they want to make specifically, then you can get yourself into trouble … You have to make the game that you’re making and know that it’s a good one and continue with that.”

At the end of the day, Bethesda is responsible for a sequel that was always going to make people unhappy, no matter how well made the game may or may not be. It’s simply impossible to give everybody exactly what they want and the studio clearly knows this. Sometimes what fans want is what’s best for themselves, not the franchise, and sometimes it’s just not worth trying to cater to everybody, because once you start attempting to satisfy everyone, you end up pleasing none. Like Emil said, you just have to make what you’re making. Let the fans answer with their wallets, and the fallout for Fallout be as it may.