Editorial Washington Post reveals new Oblivion info!

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

<a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com>Washington Post</a>, your trusty source for gaming news, has posted an <a href=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/14/AR2005081400853.html>article</a> on Bethesda Softworks and <a href=http://www.elderscrolls.com>Oblivion</a>. If the description of the game doesn't make you HAWT, you are not a true gamer.
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<blockquote>For the investment, Oblivion will feature 50 hours of game dialogue and 1,000 characters -- one featuring the voice of actor Patrick Stewart, the man celebrated in geekdom as Captain Picard of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." The game's action takes place in 16 square miles of playing field in a virtual forest (complete with 200 dungeons strewn about).
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To make sure soil erosion and geology in the game world looked realistic, the company sent an employee to the University of Maryland to study up on the topics. With new game systems continually offering deeper degrees of realism, it's the sort of attention to detail that players are coming to expect.</blockquote>
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They've listed all the important features: forests, PATRIC STEWART!!!, and soil erosion! Not bad for the Washington Post noobs.
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[LlamaGod]

it's the sort of attention to detail that players are coming to expect.

Then how are they gamers? You would think GAMErs would like a well detailed game (say Hearts of Iron 2), but instead they are expecting soil erosion and other frilly shit.

 

[corvax]

Cynicism loses its appeal after some time. The article isn't about Oblivion but about Bethesda in general.

 

[Vault Dweller]

The article is about Bethesda. Since Oblivion is its major and only product in development (officially), the article mentions it too in some details. The 3 top features that are mentioned are forest, stewart, and soil erosion. Again.

I guess that info is coming from Bethesda as I doubt that WP had a chance or cares to play the game. If Todd thinks that these are the best features that should be mentioned every time someone asks about Oblivion, I will share the joy with the community. Simple as that. If you find that annoying, write Todd an angry letter.

 

[Atrokkus]

And what did you expect of such popular publication? Typical PR.
Most of the readers are interested in technical hights that has been achieved in game industry. They are thinking about "hoooh virtual reality!" and stuff like that.
Most of them don't really know what RPG is.

 

[Sol Invictus]

You know, whoever wrote that article actually gets paid to write that schlock.

 

[kathode]

It's an article about Bethesda in general, and it's in the business section, so expecting them to cover detailed specifics of the game is a bit much I think. Either way, I thought it was a good article, and glad you posted it

 

[Vault Dweller]

It's an article about Bethesda in general, and it's in the business section, so expecting them to cover detailed specifics of the game is a bit much I think.

Is expecting them to tell readers about the core of the gameplay a bit much too? I didn't expect to see any new details or details at all, but an overview of what a game is about would have been nice. I'm sure that Todd thinks that everyone is excited as he is about Patric Stewart though.

Either way, I thought it was a good article, and glad you posted it

What are friends for?

 

[Sarvis]

Is expecting them to tell readers about the core of the gameplay a bit much too?

If it's in the Business section, yes. Really waht they should be covering in a business article is expected sales and how it will affect stock and such. Not gameplay.

I'd expect it from the Entertainment section though...

 

[Vault Dweller]

The game is mentioned a few times:

The little outfit has quietly built a solid following in the video game industry, and its upcoming "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" is a sword-and-sorcery epic that could launch it into the big-time.

"The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" is the company's most ambitious title, three years in the making.

Plus the quote in the news post. The article mentions RPG genre as the fastest growing (?), states that Beth failed to make a "household name" title (?), etc. I feel it would have been appropriate if not needed to state something about the game as well, no matter how general. From the business point of view. If a guy who has no idea what kinda games Beth makes and what's an RPG reads the article he would probably wouldn't be impressed by Beth's efforts to make a virtual agriculture simulator.

 

[Surlent]

HAhah I just saw the picture of Todd in the article and knew what it was about. omg wut shiny shiny pics on my screen no xbow 4 u nab bwahaha

 

[Sarvis]

The game is mentioned a few times:

The little outfit has quietly built a solid following in the video game industry, and its upcoming "The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" is a sword-and-sorcery epic that could launch it into the big-time.

"The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion" is the company's most ambitious title, three years in the making.

Plus the quote in the news post. The article mentions RPG genre as the fastest growing (?), states that Beth failed to make a "household name" title (?), etc. I feel it would have been appropriate if not needed to state something about the game as well, no matter how general. From the business point of view. If a guy who has no idea what kinda games Beth makes and what's an RPG reads the article he would probably wouldn't be impressed by Beth's efforts to make a virtual agriculture simulator.

Do articles in the business section tend to go into complex chemical analyses whenever DOW is about to release some new product? No? Same thing.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Do articles in the business section tend to go into complex chemical analyses whenever DOW is about to release some new product? No? Same thing.

I hope that they mention what the product is though. I didn't ask for a game review, did I?

 

[PrzeSzkoda]

If the article fails to notice that cRPG and RPG in general are not the fastest-growing markets in the whole universe (who knows about Alpha Centauri and Ypsilon Beta, though) and that The Elder Scrolls (+ Morrowind) are "houshold names" then I doubt that the article would mention anything worthwile for the average RPG fan. For clueless business enthusiasts it might be OK, though (heh, I've noticed the same fact about all other publications of this kind, anyway). Call them morons if you like, but that's not going to change anything.

 

[kris]

"Known in geekdom"

Nuff' said.

 

[Sarvis]

Do articles in the business section tend to go into complex chemical analyses whenever DOW is about to release some new product? No? Same thing.

I hope that they mention what the product is though. I didn't ask for a game review, did I?

They DID mention what the product is. They said it was a CRPG.

 

[Vault Dweller]

[bait]There are so many definitions of CRPG. What's yours?[/bait]

 

[Sarvis]

[bait]There are so many definitions of CRPG. What's yours?[/bait]

ROFL!

You know mine.

What's more important here is what is <i>theirs</i>.

Someone was saying the author was an idiot for saying the RPG market was growing, but if DeusEx, Jade Empire and the like are being considered CRPGs by them then they are probably right from their perspective...

 

[Whipporowill]

HAhah I just saw the picture of Todd in the article and knew what it was about. omg wut shiny shiny pics on my screen no xbow 4 u nab bwahaha

Hey duuuudeee... look at those gnarly like graphics... uhuhuh.

 

[Kuato]

Someone was saying the author was an idiot for saying the RPG market was growing, but if DeusEx, Jade Empire and the like are being considered CRPGs by them then they are probably right from their perspective...

more like WOW and what NCsoft makes since MMORPGS are considered rpgs anyway thats where the most growth is and not Jade Empire for sure, Business types can't really make the distinction between one fantasy game that shows a character running around swinging a sword and killing a monster and the next, Imagine what it would be like showing 3 minutes of Dark Alliance then showing 3 minutes of WOW then showing 3 minutes of Morrowind to somebody who never plays games although the games are different they could all appear very similiar.

 

[Eclecticist]

The above post made my head hurt - just when I was gearing up to contribute, too.

 

[jiujitsu]

HAhah I just saw the picture of Todd in the article and knew what it was about. omg wut shiny shiny pics on my screen no xbow 4 u nab bwahaha

That monitor is badass...

 

[DarkUnderlord]

PATRICK STEWART!!

Seriously, what's up with pushing a guy who is at best known as a B-grade actor¹ and at worst as the Captain of the Enterprise?

Oh, Star Trek fans... Right. I gotcha.

With the current generation of game consoles, budgets for cutting-edge titles surged past the $10 million mark and are now frequently in the neighborhood of $20 million.

That's much mroe reasonable I think. Okay, so maybe not. Seriously, people are blowing an awful lot of money on making crap these days.


¹Editor's note: While I believe Patrick Stewart is a more than likely a capable actor, I don't believe his talents are well-known outside of Star Trek, X-Men and Bambi and the Great Prince of the Forest.

 

[Section8]

To make sure soil erosion and geology in the game world looked realistic, the company sent an employee to the University of Maryland to study up on the topics. With new game systems continually offering deeper degrees of realism, it's the sort of attention to detail that players are coming to expect.

I couldn't give a fuck if the soil in the fantasy world that Bethesda are free to create in whatever image they fucking well want has any parallels to our own world. That makes as much sense as doing a bunch of wet labs to see how a sword "realistically" affects human flesh. Superfluous nonsense. If soil is of such great concern, spend your time and money giving the player interesting ways to interact with it. Giving the player the ability to kick or throw sand at a melee opponent would have doubled (!) the number of ways a melee character can interact in combat.

 

[Hazelnut]

PATRICK STEWART!!

Seriously, what's up with pushing a guy who is at best known as a B-grade actor¹ and at worst as the Captain of the Enterprise?

Oh, Star Trek fans... Right. I gotcha.

With the current generation of game consoles, budgets for cutting-edge titles surged past the $10 million mark and are now frequently in the neighborhood of $20 million.

That's much mroe reasonable I think. Okay, so maybe not. Seriously, people are blowing an awful lot of money on making crap these days.


¹Editor's note: While I believe Patrick Stewart is a more than likely a capable actor, I don't believe his talents are well-known outside of Star Trek, X-Men and Bambi and the Great Prince of the Forest.

Okay, first off I'm no Patrick Stewart fan - that's my mum - but he's a very capable actor actually. A stage actor who's done pretty well dabbling in TV & Films. He's an awesome stage actor according to the RSC and my mum!! hehe

He is definitely not a B-grade actor!! Maybe a b-list celeb, but I doubt he gives a shit and wouldn't care if he slipped down a few letters...

Even so I really wish he was not the voice of the Emperor in OB because his voice is so recognisable.. for game voices you want good acting (just look at the difference it makes in animated films) but not voices where you know exactly who the actor is! IMHO.

H.