Brandon Peterson 0

Petition to Boycott Bethesda Softworks, Zenimax Media

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Skyrim was one of the most popular video games of all time in terms of sales and enduring influence. Released 11-11-11 on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, the game quickly sold some four million copies. Roughly 40% of all of these sales were for Playstation 3. That constitutes more than a million customers buying a title produced by Bethesda and published by Zenimax. Since the PS3 user base constituted a solid minority of the total sales, it was assumed in good faith on the date of purchase that the game would accomplish meet three basic standards: 1) Be compatible with the advertised game consoles, 2) Be fully supported for all advertised game consoles, 3) Be 100% functional with the advertised consoles. Bethesda met these obligations with the Xbox 360 and extended them to the PC, but the PS3 version has not been granted any of the above in the more than one year since the game's release. For example, from day-of (11-11-11) the game would inflate save files unnecessarily, hang at screens, and lag. Dragons would fly backwards, bookcases would not work, and other relatively minor flaws and functionality issues would spoil long play sessions and rob the game of one of its key components - re-playability. Patches would come and go for the PC and Xbox, while the PS3 copy remained broken for 1/4 of a year. When it finally received patches, Bethesda claimed that patches counted as "downloadable content", effectively acknowledging that their obligation to release future expansion content no longer applied. As a result, it has been several months since the release of Dawnguard and weeks since the release of the newest expansion content, both available on the PC and 360, but nowhere to be found on the PS3, with frustrating updates informing players of future updates with a shallow "We're working on it!" Meanwhile, Bethesda spins up the PR machine and pushes Dishonored everywhere. They released the game to rave reviews and good sales, while the PS3 copy of Skyrim remains in limbo. As a conscientious person or a gamer who values justice, this should be alarming. How long will it be before others follow Bethesda's example, and start to demonstrate the same callous attitude towards users wherein the only value is money, not company loyalty? How long will it be before your game console sits in the same boat? This is the slippery slope to an industry completely devoid of care. We the undersigned hereby agree to refrain from purchasing or playing any new titles created or published by Zenimax Media, Inc. or Bethesda Softworks, until such time as they release a beta for the PS3 version of Dawnguard, or provide substantive updates on their progress, including interviews with key developers and insight into the problems they are facing that indicate a clear desire to resolve development issues and restore customer faith.

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