Examples of Damage Control in Gaming: The Fallout 76 Bag-o-Rama Drama
Fallout 76 launched with a myriad of problems. It would have been a surprise if a new online or offline RPG from Bethesda didn’t arrive without glitches and performance issues given their reputation, but this game took that to the next level. Despite the poignant warning from the publisher themselves that it would be a mess, it’s exceeded even the lowest expectations. This was in addition to a high level of skepticism that surrounded the game design, when it was confirmed to be both an online game and how it wouldn’t have NPCs, the latter of which is a hallmark is a Fallout series hallmark. The main release feels like the real beta.
There were also several issues with the release outside the game, which involves a bag. The $200 Power Armor Edition comes with a slew of extras along with the game, one of which was planned to be a military-style canvas bag. So, you can imagine the surprise when purchasers discovered they received a cheaper nylon bag instead, the kind you could get from a random guy selling them on the street. Bethesda admitted to replacing the bag due to the “unavailability of materials,” but neglected to tell anyone before it released. Worse, the bag is still being listed as a canvas one on several retailer websites to this day, over two weeks after its release.
It only infuriated those who felt slighted by the nylon bag further when it was revealed that Fallout content creators and influencers received a canvas one. It wasn’t the same bag as the one planned for the above edition, but it still felt like Bethesda was prioritizing advertisers over those who paid top dollar for a collector’s edition. Those of us watching this on the sidelines had a good chuckle, but it’s easy to see why people are frustrated. Purchasers planned on using that bag for practical reasons, but the nylon one wasn’t the kind anyone wanted to show off in public.
But it’s a little easier to laugh at this issue now that story has a mostly happy ending. Bethesda is asking those affected to contact them by the end of January, so they can send them the actual canvas bags. They apparently found the materials a little later than expected. There’s a very good chance they went a cheaper route, and now realized they had to stop at least a portion of the torrent of bad press surrounding this game when this issue blew up more than expected. They wanted to fix one of the easier issues, even though this will cost them quite a bit through manufacturing and shipping costs. Or they could have informed potential purchasers about how the bag had to be swapped, even if this would have happened at the last minute.
I would have ended this post here by saying the drama over the bag finally concluded. But this is Fallout 76 here, so of course something else went wrong.
Some Power Armor Edition owners who submitted tickets for replacement bags noticed something awry with the support website. They somehow gained access to the administrative controls, which allowed for them to view account information for others who submitted info, and even open and close the claims of others who asked for replacements. By “account information,” this means their email addresses, home addresses, and even credit card numbers were in full display. The vulnerability was fixed after users posted about it on Reddit and on Bethesda’s forums, both of which are read by their customer support staff.
Here’s something frightening to think about, though: What about those who could access this info but didn’t post about it on those message boards? This is the season where card numbers are stolen at a high rate, as people are desperate to do anything to get more money in their pockets to buy gifts — yes, sometimes for themselves. If this actually happened, Bethesda could have an even larger issue on their hands, and it’s not like they need more related to this game.
Assuming nothing too badly has gone wrong, it seems like Bethesda has at least addressed the canvas bag issue, though the Power Armor Editions still sitting on store shelves or in storage centers will likely still have the nylon one. That’s one problem down, but Bethesda has a plethora of issues to fix for the overall game, which will take years of work. They’ll only continue to pile up if they keep releasing patches that break aspects that worked, too.
If this keeps up, and if sales continue to be dismal, perhaps we should consider the possibility that Bethesda could figuratively take the game out behind their headquarters and give it a proper burial. This will become more likely if it sucks resources that could go to Starfield and the next Elder Scrolls game, both of which are bound to be more profitable projects — especially the latter.
About The Author
Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
