Bethesda's games becomming pointless

A long time ago, when Bethesda released Oblivion I was awed by the game design. This was a game which is truely epic! The whole engine was amazing, and the number of possible eventuallities huge (and nearly all at player discretion and choice). It was and is a game that can be played over and over for 100's of different experiences even within the same story lines.

Roll forward, and Bethseda do it again with Fallout 3, but there is the beginnings of a distressing trend. There are several missions where the player can have zero effect on eventualities. Whilst I turn a blind eye to certain forced eventualities (the main plotline for example) in the spirit of allowing some degree of story telling (but even there its just lazy, or at best they are unwilling or unable to devote sufficient time to make it the best it can be). For example, in Oblivion it was first impossible to kill the king, then subsequently it was impossible to save his life. These both irked and irritated me. To say to a player, or explain to a player "for the best game experience don't kill the king" or "let the kind die, it leads to a better game experience" is entirely fine, but let the player choose!!!!!

What I was glad about in Oblivion is the fated King was of the more 'rare' sort or scripted eventuality. Most characters lived or died at the players offices and even to the point of it being cool that some game play isn't even available unless you rush off and save the primary character right away.

I did understand some players where frustrated that plot elements where not available due to characters required for them being dead or missing, but to me that all added to the game and meant I can still play the game today and find something new, because by fortune, luck or simply my own efforts within game a character survived that didn't in other games opening up new gameplay.

Now, recently I made the relative mistake of purchasing Bethesda's "Wolfenstien II, The New Colossus" which begins with a sceen in which an evil protaganist is forcing the player to "make a choice" between which of your comrades he executes. That's fine as a plot element. What is bullshit, is that choosing not to making any choice is not a choice! In a well written game, a player is always presented with three choices in a dialog, which should boil down to, "Yes", "No" and "Obstain". When the player is given these three choices, the action can proceed anyway it likes, but the players voice should be always heard, and where possible have effect. So even if the villan of the peiece decides to not listen to the player, the player's got to be the character they wanted to be within the story (hence good gameplay and player experience).

Now sadly, with Bethesda's "New Collosus" game, they made it junk because in the opening sceen the player has ONE choice and its really an obvious NON choice. To look to their left, or look to their right. Now, regardless of how the game needs to proceed next, this is already removing from the player their role in the game. It's ceasing to be a game and becomming a movie, with movable camera and, I argue, no gamer wants a movie with a moveable camera they want, effectively, a roll playing experience where, usually, they are the hero.. but it's their choice and the game should support them choosing to role play the villan too. What it MUST NOT DO, is force the player to be the hero, or force them to be a villian, because it ceases to be a real game and becomes and engine of control.

I have refused to play their game. I've stopped buying their games. Since it feels obvious Bethesda has gone from a group of passionate role players providing an engine for that activity (Morrowind, Oblivion etc) to being a company trying to sell 'good stories' wrapped in popular themes. As much as I do enjoy a good story, I only love it when I'm making it happen (also they have not responded to my correspondence on this matter)

I feel Bethseda, in its past games, managed to walk a good line. In Fallout 3, there where several moments of misstep, but nothing too horrendous.

Some example moments which made Fallout 3 the poorer as a game are:

1. That it is impossible to choose to save the occupants of Tenpenny Towers
2. That all children are invunerable in the game
3. That in the US Paratrooper sceen in "The Guns of Anchorage" it's not possible to attempt to save the Paratrooper (I have no issue with a scripted death sceen where it's difficult to rescue or the rescue leads to a poorer outcome plot wise, just keep it possible)
4. The invunerable Wherner in "Into the Pitt"

For all those complaints, at least Bethseda attempts to honour player choices in the majority of cases, so I'm not hating on them as a company but just the direction they are sliding. Though I presume this is as more greed enteres its operation and as it becomes focused on players as a 'money resource' instead of people passionate about role playing making a greate game.