Bethesda’s Pete Hines “Doesn’t Care How Realistic Things Are” in Fallout 4
Ashley Allen / 9 years ago
Bethesda’s Pete Hines has been thumbing his nose up at pedantic Tweeters criticising the “lore consistency” of the recently released Fallout 4, much to the consternation of fans. Hines, Vice President of PR and Marketing for Bethesda, kicked up a stink amongst the more fastidious gamers after claiming that he was “not interested in discussing how realistic” a future fantasy video game was in response to a question about the ‘Kid in the Fridge’ quest.
The fuss began when @JohnstonJarrett asked Hines if a supposed discrepancy in one of the logs was going to be “patched”:
https://twitter.com/JohnstonJarrett/status/668612382005067777
Hines bats the question away, but Johnston follows up with the next item on his nitpick itinerary:
https://twitter.com/JohnstonJarrett/status/668801718969307136
@JohnstonJarrett not interested in discussing how realistic things are in an alternate universe post-apoc game w/ talking mutants and ghouls
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015
A dismissive answer to a petulant query. Seems fair. Twitter’s Fallout 4 fans, however, disagreed:
@DCDeacon ever heard of "internal consistency"?
Nah you're just vp of the biggest RPG company in the world, why would you? That's nerd stuff— cloudropis (@cloudropis) November 23, 2015
@DCDeacon So basically what you're saying is "I got called out but I'm going to say it doesn't matter anyways"
— Vector ⬇️ (@DaChemicalCat) November 23, 2015
@Gzalzi we do. a lot. this isn't about lore consistency. i'm pointing out a writer can have fun w a quest premise
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015
@Nyarlykins i'm just saying a writer can have fun with a quest premise
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015
After being hit by a barrage of grumbling tweets, Hines was forced to elaborate on his response:
@Duke_Bilgewater @JohnstonJarrett those kinds of things are super important. lore and consistency. i got asked about a kid in a fridge
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015
@cloudropis i don't think an explanation is needed for a kid in a fridge. that's all
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015
He then justified the apparent credulity-straining aspects of the ‘Kid in the Fridge’ quest by asserting that fun can trump logic:
@Gzalzi we do. a lot. this isn't about lore consistency. i'm pointing out a writer can have fun w a quest premise
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015
@Nyarlykins i'm just saying a writer can have fun with a quest premise
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015
@NeroOfTheRomans i was making light of the comment. writers are allowed a little latitude to have fun making up a quest premise. that's all.
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015
@NobleYad @wiIIoftheboss as they should. i'm not talking about lore. i'm talking about not going overboard with realism in a quest premise
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015
The moaning continued, though, with Hines and, by extension, Bethesda, accused of “not caring”:
@Doomzzg we cared about it enough to take a risk and do something with it when nobody else was.
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015
@Kilus @Doomzzg nobody else was making a game. i don't recall who else reached out about the IP. i'm sorry if you don't enjoy what we make
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015
@PureChristianG that was cancelled well before we acquired the rights.
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015
At least one guy gets it:
@sneakyblackhat people took my response to one post as a reply to a previous post. it's nothing.
— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 24, 2015
We’ll be back tomorrow to report on the inevitable online petition – now the formalised iteration of those “honk if you’re horny” bumper stickers – to have Hines locked in a fridge for two centuries to see if he survives.
