A bit late in the coming, but better late than never. Has anyone here actually played any of the games that Bethesda has ever put out? At one point in time (three of four years ago) five of their games were in my possession. Their newest games have passed my hands too. Even Oblivion. So, as you can see, I keep giving them a chance. But... Their products tend to get sold on Ebay after my frustrations get the better of me. Anyway, you know what my conclusion about them is? Bethesda blows. Look at EA and the Sims or Microsoft and Halo or the like... Almost flawless games for what they are and how they were intended. Released when they were ready. Finished. All of the final and patched game versions from Bethesda are horrible, shoddy, tossed together... Bethesda releases their products for income. They don't make games for anything but revenue. Bethesda doesn't care about fans or loyalty base. If they give it enough fluff before they release it, the kiddies don't care how many more months needed to be put into the game before it should have been released. At least for a while. Bethesda doesn't care about faithful customers when there are so many more potential customers graduating the fourth grade next year.
Don't get me wrong, making money has it's own priority. But every move Bethesda makes is for money. That doesn't give any confidence in what they are trying to make, no trust for any of their games. Instead of keeping Fallout how it deserves to be, Bethesda sold out and settled for their Oblivion engine because that was the cheapest alternative. DESPITE all the statements and promises they made about "Looking into new and promising technologies for Fallout 3" when confronted about the rumors (about making Fallout 3 with that very same engine). They could have actually looked into new game engines that fit with the Fallout style. Hell, they were given the Fallout codebase, and could have threw together something similar, but that was the more (relatively at least) expensive and unfamiliar route. They didn't have to use the Fallout name as a crutch to put out their own Oblivion-based Halo competitor. Being cheap like that or pushing a game out the door before it even had a decent amount of playtesting is a poor reflection on the company.
Anybody I bring the subject up with agrees that Morrowind and Oblivion are crappy games that could have been better but weren't, all because Bethesda doesn't take the time (and slightly more resources) to FINISH a game. Even the patched versions didn't do much for the most digruntling annoyances in their games. THAT is a reflection on what they will do with Fallout. THAT is why it's a sure bet Fallout 3 will sadly dissapoint every true Fallout Fan.
The real issue Bethesda has is with Interplay, they are on extremely shaky ground with GCG. GCG has full right to put out their finished products, despite Bethesda. You know why? Bethesda can sue Interplay all they want over that little oversight, but the Statute of Frauds and the Statute of Limitations (which is two to four years, depending on which US state you're in) guarantees that if Bethesda acts on anything for "Future Damages" of the Fallout name, GCG will get full legal compensation for all the aggravation and the affront on their verbal agreement with Interplay (which happened to have been made long before Bethesda actually owned the Fallout License or even purchased the rights to Fallout 3.) It doesn't matter if Bethesda did or didn't know about it, or is feigning ignorance. If GCG was acting on their contract since making the verbal agreement and didn't have it on the back shelf, Bethesda can huff, puff and bluff all they want about it. Like in real estate, so long as you purchase something that came with prior agreements (i.e. a lease or rental contract), you are legally bound to honor those agreements until they expire. In this case, GCG still has full right to publish their products because their agreement didn't come with an expiration date.
What a frustrating conversation to try to follow this thread has been... Have fun, that's what really counts. It's not worth it to stress over possibilities and "what if"s. Nobody changes their opinions much or very easily. Mine have been long and slow to build, but with good cause and reason. Some others shown here have no (apparent) basis to really back them up, but I guess that is to be expected. I've noticed that strong beliefs often receive strong (and irrational) defenses. We'll all know what happens when it happens, worry about something else until then.
P.S. Yes, in all likelyhood I shall find myself one of the first to purchase the game, because even Bethesda deserves a second chance (or, uh, many second chances, heh.) The unfortunate part is they never fail to disappoint. Later everybody.