Daggerfall to never be released again in any form, ever.

I recently E-mailed Bethesda, asking them if they planned to ever release Daggerfall to the public in some form. This was my E-mail.

"Hello. I would just like to know if Bethesda has plans to ever re-release Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall in some form in the future, or put it up for download either as a digital download purchase or a free download like Elder Scrolls: Arena one day.

I am a fan of both Arena and Oblivion, and would like to play Daggerfall as well, but you unfortunately no longer sell it, and the only places I know of that I can purchase a copy from are Amazon and eBay. However, they're second-hand copies, and they're extremely expensive.

If you know of an online retail store or a digital distribution service that still offers it (or if you know whether or not the upcoming Good Old Games service on GOG.com will feature Daggerfall), please point them out to me. If not, do you as a company plan to ever make Daggerfall available to the public once again in any form whatsoever, at any point in the future? I would gladly pay a reasonable price to play this old game of yours.

Thank you very much for any response."

And this was the response I received yesterday.

"Sorry, Daggerfall will not be released again - free, as a download, or in any other way."

...:( Well, that sucks. I had hoped maybe they would put it out for free someday as they did with Arena, or at least would have it as part of some bundle or something.

Note: I know you can get the game as abandonware, but this still disturbs me as I had got the impression Bethesda was one of those devs who didn't forget their roots or people who were fans of their games from long ago (since they did put Arena up for download on their site), not to mention I much prefer giving money to developers for their older works if they'll let me. :? Oh well, at least they got back to me.

I had got the impression Bethesda was one of those devs who didn't forget their roots

JP_Russell

Oblivion. If they forgot their roots of their most recent game, what makes you think they'd care for the fans from several games ago?

The reason they can't re-release it is because they lost the source code and can't produce any more copies. VoodooGamer

Eh? There's no way a large developer could completely lose the source code to a game.

Lost the source code? How would that happen?

And even so, couldn't they just, I don't know, find a physical copy of their game somewhere and create an ISO of that, then mass release it as either a free download or a digital purchase?

[QUOTE="JP_Russell"]

I had got the impression Bethesda was one of those devs who didn't forget their roots

GodLovesDead

Oblivion. If they forgot their roots of their most recent game, what makes you think they'd care for the fans from several games ago?

Yes, yes, I know Oblivion is largely haled as a dumbed down game compared to its predecessors (which, by the way, let's keep Oblivion hate out of this thread, please [addressing people in general here, not you, GLD]), and I'm sure it is, but as I said, they released Arena as a free download on their site (well after Oblivion's release). If they never cared about their old fans, they wouldn't have done so.

[QUOTE="VoodooGamer"]The reason they can't re-release it is because they lost the source code and can't produce any more copies. Funkyhamster

Eh? There's no way a large developer could completely lose the source code to a game.

Actually they did when they moved their headquarters from Bethesda Maryland to Rockville. ;) Plus, they weren't a big developer back then, they were fairly small.

[QUOTE="Funkyhamster"]

[QUOTE="VoodooGamer"]The reason they can't re-release it is because they lost the source code and can't produce any more copies. VoodooGamer

Eh? There's no way a large developer could completely lose the source code to a game.

Actually they did when they moved their headquarters from Bethesda Maryland to Rockville. ;) Plus, they weren't a big developer back then, they were fairly small.

How did you hear of this happening? And how would that be able to stop them from distributing the game?

How did you hear of this happening? And how would that be able to stop them from distributing the game?

JP_Russell

I imagine he found it through this section of the official forums. The question pops up every so often there and the response has always been that the source code was lost.

It's a shame, I would have liked to see a rerelease some day.

Sucks I never got to play Daggerfall. First elder scrolls I played was morrowwind. Game was a great simulation for kleptomania. I hardly ever did quests or even try to progress through the game. All I ever did was steal stuff. Even worthless stuff. I couldn't help myself, sure a inventory full of nothing but pillows and forks doesn't net much money but I'd still take it just cause i could.

[QUOTE="JP_Russell"]

How did you hear of this happening? And how would that be able to stop them from distributing the game?

BladeMaster84

I imagine he found it through this section of the official forums. The question pops up every so often there and the response has always been that the source code was lost.

It's a shame, I would have liked to see a rerelease some day.

I actually did skim through there before I sent the E-mail. Either there wasn't a topic on it there at the time, or I missed it.

I still don't see why losing the source code would keep them from distributing the game, though. All they'd need is a disc of the game, really. Then they could create an ISO of the disc and get rid of the copy protection on it, either putting it up for a digital purchase or free download on their site.

[QUOTE="BladeMaster84"][QUOTE="JP_Russell"]

How did you hear of this happening? And how would that be able to stop them from distributing the game?

JP_Russell

I imagine he found it through this section of the official forums. The question pops up every so often there and the response has always been that the source code was lost.

It's a shame, I would have liked to see a rerelease some day.

I actually did skim through there before I sent the E-mail. Either there wasn't a topic on it there at the time, or I missed it.

I still don't see why losing the source code would keep them from distributing the game, though. All they'd need is a disc of the game, really. Then they could create an ISO of the disc and get rid of the copy protection on it, either putting it up for a digital purchase or free download on their site.

Huh, I did a quick look and found this (Daggerfall discussion starts at post 5): http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=850876

Maybe Bethesda just doesn't want to release the game in reality.

Interesting bit of information there.

This post in particular:

http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?s=&showtopic=850876&view=findpost&p=12494579

Yeah, I honestly don't believe losing the source code would keep them from re-distributing it. I'm still pretty confused as to what their reason could be. Well, I sent an E-mail reply asking why they don't want to release Daggerfall again, so I guess we'll see what reason they give if they respond to me.

Maybe I can sell my copy to them( Betheseda ) for a million dollars....?

What do you think ..???

The bidding starts at 100,000

They are just asking for their game to be pirated. Not re-release a cIassic RPG hailed as one of the best in the history of RPG's? Are they just insane? Free money? Who gives up free money?foxhound_fox

That's how I look at it, as well. It could only benefit them, as I see it.

Bethesda seems to really be a bit odd when it comes to business practices. Between this and shutting down Morrowblivion, they seem to actually not want to make money outside of their newest releases.BladeMaster84

Yeah, what's up with that?...wasn't that the mod that updated Morrowind with Oblivion level graphics? When a community obviously loves your games and improves upon them, why try to hinder that? It makes little sense to me.

I've never played Daggerfall, but it intrigues me. I know where to purchase a near mint copy for over a hundred dollars...but I doubt the game is worth that unless you're just a collector.

[QUOTE="BladeMaster84"]Bethesda seems to really be a bit odd when it comes to business practices. Between this and shutting down Morrowblivion, they seem to actually not want to make money outside of their newest releases.StrawberryHill

Yeah, what's up with that?...wasn't that the mod that updated Morrowind with Oblivion level graphics? When a community obviously loves your games and improves upon them, why try to hinder that? It makes little sense to me.

Actually it was a program that made it easier to convert resources from Morrowind and Morrowind mods into a format that could be used in Oblivion. They shut it down for "piracy", I believe. How they can consider using files on your computer without distributing them could be piracy in any way is beyond me. The fact that it was shut down is even more strange when you consider that the program would have actually encouraged more people to buy both Morrowind and Oblivion and that you can still convert the resources manually. They did absolutely nothing but p*** off their mod community.

[QUOTE="StrawberryHill"]

[QUOTE="BladeMaster84"]Bethesda seems to really be a bit odd when it comes to business practices. Between this and shutting down Morrowblivion, they seem to actually not want to make money outside of their newest releases.BladeMaster84

Yeah, what's up with that?...wasn't that the mod that updated Morrowind with Oblivion level graphics? When a community obviously loves your games and improves upon them, why try to hinder that? It makes little sense to me.

Actually it was a program that made it easier to convert resources from Morrowind and Morrowind mods into a format that could be used in Oblivion. They shut it down for "piracy", I believe. How they can consider using files on your computer without distributing them could be piracy in any way is beyond me. The fact that it was shut down is even more strange when you consider that the program would have actually encouraged more people to buy both Morrowind and Oblivion and that you can still convert the resources manually. They did absolutely nothing but p*** off their mod community.

Man, that is absurd. The mods made both Morrowind and Oblivion so much better. Why kick your biggest fans in the shins?

I'm picturing a board room with a bunch of old men in suits who don't know anything about gaming except sales charts. Falconoffury

Dunno, dude, they sure look like they could loose the source code of their most ambitious project...

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"][QUOTE="JP_Russell"]

I had got the impression Bethesda was one of those devs who didn't forget their roots

JP_Russell

Oblivion. If they forgot their roots of their most recent game, what makes you think they'd care for the fans from several games ago?

Yes, yes, I know Oblivion is largely haled as a dumbed down game compared to its predecessors (which, by the way, let's keep Oblivion hate out of this thread, please [addressing people in general here, not you, GLD]), and I'm sure it is, but as I said, they released Arena as a free download on their site (well after Oblivion's release). If they never cared about their old fans, they wouldn't have done so.