The Elder Scrolls has a rollercoaster historical past with expansions and DLC. Bethesda’s fantasy RPG collection has produced a few of gaming’s most beloved supplementary adventures (similar to Bloodmoon and Shivering Isles) and a few of its most infamous DLC fiascos (horse armour). However the collection’ affiliation with addons stretches farther again in time than any of those releases—all the way in which again The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall, in reality.When Daggerfall launched in September 1996, it had an enlargement out of the gate. However this addon was unique to copies offered by defunct US retailer CompUSA. Variously referred to as the CompUSA Enlargement or CompUSA Particular Version, it featured 16 further quests unfold throughout the guilds and temples featured within the recreation. These quests have been subsequently given wider launch by Bethesda in a free patch, however they’ve by no means been added to the official model of the sport.(Picture credit score: Bethesda)Because it has been freely accessible for years, the contents of the CompUSA enlargement are nicely documented. However the story behind its origin, design and reception is much less understood. We do not know why it was created, the way it was designed, whether or not it was beloved upon launch, or if it was the horse armour of its day. To seek out out extra in regards to the enlargement’s creation, I contacted its unique designer, then delved deep into the web’s previous to study what gamers thought of it on the time.
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The particular version’s quests have been designed by Kurt Kuhlmann, a Bethesda veteran who was co-lead designer on Skyrim and lead methods designer on Starfield. Kuhlmann left Bethesda in 2023, and is now the principal world designer at Lightspeed LA. However on the time of Daggerfall’s growth, Kuhlmann had solely been at Bethesda for a couple of months. “I used to be essentially the most junior designer doable at this level,” he tells me over e-mail.As talked about, the genesis of the particular version is unclear. In line with the UESP wiki, the particular version was created “as a result of the CompUSA model was recognized for distributing unique variations, and instructed Bethesda they’d little interest in carrying the sport until they obtained a particular model”.(Picture credit score: Bethesda)But exterior of Daggerfall, data of any particular CompUSA editions of video games are scant, whereas the UESP Wiki cites no supply for its declare that the retailer refused to inventory the sport until Bethesda kowtowed to its calls for. The enlargement’s different wiki web page, hosted on fandom, merely notes that CompUSA had greater than 200 shops countrywide, and speculates that “it could be doable Bethesda tried to encourage gross sales and recognition at these places by means of a ‘particular version’ of Daggerfall”.Since Kuhlmann was a junior designer on the time, he stresses that he “did not have a lot perception into company-level choices”. However he recollects Bethesda’s finish of issues thusly: “My understanding is that advertising and marketing made offers like this with varied retailers that if we offered particular content material, we might get particular promotions of their shops.” This is able to apparently embrace “endcap placement”, i.e. putting the sport on the tip of a shelf dealing with the storefront, so patrons would see it as quickly as they walked in.Maintain updated with crucial tales and one of the best offers, as picked by the PC Gamer crew.Kuhlmann says he has “no thought” if such particular editions have been commonplace on the time. To his recollection, although, that is the one such association that Bethesda ever had. “I am undecided why this was the one deal like this we made—possibly the corporate determined it wasn’t price it (it should have been some quantity of bother not simply to create the content material, however to additionally create customized packing containers only for CompUSA).”Quest log (Picture credit score: Bethesda)Nevertheless the deal happened, Kuhlmann did not have a lot time to create the enlargement. He was employed by Bethesda in Might 1996, whereas Daggerfall launched on September 20. Kuhlmann does not recall the precise timeframe of the enlargement’s growth, however primarily based on how lengthy he’d been on the firm, he estimates it wasn’t very lengthy. “Possible we’re speaking a couple of timeline of weeks, not months.”Regardless of the brief turnaround, the 16 quests added within the particular version should not throwaway affairs. They range considerably of their idea and design, and in some circumstances are extremely concerned relative to the remainder of the sport. The enlargement provides six Fighters Guild quests, 5 Mages Guild quests, two Thieves Guild quests, two temple-related quests, and one quest for the Knightly Orders—a regional congregation of knights discovered throughout Tamriel’s Iliac Bay.Furthermore, a number of of those quests are linked into multi-arc storylines with participant selections inbuilt. The missions added to the Fighters Guild embrace a three-part questline the place you could select between aiding lord Ka’var in his plans to grab the throne of Sentinel, or assist the reigning Queen Akorithi eliminate this troublesome lord.(Picture credit score: Bethesda)The Mages Guild likewise includes a three-part questline, this time revolving across the renegade sorcerer Baltham Greyman. Right here, gamers should resolve whether or not to execute Greyman on behalf of the guild, or assist him discover a magical merchandise in Direnni Tower, purportedly the oldest constructing in Tamriel. “I feel the Baltham Greyman quests have been a number of enjoyable to place collectively (additionally an instance of stringing quests along with a seamless character, which I preferred),” Kuhlmann says. “It was enjoyable having him chatter whereas he was going by means of a dungeon with you (within the very restricted Daggerfall method).”Outdoors of the principle quest, these are among the solely examples of missions with branching storylines in Daggerfall. Kuhlmann was in a position to create these as a result of he’d shortly familiarised himself with Daggerfall’s mission designer. “At that time I used to be most likely the professional throughout the studio on the extraordinarily primitive and arcane Daggerfall ‘quest editor’,” he says. “As I recall, it was a DOS program, very a lot not user-friendly, and the way it labored was one thing prefer it merely progressed down a listing of ‘directions’ from the highest to the underside.”That is why there are so few branching quests in Daggerfall. “Branching was troublesome, as was connecting the end result of 1 quest to a different. However I had discovered the best way to do each in order that was what I used to be targeted on doing, since (once more, in my fuzzy recollection) we hadn’t actually finished that form of factor a lot in the principle recreation.”(Picture credit score: Bethesda)The CompUSA Particular Version launched concurrently with the bottom recreation, arriving by itself particular disc with phrases like “Free CompUSA unique” and “FREE! Extra Artifacts and Quests” printed on the CD. But whereas we all know Daggerfall itself was an enormous success for Bethesda, each critically and commercially, what was the response to this official addon that would solely be present in one US retailer chain?Kuhlmann, sadly, has no reminiscence of the enlargement’s reception. Certainly, he doubts whether or not many individuals knew about it in any respect “because it was solely accessible from one retailer”. But whereas we do not know precisely what number of gamers knew about it, we will present that some actually did. Furthermore, we will monitor their reactions to the CompUSA enlargement over the course of Daggerfall’s launch.That is doable because of present archives for Usenet—a unfastened assortment of Web-based dialogue teams which predate the World Huge Net and which continued for use for many years afterward. There are numerous Usenet archives throughout the net, together with an in depth assortment of discussions housed in Google Teams.Digging by means of the previous(Picture credit score: Bethesda)Looking out these for ‘Daggerfall CompUSA’ yields simply over 500 outcomes. Most of those derive from the Usenet group comp.sys.ibm.laptop.video games.rpg. The discussions present a complete view of the Daggerfall launch interval, and customers’ reactions to the CompUSA Particular Version.Whereas there’s chatter about Daggerfall and CompUSA within the runup to launch, we’ll begin with the discharge itself. On September 20 1996, person Timothy Witter wrote a submit titled “Daggerfall is at CompUSA!!!”. “I simply picked up Daggerfall at CompUSA right here in Columbus, [Ohio]…the cabinets are stacked!” he writes. A day later, Clad…@netzone.com is likely one of the first customers to question the store-specific nature of the CompUSA model. “I used to be Daggerfall at Comp USA, on the field it says “CompUSA EXCLUSIVE! FREE ADDITIONAL ARTIFACTS & QUESTS.” My query is that this…What are these further objects? Is it price it to purchase at compusa to get these items? Anybody know something about this?”As information of the CompUSA model spreads, the questions start to show into opinions. On September 26, in a thread titled “Daggerfall: CompUSA and musings”, person Todd A Carter writes: “Making a particular “enhanced” model of Daggerfall for one explicit retailer (CompUSA, for the uninitiated) sucks. Particularly for these of us who purchased it elsewhere.” Following this, person Nunya@m.f replies “I’ll NOT purchase Daggerfault due to this advertising and marketing technique….What a crock of shit.”(Picture credit score: Bethesda)Not each submit is hostile to the CompUSA model. On September 27, person ron…@eden.com began a dialogue titled “Daggerfall: CompUSA model—good thought!”, through which they write: “Having labored for a pc superstore at one time within the distant previous, it happens to me that the particular CompUSA model is definitely one of many smartest issues doable for CompUSA and Bethesda to do. The variations within the recreation are very minor, however I bought the sport at CompUSA. I did not wish to be unnoticed.”Total, although, the responses that share an opinion on the enlargement’s exclusivity lean towards the detrimental. One person named after the Stephen King character Randall Flagg pre-ordered the sport and was then dismayed to find a retail model that had further content material. “This actually pisses me off. Right here I’m giving Bethesda enterprise by taking the time to pre-order from them and I get an incomplete recreation.”There are additionally complaints from gamers who bought a Restricted Version of Daggerfall. This price round $100 in keeping with varied customers, and got here with a t-shirt, a “World of Tamriel” mousepad, and a poster. But it surely did not function the CompUSA quests. “Assume how I as a LE-customer really feel: pissed off for spending 150 US$ (transport) on an incomplete recreation,” person Lars Deutsch laments.(Picture credit score: Bethesda)Some of the attention-grabbing posts is written nicely after launch. On December 28, person Jerry Caveney corrects one other person who claimed there was no particular model of the sport. “CompUSA does have a particular model, they nonetheless promote it, and Bethesda bought a number of flack for agreeing to this,” he writes. It provides us a way that the dialogue ran wider than what the Usenet archives present, and that it was nonetheless in gamers’ minds months after the launch.However did this obvious fallout affect Bethesda’s choice to launch the extra content material in a patch? Nicely, it appears that evidently Bethesda all the time deliberate to distribute the additional quests extra extensively. Writing on September 26 in response to Todd Carter’s submit, Robert Berryhill writes. “I learn in a brand new recreation journal (I feel) that they are going to submit the ‘additional’ stuff to their web site in a couple of months.” Given the weeks-long lead occasions on journal publication, Bethesda would have revealed this info nicely earlier than Daggerfall’s launch date.Nonetheless, it seems Bethesda did really feel the necessity to make clear the state of affairs to befuddled Daggerfall followers. On September 28, person Clark S. Smith claims to have obtained a communication from Bethesda, which states “Sure, CompUSA does have a retail model of the sport that features further quests and artifacts. Nevertheless, do not fret when you did not purchase it from CompUSA, as we plan to let others get these quests/artifacts by different means within the close to future.”Sharing is caring(Picture credit score: Bethesda)There’s additionally one different intriguing wrinkle relating to the patch. On October 4, person MoJo proclaims that the “DAGGERFALL PATCH IS AVAILABLE!”. However apparently, this patch did not comprise the additional quests. In an addendum to his submit, MoJo writes “P.S. when you purchased your recreation someplace aside from CompUSA, the ‘additional’ quests and artifacts can be found on Compuserve (GO BETFORUM) and AOL. These have not been made formally accessible by Bethesda (contractually I suppose they cannot do it but) however useful prospects have uploaded them to those providers.”So it appears customers have been importing the CompUSA model’s quests nicely earlier than Bethesda made them formally accessible. Greater than that, there are hints Bethesda allowed them to do that. A number of days previous to MoJo’s submit, person Sinslpmn replied to a thread stating “I do know that on AOL, sure, a few of us use AOL, the rep from Bethesda will let somebody add the lacking recordsdata from the un-CompUSA variations.”Total, then, it seems gamers have been usually displeased by the exclusivity deal between Bethesda and CompUSA, and whereas Bethesda all the time deliberate to launch this content material for normal consumption, it turned a blind eye when gamers uploaded it prematurely. However what did gamers take into consideration the quests themselves?(Picture credit score: Bethesda)Right here, there’s much less info. However a couple of customers do touch upon it. On October 26, person Nancy Walsh replies to a question over what the CompUSA model accommodates with “I’ve finished the ‘fetch the tiger’ quest—and it was enjoyable. Darn factor bit me 3 times earlier than it began listening to the bell.” In the meantime, responding to a separate thread on October 29, person James Rosinksi feedback, “The CompUSA quests are among the attention-grabbing random quests within the recreation,” earlier than including, “Disgrace on Bethesda for preserving them out of the overall launch.”So in a manner, the Daggerfall CompUSA version was the horse armour of its day, inflicting a ruckus by providing additional content material in a way gamers felt was unfair. However in contrast to horse armour, the explanation gamers have been pissed off was due to the enlargement’s top quality, slightly than its low high quality.There’s one final subject the archives make clear that must be famous. A number of posts point out particular editions of video games that appeared at different shops, similar to a particular version of Lemmings at Electronics Boutique. So it does appear that this was a development inside US retailers on the time. However there are additionally extra particular claims about how the Daggerfall particular version happened.(Picture credit score: Bethesda)On October 3, person Sith Dragon made a submit titled “CompUSA Recreation Stocking Practices”. On this, they state, “In line with the Bethesda rep on AOL, the explanation why CompUSA has a particular version is as a result of they’d refuse to inventory the sport in any respect if Bethesda did not make that concession to them.”This backs up the declare made by the UESP Wiki, particularly that CompUSA twisted Bethesda’s arm into making the particular version. To be clear, this isn’t affirmation that CompUSA pushed Bethesda into making the enlargement—Sith Dragon declare cannot be verified, but it surely does exhibit that individuals have been beneath the impression that CompUSA pressured Bethesda on the time.In the present day, the Daggerfall CompUSA version could also be little greater than a footnote in Bethesda’s huge library of works. However it’s nonetheless an vital second within the studio’s historical past. Kuhlmann says his work on the enlargement knowledgeable his later method to designing different further content material for Bethesda’s video games.(Picture credit score: Bethesda)”In a really normal sense, this was my first expertise of how a lot enjoyable engaged on DLC might be, you might be on the peak of your expertise with the instruments; and you might be very conscious of ‘missed alternatives’—issues that you simply wished to place in the principle recreation however ran out of time so as to add, or did not notice the best way to do one thing till it was too late so as to add content material. DLC like that is typically among the greatest content material when it comes to filling in gaps, and making the most of ‘uncared for’ options of the sport’s toolset.”Furthermore, the way in which the enlargement was considered and mentioned exhibits how little the connection between gamers, builders and publishers has modified. Whereas Steam and social media might have made conversations between gamers and builders louder and extra prevalent, the tensions, the debates, and the sore factors stay largely unchanged from what they have been nearly 30 years in the past.
