The Elder Scrolls' bizarre relationship with expansions started a full decade earlier than the horse armour DLC, within the type of a 16-quest addon to Daggerfall unique to at least one US retailer
The Elder Scrolls has a rollercoaster historical past with expansions and DLC. Bethesda’s fantasy RPG sequence has produced a few of gaming’s most beloved supplementary adventures (akin to Bloodmoon and Shivering Isles) and a few of its most infamous DLC fiascos (horse armour). However the sequence’ 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 actual fact.
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 often known as the CompUSA Enlargement or CompUSA Particular Version, it featured 16 extra quests unfold throughout the guilds and temples featured within the sport. These quests had 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.
Because it has been freely out there for years, the contents of the CompUSA enlargement are properly 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 search out out extra in regards to the enlargement’s creation, I contacted its unique designer, then delved deep into the web’s previous to be taught what gamers considered it on the time.
The particular version’s quests had been designed by Kurt Kuhlmann, a Bethesda veteran who was co-lead designer on Skyrim and lead techniques 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 potential at this level,” he tells me over electronic 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 identified for distributing unique variations, and instructed Bethesda they’d little interest in carrying the sport except they obtained a particular model”.
But exterior of Daggerfall, information 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 except 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 potential Bethesda tried to encourage gross sales and recognition at these places by way 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 remembers Bethesda’s finish of issues thusly: “My understanding is that advertising made offers like this with varied retailers that if we supplied particular content material, we’d get particular promotions of their shops.” This may apparently embody “endcap placement”, i.e. inserting the sport on the top of a shelf dealing with the storefront, so consumers would see it as quickly as they walked in.
Kuhlmann says he has “no thought” if such particular editions had 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—perhaps the corporate determined it wasn’t value 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
Nevertheless the deal took place, Kuhlmann did not have a lot time to create the enlargement. He was employed by Bethesda in Could 1996, whereas Daggerfall launched on September 20. Kuhlmann would 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 few timeline of weeks, not months.”
Regardless of the brief turnaround, the 16 quests added within the particular version will not be throwaway affairs. They fluctuate 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 in-built. The missions added to the Fighters Guild embody a three-part questline the place you will need to select between helping lord Ka’var in his plans to grab the throne of Sentinel, or assist the reigning Queen Akorithi eliminate this troublesome lord.
The Mages Guild likewise contains 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 had been a variety of enjoyable to place collectively (additionally an instance of stringing quests along with a unbroken character, which I appreciated),” Kuhlmann says. “It was enjoyable having him chatter whereas he was going by way of a dungeon with you (within the very restricted Daggerfall method).”
Outdoors of the primary quest, these are a few of the solely examples of missions with branching storylines in Daggerfall. Kuhlmann was capable of create these as a result of he’d rapidly familiarised himself with Daggerfall’s mission designer. “At that time I used to be most likely the knowledgeable inside 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 an inventory of ‘directions’ from the highest to the underside.”
That is why there are so few branching quests in Daggerfall. “Branching was tough, as was connecting the end result of 1 quest to a different. However I had found out methods 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 carried out that type of factor a lot in the primary sport.”
The CompUSA Particular Version launched concurrently with the bottom sport, arriving by itself particular disc with phrases like “Free CompUSA unique” and “FREE! Further 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 might 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 out there 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 potential because of present archives for Usenet—a free assortment of Web-based dialogue teams which predate the World Huge Internet and which continued for use for many years afterward. There are numerous Usenet archives throughout the online, together with an intensive assortment of discussions housed in Google Teams.
Digging by way of the previous
Looking out these for ‘Daggerfall CompUSA’ yields simply over 500 outcomes. Most of those derive from the Usenet group comp.sys.ibm.computer.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 put up 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 among the first customers to question the store-specific nature of the CompUSA model. “I used to be taking a look at Daggerfall at Comp USA, on the field it says “CompUSA EXCLUSIVE! FREE ADDITIONAL ARTIFACTS & QUESTS.” My query is that this…What are these extra gadgets? Is it value it to purchase at compusa to get this stuff? 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 technique….What a crock of shit.”
Not each put up is hostile to the CompUSA model. On September 27, person ron…@eden.com began a dialogue titled “Daggerfall: CompUSA model—sensible thought!”, by 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 potential for CompUSA and Bethesda to do. The variations within the sport are very minor, however I bought the sport at CompUSA. I did not need to be omitted.”
Total, although, the responses that share an opinion on the enlargement’s exclusivity lean towards the damaging. 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 extra 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 sport.”
There are additionally complaints from gamers who bought a Restricted Version of Daggerfall. This value round $100 based on varied customers, and got here with a t-shirt, a “World of Tamriel” mousepad, and a poster. However it did not function the CompUSA quests. “Assume how I as a LE-customer really feel: pissed off for spending 150 US$ (delivery) on an incomplete sport,” person Lars Deutsch laments.
Some of the attention-grabbing posts is written properly 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 acquired a variety of flack for agreeing to this,” he writes. It offers 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 determination to launch the extra content material in a patch? Effectively, it appears that evidently Bethesda at all times deliberate to distribute the additional quests extra broadly. Writing on September 26 in response to Todd Carter’s put up, Robert Berryhill writes. “I learn in a brand new sport journal (I feel) that they’ll put up the ‘further’ stuff to their web site in a couple of months.” Given the weeks-long lead occasions on journal publication, Bethesda would have revealed this data properly 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 extra quests and artifacts. Nevertheless, do not fret in the event 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
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 include the additional quests. In an addendum to his put up, MoJo writes “P.S. in the event you purchased your sport someplace aside from CompUSA, the ‘further’ quests and artifacts can be found on Compuserve (GO BETFORUM) and AOL. These have not been made formally out there by Bethesda (contractually I assume they can not do it but) however useful prospects have uploaded them to those providers.”
So it appears customers had been importing the CompUSA model’s quests properly earlier than Bethesda made them formally out there. Greater than that, there are hints Bethesda allowed them to do that. A number of days previous to MoJo’s put up, 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 had been typically displeased by the exclusivity deal between Bethesda and CompUSA, and whereas Bethesda at all times 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?
Right here, there’s much less data. However a couple of customers do touch upon it. On October 26, person Nancy Walsh replies to a question over what the CompUSA model incorporates with “I’ve carried out the ‘fetch the tiger’ quest—and it was enjoyable. Darn factor bit me thrice 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 a few of the attention-grabbing random quests within the sport,” earlier than including, “Disgrace on Bethesda for maintaining them out of the overall launch.”
So in a means, the Daggerfall CompUSA version was the horse armour of its day, inflicting a ruckus by providing further content material in a way gamers felt was unfair. However not like horse armour, the explanation gamers had been annoyed was due to the enlargement’s prime quality, relatively than its low high quality.
There’s one final subject the archives make clear that needs to be famous. A number of posts point out particular editions of video games that appeared at different shops, such as 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 took place.
On October 3, person Sith Dragon made a put up 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 might 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 show that individuals had been beneath the impression that CompUSA pressured Bethesda on the time.
Immediately, the Daggerfall CompUSA version could also be little greater than a footnote in Bethesda’s huge library of works. However it’s nonetheless an necessary second within the studio’s historical past. Kuhlmann says his work on the enlargement knowledgeable his later strategy to designing different extra content material for Bethesda’s video games.
“In a really normal sense, this was my first expertise of how a lot enjoyable engaged on DLC may very well be, you’re on the peak of your abilities with the instruments; and you’re very conscious of ‘missed alternatives’—issues that you simply wished to place in the primary sport however ran out of time so as to add, or did not understand methods to do one thing till it was too late so as to add content material. DLC like that is typically a few of the greatest content material when it comes to filling in gaps, and benefiting from ‘uncared for’ options of the sport’s toolset.”
Furthermore, the way in which the enlargement was seen 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 had been virtually 30 years in the past.