long story short bethesda accidentally doxxed people who complained
in case you missed it, the chain of events is roughly as follows:
1. fallout 76 launches. it is entirely online. there are a lot of bugs. a whole lot of bugs. people report countless bugs, many of which are game-breaking. bethesda’s communication leaves a lot to be desired. fallout 76 officially has a no refund policy, but due to the large number of people requesting refunds, many refunds are issued.
throughout the following events, they are largely vague in regards to patches, support, outreach, and the fallout community is split between defending or criticizing their actions.
2. people begin to realize that the $200 collector’s edition, which promised a canvas bag, came with a low-quality nylon bag. bethesda claims it was too expensive to make the canvas bags and that they cannot possibly honor their $200 bundle, despite promotional material listing the canvas bag as part of the bundle up until release and until shortly after.
3. bethesda offers 500 in-game atoms (game currency) to individuals who purchased the collector’s edition. to receive the atoms, players must submit a support ticket with personal information, images, and proof of purchase. it is worth noting that these 500 atoms are worth approximately $5 USD, and cannot even purchase an in-game canvas bag.
4. after significant backlash, bethesda begins producing the promised canvas bags. to get the bag, people have until january 31st to submit a support ticket proving they purchased the collector’s edition. again, this requires submitting a ticket with ample personal information.
5. at some point, everyone’s support tickets became viewable to people who submit their own support tickets. meaning, the full names, usernames, addresses, phone numbers, emails, proof of purchases, and partial credit card details of everyone who submit a support ticket for any bethesda product were viewable. it also allowed anyone to open or close anyone else’s support tickets. bethesda effectively doxxed the most hardcore of their fanbase – the ones who spent the most money and were most likely long time fans. the long time fans who may have been inclined to defend bethesda up until this point. following this leak, a huge chunk of even the most hardcore fans have stopped defending bethesda.
the status of the leaked data is currently unknown. it is also unknown how long the leaked information was visible. several people took screenshots, meaning that it was possible for all of the leaked personal information to have been collected, scraped, or otherwise saved with nefarious intent.
summarized by a screencap from the linked article:
