Veteran Bethesda Game Studios developer Bruce Nesmith, who worked on 2011 RPG genre gem Skyrim, says that some of its bugs were intentionally left alone during production because removing them might've taken away from the "magic" of the game.
He reveals as much during a recent FRVR podcast, first explaining how Skyrim's longevity shocked Bethesda devs as the RPG was thriving "still, ten years later" thanks to its unique open world. Part of what made the open world as charming and one-of-a-kind as it still is today, however, as Nesmith says, is actually players' biggest complaint regarding the RPG: the sheer bugginess, which has now become synonymous with the name Bethesda.
"If you try to smooth everything out and make sure that you don't have any of these quirky things that people call bugs in some cases, you're going to lose some of that magic," the dev admits. "And we didn't make that as a conscious decision. It just sort of happened. You know, we kind of prioritize functionally, and 'well, okay, that bug's acceptable. This behavior is less than ideal, but we can live with it, because look what we're getting over here.'"
In other words, Bethesda was very aware of, and could've potentially remedied, many of the bugs that Skyrim is so well known for (I'm looking at you, flying mammoths) – but on the other hand, such fixes could've apparently cost the, erm, better parts of the RPG? I guess it makes sense. You give up a bit of polish for a whole lot of engaging content, which, if I do say so myself, the fifth Elder Scrolls entry has plenty of.
It's not as though Skyrim was an easy game to make, anyway. Its vast open world, which Nesmith stresses was created "in a way that nobody had ever done before, and very few people have really tried to do since," coming with some bugs here and there, isn't entirely unreasonable. Bethesda had its eye on the prize – producing something that would continue to impress players for, as it now stands, literally over a decade.
Plus, who needs bug fixes anyway, amirite? That's what all those Skyrim mods are for – now, if you'll excuse me, I have a load order to sift through and a 14-year-old RPG to replay for the millionth time over.
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