Fallout 76 Impressions - (Re)Entering the Wastelands - MMORPG.com

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Fallout 76 Impressions - (Re)Entering the Wastelands - MMORPG.com

Fallout 76 is officially live and with it a host of issues that you might exception as you enter the post-apocalyptic world of West Virginia. What we hope to achieve in this article is to share some thoughts on the Fallout 76 experience now that is officially live.

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JeffSpicoli

What i don't get about Fall Out 76 is behind the exploration (which looks great) the gun play is primarily the bulk of the gameplay experience. To me the gun play in fallout RPG's has notoriously been one of the weakest aspects of the series, Its why i loved V.A.T.S so much. I always figured VATS was Bethesda's way of saying, "Hey we know our gun play stinks so we made this cool slow motion cinematic cam that not not only looks great but gives you a variety of options to kill the baddie, have fun"

Survival game, multiplayer, pvp , shooter, weak gun play....... Not sure i get it.

Aeander

DMKano said:

Slight departure?

Umm removing all NPCs and thus removing "meaningful choices" that change how the game plays - is a bit more than slight departure from previous Fallout games.

IMO - they ripped the heart out Fallout and left a shambling husk.

Agreed. Fallout 76 isn't even in the same genre anymore. It isn't an RPG. Choices define RPG's. This is just another survival game.

Aeander

DMKano said:

Aeander said:

DMKano said:

Slight departure?

Umm removing all NPCs and thus removing "meaningful choices" that change how the game plays - is a bit more than slight departure from previous Fallout games.

IMO - they ripped the heart out Fallout and left a shambling husk.

Agreed. Fallout 76 isn't even in the same genre anymore. It isn't an RPG. Choices define RPG's. This is just another survival game.

And as far as survival games go - it's not even a good survival game - as it's far too easy.

"Good" and "survival game" don't even belong in the same sentence. 

(The irony of course being that I had to also put them in the same sentence to say so.)

BillMurphy

I like it.

uriel_mafess

I cant understand how far they are willing to go with their "newspeak" to justify this "game".

Seriously. Stop lying to people. Stop all this shilling. Stop misguiding players into a pre-alpha nonrpg survival game that its bad even compared to small or AA titles that have been published in that genre years ago.

The truth is that this game, as it has been launched, is bad.

Its not a completed game. Its a game refubrished from a game that was already lacking and flawed. They undressed that base game of the few good things it had and added a couple of worse features(cash shop is awful).

I really think you people, this is not the only page making up excusses for this scam, should be held accountable for the bullshit you are selling to get people entramped into this. I hope you all who blatanly lie for profit get sued and some courageous judge would fine you to bankruptcy.

Holdslowhope

Haha upset fanbois! Love it. Can taste the salt from here

Sovrath

DMKano said:

Slight departure?



Umm removing all NPCs and thus removing "meaningful choices" that change how the game plays - is a bit more than slight departure from previous Fallout games.



IMO - they ripped the heart out Fallout and left a shambling husk.

But wouldn't those meaningful choices manifest with player to player interaction? And be more meaningful because of they are "real" people?

Alpius

Don't know what everyone has been complaining about these past few weeks, I've been having a good time so far. Sure, there's no NPC's besides the occasional Mister Handy, but again it's not like that's a surprise or anything. All I've been doing is running around exploring stuff and reading terminals, which is what I mostly do in Fallout games anyway, so no big change for me. Love the events as well and claiming workshops to defend against waves and collect all that wonderful aluminum.

Also, the camp system is a lot of fun, although it is a little limiting on how much you can build.

Aeander

DMKano said:

Sovrath said:

DMKano said:

Slight departure?



Umm removing all NPCs and thus removing "meaningful choices" that change how the game plays - is a bit more than slight departure from previous Fallout games.



IMO - they ripped the heart out Fallout and left a shambling husk.

But wouldn't those meaningful choices manifest with player to player interaction? And be more meaningful because of they are "real" people?

If the interactions with people were meaningful, I would agree with you.

They are not - you can solo everything, world bosses included. PVP sucks so again not meaningful. 

Heck you are better off soloing as you level up quicker. 

The game really misses the mark for meaningful people interaction.

Even if player interactions were meaningful, they are no substitute for NPCs. NPCs ground and add context to the world. They create immersion. Players don't do that. In fact, most random asshats do the opposite.

Iselin

BillMurphy said:

I like it.

You are the anti-Mikey:

SplitStream13

Now lets see if Bethesda's stock will drop. It's good year for gaming bois. Triple-A companies are mostly at a loss. One heck of a good mechanism to weed out the spoiled ones. 

maskedweasel

Some experiences I had so far. 

Found the fire department, decided I'd become a fire breather. Was given several quests from different NPCs to pass tests before I officially became one.  Second test required a physical exam. Simply had to run through an obstacle course, easy enough. At level 25 I Got cornered by level 10 Super Mutants, who then got attacked by a level 14 snallygaster, that killed them.. and then killed me.  

Did finish it, last part of the tests brings you into a mine, stories play out through holotapes, both interesting and gutwrenching as you see what happens as you progress down the mine, and then find out why when you reach the bottom. 



I headed inside a medical facility, killed several feral ghouls roaming inside at the door.  Noticed a legendary level 20 ghoul beating up on a level 9 player, helped him defeat it.  He thanked me, and asked me if I had any food to spare.  We traded and talked, he asked if I could help him finish the quest in the area.  We stuck together for the next several hours. 


I was on a quest from the mayor of Grafton to complete some maintenance around the parks. Came upon an area where 3 players were running around and yelling, thought it was PvP at first, turned out to be a level 30 Mirelurk Queen they foolishly attacked. I called to them to run to me and get on top of a nearby building while I held it off.  They all died slow agonizing deaths from her acid, one by one before reaching the building, as I climbed to the roof, she attacked me too, even at near her own level, with good armor and heavy weaponry, I barely dented her before I died.  When we all returned to pick up our stuff, everyone agreed not to attack her again haha.


People may say one thing or another about this game, but I'm having some fantastic adventures and experiences.  I look forward to playing more throughout the next few weeks.  Despite nearly being level 30, I still have a long way to go.


Yes, I have experienced a few issues.  They didn't increase the stash amount.. hell at this point I'd pay 20 bucks for them to triple my stash size.  It's my main hindrance in playing, as I'm primarily a crafter, and I craft and modify items for players, but with such a low stash, I can't hold as much as I need to.  I've crashed once.  Emotes bugged out once. Some main quest lines disappear but reappear when I log back in.   Mostly minor annoyances to an otherwise awesome game. 

Iselin

SplitStream13 said:

Now lets see if Bethesda's stock will drop. It's good year for gaming bois. Triple-A companies are mostly at a loss. One heck of a good mechanism to weed out the spoiled ones. 

They're a private company. They don't have stock.

maskedweasel

DMKano said:

Sovrath said:

DMKano said:

Slight departure?



Umm removing all NPCs and thus removing "meaningful choices" that change how the game plays - is a bit more than slight departure from previous Fallout games.



IMO - they ripped the heart out Fallout and left a shambling husk.

But wouldn't those meaningful choices manifest with player to player interaction? And be more meaningful because of they are "real" people?

If the interactions with people were meaningful, I would agree with you.

They are not - you can solo everything, world bosses included. PVP sucks so again not meaningful. 

Heck you are better off soloing as you level up quicker. 

The game really misses the mark for meaningful people interaction.

No, you can't solo everything.... you can cheese some bosses, but even well geared players with lots of forethought can die from even lower level enemies. 

You can't "always be prepared" it's impossible.  For example, I came down with a disease I got from eating some berries.  I couldn't cure it, so I had to wait out the disease, despite going to 4 different vendors looking for a disease cure.  

Items are very limited.  Stimpaks aren't rare, but one mistake and you can end up using several to stay alive.  

You misrepresent that this game is somehow easy, or that grouping is necessary for some things.  On the contrary, I'm usually the highest level player on my server, and I've passed up several missions because I knew I'd be either at a loss without help, or I'd have to use too many supplies that aren't easily replenished.  

Iselin

maskedweasel said:

....

They didn't increase the stash amount.. hell at this point I'd pay 20 bucks for them to triple my stash size.

....  

There it is. The line-up for future cash shop "convenience items" has started. There's a reason why it's called "inconvenience by design." Aren't games as a service fun?

Sovrath

Aeander said:

DMKano said:

Sovrath said:

DMKano said:

Slight departure?



Umm removing all NPCs and thus removing "meaningful choices" that change how the game plays - is a bit more than slight departure from previous Fallout games.



IMO - they ripped the heart out Fallout and left a shambling husk.

But wouldn't those meaningful choices manifest with player to player interaction? And be more meaningful because of they are "real" people?

If the interactions with people were meaningful, I would agree with you.

They are not - you can solo everything, world bosses included. PVP sucks so again not meaningful. 

Heck you are better off soloing as you level up quicker. 

The game really misses the mark for meaningful people interaction.

Even if player interactions were meaningful, they are no substitute for NPCs. NPCs ground and add context to the world. They create immersion. Players don't do that. In fact, most random asshats do the opposite.

True they aren't a substitute and they are one way to add context to the world. finding books, tablets, pretty much any written material can also give context to the world.

Having said that, you are not incorrect in that players can be asshats and can ruin immersion.

Alomar

There wouldn't and couldn't be a new Fallout rpg this close after the last, that's not how Bethesda rolls (they roll slow btw). So, now that the main reason for bitching is out of the way, it's a survival-light game that imo the main appeal is the that it's the first form of multiplayer for Fallout fans. Is it amazing no, I've played much better survival games, but it's fun and will easily be worth the purchase for me.

FlyByKnight

BillMurphy said:

I like it.

What don't you like when it's being promoted? 

You gave @DMKano a [WTF] for saying some pretty straight forward stuff as to why it's a bigger departure than stated and followed up with "I like it".

I mean, why didn't you elaborate more? You could have at least finished the meme with "I like it alot".

Vhayne

I'm enjoying it.  Solo and group play.  Yeah, it's not Fallout 5 for sure.  But what is there is enough to enjoy still.  

You know how we all complained that ESO wasn't multiplayer skyrim?  Well, this is absolutely a multiplayer Fallout.  Yes, the lack of human NPC's is weird.  But seriously, when you're playing the game, you don't much think of that, as you're doing the same things you did in the other Fallouts, when you're out exploring.  What I mean is that in Fallout 3 for example, when you travel off the beaten path, and go check out that old vault, or few buildings....what do you end up doing really?  You read/hack terminals, read notes, listen to holotapes, pick locks, fight monsters, and learn what really happened to whatever place you are in.  Well, that's what this game is totally.  That part hasn't changed.  It's in everything.  Except here you have the potential of multiplayer as well. 


I'm only level 7, so no idea on endgame or whatever.  I went into this knowing of the complains, but still fairly blind to how the game works, and while I wasn't excited to play it much, I've changed my tune.  I like it a lot.  Can't wait to play more of it. 

bartoni33

I've played for about 6 hours total maybe? Level 7. Never put my C.A.M.P down. Don't see a need to so far. Stashes and workbenches seem to be prevalent enough. Rarely have seen any other people since leaving the first shithole you are told to go to (Responders place). That's Ok. Honestly the game is slowly growing on me.

Know what else is growing on me? My motion sickness from the LACK OF FOV CHANGING! FFS Bethesda put a fucking slider in your fucking games. Jesus fucking tits it's almost 2019.

Also put Text chat in. Kinda hard to rollplay with others when all you can to is pop stupid icons above your head. Don't want to hear anyone talking thank you. PC players have a keyboard for more than superior movement ya know.

OK rant off. I give it 6/10 right now but will upgrade that to 7 when you make it a full fledged PC game.

Slapshot1188

Played a bunch last night. For context- I have never played a Fallout game.

So far I like it. Still unsure about the CAMP system. It looks like when you move it you have to rebuild it, but not quite sure. Usually my group likes to make a base together. We funnel resources into it. With this setup I do not see how that is possible unless we all always play together.

FYI- Still not one single incidence of someone trying to grief me. Maybe it's because I was always with a partner or two, but folks have seemed fairly friendly.

Wizardry

The Advertising Standards Canada are clarifying the need for disclosure statements on blogs and in social media, so here’s a rundown of what you need to include and when:

A DISCLOSURE STATEMENT MUST BE ‘CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS’.

What NOT to do?
Hide the disclosures at the bottom of the page, in footnotes or behind hyperlinks.

No advertisement shall be presented in a format or style that conceals the fact that it is an advertisement.
A review is a form of concealment.

This game is trash,nothing but a fast toss it together survival game.Cohh Carnage was saying basically the same things today,also a scummy sponsored streamer.He was trying to not outright say the game is bad by saying...If you just play it for it's open world exploration,like i am,you'll love it.

He is saying this as he is walking around with his axe looking for places to loot.
So he is basically saying,if you don't mind playing the survival part of H1Z1,then you'll love it,yes because so many people playing survival games for the survival and not for the Battle Royale.

Aeander

Wizardry said:

The Advertising Standards Canada are clarifying the need for disclosure statements on blogs and in social media, so here’s a rundown of what you need to include and when:

A DISCLOSURE STATEMENT MUST BE ‘CLEAR AND CONSPICUOUS’.

What NOT to do?
Hide the disclosures at the bottom of the page, in footnotes or behind hyperlinks.

No advertisement shall be presented in a format or style that conceals the fact that it is an advertisement.
A review is a form of concealment.

This game is trash,nothing but a fast toss it together survival game.Cohh Carnage was saying basically the same things today,also a scummy sponsored streamer.He was trying to not outright say the game is bad by saying...If you just play it for it's open world exploration,like i am,you'll love it.

He is saying this as he is walking around with his axe looking for places to loot.
So he is basically saying,if you don't mind playing the survival part of H1Z1,then you'll love it,yes because so many people playing survival games for the survival and not for the Battle Royale.

Except that 1) this isn't sponsored, but rather a first impressions and 2) they do disclose that they received a free review code in plain text at the end of the article (it should probably appear at the beginning, but whether that matters is neither here nor there).

FlyByKnight

Slapshot1188 said:

Played a bunch last night. For context- I have never played a Fallout game.

So far I like it. Still unsure about the CAMP system. It looks like when you move it you have to rebuild it, but not quite sure. Usually my group likes to make a base together. We funnel resources into it. With this setup I do not see how that is possible unless we all always play together.

FYI- Still not one single incidence of someone trying to grief me. Maybe it's because I was always with a partner or two, but folks have seemed fairly friendly.

You probably did get ambushed by a few players but only lost a couple pixels of life and ignored them. 

maskedweasel

Iselin said:

maskedweasel said:

....

They didn't increase the stash amount.. hell at this point I'd pay 20 bucks for them to triple my stash size.

....  

There it is. The line-up for future cash shop "convenience items" has started. There's a reason why it's called "inconvenience by design." Aren't games as a service fun?

Well, they mentioned in beta that they will be increasing the stash amount,  I though that meant that it would be done by the time the game launched...  it didn't happen.  They might let people buy things later, like card packs, or size increases...


But... somehow that doesn't make sense to me.  Where card packs are concerned, you can't slot a card unless you have enough points in that special attribute.. so... even if I got 10 card packs right now, I wouldn't be able to use most of them unless I liked the card in the pack better than what I've already chosen.

Stash increases may be in the future, but they already said they'd increase them, at least some, without having to pay for it... but if thats only like.. 50 lbs or something... then yeah, that isn't going to do it for me. 

I do wonder what their plan is... are they going to have a cash shop eventually?  Or is it just going to be DLC or what?