Fallout ‘76

Bethesda did their E3 announcement last night and I have to say I’m excited.

The new Fallout sounds a lot like GTA V as in there is a single player mode along with a new multiplayer mode/co-op mode. I personally think it sounds like a lot of fun, but a lot of Fallout faithful are not happy about the multiplayer aspect of the game. 

There is also a Beta version you can sign up for. 

Here’s the Fallout ‘76 part of the Bethesda conference: 

The only thing I’m pissed about is that I missed out on was the Power Armor Edition of the game. Bethesda’s site last night crashed, so by the time I could get on, they were all sold out. 

I read (somewhere) that the multiplayer will work similar to Destiny; a dozen or so people can be around you at a time and they interact with your surroundings.

For the Multiplayer yes, they said that there would only be a dozen or so people in multiplayer. There will still be a solo play mode, so that’s why I imagine it will be like GTA, you have a solo mode and then servers for online. 

They said "always online". You can play "solo". No confirmation of actual single player. More like how you can play Elder Scrolls online "solo" our world of Warcraft "solo", from what I saw I the videos and the wording they used, which means not alone. 

And for now at least, the beta is tied to preorders.

I really want to be excited, but I don't like being forced to play with others. I don't like PVP, especially not in role-playing games. I love the idea of playing in West Virginia with the local folk lore and nuclear missiles available. 

This is not going to be a day one purchase for me, and that actually bums me out. At least there will be plenty of streams and videos to watch around launch to decide if it's worth it. 

Plus the whole "every human you see is a real person" really scares me about handling quests and a lack of NPCs. 

Not excited. I want Fallout New Vegas with less bugs and more quest variety and more talking your way out of or into a fight. 

I do not want Fortnight in the post apocalypse. 

Also how are they going to do deathclaws and super mutants all that stuff in the lore happens well into the future like 100 years or more. Minimal brotherhood of steel as well at this point. Booo.  

RevRico said:

They said "always online". You can play "solo". No confirmation of actual single player. More like how you can play Elder Scrolls online "solo" our world of Warcraft "solo", from what I saw I the videos and the wording they used, which means not alone. 

And for now at least, the beta is tied to preorders.

I really want to be excited, but I don't like being forced to play with others. I don't like PVP, especially not in role-playing games. I love the idea of playing in West Virginia with the local folk lore and nuclear missiles available. 

This is not going to be a day one purchase for me, and that actually bums me out. At least there will be plenty of streams and videos to watch around launch to decide if it's worth it. 

Plus the whole "every human you see is a real person" really scares me about handling quests and a lack of NPCs. 

 

Wreckfest is my horse going into the holidays. 

If you want to do a deep dive. I'm excited. I like Destiny. I thought it was a interesting idea that was a great mid-point between truly solo play and forced joint play in traditional MMOs. 4x map size is sweet too. As long as I can play in a non-PVP server, I will be happy. 

RevRico said:

They said "always online". You can play "solo". No confirmation of actual single player.

It is probably a way for them to throw DRM on while having a solo play. It may force you onto a server with others though. That might be a pain. I'm hoping I can host a private server. 

singleslammer said:

RevRico said:

They said "always online". You can play "solo". No confirmation of actual single player.

It is probably a way for them to throw DRM on while having a solo play. It may force you onto a server with others though. That might be a pain. I'm hoping I can host a private server. 

You’re supposed to be able to have a private server if you want. He did say in a later interview that there will be a “Private World” option, but it won’t be ready at launch. 

It's real-time," Howard said. "It doesn't slow time. But it lets you target and pick parts and all of that, but it's in real-time. It still works great. It's different, obviously, because it's real-time, but the basics of it, which are, 'I can't really—I'm not that good of a twitch shooter' … You can kind of picture how it works. Like, I'm not as good as lining up someone and getting a head shot, but I've made my character good at VATS, and now I can do that." 

I can kind of picture how it might work, I suppose, and I give full credit to Bethesda for coming up with VATS in the first place, an elegant translation of OG Fallout-style combat to the first-person perspective of Fallout 3 and beyond. That gives me hope that it can work in a multiplayer setting, too. But I also have to wonder if it might not wash so well in a PvP environment, where players sometimes don't react particularly well to being taken down by someone they perceive to be a less-skilled player. 

Howard addressed that concern to an extent, saying that Bethesda is working to ensure that the online-only game world doesn't become a haven for jerks. "We don't want it to be griefy, but we want to have some drama there," he said.

"There is a way that you can decide to do PvP, and we're currently balancing the incentives for someone who wants to be very aggressive to people, and those who want to ignore it. That really comes down to the end-game incentives, and also the social incentives. But we don't want it to be griefy in any way, and we'll dial it in so that people can say, 'Look, I don't want to deal with that'."   

That doesn't mean you can choose to completely remove yourself from the dangers of the Wasteland, however, as Howard made clear in his hesitant response when asked if players can opt out of PvP entirely. "We want a little bit of drama there, without them ruining your game," he said.

The above is from an interview with Todd Howard. Started as a discussion of "real time VATS", which sounds kind of cool, but those last few bits about PVP are very disconcerting. Sounds like no lone wandering, which is going to make it a hard pass for me. 

I am excited but will hold out until there are some reviews of the full game.  With that being said I told my wife that I will likely want it for Christmas.

I could be interested...

In reply to RevRico :

There will be private servers (ie solo play if you don't open the server to anyone) available after launch. I am willing to bet it will be before spring at the latest but likely within two months of launch. If I had to guess, they are forcing people onto the public servers at launch to make you get the user experience they designed but at least they aren't forcing that on us forever.

In reply to singleslammer :

Or whatever "micro" transactions they have in mind are geared towards op weapons to be used in a public hopper, and they know they wont sell any of everyone can hang out solo. 

In reply to Mndsm :

Good point. I hope that keep that E36 M3 discreet as I don't have any patients for pay to win PVP games. berkeley that.

Edited because grammar and words no good.

In reply to singleslammer :

I do too. I really want to like Bethesda universes. Skyrim,  fallout,  etc. I just can't get into them solo, and pvp isnt something I am generally interested in. Give me coop. I like coop. 

In reply to Mndsm :

A GRM coop private server could be cool.

We would have to agree on a platform though. Ask Fortnight about cross play.