Fallout 76

[GBO Possum]

There's a lot of panicking (including me) about 12 year olds causing mayhem.

It appears that the tone of the interaction may be able to be set when individuals or groups meet.

Here's a cropped screen grab from the E3 video. Looks like the player has encountered a group (of two) and from the "wheel" is choosing how she wants to proceed.

My speculative guesses include:-

The one at about 2 o'clock with the "+" sign indicates "I want to join your group"
Under that, with hands in the air says "surrender"
Under that, with a fist full of (pre-war) money indicates willingness to trade
It might be that this "wheel" is part of a two-way negotiation, with the thumbs up at 12 o'clock indicating "acceptance" and the 6 o'clock "rejection" of a prior offer

I'm hoping that this might be part of a design which limits poor behavior

 

[88GTA]

The following video goes into detail about how they address grieving in the servers. It's mentioned somewhere in the first 10 minutes of it.


He compares it to running into a deathclaw in Fallout 4. After being killed by it, you can decide to try to fight it again or do something else and leave it alone. In F76, there is a mechanism which doesn't allow the other player to kill you again.

Some other information from the videos on the last page:
- VATS is in the game but will be in real-time. They don't go into detail, but there will be perks to make it even better.
- Degraded item condition and spoiling food are returning.
- The number of players is at 24-32 right now with a max of 4 people on a "team."
- Players can mutate as they become more irradiated. This will cause certain traits to be obtained, with both good and bad results, and will have some physical effects.
- After reaching each level, there will be perk cards which can be chosen up to a certain limit. The cards can be shared among your team allowing each player to specialize in a certain skill. For example, one player can be more assault oriented, one can be charismatic for trading, one can be a medic to heal or make survival items, etc.
- There won't be any NPC humans but there is a new faction called The Scorched. These are heavily irradiated ghouls who aren't quite feral and can use guns.
- All players in the server will be visible on the map.
- Free updates "for years to come" but there will be micro transactions available on cosmetics only. These cosmetics, however, would be achievable through game play.

 

[DesertPenguin]

There won't be any NPC humans

This way no matter what's going on if you see another human you know it's a real person. I like that. Everything else can be ghouls.

 

[GBO Possum]

Not that I'm in any way excited , but it just happens to be 5 months to go. Today. 5 months. Maybe even less than that for a B.E.T.A

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

This way no matter what's going on if you see another human you know it's a real person. I like that. Everything else can be ghouls.

I'm gonna need to see how this plays out, but for me this is almost a deal breaker. I like Fallout for it's atmosphere, writing, and characters. I like taking advantage of scripted-to-be-dumb merchants and the like with my charisma perks. I like seeing NPCs patrolling around a base like no human player would ever do. If the world is full of only other players, then there won't really be any characters and the other players (as evidenced by GTA Online) will likely just cause pointless mayhem thus ruining the integrity of the writing and atmosphere, for me. Not a fan of this direction.

Did I mention I hate PvP because I suck at PvP?

Why can't they just enable players to be companions in an otherwise normal FO game?

 

[88GTA]

I'm just hoping we get private servers. Me alone or me and a few friends with no strangers.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

I'm just hoping we get private servers. Me alone or me and a few friends with no strangers.

Yeah, but won't that feel awfully sterile with no NPCs roaming around?

 

[DesertPenguin]

Where are you getting this idea from that it will be lonely? Everything will be the same but they'll be ghouls instead of humans. It's simply for an aesthetic to know when you're not dealing with an NPC.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Where are you getting this idea from that it will be lonely? Everything will be the same but they'll be ghouls instead of humans. It's simply for an aesthetic to know when you're not dealing with an NPC.

If it's what you are saying, then I probably won't mind it too much. I initially read it as there were simply no NPCs (I didn't watch the video).

 

[DesertPenguin]

Ah, you read it. I watched the presentation itself so maybe they worded it differently. I got the idea that it's still very much a populated world.

 

[88GTA]

The only humans in the game will be real-life players so if you are playing alone, you'll be the only human in the game. There is a new faction called The Scorched which are almost feral ghouls that have the ability to use guns. If you want to trade or talk to someone, it would have to be with another player.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Ah, you read it. I watched the presentation itself so maybe they worded it differently. I got the idea that it's still very much a populated world.

According to this, they will be more analogous to raiders from previous games. I don't remember being able to interact with raiders in any way other than death.

 

[DesertPenguin]

According to this, they will be more analogous to raiders from previous games. I don't remember being able to interact with raiders in any way other than death.

Paradise Falls?

 

[Silver Arrows]

The more I read about the game, the less I am interested in it. Really, if they went the full hog and made it like TES Online - and by extension, that Fallout Online that was bandied about so long ago - at the very least I could ignore it. But the way Bethesda is doing this title - and setting it so early in the Fallout timeline, is kind of insulting, really, and does go massively against the core of a Fallout title, that is, a single player experience.

 

[allsupratt]

The more I read about the game, the less I am interested in it. Really, if they went the full hog and made it like TES Online - and by extension, that Fallout Online that was bandied about so long ago - at the very least I could ignore it. But the way Bethesda is doing this title - and setting it so early in the Fallout timeline, is kind of insulting, really, and does go massively against the core of a Fallout title, that is, a single player experience.

Im getting more of a Battlefield, Battlfront, COD, vibe.. i just skipped my first Forza, looks like ill be skipping my first Fallout game as well. Seems to be a bad time to be a gamer unless you like PvP, RnG, P2P, and MMORPG type games. Looks to me like the single player story rich based game are becoming a thing of the past.

 

[TenEightyOne]

I don't remember being able to interact with raiders in any way other than death.

You could work with them in Fallout 4 Nuka World but it was tedious and the greatest joy was, well, killing them

 

[Silver Arrows]

Im getting more of a Battlefield, Battlfront, COD, vibe.. i just skipped my first Forza, looks like ill be skipping my first Fallout game as well. Seems to be a bad time to be a gamer unless you like PvP, RnG, P2P, and MMORPG type games. Looks to me like the single player story rich based game are becoming a thing of the past.

Again, if this was an MMORPG like the old Fallout Online that was floated in the mid of the last decade, I don't think people would be as hesitant on giving 76 a try. But it's a single player experience that is very much built on the bones of a multiplayer one, with no option to play offline.

 

[88GTA]

Most of the F76 map courtesy of Reddit:

 

[Silver Arrows]

A Bear (Probably)

 

[wvmgmidget]

Most of the F76 map courtesy of Reddit:

They definitely took some (quite a bit) liberties with the geography, but I figured they would. It's really cool to see both Fort Boreman and Blennerhassett Island, which are from my area, on there.

 

[NLxAROSA]

Am I summarizing this correct?

- No new videos or content since the limited videos shown at E3
- No worthwhile gameplay videos, interviews or whatever
- Heavy marketing on social media for pre-order to get beta access
- Limited (timed) exclusivity for Xbox Beta
- Soundtrack already available via iTunes, again heavily marketed all over social media
- Social media posts about actual gameplay just rehashing what we already saw at E3
- Interview with Todd Howard that shows they have no idea/direction yet on how to handle common player interaction (like building a base on the same spot, or damage to other peoples constructions, or dying, or spawn killing, or people wanting to play solo, etc.)

This is not exactly convincing me to pre-order to say the least. Heavy marketing on anything but gameplay is a huge red flag IMO. Pushing for pre-orders while not showing anything: another red flag. I'm hoping I'm wrong, but so far I'm waiting this one out until after release date or more info becomes available.

 

[88GTA]

They may be worried that if they release too much game play, people will realize it is just Fallout 4 in West Virginia with randoms trying to kill you. I'm hoping this isn't the case, but I'm afraid it will be. I really enjoyed (and still enjoy) Fallout 4 so I'm fine with the same basic game but the multiplayer has me anxious.

 

[GBO Possum]

So far, the big beneficiaries of FO76 are the YouTubers who are playing the speculation game and fear-mongering, with clickbait headlines.

I doubt that the sky is falling, in fact I am quite confident that I’ll find a way of playing FO76 which is very enjoyable. It’s my expectation that my mate and I will be able to play cooperatively without too much interference from strangers. Some, maybe, but as Pete Hines has suggested, no more than what we’re already used to with Deathclaws and such like.

We have been playing Gran Turismo Sport as “Gran Turismo Lobby” very successfully and enjoyably.

Over the years, we have shared Oblivion, Skyrim and various Fallout experiences and mused about how much fun it could be to be able to enter a common world to take on the challenges and explorations together. We greet the news from West Virginia with optimism.

This is all as speculative as the click baiting YouTubers of course, just at the opposite end of the expectations scale.

 

[GBO Possum]

Finally found what looks to be a sane article that isn’t hyping FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt)

“The New Wasteland: What To Expect From Fallout 76”

https://www.gameinformer.com/2018/09/04/the-new-wasteland-what-to-expect-from-fallout-76

 

[88GTA]

Good article, thanks for the link.

 

[NLxAROSA]

There are now several videos and articles available about actual gameplay. I've watched and read a few and I'm not impressed to say the least. I can get into the multiplayer side of things, but no story worth mentioning and no story-driven NPC interaction is a big no-no from me. I was kind of hoping for 'mini-ESO, but Fallout-themed' experience, but that doesn't appear to be the case. I'll wait for an actual Fallout 5 then.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

There are now several videos and articles available about actual gameplay. I've watched and read a few and I'm not impressed to say the least. I can get into the multiplayer side of things, but no story worth mentioning and no story-driven NPC interaction is a big no-no from me. I was kind of hoping for 'mini-ESO, but Fallout-themed' experience, but that doesn't appear to be the case. I'll wait for an actual Fallout 5 then.

Yeah I've basically relegated FO76 to a 'pass' rating. The things I've loved most about FO games are simply not possible in FO76, and I don't see anything new that would interest me in place.

 

[Silver Arrows]

Again - one wonders if more people wouldn't be so hesitant on FO76 if Bethesda just made it like Elder Scrolls Online, or that Fallout Online MMO that was bandied about in the early days of Bethesda's time with the series because it's obvious trying to make all the crowds happy isn't working. At all.

 

[-Fred-]

Well on the bright side, FO4 won't be the title in the series everyone loves to hate anymore.

 

[88GTA]

It is looking like a pass from me as well. I'm still enjoying Fallout 4 anyway and my hard drive will thank me.