Fallout 76 - B.E.T.A Impressions

IndianNoob checked out the upcoming online survival RPG Fallout 76:

Fallout 76 B.E.T.A – Impressions

When a long-established series, whether it be video games or any other form of media moves in on a new direction, the target base gets divided into two groups. One group of purists who want the subject in question to stick to its roots while the other one is open to new pastures and ideas. Making everyone happy in such a situation is nigh-impossible. But as long as the final product ends up being enjoyable, the damage can be controlled to an extent. Fallout, one of the most prolific RPG series of all time has reached this conjecture with the announcement of Fallout 76, a significant departure from the series’ traditional story-driven RPG roots and focusing more on the social aspects of multiplayer. As one can imagine, the decision to turn the next game in the series into an online-only survival-RPG has split the fanbase into the aforementioned two groups. But, the question at hand is how good of a game is Fallout 76? Well, the 15+ hours we spent in the Fallout 76 B.E.T.A should bring some closure into this million dollar question.

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There are a lot more to be said about Fallout 76. *Cough* half-baked microtransactions *cough* But to keep this impression article rather short and on point, we’d much rather not get into it. Fallout 76 is priced at $60. Yet, it carries with it a plethora of issues and bad design decisions found in $15 Early Access survival games. Such a shame really, because underneath all the mess, there exists some reasonably good ideas and concepts well suited for an online Fallout experience. With just mere days before launch, the thought of most of these problems being fixed is thrown right out the window. We’re not just saying this out of frustration. Hell, I’ve been a fan of Fallout for nearly 20 years and the more you love something, the harder your criticisms will be. Call it tough love.

It’s easy to say that you can have fun with Fallout 76 when played together with a group of friends. But that is an entirely subjective opinion. Let’s face it; a couple of buddies make even the most terrible of films bearable. But the real question remains- Are you willing to pay $60 for such an experience?

More information.

Confirms my 'be-sure-to-avoid' decision on this game. I won't touch any game where I have to run around with a bunch of buddies in an empty world fighting mobs of idiots while defending a base I didn't want to build in the first place.
First, I don't have 'gamer friends' I want to play with. I'm strictly solo. Second, I don't like base building/defending play. Third, I'm not willing to put up with rude, immature A-holes who think it's funny to wait at spawn points to bushwhack noobs.

Games like DayZ and Rust are dead ends.

The day I buy an emote is the day you have my permission to smother me with a pillow.

I was wrong. Imagining this game wasn't the worse thing possible, reading about how it actually functions is far worse. What a dismal demise for a well storied franchise to fall to. Just yuck.

And we all thought No Mans Game was as wide as an ocean, as deep as a puddle…

This is one game where it is easy to just say no.

I have nothing against AAA games. They can be fun for a bit. But this is a huge leap in the direction of the cancer that is monetizing games for their entire lifetimes instead of doing real expansions.

Enough sheep seem to buy that shite from EA or Actiblizz so Beth wants a piece of the cake, too. For the shareholders and all. FO4 was hard to swallow, but to this I just say no. Pretty sure TES VI will be the same crap just more. Maybe I will instead finally finish the main quests of TES III - V.

Fallout 4 was my last purchase of a Gamebryo game at full price. I'll wait till the rest hit the $19.99 pile before purchasing. Since Bethesda isn't making anything new, I don't see a reason to pay AAA development costs.

Well between this or Anthem I don't know what is worse. I'll just hate both.

Originally Posted by crpgnut
Fallout 4 was my last purchase of a Gamebryo game at full price. I'll wait till the rest hit the $19.99 pile before purchasing. Since Bethesda isn't making anything new, I don't see a reason to pay AAA development costs.

I see you can already buy a Steam key for a little over $30. It looks like the secondary market doesn't have high expectations for this game either and want to grab their money while they can.

EDIT: Whoops, was looking at Euros. $37 and some change USD.

Did 'nut just say he was no longer interested in Bugthesda titles till they hit the bargain bin?!

I was just pointing out the secondary game market seems to have a similarly low opinion of this title as the gamers do, which makes sense.

While everyone knows I like Beth games this is a nightmare. That image @Drithius posted is just … uggg. I so hate MT's. FO76 pretty much encapsulates everything I dislike about where many games are going.

They are doing the same on ESO for what I have seen in their store. You can buy lot of emotes/poses/postures on top of the sadly usual now random loot box.

So we can be pretty sure than that is a solid trend for them..

The only idea worse than them selling such idiotic add-ons are the people that actually buy them. I really don't get that at all.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
The only idea worse than them selling such idiotic add-ons are the people that actually buy them. I really don't get that at all.

It's called freedom.

Devs are free to make crappy games. We are free to ignore them.

And some schmucks are free to buy them.

And then we laugh and ridicule the schmucks.

@Silver thanks for sharing that parody letter but it reads & sounds like an executive of EA wrote it. As they are king of saying fans don't know what the hell they want.