Bethesda just dropped the nuke; Introducing $100 annual subscription for Fallout 76!

[FakeSympathy]

https://fallout.bethesda.net/en/article/3r1YDnDtyO1CtNFbJX6RBJ/fallout-76-fallout-1st-launch

Holy, fucking, shit. I actually thought it couldn't get any worse. I thought, "Alright, they fucked up with the canvas bags, the helmets, and microtransactions. How can it get any worse than this?"

Introducing Fallout 76 1st membership! For $100 a year, you get:

Private worlds to play by yourself or with friends
Scrapbox with unlimited space for crafting components
Survival tent as a custom fast travel point
1,650 atoms per month
Ranger armor outfit
Icons and emotes pack!

There is an $13/month option, but I've seen far better subscription model for far better price. For comparison, Xbox Game Pass for PC is sitting at $5/month (as of this posting date), with 100 games to try out every month and games being added all the time, plus spotify.

Congrats, EA, you finally have a company that said "hold my beer".

 

[Elfgore]

I'm failing to see the problem here. This is just the premium subcription to The Old Republic. Quality of life improvements, some "free" premium currency, and some minor cosmetic goodies. It's like the most unobtrusive way of making money on games with a one-time entry fee.

 

[Squilookle]

It's like the most unobtrusive way of making money on games with a one-time entry fee.

Calling Fallout 76 a game is being pretty generous...

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Hey, come on, I think being payed 100 bucks a year to play this game is not that bad. Sure, I wouldn't do it, but I'm sure people without other games and low on cash would jump at the opportunity.

 

[IceForce]

What's the issue here specifically? That it's over-priced?

Private servers have been promised for ages, and while it's disappointing that they come at a premium cost, I guess it kinda makes sense.
I know there will be a few youtubers and streamers who will jump at the chance of being able to make videos about the lore and gameplay, without randoms invading and griefing all the time.

 

[FakeSympathy]

What?s disturbing is that it?s gotten to the point where people don?t see the problem charging a best case triple digit price per year[/i for what should have been a one-time $60 game.

 

[Asita]

While you may certainly argue that the subscription is overpriced considering 76's issues, in principle it's not that outlandish. The typical MMO subscription is...what, $15 a month? That'd put their accumulated subscription fee for a 12 month period at $180. Yeah, I'm not going to play 76 at the cost of $100 per year, but by a similar token I have no interest in paying $180 per year to play WoW or $156 per year to play Final Fantasy XIV either.

 

[Erttheking]

While you may certainly argue that the subscription is overpriced considering 76's issues, in principle it's not that outlandish. The typical MMO subscription is...what, $15 a month? That'd put their accumulated subscription fee for a 12 month period at $180. Yeah, I'm not going to play 76 at the cost of $100 per year, but by a similar token I have no interest in paying $180 per year to play WoW or $156 per year to play Final Fantasy XIV either.

I think it?s very unfair to compare Fallout 76 to those games, seeing as how shit actually happens in those games and those games didn?t delay actually putting NPCs in their games to rush out ways to get people to pay a hundred bucks a year.

Also. Fallout 76 never identified as an MMO. So...why is it pricing itself as one? And let's not forget that private servers were a promise at launch, so hiding them behind a paywall is VERY scummy.

 

[sXeth]

Well let's see

We have the reasonable offerings of course:

1,650 atoms per month
Ranger armor outfit
Icons and emotes pack!

I mean, I find those things ludicrously overpriced in basically every game that sells them (only v vaguely justified in F2Ps as a gesture of support for a quality game). But based on 76's usual pricing, that's probably a reasonable value if you were invested enough to care (I think the Atmos end up being 16.50)


Now of course, we have the opposite side of things

Private worlds to play by yourself or with friends

> Well, Private Servers were implied, if not outright promsied to be an added feature. After the raking over the coals they took when they announced '76. Rightfulyl so, because as any basic research, quick glance at any Survival game out there would tell you. Private Servers are where 95%+ of any dedicated playerbase moves on to fairly quickly.

Adding on to that. These aren't private servers. They're invite only sessions. There is not customization or anything to them. They are non-persistent. Its not even the feature people were asking for. ITs a patehtically basic feature. Hell, even GTA 5, the ur-example of ridiculous monetization, overlorded by the kings of the practice in TAke Two, has this as a damn feature without charging for it.



Moving on

Scrapbox with unlimited space for crafting components
Survival tent as a custom fast travel point


Oh hey, basic quality of life features to fix problems in your basic game design are buy ins. That sure is a great plan to go. The scrapbox is of course copied from the ESO online optional subscription system (or ESO plus or whatever its called). Which had a simialr flaw in that crafting is basically unfeasible with the normal inventory.

OF course, if we go back in '76, they stated many, many, many times the inventory being so low was due to technical limitations, and they could not allow it to be larger without destabilizing the game/session. And while they did walk back that to provide some small increases under "testing" and "optimizing", if they can suddenly have it be infinite, thats also a clear and blatant lie.

 

[BrawlMan]

It gets worse:<link=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHb_c0-XajU>Fallout 76's New Premium Subscription Service Is Horribly Broken Because Of Course It Is

 

[SupahEwok]

It's as if people don't remember that Bethesda were the ones behind Horse Armor.

And that people still lined up to buy it.

 

[Asita]

While you may certainly argue that the subscription is overpriced considering 76's issues, in principle it's not that outlandish. The typical MMO subscription is...what, $15 a month? That'd put their accumulated subscription fee for a 12 month period at $180. Yeah, I'm not going to play 76 at the cost of $100 per year, but by a similar token I have no interest in paying $180 per year to play WoW or $156 per year to play Final Fantasy XIV either.

I think it?s very unfair to compare Fallout 76 to those games, seeing as how shit actually happens in those games and those games didn?t delay actually putting NPCs in their games to rush out ways to get people to pay a hundred bucks a year.

Also. Fallout 76 never identified as an MMO. So...why is it pricing itself as one? And let's not forget that private servers were a promise at launch, so hiding them behind a paywall is VERY scummy.

Did it not? I figured that it was the closest categorization, but apparently I was mistaken. That said, I did acknowledge right out the gate that Fallout 76's issues provided a reasonable argument for subscription being overpriced. Truth be told, I am a bit surprised that - after all the issues, PR snafus and the like - they have the guts to try and add a subscription model to it at all. They lost way too much goodwill on this game for that to go without comment. I just don't see it as "how dare they" levels of bad. A misstep lacking in business sense, sure, but more facepalm inducing than something to get angry about.

 

[immortalfrieza]

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if there were some higher ups in Bethesda deliberately trying to tank the company as some sort of stock market scheme or something. Bethesda not only made an exceptionally terrible game that even if it HAD been good would have been something hardly any of their fans wanted but they keep piling up dumpster fires until the whole city is in flames and now they're pulling THIS. Subscription services are scummy to begin with, it may not have started with WoW but that definitely caused it to take off. If you buy something it belongs to you, no ifs, ands, or buts, subscription services should be outright illegal.

 

[Dalisclock]

So on one hand, I feel bad for people getting screwed over by this. Especially since it's apparently broken, with the "Private Servers" not actually being so and the storage chest eating anything you put into it. You paid for the privilege of QoL improvements? Too bad, your chest is broken and the servers let in randos.

https://kotaku.com/fallout-76s-paid-scrap-boxes-are-deleting-players-stuff-1839338580

OTOH, the shit hurricane this thing continues to be quite entertaining in a dark comedy sort of way. Epic Fail no longer describes this thing.

 

[TopazFusion]

I just wanna know what happens if you stop paying or cancel the subscription.

Do they take away your Ranger armor? Do you lose everything in the Scrapbox? (which is happening already, lol)

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Maybe...maybe we shouldn't have given Bethesda a pass for being extremely buggy for decades, no matter how funny it could be.

Like, did they even QA test? At all?

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Maybe...maybe we shouldn't have given Bethesda a pass for being extremely buggy for decades, no matter how funny it could be.

Like, did they even QA test? At all?

I think you mean Play Testing their games?

 

[Dalisclock]

Maybe...maybe we shouldn't have given Bethesda a pass for being extremely buggy for decades, no matter how funny it could be.

Like, did they even QA test? At all?

I think you mean Play Testing their games?

Exactly. Pretty much anyone who bought FO76 paid to be a beta tester.

Anyone who buys to "premium" subscription is paying on a monthly/annual basis.

It's working out well for someone. Just not the players.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

So on one hand, I feel bad for people getting screwed over by this. Especially since it's apparently broken, with the "Private Servers" not actually being so and the storage chest eating anything you put into it. You paid for the privilege of QoL improvements? Too bad, your chest is broken and the servers let in randos.

Not only that, but people are reporting that "brand-new" private servers they're logging into are showing signs of having been previously visited, with looted areas and dead NPCs (the theory is that they're just recycled public instances), and if the owner of the private server leaves (voluntarily or by the game crashing), everything that player built disappears.

Some value, huh?

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

OTOH, the shit hurricane this thing continues to be quite entertaining in a dark comedy sort of way. Epic Fail no longer describes this thing.

At this point it's starting to feel like the people still playing Fallout 76 only do it because it hurts so good.