New Fallout has been announced.

[sXeth]

Taking this on its merits as a survival game.

We'll see as they release more information. They are creating "incentives and advancement opportunities" for PvP and co-operative playstyles (though PvP and Co-op players must share the same server). This sounds more like a weird social experiment than pure survival. Bethesda has become Vault-tech!

Todd Howard may be enough of a veteran that he knosws to say "We're looking at" and "sometime after launch", but successive interviews have seen him tacking on and reframing this thing at a level to rival Sean Murray.

They've not been totally adverse to hyping game mechanics before, but they did tend to actually be mechanics and features that actually existed.

 

[Schadrach]

A 70s country song that's well known is an odd but welcome departure for the score side of things.

I'm sure everyone wants to see a Fallout set where they're from, but why did it have to be this one?

Related: They are almost certainly going to cut huge swaths of space out of the map entirely, compared to IRL. They've shown us locations from the four largest cities in WV. Despite the fact that driving between two of the sites they've shown us would require literally driving past the town where I was raised I expect that town won't even show up. I'll be surprised if they don't simply leave out almost everything between Charleston, Huntington, Beckley, and Morgantown.

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

A 70s country song that's well known is an odd but welcome departure for the score side of things.

I'm sure everyone wants to see a Fallout set where they're from, but why did it have to be this one?

Related: They are almost certainly going to cut huge swaths of space out of the map entirely, compared to IRL. They've shown us locations from the four largest cities in WV. Despite the fact that driving between two of the sites they've shown us would require literally driving past the town where I was raised I expect that town won't even show up. I'll be surprised if they don't simply leave out almost everything between Charleston, Huntington, Beckley, and Morgantown.

And I guess I'm REALLY being too hopeful for Bluefield and Princeton then

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

A 70s country song that's well known is an odd but welcome departure for the score side of things.

Departure? Since when? New Vegas used Sinatra. This is just keeping with their tradition. Hell, I hope the soundtrack has more mining country folk involved.

 

[Zontar]

A 70s country song that's well known is an odd but welcome departure for the score side of things.

Departure? Since when? New Vegas used Sinatra. This is just keeping with their tradition. Hell, I hope the soundtrack has more mining country folk involved.

I don't recall them using country or anything past the 50s as the main song for the games in the series.

 

[sXeth]

For those keeping track, in todays interviews. The backpedaling/damage control was in full effect.

Highlights include all but promising a GTA-Online esque passive mode option. And some weird not entirely clear stuff about your base leaving with you when you logoff (this was coupled with the repeat of the player not seeing a server or server list). Customizable player instances that only they or their invitees (or in '76, presumably aggressors if you opt in to PvP if they do in fact have opt in) can enter aren't an abnormality, but it doesn't really jive with the build anywhere idea.

 

[meiam]

For those keeping track, in todays interviews. The backpedaling/damage control was in full effect.

Highlights include all but promising a GTA-Online esque passive mode option. And some weird not entirely clear stuff about your base leaving with you when you logoff (this was coupled with the repeat of the player not seeing a server or server list). Customizable player instances that only they or their invitees (or in '76, presumably aggressors if you opt in to PvP if they do in fact have opt in) can enter aren't an abnormality, but it doesn't really jive with the build anywhere idea.

I really don't see how you could carry your building with you, what happen when the new server already has some player building in the spot you put your stuff in? Maybe they'll go for some instance system, but that would mean you'd never have a community, it would always just be random people.

 

[Schadrach]

And I guess I'm REALLY being too hopeful for Bluefield and Princeton then

It's supposedly four times the size of Fallout 4. The thing is, just doing the Kanawha River valley from Camden Park (the westmost place we know they've included) to the New River Gorge Bridge (the second eastmost place we know they've included) would blow that claim by a huge amount. Having to also include even a moderately sized strip all the way to the north end of the state (presumably along I-79) to reach WVU and you're probably an order of magnitude or more ahead of the claimed size.

Actually, that makes me wonder... They've shown things near-ish to each of the four largest cities in WV (Camden Park is near Huntington and the Mothman Museum is kind of close-ish at Point Pleasant, the Capitol is in Charleston, WVU is in Morgantown, and the New River Gorge Bridge and Greenbrier are sort of close to Beckley), and those cities are nowhere near each other. What if instead of one map four times as large, they plan on doing a FO4 sized map around each of those cities and doing some kind of fast travel between maps?

 

[Redvenge]

For those keeping track, in todays interviews. The backpedaling/damage control was in full effect.

Highlights include all but promising a GTA-Online esque passive mode option. And some weird not entirely clear stuff about your base leaving with you when you logoff (this was coupled with the repeat of the player not seeing a server or server list). Customizable player instances that only they or their invitees (or in '76, presumably aggressors if you opt in to PvP if they do in fact have opt in) can enter aren't an abnormality, but it doesn't really jive with the build anywhere idea.

So, WTF should we expect from this game? I thought that they wanted "a little bit of risk, but not griefy" PvP across all servers? If you can't see a server, how could you join a PvP free server if you wanted to?

Could you post a link to this Q&A? Or what i should google for?

My searches tend to show knee-jerk unhappy reactions rather than developer interviews.

More than a few potential customers keep clinging to "well, Todd said we could eventually create our own private servers with mods, which will fix everything!". All the cool new weapons and armors are going to be FO4 mods on the nexus within a month or two of FO76 coming out. I think it would be much, much easier to add new weapons and armor to FO4, then add AN ENTIRE GAME to the empty wasteland of FO76. Well, that may be a bit unfair, but the impression I get is that FO76 is supposed to be a massive "blank slate" with a strong "player driven" experience, so it sounds empty to me.

 

[sXeth]

For those keeping track, in todays interviews. The backpedaling/damage control was in full effect.

Highlights include all but promising a GTA-Online esque passive mode option. And some weird not entirely clear stuff about your base leaving with you when you logoff (this was coupled with the repeat of the player not seeing a server or server list). Customizable player instances that only they or their invitees (or in '76, presumably aggressors if you opt in to PvP if they do in fact have opt in) can enter aren't an abnormality, but it doesn't really jive with the build anywhere idea.

So, WTF should we expect from this game? I thought that they wanted "a little bit of risk, but not griefy" PvP across all servers? If you can't see a server, how could you join a PvP free server if you wanted to?

Could you post a link to this Q&A? Or what i should google for?

Its around the 8 minute mark of this (the passive mode back and forth was earlier)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbJ9X496oeY

(I can see how it's easy to miss, since is a)IGN, b)Not titled in any way that you'd think it was a dev panel interview and just recap)

(I'm also amused the "Not griefy" seems to be part of his PR scripting lol)

 

[Redvenge]

Thank you! Let's see...

"If you see a sign that says 'Ammo' in a Fallout game, you know that is an NPC are you are like 'OK, whatever but they are NPCs'. But, if you see a sign that says 'Ammo' you know a player made that, and that's a different... a very different mood' and it's very 'Fallout-y'"-Todd

... wtf does that MEAN? Can you just show us the leveling mechanics? How does progression work? How long will I have to grind before gaining a level? Is there a Stealth system? How are you implementing Power Armor? If I can't see a server list, how can I choose to join a "private server"? What is "end game"? Why should I keep playing after me and my friends get Power Armor and can punch out your poorly scripted super monsters?

So much of this interview sounds kinda... foolish. As though they are completely out of touch with online gaming or even their own players. For instance, nukes have the "side effect" of killing players. Their primary purpose was to create a new "high level" zone to raid. But, it never occurred to them that players would put the "side effect" of murdering opponents ahead of the shallow "progression". Man, I cannot wait to hear "Tales from the Fallout76 BETA". It's gonna be wild!

 

[sXeth]

Thank you! Let's see...

"If you see a sign that says 'Ammo' in a Fallout game, you know that is an NPC are you are like 'OK, whatever but they are NPCs'. But, if you see a sign that says 'Ammo' you know a player made that, and that's a different... a very different mood' and it's very 'Fallout-y'"-Todd

... wtf does that MEAN? Can you just show us the leveling mechanics? How does progression work? How long will I have to grind before gaining a level? Is there a Stealth system? How are you implementing Power Armor? If I can't see a server list, how can I choose to join a "private server"? What is "end game"? Why should I keep playing after me and my friends get Power Armor and can punch out your poorly scripted super monsters?

So much of this interview sounds kinda... foolish. As though they are completely out of touch with online gaming or even their own players. For instance, nukes have the "side effect" of killing players. Their primary purpose was to create a new "high level" zone to raid. But, it never occurred to them that players would put the "side effect" of murdering opponents ahead of the shallow "progression". Man, I cannot wait to hear "Tales from the Fallout76 BETA". It's gonna be wild!

The every character is a player/no NPCs thing is a bit funny too when they get nailed down to it and are basically "Well ,we just use robots where the NPCs would be" like talking robots aren't NPCs themselves, how very unprogressive of them.

Playing Conan Exiles, which has human NPCs, I can see the case for wanting a clear delineation of "Thats a player" (having been on both ends of the inadvertent PvP engagement), but they picked the weirdest spin to try and put on it.

The "Ammo for sale" sign bit actually does sound kind of like a base is an instance. You see a sign or whatever thats somethings there then have to interact with it to actually enter the instance and do whatever.

 

[Redvenge]

The "Ammo for sale" sign bit actually does sound kind of like a base is an instance. You see a sign or whatever thats somethings there then have to interact with it to actually enter the instance and do whatever.

I have no idea what he was trying to say. It comes across as though he has this preconceived scripted idea of how players are going to react in every instance. It just sounds out of touch and weird. Remember Dragon Age:Inquisition and the "awesome button"? This sounds eerily similar.

FO76 could be an amazing game, but Todd needs to do fewer public speaking appearances. He just sounds crazed when you try to pin him down on the details.

Did you see this interview about the "dreaded PvP":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbk9tvpuciY&

I'm still a bit lost, since they are still light on details. Bring on the BETA, I guess.

 

[sXeth]

The "Ammo for sale" sign bit actually does sound kind of like a base is an instance. You see a sign or whatever thats somethings there then have to interact with it to actually enter the instance and do whatever.

I have no idea what he was trying to say. It comes across as though he has this preconceived scripted idea of how players are going to react in every instance. It just sounds out of touch and weird. Remember Dragon Age:Inquisition and the "awesome button"? This sounds eerily similar.

FO76 could be an amazing game, but Todd needs to do fewer public speaking appearances. He just sounds crazed when you try to pin him down on the details.

Did you see this interview about the "dreaded PvP":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jbk9tvpuciY&

I'm still a bit lost, since they are still light on details. Bring on the BETA, I guess.

I mean, one one hand, he's hardly the first in the genre to have crazy ever-spiralling out of control ideas with questionable logic on the balance and delivery thereof, and non-pragmatic expectations of player behaviour (Hell, you can outside the genre and look at stuff like Ultima Onlines Ecology System (the interviews on youtube of that one).

On the other hand, he's hardly the first, and a professional AAA company should at least in theory, have some idea of what boiling tar pit they're shoving their hand in.

 

[Redvenge]

From most of the interviews, YouTube ads, even the E3 reveal, my response to FO76 has been:

Nope. No thanks. Next?

But, I watched the NoCLip Making of Fallout 76 documentary and my view changed to:

Huh. Maybe... If I could log in with some real world friends... this could be really fun.

I'm thinking to myself "Why didn't they use this as a basis for their reveal? It answers design questions, brief gameplay mechanics overview, even the scope of end-game and nukes. What monkey-butt is running the marketing at Bethesda?"

Anyway, maybe this will answer some questions and change some minds. If you don't want multiplayer Fallout, it probably won't change your mind (Warning: 40 minutes long, but the first ~5 and last ~8 are not about FO76):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi8PTAJ2Hjs

I'm not going to pre-order or anything, but I will keep an eye on it.

 

[sXeth]

From most of the interviews, YouTube ads, even the E3 reveal, my response to FO76 has been:

Nope. No thanks. Next?

But, I watched the NoCLip Making of Fallout 76 documentary and my view changed to:

Huh. Maybe... If I could log in with some real world friends... this could be really fun.

I'm thinking to myself "Why didn't they use this as a basis for their reveal? It answers design questions, brief gameplay mechanics overview, even the scope of end-game and nukes. What monkey-butt is running the marketing at Bethesda?"

Anyway, maybe this will answer some questions and change some minds. If you don't want multiplayer Fallout, it probably won't change your mind (Warning: 40 minutes long, but the first ~5 and last ~8 are not about FO76):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi8PTAJ2Hjs

I'm not going to pre-order or anything, but I will keep an eye on it.

Yeah, while that leaves a few things unfortunately vague (Anything to do with bases), its much better then anything Todd Howard has blabbered out (or blabbers out in that video when he does appear). And there's a lot of more structured ideas put forth from people who appear (and have at least some credentials) to know what they're dealing with.

There's warning signs too of course, particularly the affirmation of TH's design philosophy of "Let's do whatever random shit and fix it later if we need to". A rocky launch or a string of bad updates can annihilate a multiplayer title incredibly fast. And they aren't getting the community to clean up their mess with mods on this one. Along with whatever their microtransactions are (because Bethesda has definitely not won any big warrants of optimism on that front).

(I also admire the brass balls on the one guy who basically said the PvP insistence is Todd's personal horse on pubic video, lol)

 

[Sassafrass]

I'm intrigued, but also cautious considering this is a mode they seemingly wanted to put in Fallout 4, but couldn't because as they said in the documentary, the code is more or less 20 years of "What the actual fuck is this fucking mess." and had to hire a whole new group of people to actively figure out how to unfuck that mess so they can do 24-32 player online.

I do appreciate that they're ambitious enough to try something like this. It didn't didn't really work with ESO on launch, but that eventually developed into a fairly decent MMO, if incredibly rough looking, so I'm kinda expecting something similar with F76. I do have a couple of things I want to know about for sure though, like the PvP stuff, the base building and the fact it apparently moves with you across servers, the penalties for dying, who made the dumbass choice to show all players on the map even if it is 4 times bigger than F4's and what there will be to actually do once you hit the end game.

But otherwise, I'm quietly looking forward to wander around West Virginia, bip some creatures, bip some assholes then get nuked into oblivion.

 

[Zontar]

So the rumor about a remastered Fallout 3 coming to Switch? Oh right, it's full of shit just like the SC rumors.

Not gonna lie, I'd love a Fallout 3 remastered edition.

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

I don't recall them using country or anything past the 50s as the main song for the games in the series.

Not for the main theme, but big band was always prominent, and New Vegas had some country golden oldies. Though yes, this is the first time it got to be front and center, and given the locale, it makes perfect sense.

 

[stroopwafel]

I also watched both Noclip documentaries(stellar work btw) and have to say I changed my mind about the game a bit as well. I'm actually surprised how open and matter-of-fact Bethesda is. I had to laugh at the part where they had to call in the Doom guys for the monumental task of adding multiplayer mode to that 30 year old dinosaur engine of theirs. But still, as much as I was initially disappointed by an online only Fallout game it might actually mitigate Bethesda's problem with their Fallout games and that is tedious and boring quests that all center on the same item fetching that can't even be separated from the radiant quests(FO4 seemed even worse than FO3 in that regard). I always have the problem with Fallout that I lose interest in the game when I'm done exploring the map as the quests are simply so unengaging. If progression is actually tied to exploring the map(which is a blast) and killing enemies instead of tedious quests it could solve that problem and make it a much more interesting game in the process.