Fallout 76 is the score it wishes it had on metacritic

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Gemini73 wrote:It arrived...

. Seeing how you enjoyed Conan Exiles, Gemini, I'm kinda hopeful you're gonna dig this, too. I haven't played for a couple of weeks but I aim to return soon.

jawafour wrote:

Gemini73 wrote:It arrived...

. Seeing how you enjoyed Conan Exiles, Gemini, I'm kinda hopeful you're gonna dig this, too. I haven't played for a couple of weeks but I aim to return soon.

Even though I gave 76 a hard time at launch (I now think a little too harshly) I've seen that there's been enough improvement to give it a fair crack of the whip. Working today, but once home I'll be taking a look (family is away until tomorrow so lots of me time). Quite looking forward to trying it.

jawafour wrote:

Gemini73 wrote:It arrived...

. Seeing how you enjoyed Conan Exiles, Gemini, I'm kinda hopeful you're gonna dig this, too. I haven't played for a couple of weeks but I aim to return soon.

It's me!

Gemini73 wrote:It's me! ...

Enjoy exploring Appalachia! Pro Tip: Get used to boiling water.

Boiling water. Got it.

(I'm pretty sure you won't have to boil that much water )

I also think I know exactly where that picture was taken, which is worrying from how little of the background can actually be seen

Will be interesting to hear your impressions Gem

I'm still playing Days Gone at the moment, but will return to 76 as soon as I've finished DG's story.

Maintenance is in progress and a game update will become available afterwards.

Bethesda wrote:PATCH HIGHLIGHTS

> Ever Upwards: Join the Pioneer Scouts to complete new Quests, Challenges, an Event, and receive your first Backpack.
> Backpacks: Equip a Backpack to increase your carry weight, then apply mods to customize its appearance and add utility options.
> Personal Vending Machines: Sell your wares to your fellow Dwellers by building a Vending Machine. Advertise your location on the map by powering it up.
> Legendary Exchange Machines: Head to Train Stations to turn your unwanted Legendary items into Legendary Scrip, which can be traded to The Purveyor, a new vendor who will arrive in Appalachia on May 16.
> C.A.M.P. and Workshop Changes: We’ve implemented new Workshop PVP rules, player-damage protections for C.A.M.P.s in Adventure Mode, and loosened restrictions on building C.A.M.P. Foundations.

Quiet a lot of new stuff... I'm keen to try out the Backpack and investigate the vending options!

Also...

Patch notes wrote:Personal Terminal: Players can now build and power a Personal Terminal in their CAMPs which can give information about new discoveries in Appalachia and provides a reminder about visiting some of your “daily” friends.
You can claim a free Personal Terminal for your humble abode by visiting the Atomic Shop.
The Personal Terminal can be found on the Misc. Structures tab in the Build Menu.

The terminal sounds like it could be pretty cool. Click here to view the full (massive!) patch notes.

jawafour wrote:> damage protections for C.A.M.P.s in Adventure Mode

Guess my nuking of that CAMP will be a one-off then...

I'm glad I can put bad legendary drops to some use now rather than just selling them (as they were for some reason unable to be scrapped).

Less restrictions on foundations sounds very interesting, I wonder how much that will affect build possibilities? From reading the patch notes it is huge as now only the first foundation is restricted to not be floating, but on the other hand, floating foundations look ugly as sin so I'm not sure I want them...

The personal terminal sounds like a significant addition, hopefully that will help in tracking daily quests etc.

I'll be back in my house tonight so I'll be getting this update and trying things out!

Miscellaneous: It is now possible for high-level Unruly Golfer Feral Ghouls to spawn at the Whitespring. This should help higher-level players more easily complete the “Kill unruly golfer feral ghouls at Whitespring” objective.

I've been wondering how to clear this for ages, it must be because I reached Whitespring for the first time when I was already high level so they wouldn't spawn for me.

Vendors: Known Plans and Recipes once again correctly sort to the top of Vendor inventory lists.

Thank god

OrangeRKN wrote:...Less restrictions on foundations sounds very interesting, I wonder how much that will affect build possibilities? From reading the patch notes it is huge as now only the first foundation is restricted to not be floating, but on the other hand, floating foundations look ugly as sin so I'm not sure I want them... ...

Yeah, I guess it could be useful, but I, also, am not keen on flloating foundations; it just doesn't feel real. Yeah, I want my post-apocalyptic comedy games to be real .

OrangeRKN wrote:The personal terminal sounds like a significant addition, hopefully that will help in tracking daily quests etc...

It sounds neat and I want to check it out!

OrangeRKN wrote:I'll be back in my house tonight so I'll be getting this update and trying things out! ...

Whoop! Glad to hear that you're back home, Orange... and also that F76 is a priority for you .

Gotta have my priorities B)

The first pioneer scouts quest is all kinds of difficult:

- Quest objectives that require multiplayer even though I play on my own
- Completing challenges that aren't tracked through quests but through the hidden away challenges menu:
-- Some require endgame content (e.g. launching a nuke)
-- Some require multiplayer
-- Others require the in-game camera (which I have yet to find/start the quests for)
-- Others still are just huge timesinks
-- Every challenge has an associated trivia quiz that requires a perfect score from rotating questions (I finally worked through these last night)
--- You have to complete three of them

It's pretty damn frustrating as I would like to get a backpack! At this point I'm sort of just seeing which challenges I get close to completing through playing otherwise (as they all track in the background), and I'm just carrying on with the main questline/exploring the map. That of course continues to be great fun.

Apparently I've played for over 200 hours

The plan this week is to flip between this and GoW.

With the improvements coming later in the year I'm probably going to get it then, im hoping it'll hit Gamepass but if not I'll definitely pick it up.

I'm hesitant over whether human NPCs and dialogue/choices will actually be an improvement. It'll be very interesting to see how they make that work in an online world. What if they get killed? I'm worried the response here will be to make them essential characters, which I find completely immersion breaking and I've really appreciated F76 for not having any of that. What if other players are making different choices? Can they actually be that meaningful if players who make different choices are still occupying the same server and world?

F76 sidestepped all the problems with Fallout 4's writing, characters and dialogue by eliminating them and concentrating almost exclusively on environmental story telling and world building, which is where Bethesda remain strong. Add back human NPCs with proper dialogue and all those problems might come back again - with more added thanks to the online aspect of the game.

Loads of new stuff with Fallout 76! NPCs are arriving alongside dialogue trees and an additional storyline, whilst Nuclear Winter introduces a 52-player battle royale mode .

Wastelanders expansion (free)

People are returning to Appalachia in the massive free Wastelanders update! Year one of Fallout 76 was all about the opening of Vault 76 and players settling the Wasteland. In Year two, other humans are returning to reclaim Appalachia. That’s right – human NPCs are coming to Fallout 76! This huge update introduces a new main quest full of choices and consequences, and a lot of memorable characters with unique stories for you to interact with.

Factions of Raiders and Settlers aim to make the world their own and claim a rumored fortune. Who you side with is up to you, and your choices will determine their fates. Both the Settlers and the Raiders will present you with unique companions, stories and plenty of new weapons and armor to earn. Wastelanders will fundamentally change the way you experience Fallout 76, and it’s set to arrive in fall of 2019.

Nuclear Winter battle royale mode (free)

All of the nukes being dropped on Appalachia have given life to a massive nuclear storm, and you’re stuck in the middle of it. Nuclear Winter is upon us, and this is the setting of Fallout 76’s new 52-player PvP mode. Nuclear Winter handles the battle royale genre in a way that only Fallout can, and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. From Perks and Nukes to Wild Appalachian creatures and C.A.M.P.s, Nuclear Winter is a very S.P.E.C.I.A.L. take on a familiar gameplay mode.

Scavenge for weapons, supplies and nukes as you face off against your fellow players in the fight for the right to become the Overseer of Vault 51. Will you be the last one standing?

Can't say the battle royale is that interesting to me either. Fallout 76 simply isn't about the PVP - or even multiplayer at all, with how I play it!

The Raiders/Settlers thing is interesting (how are they going to do it?), although I see most people defaulting to siding with Settlers

OrangeRKN wrote:I'm hesitant over whether human NPCs and dialogue/choices will actually be an improvement. It'll be very interesting to see how they make that work in an online world...

Yeah, there is a question about introducing human NPCs, Orange. I don't think the game really needs them... but I feel they could bring a better sense of interaction to the gameworld. I preseume that they will be "unique" to each player i.e. each player may approach and treat them differently. Or, maybe they can't be killed. It's gonna be interesting!

As for the battle royale mode, it isn't really to my taste (rather like the existing PvP mode isn't!) but I guess it's something that could prove attractive for some folk.

Overall, it seems that the game is on steady ground; Bethesda is reporting plenty of players and we are getting regular updates and additions. I've dropped the game these past few weeks due to my current Souls obsession, but I think I will return to the wasteland :-).

Don't get me wrong I'm very happy to see the ongoing support and lots of it has been excellent as updates go. Big updates like this trigger my anxiety in that they can fundamentally change the game, and that can mean never being able to go back to how things were. It used to be an exclusively MMO problem, but now it affects pretty much every "Game as a service".