Fallout 76

[88GTA]

I picked up FO76 last week while it was on sale on the PS Store for $20. I'm still spending most of my time in FO4 but I figured I would pick it up in anticipation of the new Wastelanders update. Although I'm pretty sure I saw that the update has been delayed...

 

[Veinz]

Well I have to say Wastelanders is pretty good. This is how Fallout 76 should have been from the beginning. Definitely worth trying out if you already own the game. I went with my level 115 character instead of creating a new one, I do NOT want to do the original story again.

 

[EngieDiesel]

I kinda dislike how certain places seem to have had a quest dispenser NPC plopped into them with no real explanation, if only because it means I know that spot they're standing in is safe now. I really liked the tension of never knowing whether a seemingly quiet area deep in occupied territory was in danger of being ambushed while I was taking a moment to check my inventory. I also don't like the usual NPC behavior of loudly muttering the same two lines of dialogue to themselves until I bother to go over and talk to them, if I ever do, so that's a small annoyance as well.

That aside though, those are just minor gripes. The game still has some fundamental flaws but it seems to be much more stable and playable than it was the first few months after launch, which is saying something since a lot more people are probably hitting the servers now than they were before.

 

[Veinz]

They changed the lighting too. I find the game looks a lot better than before but there are some rendering issues. I’m using an old PS4 though so maybe it’s a hardware thing.

I really like building, too bad a lot of the new parts are behind micro transactions. I could grind for atoms with in game challenges but it would probably take me awhile to get enough for the set I want.

 

[EngieDiesel]

If nothing else, photomode is always entertaining when you get tired of making progress (or just running away from snallygasters in a blind panic):

 

[GBO Possum]

Here's a fascinating, and in-depth, examination of what went on during the development of FO76, and doesn't seem to be changing now that Microsoft has taken over Bethesda.

One day I'll find it in me to go back and try 76 again, but boy, did Bethesda burn some bridges with me. That said, I keep returning to Skyrim and FO4 for my much-needed fixes.

Here's a sample:-

"The testers also coped with the pressures of being surveilled. A couple of sources told Kotaku that QA workers would have their breaks timed or sometimes even be followed into the restrooms by non-management employees described by one source as “chronic snitches.” According to them, these otherwise normal testers, designated as “coordinators,” did not have a real title or pay bump, but felt that micromanaging their peers would help their career standing at ZeniMax. Another did not recall if people were specifically followed, but knew testers whose bathroom breaks had been timed."

The Human Toll Of Fallout 76’s Disastrous Launch

Former ZeniMax developers claim that Fallout 76 was severely mismanaged

kotaku.com

 

[TheCracker]

One day I'll find it in me to go back and try 76 again, but boy, did Bethesda burn some bridges with me. That said, I keep returning to Skyrim and FO4 for my much-needed fixes.

I'm still a near-daily player. It's certainly come on since the early days (i picked it up maybe 3 or 4 months after launch by which time many of the early bugs had been fixed) and the added free DLC and constant updates has made it a much more rounded and less buggy game than it initially was. They are adding a new expansion next month which brings back fan favourite 'The Pitt' from Fallout 3 which sounds pretty decent.

 

[GTboyz]

Does the game runs good on PS4? It's going to be free on PS Plus next month and I'm kinda interested to try it.

 

[666666]

in my opinion it runs just fine on my PS4 , the loading time is the only thing that bugs me , it’s not a fast paced game and can seam a bit clunky sometimes . Other than that it’s a good game other peoples opinions may differ.

 

[GBO Possum]

After many years of absence, I'm finding that FO76 runs very well on my PS4. And load times are noticeably quicker since I re-installed the game on an external SSD instead of the internal HDD.

During my years of absence, the devs have certainly fixed most of the egregious bugs, and have added content which aligns the gameplay experience with my expectations of a multi-player Fallout.

I'm having a heap of fun as a mostly-solo, VATS-dependent, stealth archer. I carry about 10 special purpose bows. Bows have long range, are light and durable, and with a suitable perk setup, hit very hard.

 

[Veinz]

I recently tried it out on PC after a long break. It’s much better in terms of content, but I just lose interest in it because it just feels kind of pointless.

I still feel salty about the pay to win subscription service existing too, that’s another thing that makes me not want to play it.

 

[GBO Possum]

I still feel salty about the pay to win subscription service

I agree, it jars a little. However, in my case, I never play PVP. I mostly play solo, always in "pacifist" mode and if I play with others, it's only with people who I can trust to play cooperatively. So "pay to win" is not an issue in reality for me.

PS after the debacle at launch, and Bethesda's dumping of the Playstation platform for later games, they are not getting another cent from me.

 

[dacc10]

I've been playing it since it became available through PS Plus for free in January, and it has been great fun. Frustrating at times, yes, due to being constantly over-encumbered, or dying to Radscorpions multiple times and ending up loosing my Junk, and some bugs, but in general, it surprised me, specially the community.

At some point, players even give away legendary weapons and other stuff to low level players, for nothing in return. And here I was thinking that people would be toxic for no reason in an online experience.

Although, this game, with so many currencies and a lot of monetization going on, it could have been free-to-play from the beggining. Certain features with Fallout 1st would be massive improvements in the quality of life of non-Fallout 1st users. As an example, I could use a Scrapbox, to dump all my junk items into it. It shouldn't be exclusive to the subscription.

 

[EngieDiesel]

Having come back to this after about 3 and a half years, I have to say they've definitely improved massively on a lot of the things that made me stop playing back then. NPC settlers aren't just a few immobile quest dispensers with huge safe zones anymore, they're scattered everywhere and can get attacked and killed by random mobs. Also most enemies scale with you now, instead of areas being level zoned which discouraged exploring. That's definitely a good thing because there were a lot of places that were basically inaccessible until you spent a lot of time grinding, which made everything feel too linear and restricted. This time I was able to leave the vault and wander straight down to Charleston without getting overwhelmed by bullet sponges that ignored my starting pistol shots.

Still not a fan of Fallout 1st being semi-mandatory for a good experience, if only to avoid public servers that can become lagfests, but I have a group of friends to play with so at least I can justify it as a monthly server rental fee. That and some of them are new to Fallout, so hearing their reactions when they read terminal entries about how massively screwed up the pre-War world was is always worth it too. ("They put WHAT in Nuka-Cola?!")