On Fri, 23 Nov 2018 13:48:47 -0800 (PST), T987654321
<
[email protected]> wrote:
I was thinking of trying it after mods are available but I have a feeling that even if meaningful modding (there so minor stuff out already), there won't be much because of the general unpopularity of the game.
Yeah, its review scores are really getting hammered now, and not
unfairly.
The thing is, I think there is a worthwhile game in buried somewhere
in Fallout'76. Even at its best, I do not think it would be a game
that appealed to me - and maybe not even to the general fan of the
Fallout series - but the general concept and mechanics are solid. But
Fallout 76 has some serious flaws. The engine is unsuited to the task
(not to mention being increasingly creaky and aged in appearance).
Bethesda attempt to mix online-survival mechanics with solo-RPG
mechanics was poorly conceived. Not enough work was done on fleshing
out the world. It's buggy as all get-out. And it was marketed as an
RPG rather than an out-n-out survival game in hopes of roping in fans
of the earlier games.
Separated from its franchise (or better marketed) and given another
year or three to bake, and I think this game might have actually been
worth playing. I definitely think we'll see some real improvements
patched into the game in the next few months too. But it is probably
too little, too late.
Unfortunately, the blame for these problems lie entirely upon
Bethesda's shoulders. They ignore all the warning signs. They wanted a
game that would garner them players from such diverse groups as online
shooter fans, survival game fans, traditional RPG fans and MMORPG
fans, and tried to create (or at least market) a game that would
appeal to all of them. This despite their lack of experience with
several of those genres. They chose to use their "Creation" games
engine - built for single-player games - rather than create a custom
engine better suited for the task. They abandoned the very thing that
made their earlier Fallout games so memorable - the rich, detailed
(and expensive to develop) worlds - despite their being considerable
rumblings and worries from their fan-base after this was announced.
Worse, they rushed the product to market, despite the size and
expansiveness of the project, despite their lack of experience with
the genre /and/ their well-deserved reputation for releasing buggy
products.
Any one of these problems should have raised a red flag, but Bethesda
went ahead anyway. Whether it was greed - for another blockbuster hit,
or the potential of post-sale monetizations - or just hubris, the
lambasting they are receiving for releasing this flop is
well-deserved.
Personally, I suspect that the release of Fallout '76 has more to do
with serious - but not yet disclosed - financial issues the publisher
may be facing: it seems an attempt to create a (relatively) cheap
product that would bring in not only a much-need influx of cash from
sales but also a continuing income from lootboxes and other
monetizations. Despite their apparent success, there have been
indications that the sales of games like Wolfenstein and Doom weren't
quite as high as hoped, and Bethesda's traditional RPGs are extremely
expensive to create. Unlike other publishers, Bethesda doesn't have a
huge library - or yearly releases - to keep a constant stream of money
flowing into their coffers; it can be years between major releases. I
don't think things are so desperate that Fallout '76 will kill
Bethesda, but I would not be surprised if they shutter or sell smaller
studios, or become a target for acquisition by larger publishers.
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