OFFICIAL Fallout 76 Discussion thread

[Vario]

Will you marry me?

Anyway, I'll probably try it out. I found Fallout 4 so bad and un-Fallout it actually made me angry, but if this is nothing like Bethsofts other Fallout games I'll keep at eye on it. Strangely enough, Fallout Shelter is the best Fallout game apart from 1, 2 and NV.

FO NV didn't hook me in so I only got a few hours into it. I beat the second original one twice, I liked it quite a bit.

 

[Easy Rhino]

Is this going to be stand alone?

 

[Mindweaver]

Does anyone know if it will have a monthly fee?

They didn't say anything about a monthly fee. I do wonder what they will do to maintain it because it sounds like one big dedicated server farm. No single server to click on, just one place for everybody to go. It may be multiple "world" because he did say something about 12-24 players... I need to go back and watch that part. I'm curious to see how it plays.

 

[WhiteNoise]

My main complaint with the Elder series and fallout has been the same for years, lack of an online co-op mode. So this can potentially be going in the right direction. Until I know more facts I refuse to be swayed one way or the other but I do like what I'm hearing so far.

 

[Black Panther]

I was a bit disappointed too that we cannot choose between online and offline mode. Todd Howard said one can go solo but that only means you don't have companions ie you'd be alone without anyone helping you, but you'd still be online and can encounter other players while exploring the map. Though he also emphasized that on a map 4x the size of Fallout 4's map there would be only ''some dozens'' of players at a time, and not hundreds or thousands.

What I can't understand (pls bear with me because I have little to no experience in online gaming) is how settlement building is going to work, especially since this game's gonna give special emphasis to settlement building.

Let's imagine 2 scenarios.

1) You're roaming West Virginia and you encounter a large, lovely settlement built by another player. You quit playing, go to sleep, and resume the next day. But the next day that other player who built that lovely settlement happens to be at work instead of playing. Would his settlement remain there for you to see? Or would it go poof, only to reappear after he logs in?
The latter seems to be more likely, because imagine if 13 million people buy the game (Fallout 4's sales are currently at 13.8 million). If everybody's builds remain in the game the entire map would look like Hong Kong within a week!

2) So we assume buildings will not appear unless the player who built them is online. This is an advantage because the fort you spent 6 hours building wouldn't be visible to that a$$#01e who after getting shouted at by his mom decides to channel his anger by exploding everything in his way while you were enjoying some pretty sleep.

3) But this creates another problem - Imagine you find a nice perfect space with a view to kill for, and build a mansion. You switch off your pc/console. While you're offline your building vanishes ie it is not visible to other players. That a$$#01e I mentioned above wakes up in a good mood this time, he happens to come across the same spot and finding it empty he decides to build his own safe fort.
The following day, you and Mr a$$#01e both log in at the same time. What would happen? Whose settlement would show up on the map?

 

[TheOne]

I have a feeling that some of the first complaints for this game will be lack of story and a focus on PvP, especially with nukes intended to grief other players.

-Edit-

https://www.pcgamer.com/fallout-76-will-have-mod-support-but-not-at-launch/

"We love mods, and so we are 100 percent committed to doing that in 76 as well," Howard said. "We will not be able to do that at launch though. Our goal for launch—this is really new for us—is have a well-running, robust service, and then some period later, we're currently still designing what that service looks like, you'll be able to have your own private world and be able to mod it and do all of that.



"With our games, that's where the long-term life of them really is. That is trickier when you get into an online world, but we're definitely committed to that. It just won't be at launch."

Apparently there will be mod support sometime after launch and private worlds, which isn't what Todd said last night.

 

[TheMailMan78]

I was a bit disappointed too that we cannot choose between online and offline mode. Todd Howard said one can go solo but that only means you don't have companions ie you'd be alone without anyone helping you, but you'd still be online and can encounter other players while exploring the map. Though he also emphasized that on a map 4x the size of Fallout 4's map there would be only ''some dozens'' of players at a time, and not hundreds or thousands.

What I can't understand (pls bear with me because I have little to no experience in online gaming) is how settlement building is going to work, especially since this game's gonna give special emphasis to settlement building.

Let's imagine 2 scenarios.

1) You're roaming West Virginia and you encounter a large, lovely settlement built by another player. You quit playing, go to sleep, and resume the next day. But the next day that other player who built that lovely settlement happens to be at work instead of playing. Would his settlement remain there for you to see? Or would it go poof, only to reappear after he logs in?
The latter seems to be more likely, because imagine if 13 million people buy the game (Fallout 4's sales are currently at 13.8 million). If everybody's builds remain in the game the entire map would look like Hong Kong within a week!

2) So we assume buildings will not appear unless the player who built them is online. This is an advantage because the fort you spent 6 hours building wouldn't be visible to that a$$#01e who after getting shouted at by his mom decides to channel his anger by exploding everything in his way while you were enjoying some pretty sleep.

3) But this creates another problem - Imagine you find a nice perfect space with a view to kill for, and build a mansion. You switch off your pc/console. While you're offline your building vanishes ie it is not visible to other players. That a$$#01e I mentioned above wakes up in a good mood this time, he happens to come across the same spot and finding it empty he decides to build his own safe fort.
The following day, you and Mr a$$#01e both log in at the same time. What would happen? Whose settlement would show up on the map?

They probably only build "anywhere" in designated parts of the map. Second they probably only match make on vacant spots. BP give it a chance. I think its going to be pretty epic. I just hope they do cross-platform.

 

[Easy Rhino]

They probably only build "anywhere" in designated parts of the map. Second they probably only match make on vacant spots. BP give it a chance. I think its going to be pretty epic. I just hope they do cross-platform.

Every game you thought was going to be pretty epic turned out shit.

 

[Black Panther]

Interview with Todd Howard (Fast forward to 6 minutes for discussion on FO76):

 

[Disparia]

Cool, put in my pre-order a couple minutes ago.

Busy busy, Camelot Unchained Beta on July 4th and at some point, the FO76 Beta.

 

[Divide Overflow]

No pre-order from me until I get more info. I'm not very happy about an online only Fallout.

 

[Morgoth]

im so getting this realy in the mood to haras other players in my power armor with nuclear weapons lol or spamming that 3/4 round rocket launcher xD
im also hoping for the automatic plasma grenade launcher from fallout new vegas and plasma cannon from it in the new game

 

[TheMailMan78]

Every game you thought was going to be pretty epic turned out shit.

Name one and link.

 

[Vayra86]

I was a bit disappointed too that we cannot but you'd still be online and can encounter other players while exploring the map. Though he also emphasized that on a map 4x the size of Fallout 4's map there would be only ''some dozens'' of players at a time, and not hundreds or thousands.

What I can't understand (pls bear with me because I have little to no experience in online gaming) is how settlement building is going to work, especially since this game's gonna give special emphasis to settlement building.

Let's imagine 2 scenarios.

1) You're roaming West Virginia and you encounter a large, lovely settlement built by another player. You quit playing, go to sleep, and resume the next day. But the next day that other player who built that lovely settlement happens to be at work instead of playing. Would his settlement remain there for you to see? Or would it go poof, only to reappear after he logs in?
The latter seems to be more likely, because imagine if 13 million people buy the game (Fallout 4's sales are currently at 13.8 million). If everybody's builds remain in the game the entire map would look like Hong Kong within a week!

2) So we assume buildings will not appear unless the player who built them is online. This is an advantage because the fort you spent 6 hours building wouldn't be visible to that a$$#01e who after getting shouted at by his mom decides to channel his anger by exploding everything in his way while you were enjoying some pretty sleep.

3) But this creates another problem - Imagine you find a nice perfect space with a view to kill for, and build a mansion. You switch off your pc/console. While you're offline your building vanishes ie it is not visible to other players. That a$$#01e I mentioned above wakes up in a good mood this time, he happens to come across the same spot and finding it empty he decides to build his own safe fort.
The following day, you and Mr a$$#01e both log in at the same time. What would happen? Whose settlement would show up on the map?

None of this is plausible or workable in a persistant online environment.

FO76 will not be persistant in that sense but rather megaserver ~ session based. I dont see how else they can work this out. And they already refined their megaserver tech with ESO. It was shit. Now its decent. As for settlements, I would guess this is grossly simplified (fixed models, no more "parts") also to prevent griefing.

What this would mean in practice is that you cant pick your fellow players but its drop in drop out and probably lots of reinstancing going on. Settlements could be managed through matchmaking based on ownership of plots to prevent overlapping structures. Effectively this will keep the single player persistence intact, making it an illusion of sorts.

 

[Ahhzz]

None of this is plausible or workable in a persistant online environment.

FO76 will not be persistant in that sense but rather megaserver ~ session based. I dont see how else they can work this out. And they already refined their megaserver tech with ESO. It was shit. Now its decent. As for settlements, I would guess this is grossly simplified (fixed models, no more "parts") also to prevent griefing.

What this would mean in practice is that you cant pick your fellow players but its drop in drop out and probably lots of reinstancing going on. Settlements could be managed through matchmaking based on ownership of plots to prevent overlapping structures. Effectively this will keep the single player persistence intact, making it an illusion of sorts.

I think I heard/read something about only having about a dozen players on an instance/thread at once....

 

[TheOne]

At E3 he said there would be dozens instead of hundreds or thousands, but with no set number it could be 199> and still fit in with dozens, though probably more towards 20-50.

 

[Shadowmax]

My main concern with online play is cheaters. For single player, it is OK to cheat because they are only cheating themselves but with online play, everyone gets burned. Todd Howard even stated that this new for the studio so they need to make sure to stay on top of it. Otherwise, a few players can ruin this game. The other issue is having plenty of fresh content to keep the game going which I don't think is going to be a big problem for this studio.

 

[TheMailMan78]

My main concern with online play is cheaters. For single player, it is OK to cheat because they are only cheating themselves but with online play, everyone gets burned. Todd Howard even stated that this new for the studio so they need to make sure to stay on top of it. Otherwise, a few players can ruin this game. The other issue is having plenty of fresh content to keep the game going which I don't think is going to be a big problem for this studio.

Wont really be an issue on console and thats what the developer cares about. PC's get ports.

 

[Black Panther]

The only thing which worries me is if there'd be a monthly subscription fee to play.

Or if certain weapons or armor which give one a distinct advantage would be obtainable only by paying more real money.
Imagine you'd have to pay to buy power armor, or to buy the weapon equivalent to the Overseer's Guardian of Fallout 4 etc etc....

As much as I'm looking forward to this game, I definitely won't buy it if any of the above are present. Paying €60 for a game is pretty much enough.

 

[TheMailMan78]

The only thing which worries me is if there'd be a monthly subscription fee to play.

Or if certain weapons or armor which give one a distinct advantage would be obtainable only by paying more real money.
Imagine you'd have to pay to buy power armor, or to buy the weapon equivalent to the Overseer's Guardian of Fallout 4 etc etc....

As much as I'm looking forward to this game, I definitely won't buy it if any of the above are present. Paying €60 for a game is pretty much enough.

Im with you 100%.

 

[Black Panther]

I'm reading about many people complaining because there are no NPC's in the game.

I think Todd Howard chose the wrong words - NPC's are non-playable characters ie you can't play their role.
Now who cares if there's a computer programming them or if they're actually other humans playing the game? If nothing, them being commanded by a human only allows for more variety. They're still NPC's for all intents and purposes.

Todd Howard should have said that there are NPC's but they won't be AI (artificial intelligence) but possess human intelligence because they'd be other players like you. And obviously they'll be NPC's because you can't play them since they're within the control of another player. So the guy who lives in his mom's basement and is intent on destroying everything he sees would just be your average raider... or gunner... depending on his level.

If anything with this game we'll be having crazy raiders who have a unique face and a unique character, and hopefully unique dialogue, unlike those in the previous fallout games. We'll also be seeing friendly people wearing a Vault 76 suit and who have our same objectives.

About dialogue though, I wonder if we can communicate with other players through the keyboard or whether we need a microphone? I live in a family of basically non-gamers (make that non-pc/xbox/ps4 users ). I can't imagine reactions where I to actually speak while gaming, I mean I do speak to myself occasionally while gaming, that's inevitable and understandable... but speaking to the characters in my game while I'm playing? It's something I never looked forward to. I can use headphones to mute conversations, but not my own voice.

 

[TheMailMan78]

I'm reading about many people complaining because there are no NPC's in the game.

I think Todd Howard chose the wrong words - NPC's are non-playable characters ie you can't play their role.
Now who cares if there's a computer programming them or if they're actually other humans playing the game? If nothing, them being commanded by a human only allows for more variety. They're still NPC's for all intents and purposes.

Todd Howard should have said that there are NPC's but they won't be AI (artificial intelligence) but possess human intelligence because they'd be other players like you. And obviously they'll be NPC's because you can't play them since they're within the control of another player. So the guy who lives in his mom's basement and is intent on destroying everything he sees would just be your average raider... or gunner... depending on his level.

If anything with this game we'll be having crazy raiders who have a unique face and a unique character, and hopefully unique dialogue, unlike those in the previous fallout games. We'll also be seeing friendly people wearing a Vault 76 suit and who have our same objectives.

About dialogue though, I wonder if we can communicate with other players through the keyboard or whether we need a microphone? I live in a family of basically non-gamers (make that non-pc/xbox/ps4 users ). I can't imagine reactions where I to actually speak while gaming, I mean I do speak to myself occasionally while gaming, that's inevitable and understandable... but speaking to the characters in my game while I'm playing? It's something I never looked forward to. I can use headphones to mute conversations, but not my own voice.

Everything is speculation right now. I'm not going to bitch or cheer until all the info is out. Hell not until I play it myself. I do know Fallout is their biggest money maker and I highly doubt they will let something like this flop. Even if it has a rough start they will polish it up. After all we are not talking about EA here.

 

[Disparia]

About dialogue though, I wonder if we can communicate with other players through the keyboard or whether we need a microphone? I live in a family of basically non-gamers (make that non-pc/xbox/ps4 users ). I can't imagine reactions where I to actually speak while gaming, I mean I do speak to myself occasionally while gaming, that's inevitable and understandable... but speaking to the characters in my game while I'm playing? It's something I never looked forward to. I can use headphones to mute conversations, but not my own voice.

Aye, some time ago, mom would visit on raid night. The wife and I let her know that during this hour, "kill the babies" might be yelled. Now, after explaining to her that these were monstrous spider babies, and we were doing all of Middle Earth good by eliminating these foul creatures... she still didn't care. Your family might not either

Well... at least Frodo cared! After 10 years we walked into Mordor!

While I'm obviously looking forward to Fallout multiplayer, I do wish that Todd reconsiders single player aspects of the game for all of us. If not at launch, a promise that more modes will be implemented. FO76 will not see any 10 year tantric fangasms if he continues to be overly rigid on this matter. Todd, please see Diablo II and SimCity for examples.

 

[TheOne]

I think the lack of NPC's is concerning people because it is the most common way to receive quest, now you will have to find terminals, holotapes, letters, and robots for quest.

 

[Ahhzz]

I think that's a really easy way to ensure that your software doesn't have a long play-life after purchase. How boring would it be to walk thru any of the Fallouts without any NPCs anywhere? And if you remove people's desire to continue playing the game years after release, then you get them to spend more money on your next project.