Fallout 76. Worried? Excited? Both?

[Wight]

I was just watching the new trailer and somehow got to thinking that they should put Three Dog in the new game.
I'm pretty sure 76 was in the "AREA" of the place Fallout 3 took place. (It wasn't on the map but was mentioned as nearby) To me it sounds like a exciting possibility. Good old Three Dog leading a Radio Revolution west... Or wherever.


Now I know it's not realistic to expect the voice actor from before to come back or even for the style to be right but I'd be excited for any sort of callback really. The whole series feels kind of disconnected. Like they keep trying to prevent the different games from interacting with each_other. So it would be nice to see some of these things starting to affect each_other.

[Eldan]

I was just watching the new trailer and somehow got to thinking that they should put Three Dog in the new game.
I'm pretty sure 76 was in the "AREA" of the place Fallout 3 took place. (It wasn't on the map but was mentioned as nearby) To me it sounds like a exciting possibility. Good old Three Dog leading a Radio Revolution west... Or wherever.


Now I know it's not realistic to expect the voice actor from before to come back or even for the style to be right but I'd be excited for any sort of callback really. The whole series feels kind of disconnected. Like they keep trying to prevent the different games from interacting with each_other. So it would be nice to see some of these things starting to affect each_other.

Thing is, while Vault 76 is in Washington, as I understand it, this is set a long time before the events of the other Bethesda fallouts, closer in time to the originals.

[GloatingSwine]

Now I know it's not realistic to expect the voice actor from before to come back or even for the style to be right but I'd be excited for any sort of callback really. The whole series feels kind of disconnected. Like they keep trying to prevent the different games from interacting with each_other. So it would be nice to see some of these things starting to affect each_other.

Play Fallout 1, 2, and New Vegas.

Those feel like they affect each other because they do. They show the effects of a new rising civilisation and how it meets its limits on a new frontier.

[Winthur]

The series is disconnected because, probably in the interest of not stepping on grognard toes (which they do, anyway), Bethesda confines its games to the East Coast so that they have a free range on writing everything without having to check up on the West Coast much. They also generally set them very far in the timeline to further disconnect them from other games.

Huge lore-buffs have always been perplexed that the Super Mutants somehow managed to make their way to the East Coast, since it doesn't really make sense for them to make such a big trek and they were firmly a West Coast invention, and a lot of people believe FO3-4 are actually "too" connected - representing a theme park version of Fallout with a massive checklist of elements that have to make it in to make it look Fallout, even if it doesn't necesasrily make sense.

As GloatingSwine mentions, all of the "West Coast" games form a pretty damn stellar continuity.

Also Three Dog is IMO the worst part of FO3 and I always (that is, when I actually play FO3, which is mostly for turning off my brain) mute him out / set a radio with only the songs.

Besides, FO3 also had Harold and FO4 mentioned the Maxson dynasty, and they've both been around since FO1. Maybe you need to play the pre-Bethesda games?

[Ryblackadder]

With fallout being a juggernaught of single player RPG action, the idea of it going multiplayer is horrifying. It would be so easy to ruin it by making it another “survival” game where you just run around and farm specific enemies or try to break the game to get more kills. But it has the potential to be a super fun game with cooperative story options and building a great base with your friends. Are you worried about the game or excited and what are your hopes and concerns?

[Misery Esquire]

I'm going to express my doubts that the game is going to be an MMO-type of any variety, whatever the mysterious source seems to have mentioned. This is because the team working on it is Bethesda prime (Game Studios) who have never released a multiplayer game, and they outsourced* TES:MMO. Which if any of their IPs, they would have assumedly kept to themselves if they felt confident about making it.

So, overall, I merely remain curious.

*Technically it was in-house for Zenimax, but still.

[Xenopax]

I will cry/rage if it goes full multiplayer like CoD is going. Fallout is best when it's single player and you're the hero(or villain) of the wastelands. I'm hoping that if they bring in a multiplayer mode, its:
A. Separate campaign thing (But then it'll take longer to come out or it might detract from the main campaign) designed for local play
B. Like A but it's like A Way Out. Two people needed and plenty of that kind of challenge (It feels weird though)

They'll need servers that properly restock and a way to claim. It could be interesting though. I have a glorious mental image of a giant stilt fortress that is just coated with those wall laser turrets.

I'm hoping they bring back the end cards. I liked how in New Vegas and before it told us what the consequences of our actions were. But then we might not be able to play after we finish the game. So i'm split.
Hopefully they give more Dialogue options too. I liked using our skills to unlock more dialogue. The 4 options thing isn't doing it for me.

Overall: I'm both excited and worried to see how it ends up. Hopefully it doesn't suck (Because i'll be buying it even if it does)

[Triaxx]

There's a second source which is of the opinion that it's more of a Borderlands type of co-op, where you can have others drop in and assist you.

[Xenopax]

That could be interesting. But, you'd need an actual reason for them to help. It would have been really weird for someone to just pop out of the sky and help the sole survivor.

[Anteros]

I have no interest in the setting and no interest in the building mechanics, so I'll probably give the game a hard pass. Honestly, the whole thing reeks of just trying to cash in on the franchise name instead of making a true sequel, so I don't want to give them my money for that either.

If the reviews come out and it's actually a solid standalone game instead of a cash grab then I'll pick it up. I'm not going to give them my money just because they slapped the Fallout label on something that doesn't actually seem to be Fallout though.

[Winthur]

If the reviews come out and it's actually a solid standalone game instead of a cash grab then I'll pick it up. I'm not going to give them my money just because they slapped the Fallout label on something that doesn't actually seem to be Fallout though.

Hey, Tactics is still a great game in the series.

I don't care too much about Fallout anymore; I tried to enjoy FO3/FO4 as a hiking simulator only to realize that I don't really care for that either.

[The Glyphstone]

Eh. Fallout: New California is almost complete, so I'll just play that instead. Maybe do a NV playthrough again first.

[huttj509]

I plan to wait until there's more concrete info from E3 before deciding what I think. Too many times in the past of rampant speculation leading to either backlash or whiplash.

[Triaxx]

I've restarted FNV so many times, and I keep coming back to it.

[Anteros]

I plan to wait until there's more concrete info from E3 before deciding what I think. Too many times in the past of rampant speculation leading to either backlash or whiplash.

It's not like you can't just change your mind as new info comes out though.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

The series is disconnected because, probably in the interest of not stepping on grognard toes (which they do, anyway), Bethesda confines its games to the East Coast so that they have a free range on writing everything without having to check up on the West Coast much. They also generally set them very far in the timeline to further disconnect them from other games.

Pretty much agree 100% here. Bethesda has been confining its games to east coast to avoid the west coast stuff, probably because at least *someone* there figured out that there's no way they're going to be able to succeed at attaining the level of writing of the west coast stuff, so they change the setting so they don't have to.

Granted, they still get compared negatively in quality of writing, but at least they aren't mucking about (much) with the previously established continuity so much as adding on to it.

Huge lore-buffs have always been perplexed that the Super Mutants somehow managed to make their way to the East Coast, since it doesn't really make sense for them to make such a big trek and they were firmly a West Coast invention, and a lot of people believe FO3-4 are actually "too" connected - representing a theme park version of Fallout with a massive checklist of elements that have to make it in to make it look Fallout, even if it doesn't necesasrily make sense.

I think a terminal somewhere mentions a vault (Vault 86? Something like that) which was a military experiment involving FEV that created the 'east coast Super Mutants', which is why they are visually different from the Master's creations. This is what the Institute found and started playing with before the experiment inevitably went Charlie Foxtrot and gave the east coast it's least favorite inhabitant. If you explore the Institute, you'll find a room with some Super Mutants and several terminals that go into this in more detail.

Also Three Dog is IMO the worst part of FO3 and I always (that is, when I actually play FO3, which is mostly for turning off my brain) mute him out / set a radio with only the songs.

Fallout 76 is also set around 175ish or so years BEFORE the setting of FO3, meaning that no only is Three Dog not born yet, but it is likely that his parents, and possibly even their parents, haven't been born yet either. Thankfully. Maybe you can do the continuity a favor by shooting one of his ancestors and retroactively clean up FO3's airwaves?

Besides, FO3 also had Harold and FO4 mentioned the Maxson dynasty, and they've both been around since FO1. Maybe you need to play the pre-Bethesda games?

There's also McCready, which was mayor of Little Lamplight in FO3, and the chick running the Nuka Cola museum (the one that sends you on the Nuka Quantum quest) shows up in Nuka World DLC of FO4, so in addition to that, there are direct character connections between the games.

[Wraith]

I'm old enough that I remember when the original, isometric, turn-based Fallout first came out. Granted it was a long time before I was able to buy it on a CD set, but even this predated Steam and the first FPS Fallout game by a significant number of years, so similarly I can remember the "controversy" and "outrage" that occurred even then.

"Fallout as an FPS!? Sacrilege! What the hell are they doing to my beloved made-up children's toy!? It'll be terrible and I'll never, ever buy it again!" Etcetera, etcetera; ad infinitum, ad nauseam. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I won't lie and say that I don't have a heavy preference for the single player experience, however there are a number of ways in which I can see a multiplayer function as being a benefit. I liked the suggestion of a Borderlands-style drop-in-drop-out co-op, or perhaps an Ark-style building and crafting mode; I genuinely don't think that Fallout '78 will be a Minecraft Realm remade in HD.

Forgive me for saying so, but getting wound up over it now - when all we've seen is a promotional FMV and a nigh endless list of rumour mongering and sh*tposting from strangers on the internet - isn't worth my time. Don't preorder the game, or at least wait until you've seen some actual gameplay of it before you do, and it'll probably turn out okay in general even if it's not your sort of thing.
I remain broadly optimistic - I drew the line at Fallout Shelter, but otherwise I haven't yet played a Fallout game that I didn't find something to enjoy that let me sink a few dozen hours into it, and this will probably be the same; glitchy bugs and weird development choices included.

[Spore]

I was enraged by ideas like a Battle Royale or MMO. Because I do not want these. Any other forms of coop (even if you cannot disable it) are fine with me. Think about this: Maybe it's similar to Dark Souls? You talk to an NPC and go "hunt a plundering vault person". You phase into his world. Then the hint with the more melee focussed gameplay would make sense (being sniping from 300 ft. afar is not good gameplay.) But Bethesda is terrible at balancing stuff like that.

Lorewise, my tip will be that it features a young enclave and Chinese invasion forces. If I remember the submarine from FO 4, you start to wonder. There are other ships at sea and no one bombed the sea. They might know a war went up but then everything on the shore went silent. They HAVE to surface and dock sometime, somewhere. Of course West virginia is not primed for a harbor location but it is also not that far from the Atlantic.

[Xenopax]

Forgive me for saying so, but getting wound up over it now - when all we've seen is a promotional FMV and a nigh endless list of rumour mongering and sh*tposting from strangers on the internet - isn't worth my time. Don't preorder the game, or at least wait until you've seen some actual gameplay of it before you do, and it'll probably turn out okay in general even if it's not your sort of thing.
I remain broadly optimistic - I drew the line at Fallout Shelter, but otherwise I haven't yet played a Fallout game that I didn't find something to enjoy that let me sink a few dozen hours into it, and this will probably be the same; glitchy bugs and weird development choices included.

Hush now! Getting worked up is fun! And the worse we think it's going to be, te more pleasantly surprised we'll be when it comes out.

[Winthur]

[I]"Fallout as an FPS!? Sacrilege!

The issue was always with the preconceived and rather well founded notions of a game developed by RPG veterans being turned into Oblivion with guns. People who were very invested into the "traditional" RPGs really did not like Oblivion. Even the FO1/2 grognards generally like NV because it actually retained the spirit - and many creators - of the original Fallouts, whereas FO3 is constantly criticized for its poor writing and worldbuilding by that very same niche.

What the hell are they doing to my beloved made-up children's toy!?

Fallout games are PEGI 18. Ever since the 90s, we could have our beloved protagonist actually rape people (or coerce sex as leverage for favors from people not in position of power), murder, eviscerate, plunder, use bad words and play Magic: the Gathering Tragic: The Garnering.

I actually played Fallout when I was in primary school (my parents didn't read English nor care for what my entertainment entailed) and I ended up picking up the kick animation from that game. You raise your leg really high up. I kicked a kid square in the face during a break. He fell to the ground and slid forward a bit, and I thought for a moment I scored a crit. Don't let your children play Fallout or you will have them grow up to be Winthur.

I don't mind jabbing at grognards myself, but please, let's not pretend people's skepticism is something completely unfounded.

[Triaxx]

Let's Roll back a bit further, and recall some of the whining, screaming, and crying about Fallout Tactics (which I thought turned out to be awesome), or even further back to the complaining about Fallout 2 being different to Fallout 1. Too pop-culture, too different from Fallout 1.

And now as each new game comes out: Oh, (previous game that we said was awful), is such a better game than this awful new thing they're pretending is part of the series.

[Winthur]

Let's Roll back a bit further, and recall some of the whining, screaming, and crying about Fallout Tactics (which I thought turned out to be awesome)

Really? Where? Are we now pretending everyone who had anything bad to say about FO3 or FO4 was an NMA purist?

And now as each new game comes out: Oh, (previous game that we said was awful), is such a better game than this awful new thing they're pretending is part of the series.

Like with New Vegas, right?

[Triaxx]

No, but there were quite a lot of them who suddenly were looking favorably at Tactics when they saw F3. They weren't all, but they were a rather vocal minority.

Yeah. Though personally with NV I came to see it as two separate series. East Coast and West Coast.

[Rodin]

My main concern is that they're going to make it too similar to the last few games. I have serious apocalypse fatigue at this point. All the wrecked houses look the same, I'm tired of every ruin being full of Super Mutants, and the gameplay loop is pretty much the same through all the games (yes, even New Vegas).

While I'm not interested in multiplayer, they do need to do something different to keep my interest. The formula of 95% random dungeon-crawl with 5% plot just isn't holding my attention any more.

Oh, and if the crafting remains the way it was in Fallout 4, I'm pretty much certainly out. I managed to tolerate it for a single playthrough, but repeated visits made the process a tedious grind that frustrated me immensely. I should not have to remember that I need to find 4 desk fans, a stapler, a coffee pot, and a microscope just to get a scope upgrade on my rifle. Just let me find the damn scope.

[Xenopax]

My main concern is that they're going to make it too similar to the last few games. I have serious apocalypse fatigue at this point. All the wrecked houses look the same, I'm tired of every ruin being full of Super Mutants, and the gameplay loop is pretty much the same through all the games (yes, even New Vegas).

While I'm not interested in multiplayer, they do need to do something different to keep my interest. The formula of 95% random dungeon-crawl with 5% plot just isn't holding my attention any more.

Oh, and if the crafting remains the way it was in Fallout 4, I'm pretty much certainly out. I managed to tolerate it for a single playthrough, but repeated visits made the process a tedious grind that frustrated me immensely. I should not have to remember that I need to find 4 desk fans, a stapler, a coffee pot, and a microscope just to get a scope upgrade on my rifle. Just let me find the damn scope.

What would you like then? Its the post apocalypse. There will be a lot of wrecked houses and most of the ruins that are even partially fortifiable will be occupied.

I agree crafting was pretty tedious. I usually just killed people until I got what I needed. Took a while to find the best sniper rifle/Combat rifle parts tho. But its doable if you don't mind going through the corpses of everyone you killed for a single part.

[Wraith]

I don't mind jabbing at grognards myself, but please, let's not pretend people's skepticism is something completely unfounded.

I don't necessarily disagree with you in anything that you've said, but it's rather the extremes of emotion that people are (realistically or hyperbolically) portraying which are particularly insufferable.

I've seen the words "anger", "outrage", "enraged" and "horrifying" bandied about because.... a toy might not be the toy that you want it to be? Even though in the past, other changes to other toys have generally had positive results. I for one thoroughly enjoyed Fallout 3, despite it's flaws, and it in no way compared to the vitriol poured upon it in the early days. I felt the same way about about Fallout 4, even though it was 'dumbed down' and 'Minecraft-y' (to use some of the things said about it).

Be reserved about it, by all means - as I said, don't preorder it until you're really sure you want to - but until then... chill out, guys.

[Xenopax]

I loved Three Dog! But I doubt he's coming back. Like the others have said, it's way too early. It might be cool if they brought a version of Mr. New Vegas. I hope to Atom that they don't make another nervous stuttering loser like Travis. He pretty much ruined Radio for me until I did his quest.

[Rynjin]

Overall: I'm both excited and worried to see how it ends up. Hopefully it doesn't suck (Because i'll be buying it even if it does)

...Why? Why do people like encouraging people to make/publish bad games? What sick joy do you derive from wasting your money and contributing to the glut of trash that floods the market?

[Xenopax]

...Why? Why do people like encouraging people to make/publish bad games? What sick joy do you derive from wasting your money and contributing to the glut of trash that floods the market?

first reason is because I don't trust anyone else's judgement. Second reason is because I'll feel weird if I don't grab it and finish it.

[Anteros]

first reason is because I don't trust anyone else's judgement. Second reason is because I'll feel weird if I don't grab it and finish it.

These days you can easily check out a stream or YouTube video of gameplay. You don't have to trust anyone's review before buying except your own.

What makes this (potentially) bad game different from the thousands of other bad games you haven't played that you'd buy it anyway? Just because it's Fallout?