Despite a strong comeback in 2019, Fallout 76 has seen some decline in the last months of the year. Upcoming innovations could finally make the game the experience fans have wished for all along.
In the coming year, Fallout 76 could see great success. Because 2020 is set to bring numerous innovations to Fallout 76. A large part of this has already been presented in a roadmap for 2020:
- A test server (PTS)
- Skill loadouts
- Multi-factor authentication for increased security
- Legendary players
- Improved social menu
- Improvements to public events
However, players can expect the probably most important update in 2020: The free Wastelanders update, which brings NPCs to Fallout 76. It was originally supposed to be released in 2019, but the developers want to test it thoroughly.
The NPC feature – A major turning point?
With the Wastelanders update, the story in Fallout 76 is set to continue. After players have been able to rebuild Appalachia for a while, other people are now also returning.
The NPCs will have their own factions and even bring along cults like that of the Mothman. Players can join these factions, fight for them, or play them against each other.
Players can even enter into romances with NPCs with the update.
That’s why NPCs are so important: Until now, all human NPCs in Fallout 76 are either dead, unfindable, or have led to players being banned.
Although the game tells a good story through holotapes, terminals, and robots, players miss the opportunity to dive deeper into the world with NPCs.
In fact, the absence of NPCs was one of the biggest points of criticism. Although several technical flaws disturbed players, the absence of NPCs has been a consistent topic in the community, leading to negative comments. Our author Andreas says in his opinion on Fallout 76:
For me […] this is an extremely big downside, highlighting why many single-player game fans do not have as much fun with Fallout and are now frustrated, and why I stopped following the story.
To still give depth to the world, players simply created NPCs themselves:
- A whole police force along with police stations
- a famous doctor that even PvP players don’t want to kill
- the arguably most annoying NPC from Fallout 4
- raider and responder factions that are at odds
This way, players fulfilled the idea of bringing Appalachia to life and creating one of the perhaps nicest communities in the multiplayer space. But it also shows the desire for factions, quests, and interaction with human NPCs.
2 Quality features especially improve the game
The improvements presented in the roadmap all help make Fallout 76 more enjoyable. Two of the innovations are particularly important: the test server (PTS) and skill loadouts.
The PTS – an eternal fan wish
The test server, or Public Test Server (PTS), is designed to thoroughly test updates before their release. Players can voluntarily participate in testing a new update here before it goes live.
To do this, they play a pre-release build of the next patch and provide feedback to developers about what works well, what doesn’t, or what could completely break the game.
This can prevent critical bugs from making it into the live version, thus avoiding player frustration and upset.
So far, players have used certain mods to utilize this function. Addons and mods are a gray area, and it’s not entirely clear who gets banned by Bethesda and who doesn’t.
In principle, they are not allowed but only tolerated. An official loadout tool is definitely one of the things active players have wished for a long time.
That’s why 2020 will be better
The last shitstorm regarding Fallout 1st seems to have calmed down again. Bethesda has introduced a subscription model that allows players to purchase advantages and create private worlds. However, the effects of the anger can still be seen. The Fallout 76 subreddit is less active.
However, the three features mentioned above could lead to former players becoming active again and current players becoming more satisfied:
- With the test server, the quality of updates is likely to improve if enough players test them.
- The skill loadouts show that Bethesda is listening more to player criticism again, although a bit late.
- The Wastelanders update brings Fallout 76 to a state that many fans of the series had wished for even before the release.
Bethesda is currently also showing that the concerns of players are being taken more seriously again. In the latest ‘From the Vault’, developers explain that more emphasis will be placed on bug fixes in the future and have already presented some bug fixes.
The problem, however, is that the frustration over technical flaws, communication issues, and things like Fallout 1st have damaged the game’s image. Former players may give Fallout 76 another chance with Wastelanders, but they might also be deterred. If the update does not meet their expectations or if too few players show interest, it will be difficult for the developers to steer the ship back on course.
What happened in Fallout 76 in 2019?
2019 was already a promising year for Fallout 76:
- The roadmap for 2019 promised interesting innovations
- The first update Wild Appalachia brought among other things the PvP mode ‘Survival’, which was well received
- The second update ‘Nuclear Winter’ brought a surprisingly successful battle royale mode
In principle, it seemed like our author Benedict’s prediction would come true that Fallout 76 would achieve a significant comeback in 2019.
This is how the last months went: The good mood, however, did not last throughout the year. Shortly after E3, in August 2019, raids launched in Fallout 76, which were plagued by severe bugs. This already led to poor mood once again.
This was intensified by the fact that communication apparently deteriorated again. Items were introduced at player request, but in a completely different way than intended, and Pay2Win accusations were raised once more.
Lastly, Bethesda introduced a paid subscription with Fallout 1st, which players need to create private worlds. The outrage over this issue was greater than the problem itself, but it led to negative headlines.
Ihr wollt mehr zum Spiel? Auf unserer Fallout-Seite auf Facebook findet Ihr alle News und spannende Specials. Wenn Ihr nicht alleine durch Appalachia streifen wollt, findet Ihr in unserer Fallout-Gruppe andere Vault-Bewohner
Players have been asking for a test server since the release of Fallout 76. They want to help, as it frustrates them that errors and technical flaws continuously spark criticism of the game.
In the past, some players have even been banned for testing and reporting bugs – because they used cheat engines for it. With a test server, players can help legally without using cheats.
Skill loadouts eliminate annoying processes
Skill loadouts are more of a tool that allows players to switch quickly between different builds. The many skills and perks in Fallout 76 allow players to optimally prepare for specific activities.
However, what is currently irritating is the interface. When players want to switch from combat to crafting, they first have to manually change all perk cards. Even if they just want to use different armor or weapons, they still have to swap for maximum effectiveness.
With loadouts, pre-defined card setups can be saved and retrieved instantly. So with the push of a button, the new build is ready, and players don’t have to shuffle cards endlessly.
So far, players have used certain mods to utilize this function. Addons and mods are a gray area, and it’s not entirely clear who gets banned by Bethesda and who doesn’t.
In principle, they are not allowed but only tolerated. An official loadout tool is definitely one of the things active players have wished for a long time.
That’s why 2020 will be better
The last shitstorm regarding Fallout 1st seems to have calmed down again. Bethesda has introduced a subscription model that allows players to purchase advantages and create private worlds. However, the effects of the anger can still be seen. The Fallout 76 subreddit is less active.
However, the three features mentioned above could lead to former players becoming active again and current players becoming more satisfied:
- With the test server, the quality of updates is likely to improve if enough players test them.
- The skill loadouts show that Bethesda is listening more to player criticism again, although a bit late.
- The Wastelanders update brings Fallout 76 to a state that many fans of the series had wished for even before the release.
Bethesda is currently also showing that the concerns of players are being taken more seriously again. In the latest ‘From the Vault’, developers explain that more emphasis will be placed on bug fixes in the future and have already presented some bug fixes.
The problem, however, is that the frustration over technical flaws, communication issues, and things like Fallout 1st have damaged the game’s image. Former players may give Fallout 76 another chance with Wastelanders, but they might also be deterred. If the update does not meet their expectations or if too few players show interest, it will be difficult for the developers to steer the ship back on course.
What happened in Fallout 76 in 2019?
2019 was already a promising year for Fallout 76:
- The roadmap for 2019 promised interesting innovations
- The first update Wild Appalachia brought among other things the PvP mode ‘Survival’, which was well received
- The second update ‘Nuclear Winter’ brought a surprisingly successful battle royale mode
In principle, it seemed like our author Benedict’s prediction would come true that Fallout 76 would achieve a significant comeback in 2019.
This is how the last months went: The good mood, however, did not last throughout the year. Shortly after E3, in August 2019, raids launched in Fallout 76, which were plagued by severe bugs. This already led to poor mood once again.
This was intensified by the fact that communication apparently deteriorated again. Items were introduced at player request, but in a completely different way than intended, and Pay2Win accusations were raised once more.
Lastly, Bethesda introduced a paid subscription with Fallout 1st, which players need to create private worlds. The outrage over this issue was greater than the problem itself, but it led to negative headlines.
Ihr wollt mehr zum Spiel? Auf unserer Fallout-Seite auf Facebook findet Ihr alle News und spannende Specials. Wenn Ihr nicht alleine durch Appalachia streifen wollt, findet Ihr in unserer Fallout-Gruppe andere Vault-Bewohner
