Bethesda has released new plans for the future of Fallout 76 in a new “Inside the Vault”. These plans involve you as players significantly more in the development of the game. This is good, but it might also rub some the wrong way.
What happened? On January 17, Bethesda posted a new “Inside the Vault”. It states that several changes are on the horizon. Particularly active players will have more influence on what is to come. I think this is exactly the right approach.
The future of Fallout 76 is yours
What can you decide? Bethesda has addressed several issues that will happen in the future with your collaboration. Specifically, the developers mention three things:
- Taking action against cheaters and exploiters
- Feedback on patches
- Design of events
In the past, players have taken action against exploiters themselves and Bethesda has taken measures against those who have used forbidden means or spread things. Now, players are called to report cheating players and to report when they encounter exploits instead of taking advantage of them.
Additionally, you are encouraged to share in forums or on Reddit which events you particularly enjoy, how you play them, and which rewards intrigue you the most. Overall, the overview of events should be improved so that it is immediately clear how long it will take.
Furthermore, feedback on patches is important. In the last patch on January 10, over 150 bugs were fixed in Fallout 76 and 6 of those changes were particularly good. The feedback on these changes is intended to help improve the upcoming patches even further. The next update is expected at the end of January.
Why this is good: The plan to incorporate player feedback more strongly is, in my opinion, a good and important step. This approach to developing Fallout 76 has been missing from Bethesda before the game’s release and it has bitterly backfired.
Fallout 76 was not released in a state that players wanted and was outright hated on Metacritic. Nevertheless, it remains an online game that continues to evolve. And only with player feedback can it be changed in a way that serves the community.
With the help of the players, Fallout 76 can now become what it wanted to be from the very beginning: a Fallout experience in multiplayer. Without player feedback and its implementation, a multiplayer experience could hardly be considered “good,” as that is a subjective opinion.
Asking you what you like and what can be improved is a big step towards a comeback for Fallout 76 in 2019.
Why this is fodder for critics: However, the decision also has a downside. Already now, many critics are calling that Bethesda is offloading too much work onto the players and is not changing anything themselves.
The step to actively ask for feedback will only further fuel this criticism. It will even provide some trolls with a better basis to point fingers at Fallout 76 and laugh at the supposed incompetence of the developers.
One can only hope that this criticism gets drowned out by the positive feedback and is less heard. Because without feedback and the implementation of impressions, Fallout 76 is doomed to stand still.
Other changes: Lastly, Bethesda talks about some specific changes that you can expect in the future. For one, “Double Shot” affixes for weapons will be nerfed. They will only receive a 25% damage bonus. Additionally, weapon mods will no longer automatically break upon repairs.
On the other hand, there will be changes to PvP. Previously, a type of PvP mode for Fallout 76 was promised. In this mode, the game should play just like before, only with removed PvP rules for more conflicts. More on this topic should come next week, around January 24.
What do you think of the decision?
Not only the community has feedback for Bethesda. The leading ESO developer also gives Fallout 76 advice:
