Fallout 76 - online Fallout spinoff from Bethesda - now on Steam with Wastelanders NPC expansion

[Baron Dupek]

 

[AwesomeButton]

I am beginning to think he may actually be the appropriate audience for Fallout 76

 

[moon knight]

To make an argument for buru - no multiplayer survival game has gotten good scores from journalists. If it is a single-player survival game with some form of story (i.e. The Long Dark) they lap it up, but they don't really get the appeal of the others. Rust, Ark, Conan etc.

It's not a genre they understand, they are not the type of people who play these games.

I don't like Fallout 76 (and yeah I played it because work) but it's not getting low scores because mainstream sites are suddenly being canny about Bethesda's version of Fallout. It's just another game in a genre they dislike (that is also overpriced).

Ark is shit.

Rust was fucking garbage at "release".

Conan is the devil.

I'm really not sure if you are serious.

 

[Parabalus]

 

[Santander02]

I see your Numale Sky and raise you

 

[fantadomat]

Fallout 76 sales down 82% on Fallout 4, Hitman 2 down 90% on Hitman: Absolution in UK charts

GameCentralMonday 19 Nov 2018 9:51 am
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Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! – not number one, but top of the heap

One of the busiest weeks for new game releases has seen Pokémon: Let’s Go emerge the winner in terms of sales, ahead of Spyro.

It’s been a busy few days in terms of new video games, but with so many coming out at once there’s inevitably been winners and losers. Although the UK charts’ inability to track digital sales, combined with Chart-Track’s odd way of ranking Pokémon games, makes it even more complicated than usual.

The best-selling video game of last week was Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! but unlike other chart makers around the world Chart-Track regard these as separate releases, even in the all formats chart.

In America the game is the most pre-ordered Switch title ever, but in the UK sales were down 60% compared to Pokémon Sun and Moon on the 3DS. Although direct comparisons are not particularly helpful given the larger 3DS userbase and the rise of digital sales. The game itself is also a remake, rather than a mainline sequel, and to add to the complications Nintendo has had stock problems, with some shops running out and pre-orders not being fulfilled.

The other bigger winner of the week was also a family-friendly remake of a ‘90s video game and given the split vote on Pokémon, it was Spyro Reignited Trilogy that hit number one in the all formats chart. Unlike stablemate Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, the game was launched on both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 but still 75% of sales went to Sony’s format.


The third highest new entry of the week was Fallout 76, which is again difficult to compare directly to its predecessor as it’s an online-only spin-off and not a mainline sequel. Given its online nature it’s also likely to see a higher percentage of digital sales than normal, although a drop of 82.4 per cent from Fallout 4 in 2015 seems severe by any measure.

The only positive for publisher Bethesda is that because of its higher price point, compared to the two remakes, it actually generated the most revenue of any game in the UK last week.

There seems to be no silver lining for Hitman 2 though, which only scraped into the bottom of the all formats top 10. Again, it’s difficult to compare sales with its direct predecessor, in this case because it was released episodically, but compared to 2012’s Hitman: Absolution, which has a generally poor reputation with fans of the franchise, sales are down 90%.

Hitman 2 was even beaten in the all formats chart by Fortnite: Deep Freeze Bundle, the first ever retail release of the game which saw sales split almost perfectly evenly between the three console formats.


Overall, it’s been a difficult week for new releases, and the results once again call into question publisher’s logic over releasing so many games at the same time. The Christmas rush has been a phenomenon for decades and yet companies never seem to learn when releasing more niche titles at a time when people only have the time and money for one or two big name games.

The UK charts’ inability to track digital sales is also confusing the picture, and while some of these drops are so extreme they clearly have more going on than just a general migration to digital downloads it will be a relief when Chart-Track begin to incorporate digital sales next year.

https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/22/brea...ine-will-stay-a-secret-says-nintendo-8168810/
As for now, the only major release next week is Battlefield V on Tuesday, with reports suggesting that pre-orders for the title are worryingly soft (something that’s likely to have been confused by the game’s staggered release).

There are no big name launches at the end of the week though, as it’s Black Friday. Which means next week’s charts will be dominated by old titles rather than new.

 

[Drakron]

I don't like Fallout 76 (and yeah I played it because work) but it's not getting low scores because mainstream sites are suddenly being canny about Bethesda's version of Fallout. It's just another game in a genre they dislike (that is also overpriced).

Actually that is exactly why, even Fallout 4 were Bethesda had snubbed mainstream sites by not sending then review copies still have scores in the mid-high 80's, also you cannot be serious when all the ones you listed are in the high 60's scores as Fallout 76 is in the 50's, the point differential cannot be explained as "they hate it" when one gets 68 as the other 55 and we are not talking about Funcon here were such score would be perhaps more common, we are talking about Bethesda and of a Fallout title.

Its lower score is because maybe even as a multiplayer survival game is a bit shit, mind you they were afraid of scaring people with the survival (not everyone wants to play them) so they gone about saying it wasnt really one (only is one because all that crap they added into FO4 that made it "survival") so in the end you have a multiplayer game that is about ... nothing, I mean from a review I saw it doesnt even have text chat or even integrated voice chat, imagine playing a multiplayer game were there was no way to interact with other players WITHIN THE GAME ITSELF, if you want to argue "people can use Discord" I will say ... its 3rd fucking party communication and following that logic every game is a multiplayer game, the fact is there is no way to interact with other players and I even read worst things as in there is a cap on the map so only 20 players can be in the same instance and its a huge map.

All this adds up, they released a "done quickly to get some quick cash" game but unlike you guys at Funcon that at least put it up on Steam as EA and thus a work-in-progress, Bethesda released it at full price as completed and thus is being judged as such.

 

[Wunderbar]

Hitman 2 down 90% on Hitman: Absolution in UK charts

that's a bummer.

 

[Xor]

Yeah that sucks, I haven't had a chance to play it much yet because my GPU is shitting itself and the new one isn't here yet but from what I have played Hitman 2 is p. good so far.

 

[Agame]

Hitman 2 down 90% on Hitman: Absolution in UK charts

that's a bummer.

It sure is, well at least we got two good nu-hitman games...

 

[AwesomeButton]

Maybe Hitman 2 (2018) should be compared to the game that is its direct predecessor and was released two years ago, instead of to a game that was released six years ago...?

 

[Xor]

Maybe Hitman 2 (2018) should be compared to the game that is its direct predecessor and was released two years ago, instead of to a game that was released six years ago...?

Because Hitman 2016 was released episodically so sales data on launch would be a meaningless apples-to-oranges comparison.

 

[Trans-Financial-Man]

To play Devils advocate for a bit, I think part of what happening here IS because Bethesda aren't playing nice with the games journalism clique anymore. But I don't think there's some vast conspiracy to fuck the game over. Fall Out of Todd's Arse 76 is truly wretched on a fundamental level to the point the game itself is aware of this and tried to kill itself by deleting itself from your computer. Bethesda are trying to court "Influencers" and guess what, they're being nice about the game because they want to keep up a relationship of getting free shit. The games journalism clique aren't getting the free shit so they simply don't feel obligated to do the same thing so they're more "honest" if you can even call it that.

Compare and contrast to what's been going on with Diablo Immortal. Blizzard are "nice" to the clique. They're all friends. So they'll defend all the chinks puppeting the corpse of Blizz because they got a free Frostmourne replica.

 

[markec]

LoversLab users don't want to play online.. especially not with voice chat.. Think about it.

We'll there are mods for Conan Exiles and I bet that there are people who are turned on by banging a hot chick while she says that she's a naughty girl with a deep manly voice.

 

[bylam]

Ark is shit.

Rust was fucking garbage at "release".

Conan is the devil.

I'm really not sure if you are serious.

FO3 is shit. FO4 is shit. etc. Why is it suddenly *this* Fallout game that gets low scores? That was the only point I was trying to make (and yeah, I agree that in general the MP survival games are pretty poor quality. Lots of people still like them though)

 

[AwesomeButton]

Maybe Hitman 2 (2018) should be compared to the game that is its direct predecessor and was released two years ago, instead of to a game that was released six years ago...?

Because Hitman 2016 was released episodically so sales data on launch would be a meaningless apples-to-oranges comparison.

What is "a meaningless apples-to-oranges comparison" is comparing it to Absolution. The reason it was compared to Absolution in the original article (at gameindustry.biz) is because it's the data they have for physical console sales.

 

[Drakron]

FO3 is shit. FO4 is shit. etc. Why is it suddenly *this* Fallout game that gets low scores? That was the only point I was trying to make (and yeah, I agree that in general the MP survival games are pretty poor quality. Lots of people still like them though)

Brotherhood of Steel also got low scores, if you are making a point I can also point out how Brotherhood of Steel was a even bigger departure that Tactics was.
I get your point was "this type of games dont get good scores" but this is not looking at what the review are saying, pointing out flaws ... you can argue reviewers want NPCs and dialog and story but this is part of what makes Fallout, Fallout and also something Bethesda attempted to appease players by saying there were and ... there arent.

If you strip Fallout 4 from quests and NPCs with all you got is just the locations and the enemies can you say its a good game? Because thats Fallout 76 apparently.

 

[Bliblablubb]

When IGN gives FO76 a 5/10 and Gamespot "rating equals doritos" even a 4/10, you know you have really fucked up.

5/10 is pretty much the minimum rating a triple A publisher will get. Requirements are: installs, starts, could play for 30 mins, with sound, achievements work.

So if Gayspot gives them less, did the game even fail to that for them?

 

[Agame]

If you strip Fallout 4 from quests and NPCs with all you got is just the locations and the enemies can you say its a good game? Because thats Fallout 76 apparently.

The irony is that the best way to play F3/4 was to load them up with mods and completely ignore the quests/npcs and play them as survival shooter games. For example F3 with the Wanderer Edition mod was fun to play as a roguelike survival game, see how far you get till you die. Considering Bethesdas utter inability to create believable or interesting characters, and their hilariously amateur attempts at worldbuilding simply swapping NPCs for robots actually seems like a decent idea. And then just focus all gameplay on exploration, combat, and leveling up/item collecting. Which are the only semi enjoyable activities in a Bethesda game.

So its all the more astounding that they have fucked it all up so badly.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

main quest in FO4 is ass but some of the side quests are pretty good. I've never been able to actually finish the game, I always get bored and quit.
I'd probably like the game a lot less if it didn't have Nick Valentine though

 

[Bliblablubb]

The irony is that the best way to play F3/4 was to load them up with mods and completely ignore the quests/npcs and play them as survival shooter games.

Mostly the mainquest and a few really retarded ones. Also takes a while before you even have all the mods to make it great again.

The KKK approved approach to any Bethesda game that came after Morrowind, IF you insisted on playing it, was: power through the mainquest, say "meh whatever" and rant on the 'dex how retarded it is. Then start a new game and (mostly) ignore that rubbish, stumbling through a more or less entertaining hiking simulator with guns/swords.

Lolblivion? Completely ignore.
Fallout 3? Find dad then ignore, or let him stay TwoDog for the rest of his life.
Skyrim? Get dragons, get full FUSRO DUH. Ignore the rest.
Fallout 4? Get Nick, maybe rek Kellogg. Pretend the institute and their teleporter does not exist. Bonus points for putting the Railroadretardos out of their miserable existence.

But hey, at least you got the OPTION to follow a overarching narrative they were at least trying to make entertaining. Instead of FO76's variant of just looping radiant fetch quests and telling players "YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN STORY, ISN'T THAT GREAT?"

Tis like selling a car without a radio and telling the customer: "you can sing your own songs, isn't that awsome?"

 

[Wunderbar]

main quest in FO4 is ass but some of the side quests are pretty good.

you mean that great sidequest "go to corwega plant and kills some raiders", or "go to subway station and kill some ghouls"?

 

[Bliblablubb]

What, you mean you didn't like "The kid in the fridge"?

But it perfectly adds up on paper.
It had:

- a talking ghoul. Like Harold. Players loved Harold.
- a kid searching for his parents. Triggering protector instinct and all that.
- finally reunite him with his parents. All those feels man. The feels!
- reference to the bestestest Indiana Jones movie ever! Everybody loved that scene.
- heroic standoff to fight for great justice.

They even listened to player's demands to be evul and added the option to sell him for 50 bucks.

See? Bethesda really thought that one through. If you didn't like it you must be racist/sexist/communist. Or wanted to kill children. You monster!

 

[Turjan]

main quest in FO4 is ass but some of the side quests are pretty good.

you mean that great sidequest "go to corwega plant and kills some raiders", or "go to subway station and kill some ghouls"?

More like "The Secret of Cabot House", "The Silver Shroud", or "Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution".

I wonder whether the popularity of the latter one gave them the idea that making a "robots only" game would be okay. Of course, they forgot that this only worked in FO4 because it was so different from the rest of the game.

 

[illuknisaa]

main quest in FO4 is ass but some of the side quests are pretty good.

you mean that great sidequest "go to corwega plant and kills some raiders", or "go to subway station and kill some ghouls"?

More like "The Secret of Cabot House", "The Silver Shroud", or "Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution".

All of those are just kill/fetch quests but longer.