A conversation with Pete Hines on Fallout 76 and what it is and isn’t

Pete Hines clarifies the online nature of Fallout 76, saying: “I mean, it’s nothing like Fortnite, It’s not even remotely an MMO. It’s not like this or that. It’s not like Destiny. It’s not like any of those things. It’s not like Rust, other than it’s an online world with people in it. Fallout 76 is a roleplaying game. It is not a PvP, kill everybody, fest.”

[smolinsk]

Sounds over ambitious, have will that work when to players have build on the same spot and all your stuff is there all the time in others games as well? Don't like the sound of this, don't think it's gonna work at all, game is gonna fail I'm afraid to say.

[Elwenil]

You really need to do more research. What you build is tied to your character. When you leave, your stuff leaves. When you sign in, your stuff appears. If you have built in the same location as someone else, whomever signs into that particular instance first has their buildings placed while the second player has their stuff "packed up" in their inventory. As I understand it, your "settlement" can be placed anywhere at that point with just a click and you don't have to build it piece by piece. The same as if you want to pack up your settlement and move it somewhere else on the map.

[smolinsk]

But that is what I mean, that's silly and that just doesn't work and will turn people off in the long run, it's what i say over ambitious, and we haven't even talked about pvp that will end up pissing people off.

Sounds like they haven't done there homework, things like this just doesn't work, people will by it and disappear quickly after.

Pvp will piss people of, if you can shoot others then there you go a game like this is ruined no matter what you do

[Elwenil]

I can't disagree that it's a polarizing idea and there isn't really any way to make everyone happy. The people who really wanted Fallout 5 are going to be upset no matter what. Others will hate on it because to them it's pushed Elder Scrolls 6 back a bit. Some want PvP, but want a game more like ARK or Rust or whatever, while some want more of a co-op experience but with all the nuance and details of a single player game. So far, I don't think anyone has yet been able to make a co-op game that truly felt like a single player game with friends. Extra players seem to add too many dynamic issues that a detailed story can't deal with on the fly and you end up with hollow shells of games with a bad story or something like Far Cry where the additional player gets screwed out of the story and has to play it on their own and becomes nothing more than hired help.

As for the settlements, I think it's a cool way to deal with the issues. There are no "servers" to join. The game uses dedicated servers but there is no browser or way of selecting which server or instance you join other than joining up with friends on their instance. So building permanent settlements wouldn't work since you would never make it back to where you started building. Plus picking things up when you log out is also a good way of dealing with having your base raided and everything destroyed and stolen while you are offline. That can be a game killer since all your progress is gone and you basically have to start over. Not a good way to sign on looking to have some fun only to find out everything you worked for is gone.

I can't say if people will buy it and then quit soon after, though I am sure some will just with any online game after the "new" wears off. I do think it is an ambitious game and because of that, I am willing to see how it all unfolds. No one has tried to do it this way, the current methods also have a lot of undesirable issues, and until I try Bethesda's method, I can't really say if it's good or bad yet. Certainly it won't be good for everyone, no compromise ever is, but it also won't be bad for everyone.

[shauzy]

"skyrim has infinite quests" -Todd Howard