Too messy to really function

During the last year and a half that Fallout 76 has been live, I have covered its multiple... difficulties. A couple of days ago, I found a great video by Youtuber LegacyKillaHD, that summarizes the games troubled existence very nicely. I'll link it below, and I do recommend it, it's really good.

While I watched it, I was struck by a realization: The game Bethesda wanted to make and the game their parent company Zenimax Media wanted them to make is not the same game. The game the players wanted is also not the same as the aforementioned people wanted either. In essence, Fallout 76 could never work.

When they announced that all humans in the game would be players and that it was basically a PVP game, I and many others screamed in horror. To their credit, Bethesda listened and made the most toothless PVP system ever. Player 1 shoots Player 2 and does a tiny amount of damage, no matter which weapon he uses. If Player 2 returns fire, both players start doing full damage. If 2 walks away, 1 can keep nibbling away wasting all his ammunition, not harming but still annoying 2.

In short, most diehard PVP players hate the system. Most PVE players hate it as well, because they dislike all PVP, and all this because... well the jury is out on that one. If you're feeling conspiratorial, it's because Zenimax wanted to cash in on the battle royal genre that was going strong at the time. Games like PubG and Fortnite were (and still are) raking in the money and a battle royale game is cheap to make.

The problem is, Fallout is not a battle royale game, and the fans don't want that from a Fallout title. Add on the live service model that makes all the AAA game publishers drool, and you don't have a game so much as you have a complete mess. It is a collection of pieces that don't fit together- like putting monster truck tires on a Ferrari and trying to cram a huge back seat in as well. Most people won't want that car, and 76 can't really work.

In other news this post is number 400. I've been at this for 400 week with no gaps, and I'm really proud of that. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and celebrate that a bit. Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9xoNN453gM