‘FALLOUT 1ST’ IS A HUGE SUCCESS…when it comes to enraging gamers everywhere

“Fallout 1st” is the “Fallout Worst”!

Fallout: It’s one of the biggest  franchises in gaming history. Even if you don’t play the games, you’ve heard the name. Cherished by gamers for its unique sci-fi setting, intelligent writing, and satisfying RPG gameplay, the Fallout franchise is a juggernaut of the role-playing genre.

But not everyone is a fan of RPGs, and it would seem not even Bethesda Game Studios enjoys them anymore. If you’ve been keeping up with internet trends over the past year, you’ve undoubtedly heard of the ongoing disaster that is “Fallout 76.” Bethesda Game Studios, once renowned for making some of the greatest RPGs in recent memory, including games such as “Oblivion,” “Fallout 3,” and “Skyrim,” has slowly been transitioning away from its roots with each game release.

Before the controversies of Fallout 76, the main debate among members of the gaming community was over the quality of “Fallout 4” and its severe lack of role playing mechanics compared to previous games. While most players were happy to accept the streamlined gameplay, diehard Fallout fans, especially those who had been following the franchise since before Bethesda purchased the intellectual property from Interplay, were largely dissatisfied. But Bethesda’s mainstreaming of its products has been an ongoing process since its release of Oblivion in 2006. Compared to the previous games in the Elderscrolls series, Oblivion’s RPG mechanics were somewhat pared down, and even Skyrim, despite its massive financial success and critical acclaim, was criticized by longtime fans for its shocking lack of role playing opportunities.

MULTIPLE FAILS

But 2019 has marked a true fall from grace for the developer. Not only was Fallout 76 completely broken at launch, the game has also suffered from repeated controversies. While audiences understood that Fallout 76 would be a strong departure from previous titles, transitioning from a single player-only experience, to an always online, multiplayer, “RPG” fans were not expecting the drastic changes in gameplay, the removal of RPG mechanics, and the general lack of things to do.

The numerous changes, along with the pre-alpha state of the game, the canvas bag controversy, the exceedingly cheap Nuka Cola Dark “premium” rum, the $7 digital decorative fridge, the moldy Special Edition helmets, and a slew of other complaints and controversies, have continued to mar the reputation of Fallout 76 since its release back in late 2018. Two weeks after the game was released, sealed copies of the game that would normally retail for $60 were already being sold at half price, but as of today (October 2019), Bethesda is selling base copies of the game for $40. 

While you can easily pick up a copy of the game on Ebay or Amazon for less than fifteen bucks, the listing price for the game on Bethesda.net only serves as a slap in the face, especially in the wake of the latest controversies over Fallout 1st. Fallout 1st is Bethesda’s premium subscription model for Fallout 76, coming in at $12.99 a month, or $100 a year. This subscription gives players access to a number of exclusive Emotes, outfits, icons, a travel tent that functions as a movable fast travel point, 1,650 Atoms (the game’s premium currency), a scrapbox that can hold an unlimited amount of crafting materials, and some not-so-private “private servers.”

FALSE CLAIMS

On the face of it, this may not seem like anything to get upset about. But not only is Fallout 1st a complete insult to those still playing the game, there are already multiple other controversies that have been spawned since the service was implemented. 

During last year’s E3 conference, Todd Howard, the director of BGS, came out onstage and announced proudly that Fallout 76 would never bring pay-to-win microtransactions to the game. Unfortunately, that claim has already been proven false within the last few months, and now been utterly demolished with the addition of the scrapbox and travel tent items provided as a part of Fallout 1st.

Not only does Fallout 1st provide undue advantage to paying players, Bethesda is now charging its fanbase to use simple quality of life improvements such as the private servers, which not only have been reported to be broken, but also aren’t actually that private, as people on your friends list can join you at any time. What’s even more frustrating for fans is that private servers are a service normally provided for free in many other multiplayer games.

The problems don’t end there. Even the pay-to-win items don’t seem to work properly! Fallout 1st subscribers are reporting the deletion of all items placed within the scrapbox after loading into a new world. But the real icing on the moldy cake is the NCR Veteran Ranger outfit. The outfit, which is a 1st exclusive, is based on an iconic design from “Fallout New Vegas,” a game widely considered to be the best in the franchise. However, New Vegas was not made by Bethesda, and was instead outsourced to Obsidian Entertainment during the height of Fallout’s popularity, making this exclusive outfit seem more like putting lipstick on a pig.

BACKLASH GROWS

To make matters worse for Bethesda, its announcement of the subscription service not only stoked the flames of an already angry fanbase, but those who are still playing Fallout 76 are now actively seeking out and griefing Fallout 1st subscribers, in-game, as a statement of their displeasure with BGS. Humorously, since the griefing of 1st members became known to the wider internet, premium subscribers have joined forces to defend themselves, with one member posting on Reddit, “Fallout 1st players! We need to assemble and build gated communities for ourselves. Piss poor 76ers are targeting us!”

Needless to say, Fallout fans and the gaming community as a whole are incredibly disappointed with Bethesda’s recent track record of mediocre releases and overaggressive monetization of its products.

This backlash comes at an even worse time for the developer, as it recently announced that its “Wastelanders” DLC, a piece of content which is proposed to fix a lot of complaints and practically overhaul the entire experience, has been delayed till Q1 of 2020. And with the Halloween season coming to a close, the last notable piece of content coming to Fallout 76 has already been released, seemingly leaving players with nothing to look forward to until next year.

Unfortunately for Bethesda, the announcement of Fallout 1st delays only spells greed in the eyes of consumers and serves to raise the price of a game widely still considered to be entirely unfinished. While the publishing arm of BGS still has some promising games coming up for release, it will likely take years and numerous quality releases from the company to repair the trust of its audience.