Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/10/24/bethesda-is-launching-a-subscr.html
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This is the part that strikes me as insane; rather than merely scummy(Path of Exile might get a pass on selling inventory space; because that’s how they make money on a free game. I seem to remember Fallout 76 being a full priced title…)
Selling servers where you and your pals get to make the rules has been a viable enterprise since the before times(back when ‘private server’ was more about paying for the server and bandwidth, with it being more of a commonplace that the software to run a server instance, and even your own mods, was just a thing that would be available); and, given that the rather hollow and ‘inertia-less’ feel of the ‘worldbuilding’ imposed by the fact that there is no persistent world, just a bunch of expendable instances to hop through, has been a major complaint I would have assumed that charging people a modest fee for a genuinely persistent instance that they can merrily Minecraft around in would be a slam dunk.
Instead, it sounds like we get an almost-as-ephemeral instance with the ability to keep randoms out. Hooray?
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I guess they have to pay for the servers some how cause I can’t imagine there is till large community still actively playing it after Bethesda’s repeated screw ups. Though I would think something like this would have gone over better if done after they added promised content.
I’m glad I never got into Fallout 76, it just seems like a bad game over all. Bethesda must be desperate if they have to use this and future MT scams to get money.
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The way I hear it is the servers are non-persistent. It doesn’t change over time. As soon as you turn off the game it resets. Also 8 players on your private server doesn’t amount to much…
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Well, the server maximum is like 20-24 on the public servers. It’s not like regular MMOs that way. It’s more an individual game with the option for small teams as desired. I generally play solo, although I do take advantage of other players’ vendors for equipment.
It would be wonderful if builds were persistent after logout, but that doesn’t work with the small (compared to Minecraft) map size and server distribution style. Camps disappear when the players leave either way. As it is, you sometimes get notifications that your camp can’t be placed, because someone else is setup in an overlapping area. So I suppose a private server means you could get together with your regular group of seven friends and make a collaborative town that shows up when you all login together. Feels a bit hollow to me, too.
I did play a few minutes on a private server, solo, last night. It was oddly lonely. More like the single player games, obviously. I suppose it helps out with farming and such, to be able to run an event and then be assured you have all the mobs and spoils to yourself. That’s been touted as one of the biggest features by many. Hell is other people, I suppose.
And yes, I did get the subscription package, because I know I’ll keep playing at least until the next DLC launches. Like everyone else, I was irked by the delay and questioned their timing in launching FO 1st. It does smack of desperation on their part.
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Obsidian and The Outer Worlds FTW (I hope).
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Desperate Bethesda is desperate.
From everything I’ve seen, I’m glad I didn’t hop onto this train, in spite having bought every Fallout game prior to this. Yes, even Fallout Tactics. Mainly because I wouldn’t be “buying” this game, just renting it.
Instead, I’ll be picking up The Outer Worlds tomorrow and enjoying the spirit of Fallout without Bethesda’s shitfest.
@SeamusBellamy I spotted a couple typos: “seen fit to longe in the bed” and “but It’s fair” (lowercase “i” needed)
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Fallout games were always glitchy, but there’s a large difference in immersion and storytelling when interacting with NPCs who inhabit the Fallout timeline versus interacting with random dickweeds who are playing a Fallout game.
I will never be interested in the latter.
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Was it though? I seem to remember it being announced and released in pretty short order with a lot of “wait, what now?” around it. I mean “new Fallout game” was out there longer and there was anticipation on that was there. But once it was announced and clearly a multiplayer game i mostly remember confusion.
Every one? Even the Brotherhood of Steel on the consoles 
We have that, even Fallout 76 because they paid us $100 to take it (needed to replace our 360, the One X / 76 bundle was $100 cheaper than the plain X). I still haven’t played 76, my wife has once or twice and that’s it.
Like you, I can’t freaking wait for Outer Worlds.
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Yeah, even that one. I can’t say I enjoyed playing it, but I did buy it.
Have you actually played it, though? You complain about being “being attacked every five minutes by other players,” but I’ve played the game off and on for about a year and basically never have been attacked by other players.
The subscription model is laughable shit, but I’ve noticed that a HELL of a lot of the people bitching the loudest about Fallout 76 are people that either never played the damn thing in the first place, or played for like a week during beta and then stopped.
The game sounds dystopian on many levels.
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Surprise. It’s currently a mess
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I’m beginning to suspect that Bethesda may not actually be very good at being a services company…
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They definitely don’t have the same experience with online services as other companies do, though their biggest enemy is how cheap they’re being about the whole thing. They’ve jerry rigged an old engine to do things it was never meant to do, long standing bugs since Oblivion was a thing weren’t patched and when F76 became a thing those patches broke the game. Had they done the title with a new engine, or done a single player game with the existing engine they would’ve not caught as much flak.
I did play quite a bit of F76 and i loved it despite its shortcomings, i think there’s something worthwhile there in spite of Bethesda’s incompetence but i would’ve loved a single player version of the game.
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ESO is doing fine, isn’t it?
Yeah that’s one of the major issues I had. When they removed human NPCs, they mentioned because they wanted people to play the role of the NPCs. But they didn’t offer any technical solution to organize as a group (raiders, settlers, etc.) and so groups didn’t form, unless you say that everyone became raiders…
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