I just wanted to share. I have experienced this. I have yet to be 'attacked' by a fellow player, and it is often that we will put together a 'welcome package' and leave it at the exit of the vault. so a new player can stock up on food, water, ammo, and a 10mm with a few hundred rounds to get them on their way. I have traded goods and such and even helped a guy on a few quests.

while the level up process is slow, the game mechanic is off. I will see everything from a level 1 ghoul that I take down with one swipe of my melee weapon and a few minutes later overrun by level 58 super mutants. I dont even seem to have anything that can kill them. anyway, I am having fun. taking it slow. this is a good read about the community that has evolved in the game.

Link to article

“These are not mine,” reads the crumpled note, in handwritten scrawl. “Not anymore. Perhaps they will give you the comfort that I have lost.”

Ordinarily, Fallout 76 players would find this letter in a mole rat-infested church in Charleston – Bethesda’s level design team placed it inside a coffin. That’s not where I’m reading it. Instead it’s in a paper bag at the feet of a visitor on the decking of my camp, alongside a handful of plans for weapons and enough food supplies to see me through the day. A gift. It’s not the message the note was written to convey – but it makes sense in this new context, repurposed by players.

Since my partner and I built our post-apocalyptic riverhouse – spacious, detached, one bedroom – we’ve become well-practised in hosting other players. Situated at a crossroads just outside Morgantown, an early stop in Fallout 76’s main quest, our home sees a lot of traffic. We’ve become accustomed to noticing the map markers highlighting curious players appearing on the porch, throwing the front door open, and ushering them in. Down they come, past the potted plants and irradiated milk dispenser, out into the glue garden where we grow crops for the vegetable starch that holds our guns together, and over to the purifier that glugs water straight from the stream and cleans it for public consumption. Essentially we’re reliving Liam Neeson’s plan for Project Purity in Fallout 3, reducing the water pollution of the wasteland, only one resident at a time.



What we’ve found is that in this oddly benevolent survival game, generosity begets generosity. Once weighed down with plastic bottles filled with sweet H20, guests often disappear inside to find our stash box. They’re not stealing, since Fallout 76 stash boxes link to the stored goods of whoever opens them. Instead they’re checking for stuff they’re happy to part with. Blueprints they’ve already learned, food they can’t fit in their bellies before it goes off, bundles of stimpacks, entire power armour stations – we’ve seen the lot dumped gratefully on our doorsteps.

Where it gets really interesting, though, is in how this exchange is communicated. While Fallout 76 is filled with voices – recorded on holotapes and transcribed onto terminals, replacing the game’s absent NPCs – almost none of them belong to players. It’s extremely rare to hear the telltale heavy breathing of the game’s radius-based mic chat. That’s probably symptomatic of an audience primarily inherited from the long-running single-player games, naturally drawn to solo exploration and wary of other players. The humans of this West Virginia are mostly mute, leaving the words to John Denver and the rest of the crooners on the radio.

Unfortunately, Fallout 76’s emote system isn’t particularly comprehensive either. On the default wheel, there’s no way to say goodbye, no way to apologise for accidentally slugging a stranger in the shoulder during a panicked ghoul encounter. It doesn’t help that many of the subtler expressions are saved for the store, earned either via a trickle of challenge completion points or real money.



Instead, just occasionally, we’ve started to see players speak with the voices they find in the world. Environmental storytelling has been a part of Bethesda games for decades – particularly in the Fallout universe, which is as much concerned with the lives of people in its alternate October 2077, the month the bombs fell, as those in its present day. Yet Bethesda’s efforts have stagnated while others have pushed the form forward. In Gone Home, indie developer Fullbright was able to layer the histories of several characters across a single space by asking you to dig up the stories of just one house. And in Firewatch, a walkie talkie turned objects into prompts for conversation, changing environmental storytelling from archaeology to live improv.

Fallout 76’s buried stories, while often masterfully told through meticulous object placement and snippets of script, are no different in style to those you could find in Fallout 3 ten years ago. But unexpectedly, its players are taking those tools and doing something completely new with them, speaking to each other in a fashion Bethesda couldn’t have predicted.



We’re back at camp, but not at our riverhouse – instead it’s an open air arrangement of workbenches huddled around a wood fire, left behind by the Overseer for new players to discover after they stumble, blinking, from Vault 76. A level 7 survivor hammers away at a piece of armour, but as we watch, his health bar slowly dwindles – he’s starving.

A couple of donated mole rat chunks later, he’s saved. In return, there’s another paper bag on the ground – this time containing just a recorded message, titled ‘Jacob’s holotape part 3’. It’s one element of a multi-stage story told across a shopping mall, about a man deliberately sent into danger so a fellow survivor can steal his girlfriend. But here that doesn’t so much matter. As Jacob monologues about scavenging for old candy bars, it’s clear our level 7 friend is telling us about his own experience struggling to stay fed. He’s grateful for the intervention – and a holotape said it better than any mumbled thank you over a PlayStation mic ever could.

They've made a number of "improvements," mostly fixes. Some things have been nerfed to increase grind, but all the online games seem to be doing that. Mining, and taking over workshops, is hardly worth it due to nerfs. How long power cores last has been nerfed, you need the perks to put it back where it was.

The quests are just to get you started really, doing the events can be worth it. I leveled up quickly by wandering around and killing lots of things. Following the main quest line will have you killing quite a few.

One thing that hasn't been dealt with, ever, was the imbalance when a high level character is around. With regular monsters, in a group, it can be a bummer for low level characters, even though they "power level."

There are a bunch of good things, like the stash is now 800. Loot and spawning of junk is much better, legendary items spawn more often. I think these things are very much due to them clamping down on cheating/exploiting.

The final boss is basically impossible, because people who are level 200+ either spawned the mission, or show up.

I've been amusing myself by appearing to low level players and gifting them with the high damage and durability fire axes I can make. It's a good backup, or even primary melee, weight to damage ratio is high.

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
I've been amusing myself by appearing to low level players and gifting them with the high damage and durability fire axes I can make. It's a good backup, or even primary melee, weight to damage ratio is high.

I do the same thing.
Plans, weapons, etc...

Random karma.

quote:

Originally posted by rainman64:

quote:

Originally posted by arcwelder76:
I've been amusing myself by appearing to low level players and gifting them with the high damage and durability fire axes I can make. It's a good backup, or even primary melee, weight to damage ratio is high.

I do the same thing.
Plans, weapons, etc...

Random karma.

Frick me. I was playing this weekend and I needed to farm some plastic to fix my melee weapon. so I decided to head into town to grab some salvage. there was a nice shop someone set up so I did my scrap/repair thing etc. as I was finishing up a 168 level player (the owner) walked in, they get out of their armor and I wave, they give me the thumbs up and start messing with their PIPBoy. I figure they want to trade so I go grab a legendary, but still 30 plus levels from being able to use it, weapon and prepare to offer trade. (i was out of stimpaks too). sure enough, she put a bunch of stuff in the bag she thought I would need (including 30 stimpaks) and I took some and left the weapon and some ammo for it. I waved again and headed out.
a few minutes later the person is standing next to me in town. I turn and wave, and they wave and then step aside and leave behind a full set of T-45 armor, fusion core and all. I step out of my raider armor and step into the T-45 and give them a thumbs up and a wave, they do the same and then they logged out.

Probably one of the coolest PvP experiences I have ever had. I am starting to realize how much I love this game and look forward to playing it and exploring the 'lore' as well. Not Oxhorn exploring but I do enjoy reading the terminals and finding the artifacts and such. I am starting to leave pipe weapons and 10mm and ammo, water and food at the exit to the vault at the beginning of each session. I may move my shack to one of the roads as well to make it more accessible.

They bumped the stash and base build limit. I now have a pile of missile turrets.

The PvP needs tuning, people with legendary weapons are all but untouchable, such as a two shot exploding (X). If one of these people is being a dick, the only chance is if you're playing with friends. Or if you manage to find a full set of armor that reduces damage from other players.

Thank goodness....the stash limits were driving me nuts. I haven’t been able to run since I first started playing!

The only quest I have left still is the final nuke, it's easier with a crew, and people I know either aren't playing, or are way lower level than me.

Otherwise, as Airsoft Guy says, it's "Fallout Nature Hike." I just enjoy wandering around and looting. Which might sound boring, but it's a fucking vacation from the "outrage" going on 24/7.

Saw a level 362.

Well, melee damage got nerfed, now you're at a severe disadvantage to ranged. So, not much point in melee without the high damage, considering the amount of damage you'll soak up.

*Edit-

Not exactly a damage nerf, but now you can only do the max melee damage in power armor. So, a non power armor build is at at less 100dmg per hit disadvantage.

I can only assume they're fiddling with damage, I can do shotguns and heavy weapons with this build without moving points around, just swapping perks.

Here is what I've settled on:



Because of radiation, and the steep advantage of power armor in nuke zones, I gave up on a non-power armor build. I still spend most of the time outside of the power armor though. Non power armor builds can't come close to the energy/damage resistance, and the rad resist perk is meh, you can just wear a radiation suit for 1000 when needed.

The mutations aspect is interesting, I might give it a try.

I started over using the xbox version rather than PC. A few friends started playing and we are having a great time.
Last night we rocked a sheepsquatch and had a blast. I also made my excavator armor (i was ready with plenty of springs, screws, and black titanium)

We are really having a lot of fun. What do you guys think of the vendor mod?

Playing with friends is maximum fun. I still roll solo now and again.

Free trial going on if anyone wants to give it a go.

also, NPC's are returning and there is a new Battle Royal mode involving the overseer of Vault 51.

I have a few stages left in the main quest line, I honestly dont even know if I will finish once I get the X-01 armor plans. But dang I am having fun

quote:

also, NPC's are returning and there is a new Battle Royal mode involving the overseer of Vault 51.

ARC,

I was trying to get the X-01 Quantum paint, but when I get in the hidden room at Overlook Cabin, it is glithed and I cant get to the keypad. I have done it 3x and the reddit crowd states just server hop till you find the Dome 7 door open. Have you had any luck with it? - Red

We started playing this again. It's a nice chill hike through the woods, where I occasionally yell at you.

Occasionally?

quote:

Originally posted by Skull Leader:
Occasionally?

Stop calling the Super Mutants "orcs".

It's definitely fitting the bill for the chill I need currently.

Wander about, gather a sundry of office supplies and other detritus. Build a base. Take electronic naps.

Completed launching a nuke tonight. Some time when more of the crew is on, we'll do the scorchbeast queen.

Is that what you nerds were doing while I was getting high on cold medicine?