The launch of Fallout 76 has been... well let’s just say that I doubt it went the way Bethesda was hoping. But as a fan of two MMOs that have really turned things around through communication and perseverance (FFXIV and ESO), I’m hopeful that 2019 could bring good things to Fallout 76. It’s not a quick road back to the good graces of angry gamers, but the following is a list of things that I’d like to see from the dev team in the new year. It’s not exhaustive and is based purely on my own personal wants, so feel free to add in yours in the comments. Note also, this isn’t about bug fixes, but rather content and features I’d like to see added or expanded.
Open the Vaults, Bring on the NPCs
I feel like one of the more important criticisms of FO76 would be solved by something the team likely already has planned for the content drops in 2019. Namely, they’ve already announced that more vaults will be opening in the new year. My hope is that this won’t be just new places for players to spawn from when creating a new character, but rather that they will bring new human NPCs and stories into the Appalachian wasteland.
If you really dig into the writing, there’s a ton of lore and plenty of stories to be uncovered in Fallout 76. One of my favorites involves a secret society of vigilante women and a secret underground base. But there’s no denying that talking human NPCs add something to the world of Fallout, and FO76 could do with adding some human NPC towns and settlements. Heck, who wouldn’t like to see the factions fleshed out even more?
Episodic Quests
With the addition of more people in the wasteland, Fallout 76 could do a lot more long-term storylines, including more info on the various Overseers and their lives after the doors open. Storylines that carry on through a whole year’s worth of content would be something I’d love to see, updating with new patches every month or so. This could also help push their goal of an evolving Appalachia, and could directly tie in the new Vaults as they open.
Actual Guilds and Clans!
I know the reasoning behind this, but it’s kind of weak - 24 players on a server and they don’t want to have it just be all one clan dominating the place... but why not? I mean, obviously it’d be great if they could up the player limit per server, but even a clan limit of 12 people would get most groups of friends to the point where they can have a clan, share camps, and do things together whenever they are on without relying on the “join player” functions in the social menu. In fact, let’s just say I’d like to see a 60-player server in the new year, and real clan functions, along with clan leveling, bonuses, and customizable banners and so forth. If we’re making a wishlist, why not go big?
These are just a few of my wants for the new year when Fallout 76 begins to move beyond fixes and into new content. What about you? What sort of content or features would you like to see? Let me know!
