Bethesda outlines next two big Fallout 76 updates, apologises for radio silence
Building bridges.
Bethesda has outlined the next two major Fallout 76 updates while apologising for its lack of communication with the game's increasingly unsettled community.
The next update is planned for 4th December 2018 and brings with it a much needed stash limit increase as well as performance and stability improvements and balance changes, Bethesda said.
In a post on the Fallout 76 subreddit, Bethesda said the stash limit increases from 400 to 600 with the update. "While this is somewhat conservative, we plan to increase the storage cap further once we verify that this change will not negatively impact the stability of the game," Bethesda said.
This is welcome news. One of the biggest issues with the game right now is the crippling stash limit, which restricts the amount of loot you have at your disposal.
Boss loot will change, too. The update means players should correctly receive two to three items after taking down a boss, depending on the creature's difficulty and level.
Players hit with the Cryolator will now be Chilled, Frosted or Frozen depending on how many times they are hit. The duration of movement speed reductions applied by these effects have also been decreased from two hours to 30 seconds.
The update resolves a bug that means players who die while overencumbered can only respawn at Vault 76 (this happened to me multiple times). The update means overencumbered players will be able to respawn at the nearest discovered map marker.
And the update addresses the stuck in power armour bug. "We're also aware that there are some additional cases where this can occur, and we are actively investigating them," Bethesda said.
Expect patch notes in full for the 4th December update later this week.
Moving on to the 11th December update, this includes bug fixes as well as PC-specific additions, such as push-to-talk, 21:9 resolution support and a field of view setting.
This update also adds a character respec option. After level 50, you'll be able to choose between a new Perk Card, or moving a SPECIAL point you had previously allocated. This sounds useful!
Even better, this update addresses the camp placement on login issue that has plagued Fallout 76 since launch (this is something my colleague Ian has run into and was mentioned in our Fallout 76 review).
Here's the note, from Bethesda:
"Your C.A.M.P. will no longer be automatically blueprinted and stored if someone is occupying your location when you log into a server. Instead, you'll receive a notification that your space is occupied. If you decide to find a new home for your C.A.M.P. on that server, it will be free to do so. However, if you don't attempt to place down your C.A.M.P., you will be able to switch to a new server where that spot is vacant and your C.A.M.P. will be fully assembled and waiting for you."
And finally, the second updates adds Bulldozer, a new camp feature that lets you remove small trees, rocks and other obstructions so it's easier to create your camp. This is very much good news for those who like to build in Fallout 76.
Overall, these updates move Fallout 76 in the right direction, although clearly there remains much work to be done in getting the game into a solid state.
It's been troubling times for Fallout 76 players, with Bethesda remaining pretty much silent since the game's first major patch came out. In its reddit post, the developer apologised for this, saying it would now do more to communicate with players.
"We know you're frustrated and angry at the state of things right now, whether it's the issues you're running into in the game, or the lack of communication about fixes, updates, or news," Bethesda said.
"We didn't want you to think the silence meant nothing was happening. We're sorry and understand this was not the right approach, and we'll work to make a better bridge between you and the dev team at BGS."
Bethesda said it will post articles on a weekly basis "to make sure you know what the studio is working on as it relates to issues you may be experiencing, quality of life requests you have, or new features they're excited to share".
Does the comeback start here?