Tag: Update

Community Concerns: Sorry Fallout 76 Players, You’re On Your Own


I hit the breaking point with Bethesda and Fallout 76 so long ago that I couldn’t honestly tell you when I got sick and tired of hearing about this game. In fact, it’s hard to believe that Fallout 76 just hit its one year anniversary. It feels like this game has been a living parasite for roughly a third of my life. I don’t know how many times the public can say “Bethesda can’t get any more incompetent,” only for Bethesda to turn around and indignantly reply:

History should look upon this past week, that of October 20, 2019, the year of our Lord, as when Bethesda threw off the veil and admitted to the world that it just doesn’t care about its reputation, its integrity, or about the quality of its games. Bethesda is going to Bethesda, and Bethesda knows that when Bethesda launches a game, that its legion of sycophant fanboys are going to give them lods of emone. They don’t need to care about quality because their customers don’t expect quality.

Rewind the clock a bit and you have Bethesda admitting to what everyone already knew: That Pete Hines is a Peter Molyneux-tier liar and Bethesda had no intention of keeping to its promise that the atom shop would be cosmetic only. That much was obvious once they started adding in repair kits, but admitting that it has a problem is the first step in Bethesda’s ultimate corporate suicide.

But before I get into the latest heaping pile of trash that Bethesda has served as chicken kiev, I have to ask a simple question: Did anyone expect Fallout 1st to not be a bug-riddled dumpster fire? Anyone? Really? After all this time?

Fallout 1st is a subscription program for Fallout 76, a premium-priced substandard service to complement a substandard game. It’s like paying $13 for a cup of Nescafe instant coffee to complement your entree of a steel-toed boot to the crotch. Fallout 1st had already raised criticism over its blatant pay to win elements; an unlimited scrap stash, placeable fast travel camp, and being forced to pay monthly for non-permanent private servers. Oh and in case you missed the implication, modding is going to be tied behind a paywall if that ever comes to Fallout 76.

But not to worry, because if you thought Bethesda was going to let players pay a premium and reward them you are sorely mistaken. This is Fallout 76, a game that punishes you for showing faith in its improvement.

Keeping in line with Bethesda’s quality standards, Fallout 1st has launched as an absolute wreck. Those private servers you’re paying a premium for? They aren’t private. Players are logging into the worlds only to find themselves in recycled servers that other players have already gone through, complete with dead NPCs and looted zones. Unlimited scrap stash sound too much like pay to win? Bethesda is on it, since a major bug is causing scrap stashes to be completely and irreversibly wiped. Second portable fast travel point sound too powerful? Well you’ll be glad to hear that people are experiencing crashes to desktop when placing them. Evidently Bethesda is utilizing the Rian Johnson approach to subverting expectations.

And all for the low, low price of $99 annually.

I don’t know what to say anymore, folks. There are people who are still playing Fallout 76 and for some reason enjoying it (and more power to them if they are), but the players outraged over the quality of this launch have nothing to complain about. Bethesda threw your asses overboard before this game even launched, and for some reason you keep paying for another ticket to get back on the boat. You keep going back to Big Louie’s House of Turds and then complaining when the poopoo platter you ordered is covered in crap. You know, the same as it was the last time you came to this obviously named restaurant and pre-paid for the same damn order. Someone is smoking meth in this transaction and I’m pretty sure it’s not me.

Fallout 1st is a con, Pete Hines is a compulsive liar, and Bethesda is a racket squeezing whatever it can out of Fallout 76 players. MMO Fallout’s thoughts and prayers go out to those who bought the annual pass for Fallout 1st which will undoubtedly see some major price reduction as another gigantic middle finger to the community. I also have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you, you gullible peons.

Otherwise I have no opinion on the matter.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint “Very Disappointing” Says Ubisoft


Ghost Recon: Breakpoint’s critical and financial performance have been “very disappointing” according to an Ubisoft report released today. Ubisoft released a statement revising financial targets to offer the bad news that the 2019-2020 fiscal year isn’t going to be so hot for the French developer/publisher. Worst of all is that net bookings are expected to end up at €1.45 billion, an admittedly large amount but a long way away from the anticipated €2.185 billion. Operating income has plummeted from an anticipated €480 million to just €20-50 million.

The drop off in sales is primarily due to the “very disappointing” reception of Ghost Recon: Breakpoint which launched in early September on PC and consoles. In addition, Ubisoft notes that development for Watch Dogs: Legion, Gods & Monsters, and Rainbow Six Quarantine will all be extended and will not be released until the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

“However, we have not capitalized on the potential of our latest two AAA releases. For Ghost Recon Breakpoint, while the game’s quality appeared on track – based on E3, Gamescom, previews and our latest internal playtests –, critical reception and sales during the game’s first weeks were very disappointing. As we have done with past titles, we will continue to support the game and listen to the community in order to deliver the necessary improvements.”

Breakpoint has been getting slammed by critics and the public since its launch last month. The game has seen a lot of backlash due to an extensive cash shop that appeared to get priority billing over the game itself which launched with severe bugs and performance issues. Ubisoft’s Yves Guillemot does not address any of the criticisms in the press release, instead blaming the game’s subpar performance on difficulty generating interest for a sequel to a live service game, imperfect implementation of gameplay innovations (whatever that means), and not enough differentiation factors to stick out among the crowd.

“In this overall context, we have decided to postpone the releases of Gods & Monsters, Rainbow Six Quarantine and Watch_Dogs Legion until 2020-21. While each of these games already has a strong identity and high potential, we want our teams to have more development time to ensure that their respective innovations are perfectly implemented so as to deliver optimal experiences for players. This decision will have a very significant impact on our financial results for this fiscal year and goes against our recent successes in building a more stable development model. However, it is in line with our strategy to maximize the future value of our brands for the long term benefit of our employees, players and shareholders. We expect it to have a positive impact on our financial performance as from 2020-21.”

Source: Ubisoft Press Release

Fallout 1st Lets You Give Bethesda More Money For Fallout 76


Now that Bethesda has completely abandoned its stance against pay to win mechanics, the company has announced and launched a premium subscription service for Fallout 76. Dubbed Fallout 1st, the membership costs $13/month or $99 for a year and grants all sorts of goodies to subscribers such as the ability to host your own private server.

You’ll also get your hands on a scrapbox that can hold unlimited crafting components as well as a placeable fast travel point with a stash, sleeping bag, and more.

For more on Fallout 76’s new pay to win systems click here.

Heroes & Generals Retires One Day Membership


Reto Moto has announced the death of one day memberships in Heroes & Generals, to be replaced with three day memberships that can be bought at the cost of two days.

“1-Day Veteran Membership is now a thing of the past, give a warm welcome to the 3-day Veteran Membership! You get 3 days of Veteran Membership for the same price of 2!”

Heroes & Generals currently carries a 55% “mixed” rating on Steam with many reviews pointing toward complaints of pay to win aspects, heavy grind, and reliance on microtransactions in the shop.

Source: Heroes & Generals

Google Gives Us Another Reason To Have No Faith In Stadia


Google Stadia is one of the few places where your money would be better invested in Enron stocks or Zimbabwe currencies.

Now, those of you who read MMO Fallout will know that I consider Google Stadia to be a multi-million dollar scam. Here you have a company selling you a service where you are forced to pay monthly in order to access games that you have to pay full price for as part of a service whose quality wholly depends on the reliability of Google’s servers as well as their connection to your home. What happens when Google decides to shut down Stadia? Product director and accessory to fraud Andrey Doronichev refuses to answer the question and has consistently dodged the question because we all know the answer: You lose access to your purchases for good.

“I hear you. Moving to the cloud is scary,” he said. “I felt the same way when music was transitioning from files to streaming. I still have all my old CDs in the garage… although it’s hard to find a CD player these days :)”

Maybe it is if you’re in the Google echo chamber, but I was able to find a CD player at just about every store I went to outside of the grocery store.

I tacitly endorse people avoiding Google Stadia at all cost, and for a simple reason: Google doesn’t care about its products. It doesn’t care about you as a customer. It treats its products as “experiments” and will readily abandon them and shut down services at a whim, because they no longer feel like doing that anymore. And the people who put money into that product? Google couldn’t care less about ripping them off, it just moves on to the next “experiment” funded off of eager customers.

Don’t believe me? In 2019, Google shut down or announced the shuttering of:

  • Chromecast audio
  • Google Realtime API
  • Youtube video annotations
  • Google notification widget
  • Google Allo
  • URL Shortener
  • Google+
  • Inbox by Google
  • Data Saver Extension
  • Cloud Messaging
  • Youtube Gaming
  • Areo
  • Blog Compass
  • Google Jump
  • Google Trips
  • Works with Nest
  • Youtube for 3DS
  • Youtube Messages
  • G-Suite Training
  • Google Daydream
  • Google Clips
  • Google Bulletin
  • Google Fusion Tables
  • Google translator toolkit
  • Google Correlate
  • Hangouts on Air
  • Fabric
  • Hire by Google
  • Google Hangouts
  • Daydream VR

And we’re supposed to have faith that Stadia will be run for years to come?

I don’t trust Google Stadia because I don’t trust Google. I don’t trust when they say they’re in it for the long haul because anything they could say to reassure me has already been used to lie about previous, now defunct products. I don’t trust that Google won’t suddenly lose interest in the product and then abandon it at a moment’s notice. And what good is the promise today that they are going to keep it going in two years when they sadly announce that it’s coming to an end?

It’s worthless. Google’s word in supporting its products is worthless.

ArcheAge Unchained Is Here For You Pay To Win Haters


ArcheAge Unchained is here and the servers are already being pounded like a Salvation Army drum.

Unchained has been in the works for a couple of years now and aims to provide a different service for ArcheAge players who wish to avoid the pay to win aspects of the main game. As a buy to play game, Gamigo has promised that Unchained will not allow you to buy your way to power. Starter packs begin at $25.99, although you might be better off waiting for a couple of days until the initial rush dies down.

Source: ArcheAge

Gamigo Immediately Cans Plans For Gifting Premium Items in ArcheAge Unchained


Gamigo has dumpstered an idea so fast, the news was barely able to report the original story.

Today’s ArcheAge stream caused a bit of an uproar when Gamigo announced that they were going to allow gifting premium items from the cash shop on ArcheAge Unchained. Since Unchained is supposed to be the version that didn’t support pay to win, the community had a bit of a problem with this strategy. As a result, a number of viewers took to the ArcheAge Reddit to voice their concern.

And Gamigo has listened, and immediately put out a statement that this is no longer going to be the case. The statement has been pasted below for your viewing pleasure.

Hello everyone,
The ability to gift items from the in-game premium marketplace has been disabled for ArcheAge: Unchained.

We are committed to ensuring that our revised game-play experience meets the expectations of our supportive community and is in no way clouded by our past. We considered allowing the ability to gift from the marketplace due to the items being trade restricted and cosmetic. In hindsight, it’s easy to understand how gifting could circumvent the items being bound. The decision to remove gifting was unanimous internally and so it is passed into order.

We’ve worked closely with you over the past six weeks to refine offerings in the premium item shop based on the following criteria:
-All premium items are cosmetic in nature, or provide a non-essential game-play service (renames, costumes, character appearance customization, or UCC)
-All premium items are bound to the character that purchased them and are not tradable through any in-game system (mail, auction house, storage chests, player-to-player trades)
-The gifting of premium items has been disabled

We stand behind our approach to delivering ArcheAge: Unchained and more importantly, remain devoted to you. Thanks for your continued support.

~The ArcheAge Team

Desert Dragon World Boss Comes To Black Desert PS4


Black Desert has a new world boss on PS4 in the form of Nouver. Pearl Abyss released the new boss earlier this week along with a new world boss timetable. World bosses spawn across all worlds simultaneously and share their HP across all servers. Nouver drops a sub-weapon box that contains powerful items allowing players to maximize their AP.

“Nouver is a force of nature that rules over the Desert. Adventurers who attempt to face the behemoth dragon will have to fend off sandstorms, heatstroke and hypothermia to just get to the dragon. Then when you get there, you need to face the beast itself! But with great risks come great rewards, and it is possible to get a mighty item from Nouver.”

Check it out.

Source: Black Desert

RuneScape and Old School Announce Updates At Runefest


This past weekend was Runefest and that means big updates coming for both RuneScape and Old School RuneScape.

First up the big news is that RuneScape is getting a new skill. Archaeology will see players digging up fossils and all sorts of relics and powerful objects that have been lost to time. Archaeology is set to hit in January 2020. Second up on the list is an update to player owned farms, bringing animal husbandry to the land out of time where players will be able to raise, trade, and breed dinosaurs. The ranch will be available by the end of the year. Third up is a series of questlines and lore set to hit RuneScape sometime in 2020.

RuneScape Mobile will go live for all members in early access for all members this year along with an overhauled interface to really put that phone to use.

Over on the Old School side, the Morytania expansion will see more of the vampire world being opened up to players including new quests and the ultimate showdown against the big baddie Lord Drakan himself. The Morytania expansion hits in early 2020. Before then, players will be able to take part in seasonal leagues starting in November 14. These temporary leagues will see players tackling ironman content on the continent of Zeah in return for rewards in the main game.

Phil Mansell, Jagex CEO, was quoted:

“Revealing and sharing our plans for future content is always exciting and this year’s keynotes brought blockbuster news, including our headline new Archaeology skill in RuneScape, Early Access coming to RuneScape Mobile, and Old School’s new Morytania Expansion. The announcements showcase our ongoing commitment to creating significant and meaningful content for RuneScape and Old School, and it was truly rewarding to see the reaction from our players in person and on the live stream.”

Source: Jagex press release

Runefest 2019: Jagex To Discuss New Skill (Archaeology) Today (10/5)


This weekend kicked off Runefest, Jagex’s festival to all things RuneScape. If you want to see some cosplay, buy some merch, and play RuneScape with other people who also enjoy RuneScape enough to fly to England and buy a ticket to a weekend convention, you’ve come to the right place.

Among the upcoming content to be discussed, Jagex threw down the gauntlet in the wee hours of the morning by announcing RuneScape’s next skill: Archaeology. The skill will be discussed more at 17:00 BST (16:00 game time, noon EST) at the RuneScape Twitch account. Tune in 10/5, that’s October 5 for those of you living in the states and May 10 for those living in Europe.

Check it out.