I make a lot of jokes at the expense of Fallout 76, mostly because while Fallout 4 isn’t perfect, it was the one I have taken the most joy from in my time with the series. It is a single-player game (4, that is), and from about five minutes in, you become the god of the wasteland. Fallout 76, on the other hand, is another multiplayer game where you are expected to continually pay for your experience to be seen as worthwhile against “Spoogel0rd69XXX.” From its leaks and then announcements, I’ve had issues with the fact the game is online only.

I’ve always had these issues with online games, as I’ve made clear when speaking about GTA V Online. However, the only saving grace of GTA’s Online mode is private lobbies, a thing Rockstar messed up when you are transitioning in and out of games, challenges, and missions at one point. Private lobbies provide those who want to play either with friends or on their own, a place to play. At least then you don’t have to hunt down “URm0msgazmmast3rx6x9x” for your stuff or revenge.

Luckily, almost a year on from release, Fallout 76 is finally getting this update to introduce private servers for groups and players. As Bethesda announced late last week, players will be able to select a “Private World” option in the main menu alongside Adventure and Nuclear Winter’s beta modes as well. In the blog post, there is not a narrow date for when this will be coming, though they do say it will be at some point this week.

For those that would like a private server, however, you will have to pay Bethesda just a little bit more by the sounds of it. “Our goal for players who purchase this service is to offer something for everyone,” states Bethesda in the post, “not just those who want a private server.” This statement following the acknowledgment that it is the most common community request. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that sounds like people who buy a game about the world ending and them being one of the last survivors, just want a solo experience. One could be mistaken for suggesting a single-player game of all things.

However, don’t get your vault suit on just yet if you are a solo player, for there is more announced in the post. Some of you may have remembered the promise of human NPCs at this year’s E3, a thing that was speculated to release this autumn (Fall if you want to be pedantic and American about it) or early-winter at the latest. Well, you won’t be getting your typical human-NPC/Fallout experience this year. Bethesda has stated the delay is expected to push the free “Wastelanders” DLC to “Q1 next year.” This puts the DLC’s release to January, February, or March; when every other Triple-A game releases.

Nevertheless, Bethesda also wanted to update everyone on their challenges, atoms, the atomic shop, and you. How? By sounding as if they want to normalize their microtransactions, not just as far as cosmetics go, but overall. The most concerning of the paragraphs for those who despise, loathe, and other synonyms for my hatred of paying beyond the initial price, will squirm and wriggle at how contemptuous it is to those who believed them in the first place.

Bethesda’s main concern is to reward every player for playing how they want; because it is easier than designing an experience for the player, so they are looking to reward all. This will be done through challenges and other ways of earning Atoms to unlock the items at the Atomic Shop. The second paragraph in particular states, “Our approach to these items at launch was to keep them purely cosmetic.” Now they are rethinking that statement; or backtracking to you and I, to make sure everyone is spending down at the Atomic Shop.

Nonetheless, this creepy mess of back peddling continues with a statement on the items added since April, including their refrigerators. “These have since become the most popular category in the Atomic Shop,” says Bethesda after listing several items that caused quite a bit of contention as players called the said items “pay-to-win.” Moreover, Bethesda notes that they are continuing to work on new items and cosmetics. All of this sounds very concerning for those who do cry “pay-to-win” as Bethesda may be looking to do more like the refrigerators.

Though we continue a little further into this update of a blog post to see, “We want to create an Atomic Shop experience where players feel good about spending their hard-earned Atoms,” says Bethesda. So money? By the statements, introduction of challenges, and a larger push towards the Atomic Shop, one can’t help but believe Fallout 76 is going to become a little more grind-y in the near future. If not that, it will be creating a three-tier system of the haves, have nots, and the ones that grind for days for every last thing they have. I’ll return to my statement on GTA Online being awful.

I surely hope that this is not the intention of Bethesda, though it does not sound good for players of Fallout 76. If there are still more than three of them left following Bethesda’s propensity to step in it at almost every single turn.

Nonetheless, throughout the rest of 2019, Bethesda are looking to provide quality of life updates for the existing game as well as general bug fixes. They are also working on new events for players, a legendary player system, public test servers, perk load-outs, and more.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.