The Wastelanders update for Fallout 76 is currently scheduled to release on April 7, 2020. That’s roughly one month away and needless to say, players are excited about the changes coming. Probably the most notable is the addition of NPCs. They will make the game a much more social experience and help drive players forward as they’re completing quests.
And yet, it was a strange choice that Bethesda opted to go without NPCs in this first-person RPG experience. Fallout games usually shine bright in this department. The developer’s decision left many scratching their heads and up in arms.
It seems like Bethesda thought removing NPCs in Fallout 76 would be a great idea, at least on paper. That’s according to VP of Bethesda Softworks’ public relations and marketing department, Pete Hines. He recently made a brief statement to USGamer, essentially saying the developer thought PVP would be a much more valuable commodity.
Bethesda thought players would love to compete against each other to see who the ultimate survivor really is. That couldn’t have been farther from the truth. The moment this game launched, players actually shied away from player versus player interactions. It makes sense if you’re just trying to complete missions and level up your character. As you progress through the story, engaging in PVP battles can get pretty tiresome after a while.
Rather, players much prefer to play as a collective — especially when taking on Fallout 76’s higher-leveled enemies. That’s where a lot of the fun has been with Fallout 76 ever since it launched back in October of 2018. Needless to say, it was a huge miscalculation from Bethesda — one they’re hoping to right with this Wastelanders update.
We still have a little bit to go, but the very nature of interacting with actual NPCs sounds like a much better experience. Instead of moving from area to area devoid of any real character interaction, now there will be plenty. Thanks to this update, Fallout 76 should prove to be a much better solo experience.
Some gameplay has started trickling in showing this major update firsthand. Already, it’s showing a lot of promise. There are NPCs all throughout the once lonely West Virginia lands and plenty of mission content to sink your teeth into. Bethesda doesn’t plan on stopping with the Wastelanders update, either. They have a pretty big roadmap ahead, which they plan on revealing once the Wastelanders update has been out and players have had time to settle in. Who knows what Fallout 76 will look like in a couple of years?
