“Do you think all these developers got together and were like, ‘October 2019. That’s the month we are all going to collectively sh*t the bed. Agreed? Great. Motion Passes.'” Such was MOP’s Andy’s take when this tip floated into our work chat this morning, and you just gotta wonder why Bethsoft would happily join the monthly messes, but here we are.
The news here is that Bethesda has just announced an optional subscription for Fallout 76 called Fallout 1st. If you were wondering how you were going to get access to host the private servers the game’s been teasing for launch this week, welp, this is how. It’s all a bit of a bummer because fury over the sub (for a game that hasn’t pumped out much content across 2019 after a messy 2018 launch and just delayed its big Wastelanders expansion to 2020) has actually taken most of the excitement away from the private worlds release, given that ownership of them will be locked behind that sub. (The chart the studio posted is a bit misleading, but no, you don’t need to sub to play on a private server, just to host one.)
“If you’re a Fallout 1st member, how you use your private world is completely up to you: Invite up to seven of your friends at a time (eight total people per private world) to join you in taking on the dangers of post-apocalyptic West Virginia, or play completely solo. All gameplay remains the same from Adventure Mode and all characters entering the Fallout 1st private worlds must be existing characters. Only the owner of a private world is required to be a Fallout 1st member. Head into your private world, open your Social menu once you’re in-game, and start inviting your friends to kick off the party. You can also create a squad outside of your private world and then switch to it to bring everyone along at once. Should the owner of the private world leave, the world will still stay active as long as one other player in the world is a Fallout 1st member.”
Subbers will also get a monthly cash shop stipend and a crafting stash – both of which will look very familiar to Elder Scrolls Online players who play an actual MMORPG and expect high-end MMORPG-quality content and DLC access for their fee. There’s also a survival tent and cosmetics too. Players will be paying $99.99 per year for the sub or $12.99 monthly.
