Todd: "Hey lets go get us some of that little kid whale cash, those dumbass' will buy anything that screams and has crafting mechanics..."
Todd after Vault 76 fails to received a comparable sum to forknight: "Add more derp pansy crap (DLC), maybe if we add teletubbies or some other IP destroying gimmick we can make more monies?"
Personally the nail in the coffin for the Fallout franchise was Fallout 4 with it's complete derailing from the basis of design that defined what Fallout was.
From my observation this IP is dead, the problem here is that the consumers that want a viable well made product that caters to the demographic requesting a return to player agency (we grumpy folk). Are simply out numbered by consumers that would rather dispose of their income thought the purchase of sub par, cosmetically pandering content that overtly removed core game mechanics to cater to the [name a demographic, it doesn't matter anymore it will just change with the next release] and consoles.
Consider this then ponder the motivations of Bethesda:
Fallout 3 targeted their shooter/rpg fan base, Fallout 4 targeted their shooter console fan base almost exclusively, Fallout shelter catered to the mobile crowd, and Vault 76 is marketed/designed to cater to the demographic of: online shooter multiplayer console soft survival minecraft crowd?
Literally Fallout no longer has an identify to speak of nor a core demographic it's defined by. Literally Bethesda is just swapping demographics like a 90's kid and cartridge games for the NES bored out of their darn mind. This junk is wild, and I have no idea how in the world they are getting away with this. It's like EA released Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight and everyone loved it, or [name some other destroyed IP].
I'm absolutely confounded that the general population is well, this dumb, easily duped, and content with this kind of overt production of sub par products. Remember New Coca-Cola? People went ape shit over that! Now the vast majority of consumers are content to purchase literal livestock fecal mater in a box in the hope of getting a new card for Cards Against Humanity. Shit's whack yo!
I fear for the future of the human race...