How is Fallout 76 an RPG?

Some Guy

First time out of the vault
I've seen YouTubers try and show how it's still an RPG but I just can't see how it is possibly a roleplaying game without any decisions that effect the story or world
 
Well, you can collect notes or not. I think that classic Fallout devs would have used in their titles if only technology back then allowed it.
 
Well, you can collect notes or not. I think that classic Fallout devs would have used in their titles if only technology back then allowed it.
Classic Fallout devs wouldn't have used more notes and stuff, because the classic games were focused on the present, not the past. The past was just backstory on how the apocalypse happened.

They used all the notes they wanted to in the games already. :dance:
 
I've seen YouTubers try and show how it's still an RPG but I just can't see how it is possibly a roleplaying game without any decisions that effect the story or world

Do you have any links to the videos? I would like to watch and rage over it.
 
When they first announced FO76, I knew it was going to be shit, because I had played FOnline before that, and had idea about how another online Fallout would be. Fallout was essentially a role-playing game and Bethesda had already butchered the role-playing aspect of it in FO4 and now they were talking about a game with "no NPCs". NPCs are the main mechanism used by the game to react to your actions, which is pretty much how you role-play in a game, and also no NPCs means no roles, thus no role-playing. An online Fallout game cannot be an RPG, unless the players put out an extra effort to role-play, which is a foolish thing to expect from an average gamer.

Skill development is a game play mechanic mostly role-playing games have, but it's not role-playing. Can be a part of role-playing but only if the game acknowledges it through NPCs and with skill specific content. Such as a pacifist playthrough in Fallout, e.g. mostly relying on high speech skill to get through the game.
 
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Here's a couple


My thoughts on the first video is that this youtuber only knows 5~10% of what RPG means. I also laughed at the part where the article said Fallout 4 skill systems are great.

For the 2nd video... He does understand RPG elements by showing complicating to simplistic skill chart in elder scrolls games at the beginning of the video. That being said, the part after that sounds quite illogical. He says that Fallout 76 uses the complex RPG elements even though the game itself uses similar systems of Fallout 4, a game that uses very weak or no RPG elements despite talking about complex RPG skills at the beginning of the video.


Overall, I think these two youtubers only understand the definition of the "Game" part of RPG. (Especially the 1st one. I think the 2nd one understands it much better compared to the first one, but kinda fails.)

Oh, and thanks for the links to the video BTW.
 
I think this: is probably my favorite example of where 76 failed to even be an RPG mechanically. Its double good because I think the guy's been weirdly positive about the game. Its like watching a man try and stay supportive of someone they openly admit has no character or ability and failing.

Pretty much my arguments against anyone who says you can play a character in 76 is that 'no, you can improve act a character but its using everything from you the player to achieve. And what a player does should have a nonexistent effect on the game-world unless the character is affecting that change. *Playing* a character requires more than having a fleeting concept of an accent and a job you want to do. It can start there but not stop.'
 
When you removed combat from an RPG, it would still have content left that can be played as an RPG. What would happen to 76, if you removed shooting and looting from the game? Would there be anything left at all to be played as a game, let alone played as an RPG?
 
"You can't fix stupid" -Ron White

The people who are saying Fallout 76 is an RPG, any chance they have holes drilled in their head, recently been lobotomized, or suffer from some kind of learning disability? I'm really reaching for anything I can justify how obviously irrational this all is.
 
It isn't, just like System Shock isn't an RPG but it has roleplaying elements.

Oh it has a stat system
*SLAP*
it has no branching quests, factions nor alternate ways the story ends... other than death screens and an "open" world.
 
Of course Fallout 76 is a role-playing game, you play the role of your character, just like in Super Mario you play the role of Mario ;)
 
It's not. I don't see how this is much of a discussion to be honest. Sure you can pretend to be something but that's not what differentiates RPGs from other games. You can pretend to be a lot of things on servers in Garry's Mod and GTA Online servers. At best it would be an Action-RPG but I'd argue that it definitely is not that. It's an action survival game with RPG influences at best. RPG influences usually include perks, leveling up skills and/or attributes, inventories (really really pushing it there), etc. I think that RPG influences being mentioned for many games is too generous. A few things that are shared doesn't even make it a RPG influence in my opinion. That's like saying CoD has RPG influences in the multiplayer in my opinion.
 
While i don't think the game itself doesn't pretend to be an rpg, one could make a case that it can be easier to roleplay there than on Fonline servers, because you can host a private server with only roleplayers, and avoid those pesky HRP players. Although, i find it a bit hard if it is an empty box.
 
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