Fallout 76 Stirs Controversy in Alleged Pay-to-Win Microtransactions

4.1
Fallout 76 courts "utility" microtransactions with new Repair Kits, that strays from their original promise of keeping the Atomic Shop cosmetic only .
The debate rages on if time-saver microtransactions are pay-to-win. In a recent update to open-world survival game Fallout 76, the still-dedicated community noticed that there were non-cosmetic items coming to the real-money Atomic Shop. This would be a big departure from previous statements from developer Bethesda Softworks that the Atomic Shop would be cosmetic only, plunging the beleaguered game into another round of controversy.

News came from the latest blog post from Bethesda Softworks, discussing some of the expected changes to come both with and after Patch 8. Within that there was a section designated to Repair Kits, new utility items that will (according to Bethesda) “help you spend more time looting and shooting, and less time toiling away at a workbench fixing your gear.”

Both the Basic Repair Kits and Improved Repair Kits are single-use consumables that automatically restores the condition of items in your inventory to 100% or 150% based on which version you are using. Basic Repair Kits will only be unlockable in the Atomic Shop using purchased Atoms or ones obtained in-game; Improved Repair Kits can only be obtained as loot.

It would seem that Bethesda was hoping to preempt the controversy by discussing the change in policy and why they believe adding non-cosmetic items to the Atomic Shop will not impact gameplay. According to Bethesda, they are “exploring ways we can bring other community-driven ideas to the game, such as refrigerators for C.A.M.P.s, ammo and food converters, and eve nthe ability to send scrap to your stash without having to head home.” It isn’t explicitly stated, but it is implied that these features would be available in the Atomic Shop, ultimately creating a vertical where there are cosmetic and “utility” items available.

On the other hand, this is not fait accompli–according to Bethesda, they “plan to make adjustments based on” the community’s feedback which they will source when the feature rolls out.

And the feedback from the community has come in droves… very little of it being positive. Most of the top comments deride the alleged pay-to-win “utility additions”:





The dedicated Fallout 76, normally a beacon of positivity in the game following the infamous Duffle Kurfuffle of 2018, is no less enraged — it has been a sticking point ever since:



Others are donning more collusion-oriented ideas, believing that this was a planned move for some time. To prove this point, the community is pointing to how Bethesda in a recent patch nerfed the White Knight perk — an ability that reduces the wear on armor. With this in mind, the introduction of Repair Kits gives the impression they may be pushing more gamers to the Atomic Shop.

Obviously, there is no way to point if there is any truth to that, but it is disconcerting to see a shift away from the cosmetic-only approach. Bethesda has yet to make a comment to the riled up community, which is a shame–the team has been notably communicating early and often about the direction of the game.



Fallout 76 has taken its fair share of jabs from both critics, fans and retailers alike. On one hand, they have been dealing with issues stemming from major ban-waves where they make the players write essays to return; on the other end, many retailers have begun bundling the game with anything you can imagine to dump stock, including hard drives and used controllers.

Posted:
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://www.dualshockers.com/fallout-76-repair-kit-microtransactions/

Comments

"Fallout 76 Stirs Controversy in Alleged Pay-to-Win Microtransactions" :: Login/Create an Account :: 5 comments

If you would like to post a comment please signin to your account or register for an account.

ScxttPosted:

Haven't really heard anything good about 76, with it being strictly online it doesn't appeal to me

MazePosted:

inb4 they did this for publicity

PeerPosted:

i hope it doesn't turn out to be Pay to win! everybody speculates

AnhurPosted:

Games that have things like repairs/time locked things that can be payed to bypass time is pay to win.

For example, trove is the worst with this. Imagine needing a certain item to make your character more powerful. You need to kill a boss to receive it. No problem. The problem is that you can only kill it 3 times (easy/med/hard difficulty) per week. So you get this item and its RNG that you'll get the right item needed to level your gear. Oh you didn't get it? Sorry wait until next monday. Oh you didn't get it this week either? Tough, wait until next monday. Or you can just get out your wallet and spend 3$ for that box and get a chance at your item. I've also seen games like warframe that you have to wait a long time for something to be built or you can skip that and pay money to speed up the timer.


P2W is bad but P2W Timelocked is the worst. They force you to wait and add RNG aspect to it to make you play more and more until you cave in and spend money to get over that hump.

AnimePosted:

I don't think adding anything will help.