Last week, Bethesda released a short trailer for Fallout 76’s much-anticipated Wasterlanders expansion, the one that promises to bring NPCs, and new quest lines, into Appalachia. After watching it several times and mulling things over repeatedly, I’ve come to the conclusion that it looks…fine. Have at yourself if you’ve not already seen it: 

Video from YouTube user Bethesda Softworks

In short, it looks like players will be dealing with two new factions – the settlers and raiders – which does make sense, at least, in the grand timeline of Fallout.  Over on its site, Bethesda promises that the expansion will also introduce “new locations, new enemies, new weapons, a new reputation system and much more.” (Can’t tell if that much more sounds tempting or devious.) As well, there will be new items/bundles, which are based on the new factions, that players can purchase. As well, the expansion will be available for free for all Xbox/PS4/PC owners of the game, and the game is also being released on Steam, and a new physical copy of the game with the expansion will be available as the aptly-titled Fallout 76: Wastelanders (with a deluxe edition, if you want all the bundles).

So, if you’re sitting by your calendar with baited breath, all this is happening on April 7^th, so best ready your power armor and steel your resolve!

Me…eh, I don’t know. Since shelving Fallout 76 late last year, I’ve not really had any pangs to return to it. (For any sort of Fallout fix, I think I’d rather play Fallout: New Vegas again, especially since The Outer Worlds is still pretty fresh in mind.) I like the idea of Wastelanders, but I really feel like with the issues that game has had of late – it’s still problematic for many, though at least the fervor over Fallout 1^st subscribers versus everyone else seems to have died down – it probably won’t be the most joyful experience for everyone playing.

Though, I’m probably not the best one to judge, what with my extremely limited MMO experience. In my head, I see Wastelanders in a manner similar to Neverwinter, whereby players who are following specific quest lines all gather around a particular quest giver, of which there are several but not tons (like in ESO) and then everyone goes off following the new breadcrumb trail to do whatever task(s) they’ve been given. In Neverwinter, there’s a real ease to taking and managing quests, and for some reason, I don’t think things will be all that easy in Wastelanders. Because honestly, all I see is in my head is my low level character being eked out of quests thanks to loads of 100+, 200+, 300+ level characters throwing off the game’s scaling (for me).

I mean, I could be absolutely wrong on that very speculative point, but it’s enough for me to only pencil in the April 7^th update, maybe download it, and then simply watch what happens from the Reddit/forum sidelines.

Lede image captured by author from Fallout 76: Wastelanders – Official Trailer 1 © Bethesda Softworks LLC.

If you’re a Fallout 76 player, what are your thoughts on Wastelanders?