Who is the First Sucker for Fallout 1st?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Explain to me why you're not a moron if it's you.

Upon the disastrous release of Fallout 76, KoopaTV was charitable to Bethesda and didn't write a scathing article. The game was bug-filled, absent of many features, and filled with highly questionable game design decisions. But Bethesda wanted to commit to the games-as-a-service model and has released many patches and updates for Fallout 76 that have repaired some of those glitches. Bethesda even released a battle royale mode and promised human NPCs and full dialogue trees back in their horrific E3 2019 conference (those won't be around until 2020, however, as The Wastelanders update... which as far as we know, is free).

The game has been released for almost a year now, and got a permanent price cut within weeks of release. I'll take the word of Bethesda's die-hard fans that Fallout 76 is worth playing now. Maybe even enjoyable. You can get it for $20 (a time-limited 50% off from $40—initially was $60) at retailers. 

I don't want to argue about it with this guy. He seems terrifying, dangerous, and representative of a typical Bethesda fan.

I'll argue with Bethesda themselves. You see, they need to make up for their immediate permanent price cuts and salvage Fallout 76. Why do they need to? ...They're unwilling to cut their losses and damaged reputation. So here is Bethesda introducing Fallout 1st, available now, which is a $13-a-month auto-renew-by-default subscription (or $100 for a year) to Fallout 76 benefits! (Note, you still need to buy the game separately, and an online subscription on your console if playing on PlayStation or Xbox.)

Fallout 1st features Private Worlds for you and up to seven friends—you can play without randoms (something other games tend to offer for free at launch); unlimited item storage, whatever a survival tent is, $16.50 worth of micro-transaction money (with discounts on micro-transactions—but note they're still there), an in-game outfit, and unique icons and emotes. You don't need the subscription to play the game.

I will argue that everyone can and should not only ignore this subscription, but Fallout 76 entirely. Let's remind ourselves what Bethesda's Pete Hines said a year ago about post-launch content pricing:

“All the content we ever put out for Fallout 76--all the DLC, all the post-launch stuff--is going to be free. That's important. And to say, the Atomic shop is cosmetic stuff. To make sure folks understand--look there's a line. There are people who have crossed it, but we're going to stay on the right side of it in terms of the things you can spend money on and how this stuff works and what you're getting for your $60, [t]hat you know, when they put out new content or features or whatever, I'm getting that stuff for free. That feels right.”

(The Atomic shop, which is the micro-transaction place, later offers more than just “cosmetic stuff.” To make sure folks understand, everything he said then is just untrue now.)


Right now KoopaTV is offering you the opportunity, between September 1 and October 31, to get a FREE subscription to Nintendo Switch Online by getting into KoopaTV's Family Group for one year. Just win the KoopaTV Loyalty Rewards Program! You won't be able to play Fallout 76 with that, though. And it won't auto-renew so you'll need to win again next year. But, hey, you gotta save money somehow.


On what is likely a smaller scale, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has a similar subscription service now.