To start off the new year, Fallout 76 presented premium membership players with an Open Office Filing Cabinet as their exclusive item of the month. Fallout 1st members weren’t at all happy with this. Though aside from the general dissatisfaction, this move also highlights the bigger flaws in Fallout 76’s subscription service.
Fallout 76 is an online role-playing game that was released in 2018. It features the mechanics of previous Fallout games, but differs in that it allows players to explore the wasteland with friends. In 2019, the game first unveiled its paid subscription service, which has been the subject of a number of controversies.
The Filing Cabinet Controversy
The Fallout 1st subscription service costs $12.99 a month and $99.99 a year. It promises players private, customizable worlds, unlimited storage, and a range of exclusive discounts. Once a month, subscribed players also get a free item, which can be anything from armor to skins, and even objects for camp building.
For January 2022, Fallout 76’s free premium item was an Open Office Filing Cabinet, similar to the filing cabinet model from Fallout 4, but with a noticeably cleaner exterior. Unsurprisingly, players were not happy with the first free item of the year, especially considering previous options, like a range of Abstract Paintings, a Crocolossus Statuette, and a functional Downed Plane Generator. Additionally, players pointed out that the Clean Office Cabinet — another office cabinet variant — could easily be claimed as one of the rank rewards from season three. This makes the Open Office Filing Cabinet seem far less exclusive.
Following this, many users shared their qualms on social media, with some even canceling their Fallout 1st memberships altogether. Much of the community felt that Bethesda was growing less and less concerned about providing a quality experience for Fallout 76 players. Some more optimistic players, however, are hoping that this dip in quality is temporary and can be attributed to Bethesda putting more focus on the next expansion, Expeditions. Though regardless of how much Bethesda already has on its plate, how difficult is it to create 12 new and interesting items per year?
With the damage already done, the Fallout community has taken to poking fun at the Open Office Filing Cabinet, posting sarcastic responses and even making memes about it. Given that Bethesda is making no move to change its premium item of the month, the criticism is likely to continue.
Fallout 76’s Flawed Subscription Service
The filing cabinet debacle is a symptom of a bigger issue surrounding Fallout 76’s paid subscription service — its value for money. Since Fallout 1st’s launch, players have been questioning Bethesda’s inclusions in the service. For example, many take issue with how private worlds and unlimited storage space are only reserved for Fallout 1st members, given that these were highly requested ever since the game’s release. In the end, it was a question of whether these relatively basic features should be put behind a steep paywall.
What’s more, these features weren’t even bug-free upon release. Players reported that their private worlds were actually joinable by anyone on their friend list and not invite-only. Others also shared that they were losing items after placing them in their unlimited storage container. This, again, raises the question of whether the Fallout 1st subscription is truly worth its price.
However, the developers assure that there are plenty of special features planned for premium subscribers, such as mod support. Though over three years later, this has yet to be implemented, leading to more criticism. As it stands, Bethesda looks to be advertising its subscription service with potentials rather than existing features.
The filing cabinet issue has stoked the flames of controversy once again, with questionable inclusions, bugs, and, most recently, lazy rewards at the forefront of it all. It isn’t doing Bethesda any favors. Now, given Fallout 1st’s less-than-stellar performance and unchanged subscription fees, fans are starting to wonder whether Fallout 76 is worth their money, or their time.
Fallout 76 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
