Fallout 76 - First Impressions #8 - Modding Fallout 76
1In the past, you could argue that Bethesda games just needed mods basically from the start, but it wasn't as bad as people make you believe, in my opinion. I played Morrowind, Fallout 3 and Oblivion without mods for ages, until I started playing these games on PC. And I could easily forgive the game its many flaws, because you got this awesome experience in return.
This is not so much true in Fallout 76. More than ever, this is an unfinished product, which is apparent in basically every aspect of the game. Just look at my previous videos in this series and you'll know what I mean.I can think of countless mods I want right now, such as: stutter removal, a better UI, smarter enemies and something to allow me to keybind stuff, because my keyboard has so many buttons, but this game has so few options for binding them in a way that makes sense.
Tough luck though, because modding won't be supported for at least a while. Some online sources, like Rock, Paper, Shotgun are hinting it might take at least another year before modding is supported. Not great, but let's think a little bit about how modding could work.
Given that Fallout 76 is an online game with dedicated servers, meaning you're playing this on Bethesda's own servers, I think modding can be done in 3 ways.
The first way is the way that Bethesda has currently opened up for us, unintentionally I might add, where its dedicated servers are trusting our PCs, the clients, too much. As a result, a lockpicking cheating mod was found working in Fallout76, which obviously should never happen. This means that clients, our PCs, have access to server data which determines what the sweet spot is for a lockpick. You might think this is relatively innocent, but looking at this from an IT perspective, this is a pretty big issue. I'll get to this in a little bit, but for now Bethesda said they would fix this, which means this option is off the table. You might risk a ban from Bethesda if you're modding this way, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.
The second option is one similar to Vermintide 2. Players are allowed to install mods on their PCs, and then some of these mods will be allowed by the game. Vermintide 2 allows players to use Quality of Life mods, like UI mods and such, on their official realm. Bethesda could allow players the same thing, trusting these mods on their servers, which results in a separation between approved mods that give players no specific advantage, and mods that aren't approved and won't be allowed on the servers. Or they could run some dedicated servers without any modding restrictions. Call them Chaos Servers or something. Not sure what would happen there, but I think it'd be pretty hilarious, running around on others peoples creations. I personally like this model and found it working very well in Vermintide 2.
The third option is to allow players to create private servers, which results in someone creating their own instance of Fallout 76, including mods. The host can then install mods in the game world, or determine which mods are allowed, so people can use them. It's still not as easy of course, but this is probably the best option if you want total modding freedom. It does have a steep requirement, which is either you hosting your own server or trusting someone else and play on their world. Bethesda currently hasn't mentioned too much about private servers, so it's not coming anytime soon I think. I do look forward to this though, with private worlds and modding fun for years to come.
All of this does result, unfortunately, that right now, modding options will be very limited. The options that are there aren't really encouraged by Bethesda, and some sources online speak of players risking bans if you try to mod this game. They argue, that by installing mods and interacting with the official servers, you're basically hacking them. And they're not wrong. Yes, its of course a servers responsibilty to protect itself, but from a networking perspective, you are basically trying to get unauthorized access to an external server, in this case a dedicated server from Bethesda which you're trying to influence and gain an unfair advantage, by using the lockpick mod. This could potentially result in bans, like IP-bans for example.
Now, I don't think Bethesda will go that far, but the line between installing a mod like this and intentionally cheating, is very thin. And people hacking and cheating in Fallout 76 could become a real issue real soon, so there's no telling what policy Bethesda will use. Just to be safe guys, don't start modding this game just yet, unless you're sure you're not crossing any boundaries here.
If you think these video's are useful and helpful, consider subscribing! Ask your questions in the comments, I'm happy to respond to them and I'll see you in the next episode of my first impressions for Fallout76. That one will be the conclusion of this series, the wrap up, if you will.
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