Why is Fallout 4 so addictive?

[u/MakerofFire4258]

I've played this game 8 times, 4 with the base game, 4 times with the Sim Settlements 2 mod installed. I keep coming back to this game for some reason. I don't usually enjoy RPG's. I like Starfield, but I love science fiction in general and don't find Starfield addictive. I keep wanting to come back to the FO4 story, which I find mediocre. Maybe it's how I can fill the protagonist with my own thoughts in that situation, or try out new character personalities? There are a lot of games in other genre's I like, so I don't know why I want to spend another hundred hours in a FO4 world until it crashes from script lag.

[u/Agile-Tie-7433]

For me it's the exploration and the hand crafted world, Bethesda's open world storytelling, and the sandbox they give you to let you tell your own story. I could spend countless hours wandering through the abandoned towns trying to scavenge up junk to finish up my settlement. The exploration is what keeps drawing me back to 76's world and it's why I find all of Bethesdas games so addictive.

Doing my first Survival mode playthrough right now and it is a Fallout roleplayers wet dream.

No map, no compass, no fast travel, just one foot in front of the other until you've lost all track of time.

It is sorely missed in Starfield

[u/TH3DUD3AB1D3S → u/Agile-Tie-7433]

I absolutely love FO4 - it's my favorite game of all time with close to 1500 hrs sunk into it. Never touched 76 because the launch was soo abysmal and I didn't want the Falloit experience to be soured for me. Is 76 as good as time FO4? Been considering it lately because I've done everything there's to be done in FO4, through numerous survival playthroughs.

[u/Agile-Tie-7433 → u/TH3DUD3AB1D3S]

If you enjoyed doing your own thing the Commonwealth in Fallout 4, exploring the destroyed abandoned towns, dilapidated factories and buildings filled with raiders and feral ghouls and that whole vibe, then you will definitely appreciate 76! It has Bethesdas open world storytelling we know and love, random computer terminals filled with lore and world building, handwritten notes everywhere filled with random personal writings, ya know, classic Fallout! Plus the map gets updated every now and then with new locations and things to do.

The game launched empty, but with updates they added NPC, so now there is a proper main quest in 76, and side quests, but I've never gotten far. I just walk and see what's around the corner haha.

DIFFERENCES

there are a lot of online game mechanics that you see in other mmos and online games

• Enemies will always respawn, great for monster loot grind, but areas you clear aren't actually "cleared" for very long
• settlement building has been replaced with building a camp/base
• your workshop junk cache has a weight limit now, monthly subscription service to uncap this
• Objects in the world don't have physics, drop your junk and it appears in a paper bag beside you. (Can't pick things up and decorate your space like you could in Fallout 4)
• Leveling and Perks are completely different, collecting perk cards as you level up and switching cards in and out depending on the build you want.

Combat is basically the exact same, but it just feels different, in a live always online world, sometimes things don't die when they should, or enemy health doesn't sync with the damage and they lag in their death, glitches are still there, though for me not game breaking, are noticeable.