Fallout 76

Well, scratch that plan. The open beta is only scheduled for set windows of time, none of which match up with my schedule. Bummer.

Jetboogieman said:

Half a month til launch mate.

If what my favorite youtubers showed, even remotely comes to pass in the release version this game is a disaster.

Click to expand...

And I really do not care. As already stated, this is a beta release.

And seeing large code changes prior to the actual release is the norm for an MMO. We even see large code changes weeks, months, and even years after release.

And in the case of FO76 we have seen this in the last few weeks. One example was the more accurate leveling of monsters by region. Many of the early players got lucky, as all monsters adapted to their level. So a Level 3 character could fight a Level 35 monster and reasonably expect to win. And gain the loot that the monster carried. That for example is why you had starting characters able to run to the far corners of the game map.

Well, they nerfed that this week, so now if the same battle occurs the character will get his butt handed to him. And this was done on purpose, the developers wanted to accumulate a lot more data in how fights went before they changed the algorithms used to determine outcomes. But at the same time they also reduced the level of monsters seen in the early game sections.

I can only assume you have never participated in any kind of Alpha or Beta program. I have participated in many of them over the years. And sometimes like the one for Guild Wars, the original Alpha builds were ultimately completely different than the delivered product was. Even when they got to the "Public Beta" phase, there were large changed prior to the official release.

Some games like Sims Online still had massive changes long after the game went into full production. One of the things that ultimately doomed that game was that the "Public Beta" was really more like an Alpha (including multiple "World Wipes"), and most consider the delivered program still in a Beta stage, with huge areas of promised content not ready for implementation yet.

In fact, they still had a "Beta World" for the entire run of the game. Where you got free game money in exchange for putting up with buggy code and the chance that every few months everything you had already done would be lost in a wipe.

And to be honest, I largely ignore such "reviews". 9 times out of 10 the people who are making such comments on a still unreleased game are generally against it already. A large segment of the game fandom simply hate the idea of an on-line Fallout, and will hate it no matter what.

SO you found somebody who hates the Beta, so what? I can find a large number of people who hate Jim Carey movies, even if they have never seen it. Simply because of Jim Carey.

Ultimately, what matters is not what a reviewer says, it is what the sales are like.

Myself, I do not plan on getting it any time soon. The only way I can see myself getting it this year is if on Black Friday Walmart has it for a really good sale price. If it does not, then I just might get it sometime next year. Maybe. Then again, maybe not. This game is not real high on my priority list, because I generally get bored with MMOs fairly quickly. The only exception for me was Guild Wars, which I played for about 8 years until I got bored.

I still fire up my Star Trek Online every few months, and generally play a few days before getting bored and leaving it alone for another 4-9 months. Others (like Champions Online and D&D Online) I literally have not played in probably 3-5+ years (but I might try again someday). The only one in the last several years I have forever given up on is Defiance. I have tried it at least 4 or 5 times over the years, and still find it a holy mess even today. I tried it a final time a few months ago, and then just deleted it. It has not changed at all in the last 5 years, and I have no interest to try it ever again.

Probably the only on-line game I will never play again is WoW. I admit, I bought it in late 2008 (pack with the original game an Lich King expansion), thinking it might be a good distraction while I was deployed. I played it for the 3 months free I got, and before I even left the US I deleted the game and have not touched it since. I found the game a huge disappointment, and simply could never justify spending $15 a month for a 14 year old game (now, 5 years old then), when there are many other games (Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, ESO, Rift) have long ago dispensed with the "Monthly Subscription" idea.

jmotivator said:

Well, scratch that plan. The open beta is only scheduled for set windows of time, none of which match up with my schedule. Bummer.

Click to expand...

This Beta is a combination of load test and code clean-up, and game balance test. Basically they open it up for blocks of 4-6 hours, then go through the data mined during the test and make further changes and see how it works in the next window.

From what I have been tracking, now it is mostly down to game balance issues. One of the last things I expect to see handled prior to release is people exploiting the "server hopping" exploit.

Oozlefinch said:

This Beta is a combination of load test and code clean-up, and game balance test. Basically they open it up for blocks of 4-6 hours, then go through the data mined during the test and make further changes and see how it works in the next window.

From what I have been tracking, now it is mostly down to game balance issues. One of the last things I expect to see handled prior to release is people exploiting the "server hopping" exploit.

Click to expand...

Yeah, the Redskins game turned out to be a dud, so I got some time in my schedule to play a few hours today. Here is my quick take: Meh.

It is a pared down Fallout 4 to accommodate multiplayer. The problem there is twofold:

1) When there is nobody around it is Fallout 4 but less
2) When there are people around the atmosphere is ruined

Chat is always on at this point so people will always be able to talk at you even when you don't want it. Most of the people in the game I have encountered have either been immature or game-breakingly nice. But then there was also a guy who was wondering the wasteland who did nothing but whistle western tunes and that was kinda cool.

On the plus side, combat seems a bit more refined than Fallout 4 and I have had a good deal of fun in combat, and I have been able to encounter some NPC battles that I was able to clean up on... so that is good.

I'll play it... but the only new thing added to it seems to be the one that that may eventually drive me away.

Oozlefinch said:

And I really do not care. As already stated, this is a beta release.

And seeing large code changes prior to the actual release is the norm for an MMO. We even see large code changes weeks, months, and even years after release.

And in the case of FO76 we have seen this in the last few weeks. One example was the more accurate leveling of monsters by region. Many of the early players got lucky, as all monsters adapted to their level. So a Level 3 character could fight a Level 35 monster and reasonably expect to win. And gain the loot that the monster carried. That for example is why you had starting characters able to run to the far corners of the game map.

Click to expand...

Dude.

My trepidations about this game come from waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than just the BETA.

Let me start by saying, I love Bethesda Games, I am not just some "hater" out to bash this game simply because.

Immediately upon announcement I was worried about this game for a few reasons.

1. Did anyone really ask for a Fallout Multiplayer game?

2. Bethesda still to this day, has ignored major bugs in Skyrim and Fallout 4, they even had the audacity to not address anything in the Switch Port and charge full price for it while they were at it, bad business form IMO, Bethesda have been given a pretty big pass on game breaking bugs that have been rife throughout all their ES and Fallout titles... That I love to play by the way.

3. So with 2. in mind, I was immediately skeptical that a multiplayer game, 4 times the size of Fallout 4's map, with their track record of buggy games was going to work very well and the following article doesn't bode well, notice the highlighted sections:

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...cknowledged-by-bethesda-pledges-to-fix-issues

The trouble began when Reddit user teetharejustdone posted an extensive list of potential issues with Fallout 76 on the Fallout 76 subreddit. Claims ranged from a lack of server checks to verify models and file integrity, to unencrypted client to client communication (allowing players to view other user's in-game stats and even their IP addresses). And indeed, following the recent discovery Fallout 76 can be modded on the player-side, creations have appeared on Nexus Mods which give players an unfair advantage.

In a statement to Eurogamer, Bethesda confirmed some (but not all) of these concerns are correct.

"Many of the claims in the thread are either inaccurate or based on incorrect assumptions. The community has however called to attention several issues that our teams are already actively tracking and planning to roll out fixes for," a Bethesda spokesperson told us via email.

Click to expand...

Snip

Eurogamer also asked Bethesda for clarification on which claims are inaccurate, but it seems this statement is all we have to go on for now.

While it's difficult to say for sure which of the claims are valid, we do know that Fallout 76's similarity with Fallout 4 is causing a range of unforeseen problems on PC. Modder Neeher previously informed me they'd been able to alter the files easily because "the core of Fallout 76 is basically identical to Fallout 4". The earliest mods have even been created using tools from the Fallout 4 creation kit - talk about making a nuclear fuel rod for your own back.

Click to expand...

The fact they wouldn't be specific about which claims were incorrect is a little bit worrying, the vagueness of that response doesn't bode well in my opinion.

On top of that, from what I've seen a lot of people say, the world is empty, lifeless, devoid of NPC's, most quests are dull, a lot seem to involve being sent to find someone and they almost all seem to be dead people with a Holo-Recording on the ground which can drone on for ages and the combat is very boring.

So I dunno Oozle, I certainly have done my fair share of BETAs, I understand BETAs are not final products, I understand they can be buggy, I understand what their purpose is. But BETA's have in the last few years become marketing tools as well though, they are now largely glorified demos, not to say that is 100% of the reason they are deployed these days but the fact that for example, COD: BO4 and F76 BETA's were locked behind Pre-orders should be very telling as well.

However, I do know that these kinds of games do get very good support after launch, I could be wrong about all of this, but I really don't think so, it's extremely doubtful to me, that the game will release in a good state and it will be some time before they can rectify a lot of the issues in it, if they can really rectify them at all given the problems with the Engine they use.

Jetboogieman said:

Dude.

My trepidations about this game come from waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than just the BETA.

Let me start by saying, I love Bethesda Games, I am not just some "hater" out to bash this game simply because.

Immediately upon announcement I was worried about this game for a few reasons.

1. Did anyone really ask for a Fallout Multiplayer game?

Click to expand...

Actually, yes. There were a great many mods in development for not only Fallout 4 but New Vegas, to try and make it multi-player. And fans have been asking for it for years. Many even complained when 4 came out that it did not have a co-op feature. And the Fallout MMO was a real thing and was in development from 2007-2009 before it was cancelled after the Interplay-Bethesda breakup.

But yea, I get it. This is all about what you want. Guess what, it is not about you. Others seem to like it, get over it.

This is what I hate about fanbois. It is all so personal to them, everything is about what they like or do not like. They love something, everybody has to get into it. They hate it, everybody should avoid it. And from everything you have been saying ("I" seems like every 5th word), you fit that description perfectly.

Myself, I could not care less. Personally, I do not get the thing about Minecraft, but millions love it so more power to them.

Oozlefinch said:

Actually, yes. There were a great many mods in development for not only Fallout 4 but New Vegas, to try and make it multi-player. And fans have been asking for it for years. Many even complained when 4 came out that it did not have a co-op feature. And the Fallout MMO was a real thing and was in development from 2007-2009 before it was cancelled after the Interplay-Bethesda breakup.

But yea, I get it. This is all about what you want. Guess what, it is not about you. Others seem to like it, get over it.

This is what I hate about fanbois. It is all so personal to them, everything is about what they like or do not like. They love something, everybody has to get into it. They hate it, everybody should avoid it. And from everything you have been saying ("I" seems like every 5th word), you fit that description perfectly.

Myself, I could not care less. Personally, I do not get the thing about Minecraft, but millions love it so more power to them.

Click to expand...

Okay mate, I didn't really get the sense there are a lot of people really asking for it, but OK some new information.

The point is not that I'm totally against Fallout 76 as a concept, I have no issue that Fallout 76 exists as a multiplayer game, or its not what I personally wanted, any game can work and I would have been happy to play it IF it didn't appear to have all these overwhelming problems, which was the bulk of my post and something you didn't even address.

I'm not some toxic Fan Boi that's out to get Bethesda, I've owned every one of their products since Morrowind, often across multiple devices, bought multiple times because I love their stuff, I only wish to express my concern that this game isn't going to work very well and I have a ton of evidence to back up that assertion that you've seemingly completely ignored.

I will be happy if I'm wrong and I may buy the game if it turns out I am... But I'm not hopeful.

As far as Bethesda games go, I always play them purely for single player and I have no desire to ever play co-op for Fallout or Elder Scrolls.

PoS said:

As far as Bethesda games go, I always play them purely for single player and I have no desire to ever play co-op for Fallout or Elder Scrolls.

Click to expand...

I am interested in it, but more for the expansion of lore than anything else. That is why I watch channels like Oxhorn, who is big into Fallout lore.

And I will probably get it, someday. Possibly if it is on sale at a good price on Black Friday. And if not then, then at another time, maybe. I have several Elder Scrolls games for both PC and Xbox, but have never got ESO for the same reason.

I play very few games on-line, and those I do I play for their storytelling and enjoyment of the game itself. Guild Wars is one of those few, and I have been playing it for over a decade now. Simply because the story aspect is great, and it being multi-player does not impact that at all.

PoS said:

As far as Bethesda games go, I always play them purely for single player and I have no desire to ever play co-op for Fallout or Elder Scrolls.

Click to expand...

Well, if the full game is released wit the ability to turn off voice chat then you might be able to play it solo. I only made level 10 in the beta, though, but there was a lot of solo exploring to be done.

Ok, I have a few hours of gameplay under my belt and here is my opinion, starting with some handy Pro/Con bullet points:


Pros:
* It's a new Fallout game

* The lack of NPCs is technically not entirely true, you are instead on an extended investigation to find out what happened to all of your fellow Vault Dwellers via clues and journal recordings.

* The bestiary is diverse and often challenging

* You can disable in game speech, and PvP is consensual.

* The Map is very diverse in it's topography and settings

Cons:
* It's an old Fallout Game

* The lack of NPCs is technically true since all of the original vault dwellers, as far as I have found, have been killed... but I am still following the clues.

* the bestiary has a bug where the AI sometimes doesn't kick in until after you shoot them.

* Other players can destroy what you build without necessarily triggering PVP

* Due to multiplayer considerations, there is no finality to decisions on the map... more on that in a minute..


So, first things first, my thoughts on the multiplayer: I don't like it, but I am also fascinated with how the current rules for multiplayer will play out in the long run. When everyone is relatively low level, and most of the map resources aren't claimed, there is a bit of a wild west happening. But as the maps mature I expect a lot of large fortifications to build up around resources, and the real PvP will begin. How much you may want to participate in that is up to you, but I expect that maps will become dominated by factions who will grab and control the renewable resources.

There are some sites that run a bit like Fallout 4 where you can take control and build settlements, but you also have the C.A.M.P. that essentially allows you to establish a build zone anywhere that is persistent, and acts as your res point. The former settlements will come under constant attack by mobs in wave-based sieges. So you can't leave them for long undefended without losing them, and players can challenge you to a fight for ownership which you concede if you aren't online. That isn't really so bad, though, since all you win in that fight if the ability to be the site builder, and most players won't destroy what you have built if they like it, and you don't lose access to the crafting benches or your stash if another player takes over.

The res system is a bit goofball in the continuity sense because what is Fallout if you can't really die? Also you have a central stash that you can build at settlement sites that are all interconnected with other stash boxes all over the map, meaning that you can build stash boxes on the fly that give you access to a protected cache of gear and supplies on the fly. This cuts down on walking back and forth, but the stash is limited to 400 lbs of gear, which fills up fast. Is it a game breaking level of discontinuity? Not for me, I guess. I have opted to build my personal C.A.M.P. way off the beaten path to minimize the chance of other players locating and destroying it, and just participate in these central settlement mechanics on a very limited basis.

The biggest continuity issue for me is that the maps reset a lot, and you can't just pick up where you left off on your next gaming session. There are unmarked save points all over the map that you will warp to when you log back in that are as close to your exit point as is possible, but all the mobs reset, so you lose a bit of the feeling of progress towards cleaning up the wasteland. This also opens the world to resource exploits where certain sites that have a lot of a given resource will be farmed repeatedly by players who loot areas, re-log and repeat.

In the end, it is a new Fallout game that feels more like a gigantic DLC of Fallout 4 (roughly 4 times the size of the original Fallout 4), which is a game I liked very much ... so more isn't a bad thing.

Any takers on how long before Bethesda announces a Battle Royale DLC for this game? I'm thinking 30 days....

I'm guessing nobody else is playing this yet?

I have to say, for all that I dislike about multiplayer, I do find a kind of pleasure in quietly building a secluded base and seeing how much I can actually get done without someone stumbling on my little fiefdom and demolishing it.. and it's something I've never really experienced in a multiplayer game before. I'm literally checking sight lines day and night to make sure that the base is invisible unless you stumble on it. I feel kind of like a moonshiner as I try to conceal my illegal moonshine business.... but substitute moonshine with adhesive and purified water.

Someone will find it eventually, and if they're smart they will pick some fruit, take some water and keep their mouths shut, I reckon. *p-ting*

Your review kind of makes it sound like ARK. The problem I had with that game was that every damned server seemed to be claimed by some clan(s) so you really couldn't build anywhere unless you started a solo game. The solo game ended up being damned near impossible as the dinosaurs you ran across would tear you up before you got strong enough to take them out. Is that what you're talking about with this game?

I may buy it just because it's a Fallout game but, frankly, I've already got a ton of games I don't play because I don't have the time as much as I used to. For example, I bought my first console since the Sega Genesis to play RDR2 and now have MAYBE an hour into the game.

Lutherf said:

Your review kind of makes it sound like ARK. The problem I had with that game was that every damned server seemed to be claimed by some clan(s) so you really couldn't build anywhere unless you started a solo game. The solo game ended up being damned near impossible as the dinosaurs you ran across would tear you up before you got strong enough to take them out. Is that what you're talking about with this game?

I may buy it just because it's a Fallout game but, frankly, I've already got a ton of games I don't play because I don't have the time as much as I used to. For example, I bought my first console since the Sega Genesis to play RDR2 and now have MAYBE an hour into the game.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that may happen, but the map is also kind of is stitched together on the fly based on the random players you get dropped with for that game session. If you don't like who you have on your server then log off and on and you get a new group. This can be weird, though, since the map is stitched together using players and what the players directly own, so if someone builds a big base it follows them from map to map, but won't necessarily be there if you log off and on again.

I love Fallout, but I don't do multiplayer games...

Wow, I’m so glad I’m just an asshole who didn’t know what I was talking about when I thought there was gonna be major problems with the game.



Really good thing they did that Beta to fix all the problems eh.

Jetboogieman said:

Wow, I’m so glad I’m just an asshole who didn’t know what I was talking about when I thought there was gonna be major problems with the game.



Really good thing they did that Beta to fix all the problems eh.

Click to expand...

I'm playing the game and have had no problems. *shrug*

jmotivator said:

I'm playing the game and have had no problems. *shrug*

Click to expand...

I've run into a few weird, glitchy things.

1. A few times I've come up on a mob that's just standing there. A couple will break loose when I engage but it's a REALLY weird way to approach combat.
2. Combat, so far, isn't any great shakes. There seems to be a little lag between pulling the trigger and firing. I feel like I'm shooting a match lock pistol.
3. It's great that being overburdened doesn't slow you down (just eats AP faster) and it's great that AP recover reasonably quickly and it's fine that there are workstations to scrap your stuff all over but I'm ALWAYS overburdened. If they want you to pick up this much junk they need to bump up base strength
4. The "story" is really thin. I mean, this is a Fallout game! It's always about the story! I'm not that far into it (a few hours) but it really feels like "explore, kill stuff, build stuff" rather than heading toward any particular goal.

I've played every Fallout game but this just doesn't feel "fallout". It feels like I'm playing FO4 but without any factions to fight for or against. We'll see how this goes as I get more into it but I'm just not sure how much more "in" there is.

Lutherf said:

I've run into a few weird, glitchy things.

1. A few times I've come up on a mob that's just standing there. A couple will break loose when I engage but it's a REALLY weird way to approach combat.
2. Combat, so far, isn't any great shakes. There seems to be a little lag between pulling the trigger and firing. I feel like I'm shooting a match lock pistol.
3. It's great that being overburdened doesn't slow you down (just eats AP faster) and it's great that AP recover reasonably quickly and it's fine that there are workstations to scrap your stuff all over but I'm ALWAYS overburdened. If they want you to pick up this much junk they need to bump up base strength
4. The "story" is really thin. I mean, this is a Fallout game! It's always about the story! I'm not that far into it (a few hours) but it really feels like "explore, kill stuff, build stuff" rather than heading toward any particular goal.

I've played every Fallout game but this just doesn't feel "fallout". It feels like I'm playing FO4 but without any factions to fight for or against. We'll see how this goes as I get more into it but I'm just not sure how much more "in" there is.

Click to expand...

I think I covered most of that in my review. I've encountered a bug or too, but it's not what the montage of inconsolable Youtubers would depict.

I mean, the push-to-talk bit is just goofball wailing and gnashing of teeth, for example. It is mostly a tool for Streamers, and I shut off chat altogether. If I were to complain about anything it would be that the "None" setting doesn't persist on reboot and I have to remember to turn chat off each time I start the game.

But yeah, this is a game that by deisgn takes place before humans had emerged from the vaults so there are no towns and personalities. If I have to knock the game on that regard it is the naive-without-an-excuse decision to let the end users be the story. Anyone watching Rust videos should realize that griefing and idiocy would fill that void. That and the player driven economy should have a real mechanism that doesn't require interaction, like a robot Teller offering auction services.

But, as I said, I am enjoying it thoroughly. I've experienced some of that hesitation in trigger pulls, but most of my fighting is sniping so I've adjusted to the point I don't even recognize it anymore.

Out of curiosity I went on Twitch and looked up the couple of streamers I recognized from that video and guess what they were playing?

jmotivator said:

I think I covered most of that in my review. I've encountered a bug or too, but it's not what the montage of inconsolable Youtubers would depict.

I mean, the push-to-talk bit is just goofball wailing and gnashing of teeth, for example. It is mostly a tool for Streamers, and I shut off chat altogether. If I were to complain about anything it would be that the "None" setting doesn't persist on reboot and I have to remember to turn chat off each time I start the game.

But yeah, this is a game that by deisgn takes place before humans had emerged from the vaults so there are no towns and personalities. If I have to knock the game on that regard it is the naive-without-an-excuse decision to let the end users be the story. Anyone watching Rust videos should realize that griefing and idiocy would fill that void. That and the player driven economy should have a real mechanism that doesn't require interaction, like a robot Teller offering auction services.

But, as I said, I am enjoying it thoroughly. I've experienced some of that hesitation in trigger pulls, but most of my fighting is sniping so I've adjusted to the point I don't even recognize it anymore.

Click to expand...

I played some more on Sunday. Worked my way through an "event" for the first time, got a better idea of how the levels and "perks" are stitched together and, based on your advice, reconsidered my position on the story. I ended up kind of surprised how much time I ended up blowing.

The "glitchy" stuff is still frustrating. Finding I have to repeat quests I already did just because I logged out before I got to a point where the game auto-saves is kind of annoying but finding new stuff while redoing the quest is kind of a consolation prize. Frankly, prior Fallout games got a little empty feeling after you wiped out the main quests.

I've found that the animations REALLY like to run all the way through before you can start a new action. Not being able to reload immediately after firing my last shot or coming to a break in action has forced a different combat style. Limiting stash size is a total drag. You need tons of stuff to build and repair items that that the current limit just is't sufficient. I don't know, maybe farther along you can build more storage boxes or something but for now it's kind of a drag.

Those issues (and a few others) aside, I am finding that I enjoy the game. I mean, it's still wander around, kill stuff, loot stuff, right? If they get some of these glitches patched up (they generally did with Elder Scrolls Online) it will likely be one of those games I keep going back to.

This is actually my first real multiplayer experience. So far, I haven't put enough hours behind it to form a solid opinion.

So far, the way I play feels a lot like playing co-op in Halo, without the split-screen. I don't play with strangers, but I'll pair up with one of my brothers.

I largely ignore quests altogether, and run around shooting things, gathering junk, and staying within an inch of my life at all times. In a normal Fallout game, I'm all about the side-quests, but here, I'm simply in a grinding and exploration mind-set. I want power-armor, and a decent sniper-rifle.

I actually haven't run into any match bugs, but I get kicked out of the server at least once a session, and I've run into frame-rate issues.

Jetboogieman said:

Wow, I’m so glad I’m just an asshole who didn’t know what I was talking about when I thought there was gonna be major problems with the game.



Really good thing they did that Beta to fix all the problems eh.

Click to expand...

This had fail written all over it. First fall out game I didn't get on launch day, first fall out game I'm going to give a pass on.

So ah.

I may think that Fallout 76 is a cheap money grab made by Bethesda, made solely in order to milk consumers dry via Microtransactions.

But ah... Never been ready to get this angry about well... Anything. :lamo:lamo:lamo

Jetboogieman said:

So ah.

I may think that Fallout 76 is a cheap money grab made by Bethesda, made solely in order to milk consumers dry via Microtransactions.

But ah... Never been ready to get this angry about well... Anything. :lamo:lamo:lamo

Click to expand...

Literally the microtransactions are a non-story. Anyone who is getting angry over that is just over-hyping a non-issue.

There is a handful of outfits you can buy in that store and wear in the game, but most of them are also discoverable in game, and there are a boatload of quests that reward you enough store currency to get them for free.

Anyone who is prone to get super pissed because they can't start the game in a space suit skin without spending a few dollars is prone to get pissed because they have to farm for a space suit skin that they can play in game. Some people seem destined tio need to be pissed about anything.

Are there bugs? Sure. Are they game breaking? I haven't seen any, but there probably are.

.. but seriously, people who claim that the sparsely stocked skins and emotes store is a cash grab need better things to complain about.

ALSO, also, the game is literally download only. The physical copy just has a code in the box. You can't return a code to the store, you need to contact Bethesda so that they can deactivate the code in question and provide them proof of purchase. Why is that hard for people to understand?