Fallout:76 in the context of Scientology.

[zanity]

No- this is NOT one of those posts attacking a particular religion or anyone's faith. Freedom of Conscience is an insanely important Human Right, and it scares me when some people forget this.

 

No- this post explores the curious defence of Fallout:76 that exists outside of Beth's unsubtle online paid promotion one sees tainting most forums with PR posts. The REAL people who are genuinely upset when anyone criticises Fallout:76.

 

Ron Hubbard was a pulp SF writer (well he tried other genres, but SF was his most successful). Unlike most big SF writers, he embraced the PULP form for more than just cheap commercial reasons. And his worlds have the same heartbeat as those in Fallout.

 

Now Hubbard, like the vast majority of writers at the time, first published each new work or part work in the various magazines so successful at selling new fiction in the USA. And this matters for one massive reason. For, in the days LONG before the Internet- an 'internet' phenomenon existed we'd all recognise. 'Fanboy' forums in the form of 'letters to the editor' and sometimes the publication of these letters in the magazines.

 

Did the authors of these letters represent the majority of SF fandom. Almost certainly not. But they were the most vocal responses the publishes and authors received- and more easy to process than simple weekly sales figures.

 

Anyway Ron Hubbard was well read and generally well educated, as writers tend to need to be. And he noticed something very unexpected in many of the letters. The readers had clearly gone beyond simple escapism. Many were showing signs of the early followers of any new religion. People looking for a new way with 'new' better rules- but also something outside their humdrum lives.

 

So Ron Hubbard created the Science Fiction religion, partly as a bet with some fellow authors and his editor. And it, as we now know, had the success that matched the potential Hubbard had spotted in the words of so many fans who had given their feedback to his stories.

 

Hurtle forward to 2018 and the subreddits (most active general forums offering feedback) /fallout, /fo76, /fo76filthycasuals (the last two were directly set-up by Beth as PR for their game). And read the genuine horrified response by many of the fans of the 'fallout world' to critics of Fallout:76. Without a doubt these people feel their RELIGION of choice is under attack- their LITERAL religion.

 

Ron Hubbard, were he alive, would immediately point out to the simularity of defenders-of-the-fallout faith and the letters he and other SF authors received back in the day. For these types, playing Fallout:76 ***is*** going to church, and therefore they have an irrational emotional response to critics.

 

So far, so good. Here's where it gets less nice. Todd Howard and Beth have employed psycholgists to exploit this effect that Hubbard clearly spotted. And the entire reason for using psycholgists is to TITHE the players- that is to make the player think they should be paying regular monthly amounts of money to their 'church'- and I mean, of course the Creation Club and the Atom Store.

 

For Todd Howard, 'defenders-of-the-fallout-faith' are NOT about 'defending' the brand (if only that were so, this year's Fallout might have had ANY quality as a game), but defending the 'right' of the 'church' to get as rich as it can by milking its followers. Religions that are successful in making their followers think that their 'team' needs all the financial support it can get from followers are the ones that flourish and succeed- the ones that operate on 'faith' without the psychological mechanism of money grabbing tend to wither and die.

 

But Todd Howard made a GIGANTIC mistake. You can know the history of Scientology, and the reason it took off. But that does not mean one can duplicate the success just because one wishes too. The psychologists that Howard pays millions to, with the blessing of the Zenimax big bosses, are really just selling snake oil. For this formula when followed closely has its greatest success creating CULTS- most of which are tiny, sad, and if successful at all only cos they draw in one or two foolish kids with giant trust funds. Ring a bell.

 

That's Fallout:76 in a nutshell. Todd's failed attempt to launch a new 'religion' off the back of the Fallout franchise. Instead of getting millions of followers happily paying their 'tithe' of tens of dollars each month in the Atom Store, Todd Howard has tens of 'disturbed' and vulnerable adults spending hundreds to thousands of dollars in virtual item purchases. And this cult is VERY aggresive online to any who dare questions its tenents.

 

Most cult members, whether they personally spend a lot or not, enjoy getting 'high' on the predictable repetitive RITUALS of Fallout:76. The fact that there is no real gameplay, just a poorly coded grind loop, is the best thing of all for these types. Todd Howard has 'purified' their church by eliminating all the concepts that made earlier fallout games good.

 

I've watched a lot of streaming vids for this game, and those clearly NOT posted cos Beth PR pays that still continue after all hope has ended (for FO:76 to be any kind of real game) are always led by a person who could just as easily be a pastor in a certain type of church. The 'experiences' of the followers in game and in the real-time response forums are quasi-religious.

 

None of these people care that NOTHING fun is happening. None of these people care that there are infinitely better games they could be playing. None of these people care about the bugs and glitches. And they would defend Fallout:76 and Todd Howard to the bitter end.

 

These fans may be a small vocal minority, but it is always the small vocal minority that drive the early days of any new religion. But what about the people defending FO:76 who claim to be outside this group. Are they- or are they in denial?

 

I got just what a disaster FO:76 was from the moment of Todd's reveal at E3- but clearly most Fallout fans were BLINDLY optimistic til the day the game dropped. And after the truth, a significant number of these fans chose to 'poke out their eyes' so they couldn't see the true state of the 'game'- hence forums like this one. But i would say 'keeping the faith' after every FACTUAL reason to do so has vanished is the absolute definition of a relgious follower.

 

Some people want to live in the world of Fallout so much, it literally transcends all objective quality thresholds. And I kinda get this. After all why did so many of us mod the insanely mediocre Fallout 4 just to allow us to keep re-entering that world. Many of the mods were fantastic, but they could never reverse the half-baked, dumbed down, minimally imaginative Fallout 4- yet still we played.

 

And to conclude by completing the circle- when SF authors were able to conceive of 'virtual' worlds (which actually non-SF authors did first many thosands of years ago)- it was usually to warn of the 'danger' of those worlds, or to suggest the masters of any society would end up BANNING them (for ther plebs at least) oif they became too popular. In other words, to understand the potential ADDICTIVE properties of such continuously accessible 'dream worlds'.

 

Just before the age of the computer, we had the OPIUM DENS where some went to experince a prior age 'virtual reality'. But no one mastermind could unify all those opium dreams. However the earliest psychologists were massively invested in looking at the psychology of opium addiction. Zenimax money gives Howard access to the most evolved psychological thinking available today- and anyone with any education in this field saw Todd Howard's performance at E3 in this light. At E3 he was really announcing himself as the "new Ron Hubbard". And FO:76 is his first 'holy book'. 'Escapism' is the SUGAR. Something else altogether is being sold to the fans.

 

Americans believe in the separation of Church and State (if only it were true). I believe in the separation of 'Church' and Games.