This week, tons of new information about Fallout 76 flooded onto the Internet via hands-on gameplay previews. The new footage and descriptions included info about the game's servers, how microtransactions work, and more. This also includes fresh info about the game's lore, but fans aren't happy with what they've found.
According to a detailed Reddit post, Fallout 76 contains a major plot hole regarding the Brotherhood of Steel, the technological military group that appears throughout the franchise. It seems that there are multiple mentions of the Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout 76, including a note that discusses the "warnings" given out by the faction as well as multiple items and equipment left around the game.
As explained by a Reddit user named Baffodil, the Brotherhood of Steel should not be in Fallout 76 at all. While Fallout 76 is set in West Virginia in the year 2102, the earliest known activity of the Brotherhood of Steel was in 2132 in California. The group set up its base in Lost Hills in 2077 where it is believed to have remained until 2150. Given that the Brotherhood of Steel also did not get its Vertibird aircraft until the 2200s, after the events of Fallout 2, it is also unlikely that the faction would have had any way to make it from California to West Virginia and back. As such, Bethesda is accused of "retconning" the entire Fallout series.
In an interview, Bethesda's VP of PR and marketing Pete Hines explains that "we don't take it lightly to just go 'Ah, we're just going to do whatever the hell we want,'" that the team asks "Why would this logically work in this time?" and that the developers do take lore and canon "seriously." But, with that said, Hines also admits that "we've gone back to change things to fit what developers have wanted to do and not be beholden to something that somebody wrote 20 years ago even in franchises that we created like the Elder Scrolls."
Some may agree with Hines comments, saying that it's important to bend the series a little in order to push it forward. For example, few imagine a Fallout game as having online multiplayer and even Todd Howard has admitted that the team was "worried" about the decision. However, many are excited to see how that risk pays off.
Other features, such as the VATS system have also been changed in order to fit the game's new format. This tweaks, like the so-called retconned lore, may prove controversial but it remains to be seen how it will affect people's enjoyment of the game once it's released.