devtrackers.gg
I made an account to share my story, let me know if I'm posting in the wrong subreddit! Spoiler tag as I do discuss a couple story points.
I started my character off, walked through the vault, and stepped outside. Hues of sunset orange and blue creep over the mountains as I make my way down the first steps. After speaking to the two NPCs, a player suddenly appeared from the hills above Vault 76 with an offer: an invitation to his team. At first glance I thought oh, another new player to explore the wastes!
I could not have been more wrong.
This level 255 player cloaked in all black with a large owl (?) mask, while silent, insisted I join. After nervously accepting, he gestures his gratitude and drops a pile of guts on the floor. Upon further inspection, there is mysteriously enough food and water within these entrails to last a couple of days. He then vanishes, and I receive a message: come to my home.
I fast travel to his camp, at this point darkness enveloping Appalachia. His camp consisted of only a campfire near what I later discovered to be the monorail elevator. He drops one more pile of guts, with a pipe revolver in rough condition, 18 rounds, and 3 stimpaks. He gestures his gratitude again before one last message appears: If you can return to the wayward alive, you will be rewarded. If you fast travel, you will feel my wrath.
Level one, now near starving, I set off into the wastes in hopes of a reward, and survival. This player left my party but remained silent, following my journey. I first climbed the monorail elevator to get my bearings, and decided to brave the mountainside cliffs to the west in hopes of finding civilization. Dawn broke over the distant mountains as I clambered down the elevator.
After braving the cliffs and nearly getting killed by cultists, I made it to Foundation! With no caps to my name however there was little they could offer me other than a place to rest and best wishes on my journey. As it was nearing noon, I decide to continue onward. I slowly ventured northwest, looting where I could and sneaking past creatures where needed until I found a quaint yellow Mountainside Bed and Breakfast. By this time night had fallen once again and rain began to pour. Cold, wet, and tired, I was glad to find a warm place to stay for the night. Upon entering, the staff seemed friendly enough and thankful for business. I had thankfully scrounged 5 caps through my looting and paid my fee before shacking up for the night. I even found a holotape from the overseer. The contents were grim, depicting an inhuman assailant nearly killing her. Too exhausted to think of why such a holotape existed at this bed and breakfast, I retired for the evening.
I awoke in the middle of the night to hushed voices outside my bedroom door. I pressed my ear against the old, cracked wood to find the damned staff had sold me out to cannibals and were about to barge in and kill me. Panicked, I readied my revolver and slammed the door open in an attempt to take them by surprise. I managed to shoot one in the chest and another in the leg before sprinting down the stairs, out the back door, and into the fields below.
I ran far into the soaking forest before heaving and taking a break, my footsteps still muffled from the ringing still rattling my brain. I barely got a look at them as blind panic took over, but I was alive. With adrenaline pumping through my veins and tinnitus in my ears I soldiered on, wishing I had taken the bed offered to me at Foundation hours earlier.
As the clouds cleared and dawn came on my second day in the wastes, I came across a golf course. I cleared the now destroyed perimeter fence before hearing an all-out war across the green. Bright white robots were duking it out with these massive green men, towering over 8 feet tall at least. Deathly afraid of what may become of me if either faction caught sight of me, I kept my distance and made my way through the fairways and putting greens until I found the opposite fence.
My journey then took me to Summersville. As I slinked through a dilapidated coffee shop and crossed the street, a band of level 10+ raiders caught me out of cover. I sprinted to the next shop and dived behind cover as bullets flew all around me. Panicked, with now only a few rounds left, I prayed I don't miss my shots. I was outnumbered and nearly cornered, so I'd have to land a lucky shot in hopes they stop firing for a moment and make a mad dash for it.
Just as I was about to try my luck, the uncanny sound of a minigun spooling up bounced off the now destroyed shops walls. And then laser weapons, plasma grenades, and rocket powered sledge hammers. After 30 seconds of what could only be described as the soundtrack to a terminator movie, all fell silent. I gathered what was left of my courage and poked an eyeball around the corner. A band of brightly coloured sets of power armor were looting the bodies, blasting their radios and dancing about. As it turns out, they were a team of players that just-so-happened to be in the right place at the right time to save my ass. As I left Summersville they gestured thumbs ups, shooting rockets and miniguns into the sky with one message on the chat, "godspeed and good luck soldier. ride on!"
The rest of my journey was nearly event-less. Thankfully, the fields nearing The Wayward were calm as the West Virginia sun beat down on my forehead. As late afternoon arrived, I crested the final hill, the almighty Wayward bar within arms reach. As I approached the front door, the mysterious player arrived once more. Gesturing love, a final pile of guts dropped on the floor. 600 .308 rounds, 1200 shotgun rounds, a short hunting rifle in perfect condition I could use already, and a combat shotgun I could use at level 40. A final message appeared: You're the first player to complete my challenge. Enjoy your reward, you've earned it. With a final thumbs up, the player left the lobby and blocked me, leaving me no way to contact them again.
If you've made it this far, thank you for reading!! While I spruced up the language a bit, this all truly happened. I'm still only level 3 throughout all that. I really did get left in the middle of a high level area, almost got eaten by cannibals, accidentally found the final overseers holotape, and had a team of high level players all in power armor save my life. All the messages I got were real too! I couldn't believe it. I've been a fallout fan since Fallout 3 and had tons of great experiences. I also bought FO76 on release and was devastated with the poor state it was in. After hearing Wastelanders came out, I fired it back up and immediately had the absolute best Fallout experience I've ever had. One of the best gaming experiences I've had full stop, even comparing to DnD.
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