I haven't even gotten through the bulk of this thread yet, but every time I see it or pick up reading it again, I honestly wonder:
Who gives this much of a fuck about Fallout 76? Why are they still on about it? Even a friend of mine who likes MMO type shit got bored of it a couple years ago.
I thought I was done here, but have decided to come back and answer this. I'll try to keep it brief though.
The game in its current state going forward is for people who just want to collect things and to play something that requires no skill.
You have auto aim, inventory system isn't super restrictive, food & water isn't required anymore, no temperature/clothing system, weapons can be repaired instantly, scrip system now allows almost any weapon guaranteed if it is still in the drop pool, etc.. I could go on. Simply put, it's a game for old people. A lot of the player base I interacted with included people well in their 40s and 50s who told me this was their first online game.
Originally 76 was intended to be a Rust or DayZ knock off, but Bethesda kept making changes due to limitations and deadlines. It was then shown their knees are like jello and spines are as brittle as straw. as they often cave in to the most vocal complaints before the game was even released. They ended up altering the game more towards a PVE system. There is still a PVP system, but it is very poor. You can't just snipe someone from afar. Instead PVP must be voluntarily initiated. You have to attack a player and allow them to attack you in order to fight each other.
Now to defend the game a little, I did enjoy it for awhile due to its resemblance to other Fallout games, being able to build things (albeit limited), weapon selection and the map is pretty unique. Some of the quests were pretty good too. The potential was always there for a great game. Unfortunately Bethesda doesn't want to do anything new or original. Instead they artificially inflate the 30 minute dlc drop every 9 months with various currencies to get new items. These currencies also have limits to how much you can earn each day, typical predatory tactics. New events are often repackaged defeat the horde before timer runs out.
What I really wanted was something like 7 Days to Die with actual production values. That would have been amazing in the Fallout world.
Going back to Sinseer, he did attempt to get into games like New World and Apex, even brought up the idea of playing Dead By Daylight. Unfortunately for him, those are games that require building up skill and having patience. Obviously that doesn't work for him.
With Fallout 76, it's easier for him to think he is doing something productive by just starring at the screen and occasionally clicking the mouse. By design it caters to that low effort mentality and fools people like him into thinking they are actually good at something. Even his White Knight campaign speaks of him thinking, "Why bother to fight the monsters of the real world, when I can sit here and try to ban the trolls of this one?" It's demented and sad, but it is what it is.
I personally quit the game not just because it was boring, but decided it was best to play games that require some skill and give genuine award. Games that build skills that either translate into other games or real life. Even if my last six months was just logging in for half an hour each day to blow up things while mic spamming over modulated music, that is still half an hour best suited for something more productive.