While bolstering its RPG credentials, Fallout 76 has become more like an MMO as well. 'What kind of places are there for you to explore and what stories are there to tell about the Wasteland?' 'For me, it's less a question of systems and more of, who are the people that you meet and what kinds of decisions can you make as a player,' she says.

For Gardiner, it's even more faction-based gameplay. I'm thinking of the other singleplayer Bethesda series gone multiplayer, The Elder Scrolls Online, which added a justice system and a number of other Elder Scrolls conventions after launch. On that note, I asked both Gardiner and Schneider if there are Fallout series staples that they still want to see arrive in 76. 'That's my number one goal, personally, is to make sure that the people who want to have a really great Fallout experience can come to Fallout 76 and get it - and I'd like to say we're starting to succeed at that.' 'I just want to make sure that the people who love Bethesda games and love Fallout are getting the best experience out of this game,' says Gardiner, who's worked on the series since Fallout 3. 'We've made efforts to make more community friendly - to increase the ways and means and rewards for playing with other people-but to still serve our core fans, which are singleplayer gamers,' he says.

Fallout 76's journey to become less focused on PvP survival and more of an RPG is a trajectory that anyone who's played the game will likely recognise, and Gardiner seems sure the journey will continue.

New vegas world map