Fallout 76’s revamped perk system will at times give players packs of perk cards to get multiple skills at once, perk packs that Bethesda says can’t be purchased with real money.
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The new perk system was detailed yesterday during QuakeCon 2018 when a Fallout 76 panel took place that dove into character customization and perks before being followed by a fan Q&A. These perk packs were revealed during that time, a special bundle of perks that come in a trading card format alongside a stick of gum that actually reduces hunger levels and a joke in every pack.
While the perk packs sound like a creative way to put more perks in players’ hands and give them some abilities that they otherwise wouldn’t have thought to pick themselves, some that can’t even be used yet, the model also looked quite a bit like something that players could spend real money on. The idea of getting a container filled with random contents give off a strong loot box vibe, though it seemed less likely that they’d be buyable with real money seeing how the perks affect the game’s multiplayer component and, to an extent, PvP.
Others apparently felt that way as well which led to VG247 asking Bethesda senior vice president of global marketing Pete Hines about whether these could be bought or not. Speaking to Hines at QuakeCon, VG247 learned that the answer is no, you cannot shell out real money for new perks.
“No,” he told VG247 at QuakeCon when asked about buying perk packs. “You get them when you level up, every two levels – two, four, six, eight, ten – then after that, every five levels. You only get them as a reward for levelling up.”
When asked once again to confirm that the perk packs weren’t buyable with real money or any kind of in-game currency, Hines maintained the previous statement by saying that they aren’t buyable at all.
It seems like the most sensible solution for the perk cards to make them only available through leveling up and not through money since the perks can affect multiplayer experiences. Players with high charisma can even share their perks with others they encounter, so having enough money and charisma could even cause unbalance in other players’ games.
For more on what was talked about during Saturday’s QuakeCon panel, you can see the biggest Fallout 76 details and features here.
