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Bethesda Engages In False Advertising With $200 Fallout 76 Power Armor Edition

When Bethesda first unveiled the Power Armor edition for Fallout 76, players were excited to get their hands on that slick helmet and canvas bag. Now that the special edition of the online game is out, many are noticing that it’s not exactly how the studio advertised it when pre-orders first went live. Fallout 76’s deluxe Power Armour Edition costs $200 USD, and includes the game in a fancy steelbook, a selection of in-game items, a glow-in-the-dark world map, and two dozen Fallout figurines. The centrepiece is a giant, wearable T-51 Power Armor helmet that was promised to come with a substantial canvas carrying bag. Except that bag isn’t substantial or even made out of canvas.

One Fallout player took to Reddit to share an alleged correspondance between one Power Armor edition buyer and Bethesda. Though there is definitely a difference from what was delivered versus what was promised, it is important to take the latter part of Bethesda’s response with a grain of salt – the source image is blurry and looks to be doctored with the smaller font and uneven spacing (seen below):

As for the Reddit thread (Link below), there were two shared responses that were posted with the second matching the distorted image seen above:

Reddit – Fallout 76 Power Armor Edition Canvas Bag “Baited And Switched”; Falsely Advertised

Instead, it’s a rather cheap-looking nylon bag (as seen above), and no prospective purchasers knew that would be the case until the collector’s editions actually shipped. Complaints about this have been trickling onto the internet over the past week, and today developer-publisher Bethesda acknowledged them.

Another email, shared by user krcm0209, is much more succinct. “The bag shown in the media was a prototype and was too expensive to make. We aren’t planning on doing anything about it.” That’s an unusual sort of statement for a customer service rep to make, but mods at r/PCgaming are confident in the email’s veracity. (See Below)

Bethesda has since responded, opting to apologize for the inconvenience. But now the company is going the extra mile, offering 500 free Atoms for spending within the game if they purchased the Power Armor Edition of the game.

We understand and respect that there is disappointment with the bag in the Power Armor Edition. We are sorry. Please contact Bethesda Support to provide proof of your CE purchase. They will assist in granting your account 500 Atoms. Please visit: https://t.co/TJBMjYaph0 — Fallout (@Fallout) November 29, 2018

This is certainly a far cry from the situation that arose earlier today, in which a user pointed out a response from the company that noted, “The bag shown in the media was a prototype and was too expensive to make,” followed by the somewhat very rude response, “We aren’t planning on doing anything about it.”

That sent fans into a frenzy, wondering why Bethesda would answer like that. The company has since responded, saying, “The Bethesda Store’s Support member is a temporary contract employee and not directly employed by Bethesda or Bethesda Game Studios. We apologize to the customer who took the time to reach out. The support response was incorrect and not in accordance with our conduct policy.”

While this is definitely a much more cost-effective solution for Bethesda, it is doubtful fans would readily accept it. What can you get with 500 Atoms in Fallout 76? Twitter user @MittenSquad provides the following example: a virtual door and some virtual flowers.

For anyone who's wondering what you can get with 500 Atoms, you can get a door and some flowers. pic.twitter.com/4iOPzErV06 — Mitten Squad (@MittenSquad) November 29, 2018

A canvas bag isn’t a terribly expensive thing in the first place, and the ‘prototype’ certainly looks nicer than the even cheaper nylon alternative included with the shipping version. And again, this package is $200 USD. With that much money on the line, plenty of Fallout fans feel hoodwinked since the contents aren’t as advertised. 500 Atoms compensation that’s about US$5 worth of Fallout 76 microtransaction currency that can only be spent in the Fallout 76 Atomic Shop.

Updated News: Bethesda Replacing Fallout 76 Armor Edition Bags After Backlash

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