Crafting in games is a mix of fun and tedious, it can give you good results, but at the same time has you grinding areas and enemies in hopes of finding that one rare ingredient/item in the recipe. It's a feature that will be in Fallout 4 (it's not a new feature, but this is where the 'shaped by Skyrim' part comes in), whether you're a fan or not — but Bethesda won't tell you that you have to craft to succeed (you'll just really, really want to do it).
Bethesda's VP of Marketing, Pete Hines made an announcement late last night about Fallout 4's mobile companion app Fallout Shelter releasing on Android at some point today (it has), but that's not all he revealed. Hines revealed a bit of information on crafting in Fallout 4, and how it will probably get you addicted.
While there is a definite benefit to crafting, it's not something that you have to slave away at. Bethesda has already revealed that they won't be telling you how to play the game – you have options.
"It’s a completely optional, freeform thing that you can do, if that’s what you want to do," Hines explained. "If you don’t care about that and you just want to play quests and play side quests, and finish the main quest and that sort of thing then you can just ignore all of this [crafting]."
If you do choose to craft and build your own town, you will definitely reap the rewards. Merchants could come across your town and set up shop, giving you the option to purchase items with ease. There's a chance you will even play the game without even noticing that crafting exists, but Hines warns that when you do notice it… All you will want to do is craft more.
"You can [play] it and never even notice that feature is there if you want to, but once you figure it out, it’s like, ‘okay, this is pretty cool. Now I want to do more.’"
If you were already concerned with Fallout 4 taking over your life, you probably should be. If Bethesda managed to make crafting enticing enough to keep you coming back for more… Well, that's just downright dangerous.
