Hmmm, I'll jump in just for the heck of it (commenting on some points based on this 'list'):
1) Fallout 76 being multiplayer in some fashion (co-op, but not an actual MMO or not identical or comparable to a "Rust-like" game) was already very much talked about. Nowadays it's quasi logical to just expect MP. And so yeah, most hypotheses about Fallout 76 are currently centered around it essentially being multiplayer-focused (or at least the multiplayer portion of it being well fleshed out, and probably the main selling point). Not surprised here. But if it's not an MMO, then praise the Gods. Not exactly because I can't imagine an open world MMO being made in the first place, but because the Creation Engine wouldn't possibly endure something like that, ever.
2) It will run on an "Updated" version of the Fallout 4 Creation Engine. That's like saying you'll get an upgraded Lada. Don't get me wrong here, I actually love Fallout 4, have tons of fun with it. But let's not pretend for the faintest of moment that reading about the Creation Engine being upgraded is anything to be excited about. The only thing it reminds me of is that Bethesda will simply never get rid of the damn thing, not even for their next Elder Scrolls (which I would bet will
STILL run on some form of an 'updated' Fallout 76 Creation Engine). Who wants to move to UE4, Dunia or any others when you can stay with GameBryo 3.0 or 4.0 or whatever-the-new-name-they-come-up-with for the latest iteration of it? Bethesda is a modern company, others should definitely follow their example...
3) Ok, this is a big one. That Bethesda will announce / reveal a new Elder Scrolls at this upcoming E3. To be completely honest I do not actually expect them to announce a new TES just yet. Obviously, we ALL know that they ARE working on Elder Scrolls 6. Since it was basically confirmed to be the case, something along the lines "
Of course we'll make a TES 6, but..." (but we're not going to tell you just when it'll come out obviously). The surprise doesn't come in the form of "HOLY sh- they ARE working on it?!", but in the form of "Will be officially announced at E3 2018". If that is the case, if it does happen then I will be genuinely very surprised.
I mean, Fallout 4 was released in late 2015. I cannot imagine a new full fledged Elder Scrolls 6 being almost done after just 3 years. I can't. Unless of course TES 6 was in fact being developed soon after Skyrim, therefore was also being worked on during the development of Fallout 4 as well. If that's the case then it means they would have had plenty of time, and could maybe make it as soon as later this year or early on next year. Still... this one tidbit of rumor in this list is the one that for now I just cannot believe (as I said though, do count me surprised if it turns out to be true). However... Bethesda did say that their conference at this year's E3 will essentially be their biggest yet. They already announced Rage 2 earlier than they would have wanted to I'm sure. Now they're already announcing the existence of Fallout 76 prior to E3. So... whatever is at their E3 conf this year better be big indeed. It might just end up being a new TES game after all. Heh... time will tell.
4) That Fallout 76 will have a strong emphasis on building and improvised weapons. Well... that's basically Fallout 4's settlements building and weapons crafting system. But probably version "2.0" of it. I'm not surprised, and if it turns out to be true and ends up being a "main" portion of the game (contrarily to Fallout 4, where it is legit optional, and just an alternative way to play a Fallout game) then count me out of it. I love Fallout 4, but settlement building / management + crafting is probably the stuff I do the least in the game (I do some of it, but not that much overall).
5) Will come with a phone app. Huh... ok? Good for the phones that will have the app, I guess. What will it be... monitoring your base building progression by phone? I don't quite care about that one though.
6) Voiced protagonist. Again? Ok. So... not that I'm "against" it, really. I don't mind. But that implies questing, it implies conversations with NPCs and... well yeah, questing. It means that it's definitely not "just" going to be about base building and managing it, or your Vault (if building or upgrading the Vault is also part of the game which I assume will be, of course; at least to some extent). There's consistency here at least as far as these "rumors" go. If, like the list implies, Fallout 76 is still an "RPG" overall, and it has a Voiced protagonist then... yeah ok I can see that happen. It still has quests. Maybe even some sort of a main campaign, but probably not comparable to Fallout 3's or 4's, nothing too complex or lengthy but just enough to provide some named and important NPCs on the surface to interact with. Time will tell. Oh and, almost forgot but, there's factions (well, according to the rumors) so there, another point in line with "It's still an RPG" and "Voiced protagonist", we'll definitely talk to NPCs beyond just base building and crafting 'improvised' weapons.
7) That Fallout 76 serves as "laying groundwork" for Fallout 5 - of all things - which is
ALREADY in the works? And here I thought that revealing TES 6 at E3 was a bit of a far fetch.
This one is right in the domain of science-fiction. If Bethesda, right now, actually works on both Elder Scrolls 6
AND Fallout 5 internally, all while announcing Fallout 76 and also going with full Rage 2 features and gameplay reveals, and possibly another new IP... then just what's going on over there then?! Did they just consume all the Mentats and Jets they could find and never slept for the past 5 years? Now, obviously, if Fallout 5 is currently being worked on, they will NOT mention it at this year's E3. It doesn't say they will either in the list. It just says that basically someone internally "knows" that Fallout 5 is being worked on. Ok. Well, it still leaves me baffled that they would already be working on it while also still working on TES 6 (even if they do announce TES 6 at E3, it's not complete yet; they are still working on it). That's MAJOR news if it turns out to be true.
Oh and if it ALL ends up being true, then Bethesda just won E3 this year, period (speaking for myself here, because outside of Cyberpunk 2077 there's nothing I'd be more excited about than a TES 6 announcement and the possibility that Rage 2 ends up being the Borderlands 3 I wanted).
8) That Fallout 4's building system was a 'test' all along with Fallout 76's 'major' take on base building? Hmmmmmm. Well, it's food for thought. But here, objectively-speaking I find this bit of info (of "rumor") to be very plausible. If they worked on Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 at the same time (not necessarily started at the same time but if both were in development together at any point) then I don't find it entirely impossible that they "tested the waters" with Fallout 4 first, and then improved upon it internally without later on upgrading it onto Fallout 4 itself and instead decided to 'fully' push its potential for another title in the future. Now, that is Fallout 76. It would make sense to me if indeed Fallout 76 does turn out to be mostly focused on base building and is essentially Fallout 4's building system on steroids.
9) This one... I could write a novel about, and I hope for the sake of all that is made of chocolates in the universe that it is
NOT true.
"No external mods outside of CC", and basically blaming 'stolen content' and 'adult mods' for doing it. Ok, how do I even start to break that one down...
There are several absolute MAJOR reasons as to why centralizing / controlling mods (and the modding community) would SEVERELY and negatively so impact Fallout 76 AND, would forever change (for the worst) any future Bethesda games if they dare implementing such 'measures' for Elder Scrolls 6 and/or Fallout 5. Not to mention of course that it would allow them more control on payed-for mods. I know there's actually a lot of people out there, especially of course on consoles (but also on PC) who don't give a damn rat's ass about mods. They just play the game "as is", download DLCs and are content with official patches, and that's it they call it a night. Ok
fine. But this isn't meant for them.
There's also a LOT of people who have been playing their Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 for all 'x' time due to the fact that Bethesda games (so far) have been very moddable. It's nothing new, we've all known this since Morrowind (and Oblivion definitely popularized it even more). As of now, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say, but Skyrim is probably the most modded game of all time. I don't even bother "checking around" to make sure this is the case. I'm simply convinced it is. The game is not successful JUST because Bethesda themselves bothered to re-release it left and right, and upgrade it to 64-bit. It's an extremely popular game even though it starts to show its age simply because there are -
literally - thousands of mods for it out there. It doesn't matter how many of them are 'poor' and buggy, or not compatible with x, y and z DLCs. What matters is that there's something in there somewhere for EVERY single living person on this planet playing the game (and the same can be said for Morrowind, Oblivion, F3 and F4).
When it comes to 'stolen content' (not sure what they're referring to here, since THEY provide ALL the means for the modders to use their assets to mod with the official Kit; unless they refer to modders 'stealing' content among themselves... but then that doesn't affect Bethesda directly) and 'adult content', it should NOT be Bethesda themselves trying to police it. Much less coming up with some sort of a system to control said mods. Modding SHOULD be free to do for everyone. I can definitely see Bethesda, if they really wanted to, NOT releasing an official Editor this time around, keeping mods for themselves under some official UI, and only accepting 'approved' mods submitted by modders that would have signed up for their service, or something along the lines. There's a LOT of room for wrongdoings here I can't describe it all in this reply. If ANY content offends (and yes, mods out there can be, for many reasons way beyond mere nudity) then I believe that it falls in the hands of the 'providers' of said content to regulate it, NOT Bethesda. Take the Nexus Network, for example. If they REALLY wanted to, they COULD simply ban all adult content from their site, but guess what; it's the Internet, it will find its way somewhere else, and people who want that stuff will go there instead. It will be a chain reaction without an end.
Anyway...
Modding is a major part of their games, and Bethesda, second only to the modding community itself know that fact VERY well. So if they decide to limit / control / centralize mods for their future games then mark my words; they WILL feel that one for a very, VERY long time after. They better make 100% sure that they are ready for the loss in popularity and support they will suffer from if they ever dare changing that decade+-long trust and cooperation they've had with their modders.
So, this is just a rumor yeah? I
HOPE so. I absolutely hope so.