When Fallout 76 launched in late 2018, it wasn’t exactly a flawless experience, as publisher Bethesda would be the first to admit. It was buggy and glitchy, the online experience was inconsistent and subpar, and worst of all, the wasteland felt empty without the series’ classic NPC personalities and meaningful dialogue options.

A lot can change in a year in a half. Since its haphazard launch, Fallout 76 has received a number of quality-of-life updates and even got its own battle royale mode. But the always-online post-apocalyptic RPG’s actual saving grace might just be Wastelanders, a free, massive expansion that went live last week. Wastelanders brings living, breathing characters back to the Appalachian wastes, and suddenly West Virginia is a lot less lonely.

People who need non-player people

Of course, this expansion does a lot more than simply sprinkle a fresh helping of NPCs throughout the enormous map. Wastelanders also comes with new quests, including a core storyline that drives the narrative forward. Canonically, it takes place one year after Vault 76 reopened, and people are just starting to return to Appalachia. There are NPCs to befriend, factions to join, and dialogue trees to navigate, complete with the series’ trademark skill-check chat options.