Here's How Fallout 76 Will Stop PvP Bullying

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By Tom Chapman

Published Jun 20, 2018

Bethesda confirms Fallout 76 will take Player vs Player bullying seriously and will prevent aggressive gamers taking advantage of the battle system.

Developers at Bethesda promise that players will not be able to harass each other in the upcoming Fallout 76. As the franchise's first MMO, Fallout 76 will present a whole host of new opportunities but undoubtedly add another load of problems to the already sometimes glitchy series. One big question facing Bethesda is how to stop Plater vs Player bullying - thankfully- there is a solution.

As Fallout 76 does away with NPCs and looks to only include robots, it means that the Wasteland will be nearly entirely populated by other Fallout fans. Alongside rumors that the game will be four times bigger than the other Fallout entries, 76 will also create a living, breathing, ecosystem that is more advanced than anything the franchise has shown before. With so many helpful handymen and murderous marauders coming to the map, developers are clamping down on schoolyard bullies.

Every gamer has come across that one person who likes to be a sadistic thorn in everyone's side just because they can. Bethesda Senior Vice President Pete Hines told GameSpot a little more about how Fallout 76's PvP will work and how he aims to stop this from happening:

“When you see a person in the world, they’re a real person, and now you have to figure out [what role they play]…maybe they’re being super helpful, maybe they’re wandering the world as a trader and just trading with people, maybe they’re being a bad guy and they’re part of a raider group.”

Although the ability to die will be just a prevent in Fallout 76 as it has been in previous titles, Bethesda has adapted this to the multiplayer aspect of the game:

"Death isn’t supposed to be a super negative thing. You don’t lose your progression, you don’t lose all your stuff, somebody can’t kill you and then take everything in your inventory [and then you have to] start over. Think of PvP more like issuing a challenge to somebody as opposed to just, ‘no matter what I want to do to somebody, I can’. “The game only lets that go so far before you can basically say, ‘I don’t want to participate in this challenge anymore."

Hines concluded by saying the company is aware that power trip players could be an issue for others and that developers have already put measures in place to stop it becoming a reality. As some solace to rookie players trying out Fallout for the first time, opponents should be seen as slightly stronger Deathclaws from Fallout 4. When players respawn and are given the opportunity to try again or run for the hills, Hines reiterated, "They can’t keep coming after you, just like that Deathclaw wouldn’t come running across the map and keep chasing you."

For anyone worrying they could be singled out while a group of higher-level Raiders continuously strip them of their possessions, Fallout 76's mechanics are making a fairer gaming experience. That isn't to say that all Vault Dwellers will be equal, but it at least gives a level playing field to try and prevent cyberbullying. As Fallout 76 heads into its beta testing in the near future and launches on the Xbox first, PvP combat is likely to be one of the first things that will need a little fine-tuning. Thankfully, there is plenty of time to iron out the kinks before