Bethesda to set a level cap on PvP to extinguish harassment worries in Fallout 76

Bethesda has been doing a lot of damage control upon the reveal of Fallout 76’s always-online requirement, stating that it has plans in store to combat griefers and harassment. While it’s still exploring various methods to prevent it from turning out like the chaotic Fallout 4-76 mod, at least one of these methods makes lower level players invulnerable to other players.

Bethesda Game Studios director and Fallout 76 creative lead Todd Howard revealed in an interview with Italian publication Multiplayer, via Google translate, that players under level 5 can’t be killed in PvP combat. Alongside the warnings that engaging with an enemy player is high risk with little to no rewards, these new efforts are sure to deter some of the more malicious players from harming others unnecessarily.

Some reports have jumped onto a quote from an interview with Variety, in which Bethesda’s Pete Hines muddied the waters on how combat is initiated. “It’s more like a challenge to another player,” states Hines, prompting thoughts that are reminiscent of PvP in MMOs, requiring consent from both parties before combat is initiated.

This has since split reports down the middle as to whether PvP combat is optional in terms of it not being the focus of the game and therefore can be avoided, or whether there is a measure put in place to actively stop live combat. My guess is that it will be live combat, however, given that the precautions with the level cap and deterrent with rewards would be rendered moot otherwise.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time a comment on Fallout 76 has caused confusion, with Howard’s comments on playing “solo” initially prompting thoughts of an offline mode. Given that this turned out not to be true, and that all things are subject to change before the game's launch on November 14th later this year, it's worth taking any and all information with a pinch of salt.

Elsewhere, Howard has revealed that Fallout 76 will include a fast travel option. This will prompt a sigh of relief given that the world is four times the size of Fallout 4 without mounts or vehicles at launch. Previous titles implemented limitations to fast travel, prompting the player to clear the area of enemies before initiating the action. Howard didn’t discuss possible limitations, however it’s expected that there will be a limited number of points to fast travel to on the map and enemies are unlikely to be able to flee so easily if engaged in combat.

KitGuru Says: Sadly, the experimental premise of Fallout 76 is as unclear as ever. If only we had some gameplay to clear things up, eh, Bethesda? What are your thoughts on recent speculation surrounding the upcoming post-apocalyptic survival shooter?

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