Is there anything worse than trolls? The answer is no, always no. Thankfully it has been confirmed by Pete Hines, in charge of marketing and communications at Bethesda, that Fallout 76 anti-trolling measures will already be part of the game at launch. Considering more than a few fans were skeptical about Fallout 76 being online in the first place, as well as PvP being featured, this may reassure some fears at the very least.
So how are Bethesda going to stop people in-game from being total jerks and killing you each and every time they see you? Hines spoke to GameSpot during E3 about this particular issue and what players will get out of not knowing who your enemy is.
He states, “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.” Hines continues, “[we allow] for that sort of tension but with systems in place that keep it from being abusive. So you can’t be harassed by somebody who just keeps chasing you around the world and keeps killing you over and over again; the game literally doesn’t allow that to happen to you.”
Hines also compared the PvP fighting to that of coming across a Deathclaw in Fallout 4. If you fight this dastardly beast but end up dying, you have the option to respawn and try at it again. “That should be how it works for any human person.” He said. “They can’t keep coming after you again and again.”
While Hines didn’t go into detail how it’s possible to have people stop coming after you, this is somewhat reassuring. However, trolls are known for finding ways to get past these kinds of measures. And if modding becomes involved in Fallout 76 then the chances of these anti-trolling measures becoming defunct is a possibility also.
Regardless, we’ll have to wait until the Fallout 76 beta officially opens before we can say for sure how these measures will hold up in-game.
