Fallout 76 Murder

Fallout 76 got a ton of preview coverage yesterday, with both gaming sites and YouTube/Twitch content creators dishing out their thoughts on Bethesda's upcoming release. It's safe to say that some enjoyed their time with the game more than others, but one talking point that continues to pop up is how Fallout 76 deals with murderous players.

As many of you will no doubt already know, Fallout 76 is an always online game. There will always be other players populating the map, and yes, you can kill each other. Once you hit level five, you're able to attack your fellow vault dwellers, initiating player versus player combat.

There are currently two ways that this scenario can play out. If you're attacked by another player, you can either fight back and start something serious, or you can ignore it. Fighting back makes the encounter 'official', and both players are scaled to a similar level to even the playing field. However, more powerful equipment will skew things a bit.

If you don't fight back, your aggressor can keep hitting you until you die, although they'll deal a lot less damage. In theory, this is supposed to stop players from constantly killing each other, but obviously, the concern is that some players just won't care, and they'll attack regardless.

That said, there is a penalty for murdering too many players who don't fight back. Go on a spree and you'll apparently be hit with a significant debuff, reducing the damage that you do to everything -- player and mutant alike -- and it applies for two hours in real time. What's more, you'll lose all of your in-game money.

It's a big penalty, then, but again, there's a worry that some players just won't give a damn. If they're out to cause chaos, then they're going to cause chaos.

Another potential issue that's been brought up is that players can apparently spawn very close to one another after being killed. So, for example, if you initiate combat with another player and you're shot dead, you can potentially respawn right next to them. It's unclear whether this is just how the preview build was set up, but it's already got people talking.

The final hot topic is the game's performance. It's no secret that the preview build all of these impressions are based on did not run well, constantly dropping frames. Bethesda has said that this is already being fixed, but come on, this is Bethesda we're talking about -- there's a reason to be cynical. Needless to say, an uneven frame rate is a big deal when it comes to player versus player combat -- things have got to be smooth when you're fighting for your life.

So what do you make of all this? Does the penalty sound like it'll be enough to dissuade players from being d*cks to each other? What are your thoughts on Fallout 76 in general? Avoid rads in the comments section below.