Fallout 76: 10 Reasons It Failed
8. Player Vs. Player Is Handled Poorly
Why even include player vs player if it's going to be handled this badly?
If you have a game with multiplayer, chances are those players are going to want to murder one another at some point. That is even more true true of something like Fallout 76, where the only real challenge in the game would be fighting other players.
To prevent griefing, Bethesda decided that players would take half damage from other players that have shot at them, until they decide to shoot back.
This is the perfect example of an idea that's much better on paper than in execution.
Even with a half damage nerf, if another player is significantly more levelled than you, they can still easily take you out with some persistence.
To put it simply, as it is right now, player vs player in Fallout: 76 has no balance and no viable rules.
Why didn't Bethesda just use different servers for player vs player and regular exploration?