Summary

  • Fallout 76 has rebounded from a rocky start to offer a solid multiplayer experience set in post-apocalyptic Appalachia.
  • Recent controversy arose from players misusing the nuke mechanic, prompting Bethesda to intervene and protect new players.
  • Bethesda should expand the nuke-free zone to include the entire Forest region to prevent future incidents and maintain game integrity.

Despite its rough launch back in 2018, Fallout 76 has turned things around in a lot of ways to become a solid multiplayer experience for those looking to explore post-apocalyptic Appalachia. With the release of Amazon's Fallout TV series, Fallout 76 has subsequently become a great way for new fans to jump into the games and familiarize themselves with the series' mechanics alongside a generally supportive community. However, some recent controversy surrounding the abuse of one of Fallout 76's most notable mechanics could turn some new players off of the game, prompting Bethesda to intervene in a greater capacity.

A major draw of Fallout 76 is the end-game ability for players to launch a nuke directed at parts of the game's Appalachian map. Typically, players will want to use this mechanic to create Nuked Flora within the blast zone which drops rare Flux crafting materials, or activate certain public events in end-game areas like Fissure Site Prime to trigger a fight against the Scorchbeast Queen raid boss. However, some players were recently targeting this year's Fasnacht event in the early-game location of Helvetia with nuke strikes, unintentionally killing new players still exploring the starting area.

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Fallout 76 Needs to Further Expand its Nuke-Free Zone for New Players

Bethesda's Response to the Fasnacht Nuke Controversy Should Just Be the Beginning

Fasnacht is typically a popular event for Fallout 76 players since they have the chance to earn rare glowing masks, and some players will even idle in the town of Helvetia to earn the event's rewards without having to actively participate. This practice has prompted some more mischievous players to nuke Helvetia in order to kill players idling for event rewards who are not paying attention to the warning the Death From Above quest provides when a nuke is incoming. As a side effect, other players have been caught in the blast zone through no fault of their own, which can be especially frustrating for new players since they likely lack the gear to withstand the high levels of radiation from a blast zone.

In response to this issue, Bethesda has extended the area that is immune to nukes to include Helvetia so that new players can't become unintentional victims of a nuclear blast while they are still in the early game of Fallout 76. Prior to this update, the zone that was excluded from nuclear strike targeting was the area surrounding Vault 76, since it is the game's starting location. However, the need to expand this exclusion zone eastward to include Helvetia shows that it might be time for Bethesda to further expand the area protected from nukes.

Fallout 76's Nuke Exclusion Zone Should Expand to Include All of the Forest Region

At this point, it would make the most sense for Bethesda to just expand the area protected from nuclear strikes to include the entirety of Fallout 76's Forest region. Fallout 76's map is nicely broken up into different regions that include the Forest, Toxic Valley, Ash Heap, Savage Divide, Mire, Cranberry Bog, and the newly-added Skyline Valley, each with its own suggested player level to ensure a smooth progression system. With the Forest being intended for new players up to level 10, the entirety of the region should be un-nukable since it's very unlikely players will be properly equipped to handle nuclear strikes before level 10.

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From a lore standpoint, it would also make sense to make the Forest un-nukable since in-game text describes the region as relatively untouched by the effects of the bombs, leaving it better preserved than other parts of Appalachia. Additionally, there isn't much incentive for players to nuke that area anyway since it doesn't offer much in the way of Flux resource farming or end-game bosses. Expanding the nuclear exclusion zone to include all of the Forest won't detract much from Fallout 76, and would prevent another Fasnacht situation with future events.

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Fallout 76 Tag Page Cover Art
Fallout 76
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5 /10
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Released
November 14, 2018
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

ESRB
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol
Developer(s)
Bethesda
Publisher(s)
Bethesda
Engine
Creation
Multiplayer
Online Multiplayer
Franchise
Fallout
Platform(s)
PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Genre(s)
Action, RPG
How Long To Beat
34 Hours
File Size Xbox Series
97 GB (May 2024)
Metascore
53
PS Plus Availability
Extra & Premium