Apparently, some people thought that wandering around an devastated, irradiated wasteland full of vicious mutant creatures wasn’t dangerous enough, which is exactly why Fallout 76 is adding its new Survival mode, which is currently preparing to enter beta testing. In the new mode, free-for-all PvP will be enabled by default, so players will have to stay on their toes to make sure they don’t get deleted from existence by their fellow vault dwellers.
To compensate for the increased danger, however, the game will also grant Survival-mode players greater rewards for succeeding in PvP, including double Caps for killing another player and the possibility to loot more of a player’s items after he or she dies. Right now, however, the exact rewards are still subject to change, but it seems that Bethesda wants to give players a little something extra for putting their virtual lives on the line.
It’s worth pointing out, too, that these recent details about the game’s Survival mode have caused a bit of commotion among the playerbase because of this bit from the official post: “You’re free to create new characters for Survival mode, and encouraged to do so, but you can also use your existing ones.” There’s been an outcry on the game’s subreddit from players who think that allowing existing characters to play Survival mode defeats the purpose, as they’ll come pre-equipped with weapons, armor, and supplies that may render the mode’s additional challenges irrelevant.
As of this writing, no fewer than three of the top posts on /r/fo76 are imploring Bethesda to reconsider allowing existing characters. Though for that matter, a not-insignificant number of the other posts seem to be imploring Bethesda to reconsider Survival mode altogether. It’s too late for that, however, as a comment from Community Manager Valseek on the game’s subreddit claims that the team is trying to have Survival mode ready to beta test by March.
