Fallout 76 Players Being Griefed and Having Their Weapons Stolen by NPCs

How easily we take for granted that video game NPCs do not treat us how we treat them. There are a lot of ways we mistreat our virtual comrades. Asking the same inane questions in order to exhaust their dialogue, forcing them to buy the garbage out of our inventory, and of course, pickpocketing them without shame. For all the good they do for us, we do so little for them (yknow, other than find various jewelry that they dropped in a cave while fleeing, or killing 25 goblins for them). Well, with a new bug in Fallout 76, it seems the NPCs might get a chance at revenge. 

Players have noticed an enraging bug in Fallout 76. During some missions you are accompanied by NPCs. Now, there is a chance that upon dying your NPC follower will pick up your weapon and refuse to give it back. They cannot be pickpocketed, nor are they willing to trade their equipped items. And as they are mission-critical characters, they cannot be killed, only slump down for a few seconds while their health regenerates; you can’t loot their corpse. 

In the Fallout 76 subreddit, one player reported that during the Riding Shotgun mission, he died and his corpse looted of a machine gun and over 1300 bullets. Another died and spotted an NPC carrying his gatling gun. And while the community managers have stated that the team is working on fixing the bug, there is no telling when this will be, or if they will have to revert to a previous version of the game. 

Fallout 76 players now live in fear of the once docile nonplayer character. A staggering reversal for all of us who mistreated innocent NPCs in the past. Perhaps we brought this upon ourselves. A righteous retribution for our past sins. Or perhaps in striving for the most human-like AI, we inadvertently created one that acts most like a gamer, and now we will be the ones who are griefed and ganked. In any case, let this be a warning for all who thought themselves stronger than the humble villager or town guard. Maybe it’s time for some introspection. Maybe after this, both sides will walk away with more understanding and empathy for one another. For more information about conflict resolution skills, check out this article.