Gaming

‘Fallout 76’ Fixes Bug, Players Demand They Fix It Back

"I thought this was intentional."

by Amanda Yeo  12 December 2018
Fallout 76

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It’s a common joke among Bethesda fans that bugs in the developer’s games are not really bugs — they’re features. This adage was never truer than it is today, as Fallout 76‘s players are asking that a fixed bug be unfixed.

Fallout 76, an online multiplayer game about making friends after a nuclear apocalypse, is full of spectacular bugs. Bethesda has been hard at work squashing them, but in the meantime players have found their own fun, nurturing a wholesome, generous community where people give resources to strangers with no thought of reward.

However, today Bethesda’s attempts to improve the Fallout 76 experience clashed against the measures players have taken to improve it themselves. And players want them to change it back.

In a list of patch notes for this week’s Fallout 76 update, Bethesda stated that it had “Fixed an issue in which completing the Feed the People Event Quest granted Canned Meat Stew to all players on the server, rather than only the quest’s participants.”

Feed The People is a quest that requires players to collect food and defend machines against waves of enemies. Upon successful completion, the quest awards participants five Canned Meat Stews as well as some other items. And, until this update, it also awarded Canned Meat Stew to every player on the server.

This meant that cans of nourishing meat stew would magically appear in all players’ inventories, regardless of if they were involved in the quest. The surprise gift was particularly useful for lower level players, as one of Canned Meat Stew’s effects upon consumption is to grant five percent extra experience for one hour. It also replenishes health and reduces hunger.

Many fans hadn’t realised the mass distribution of meat was not an intentional reward for the Feed The People quest. “Didn’t realise this was a bug, thought it was a fun community thing they added,” said redditor jpeek, a sentiment widely echoed by other players.

“I thought this was intentional. I always went and made sure to do it, or help, when it popped up so I could get everyone some xp stew,” said TheComboDropper.

Players in Fallout 76 have created an altruistic culture in which people will often gift resources and help each other out unprompted. As such, many enjoyed taking on the role of a benevolent canned goods distributor. Players have thus requested that Bethesda turn the Feed The People bug into a feature, allowing them to feed the people once more.

“We do this event every time it pops up with a friend to, you know, Feed the People,” said redditor Napciyunka. “Because it felt nice having the random Canned Meat pop when I was on a lower level, we were doing it to pass on the good habit and help other dwellers out there.”

“Didn’t think canned stew could be a source of inspiration, but it was,” said sefawd. “It was one of those things you could do where you knew you were helping out everyone a little bit; I felt just as good completing the event as I did seeing the cans magically show up in my inventory. Was neat knowing someone else was out there doin’ work.”

Fallout 76‘s community just wants to feed the world. Hopefully, Bethesda will let them again. After all, it’s nearly Christmas.