Those who use illegal mods and cheat in Fallout 76 should open Word and prepare to write an essay as punishment. Bethesda has now commented on the essays.
In school, one would be naughty, do nonsense, and the teacher would assign an essay as punishment in which one had to explain why it is not okay to mess around during class.
Bethesda is now reportedly taking similar measures against Fallout 76 cheaters.
An essay as punishment
What happened? Currently, there are rumors and indications that Bethesda is banning some players of the online game Fallout 76 for using cheats and mods. According to the user agreements of Fallout 76, it is not permitted to use these things.
What does Bethesda tell the players? Bethesda is allegedly sending a message to banned players with the following content:
“This account has violated the code of conduct and terms of service. It has been determined that the account is running a third-party application that provides an unfair advantage in the game while you are logged into Fallout 76.
If you wish to appeal the account closure, we would accept an essay on the topic “Why third-party cheat software is harmful to an online gaming community” for our management team to review.”
What does this mean? Bethesda gives cheaters the opportunity to lift the ban by writing an essay about why cheat software is harmful to an online game and its community.
In principle, this is a punishment assignment. An educational measure intended to make cheaters aware of what they did wrong.
Fans doubt the punishment assignment
Is this really true? There are currently indications from several players who claim to have received the email from Bethesda after a ban of the game account. However, this has not yet been confirmed by the developer, even though US sites have already inquired about it.
Within the community, there are doubts about whether this punishment assignment was actually demanded.
However, it is not completely excluded that Bethesda is indeed sending these emails and requesting such an essay. Perhaps a community staff member was just having a bit of fun.
How are the players reacting? Fallout 76 players are still debating whether to take the reports at face value. However, there is a feeling that it is childish and “stupid” to write an essay about the negative effects of cheating in an online game.
Bethesda employee confirms punishment essay
Update 28.12. 21:13: Bethesda has now commented on this, and it is indeed true. As the community lead “Gstaff” said on Resetera, it really happened; they required essays.
They do not want players to use Fallout 76 mods or tools in a way that gives them an advantage or negatively impacts the servers or the gameplay experience of others.
They have discussed the punishment assignments at Bethesda and will continue to do so after the holiday period.
In the meantime, the rule is: if you receive a penalty for using a mod, you should contact Bethesda’s support page, and they will review the complaint.
But in the future, they will definitely not require punishment essays.
What’s behind this: It seems that a staff member acted on his own during the holiday season and requested punishment essays. After this has now been debated publicly, they are likely seeking a different solution at Bethesda.
The time between the years is indeed a difficult time for companies as well.
