Despite having limitations that often seem inconsistent compared to other games with base-building aspects, Fallout 76’s base-building mechanics have inspired a thriving community of builders. By this point in the game’s lifecycle, players have discovered several techniques to bypass some of the game’s restrictions, allowing them to create truly unique CAMPS in Fallout 76. One such technique allows players to make a floating or “flying” CAMP, which stands out since CAMPs are normally required to be connected to the ground and remain within a specific height limit.
While it can arguably be considered an exploit, building floating CAMPs in Fallout 76 has become an increasingly popular practice that many players assumed wasn’t a violation of Fallout 76’s Terms of Service. However, one player has recently received a permanent account ban, allegedly due to having a floating CAMP featured as a Best Build in Fallout 76. This ban immediately caused concern in the community, though Bethesda has since addressed the situation, reassuring gamers that building floating CAMPs is not a bannable offense. Meanwhile, the player who brought the seemingly random ban to the community's attention has since had it reversed.
Fallout 76 May Be Wasting a Golden Opportunity With Its Stance on the Amazon Show
Since the Fallout show has been such a major contributor to the franchise’s recent success, Fallout 76 would be wise to recognize this.
Fallout 76’s Floating CAMP Ban Controversy Explained
A new controversy has developed in Fallout 76 after Redditor u/EdgarBopp posted to the r/fallout76settlements Subreddit claiming that their account had been permanently banned from Fallout 76 due to player reports filed against their floating CAMP Best Build submission. Given the popularity of floating CAMPs, this Reddit post naturally caused concern about whether the use of certain CAMP-building techniques in Fallout 76 has suddenly become a bannable offense.
The Best Builds feature introduced in Fallout 76’s Milepost Zero update lets players submit their CAMP to be featured across multiple servers on a given platform, allowing other players to visit and rate the CAMP.
Best Build CAMPs that get featured across multiple servers occasionally cause players present in a public server to have their CAMP location blocked by a featured Best Build CAMP, which has caused its own controversy among Fallout 76 players. So, it’s possible that Redditor u/EdgarBopp had their CAMP reported by players out of protest for Fallout 76’s new Best Builds feature, instead of the ban being a result of some of the building techniques used to create a floating CAMP.
Bethesda Responds to Fallout 76’s Floating CAMP Ban Controversy
Within two days of this player sharing the news of their permanent account ban, the Reddit post had already gained enough popularity to attract the attention of a Bethesda senior community manager. Soon after, a response was issued via Bethesda's official Discord:
“We've seen that there's been a lot of discussion around floating C.A.M.P.s in the community today so we wanted to take a moment to clarify our stance. We want to reassure builders that floating C.A.M.P.s are okay to build, and we love seeing them. We’ve highlighted a lot of them in our various C.A.M.P. Showcase pieces over the years. It's not our intention to take action on C.A.M.P.s based on how they're built as long as they're not harming other players gameplay (blocking events or access to NPCs), creating server issues, or breaking general ToS rules. Thanks!”
Whether this particular player’s ban was a miscommunication of whether certain CAMP-building techniques are considered exploits, or if it was all a protest of Fallout 76’s Best Builds feature, is still unclear. In the meantime, though, the player in question has since shared that their permanent account ban from Fallout 76 has been reversed. While this has turned out to be quite a controversy, ultimately, players need not worry about obscure CAMP building techniques such as building floating CAMPs putting their account at risk of a ban.
Fallout 76
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 54 /100 Critics Rec: 9%
WHERE TO PLAY
Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of Skyrim and Fallout 4, welcome you to Fallout 76. Twenty-five years after the bombs fell, you and your fellow Vault Dwellers—chosen from the nation’s best and brightest – emerge into post-nuclear America on Reclamation Day, 2102. Play solo or join together as you explore, quest, build, and triumph against the wasteland’s greatest threats. Explore a vast wasteland, devastated by nuclear war, in this open-world multiplayer addition to the Fallout story. Experience the largest, most dynamic world ever created in the legendary Fallout universe. Expand southward to Skyline Valley – a brand-new region of Appalachia. Investigate the cause of the electric storm circling overhead and unveil the mystery around Vault 63 and its dwellers, including a shocking new Ghoul type – The Lost.
