Fallout 76 started in November 2018 as a big experiment: Bethesda wanted to find out if the Fallout brand would also work as a multiplayer MMO. Despite all the forecasts, the developers were more than once surprised how the players actually behaved in live operation. For example, Bethesda probably considered the community to be significantly more competitive.
Players don't feel like PvP in Fallout 76
In an interview with colleagues from USGamer, Bethesdas Pete Hines, senior vice president of PR & Marketing, commented on the surprise low participation in PvP in Fallout 76. Originally, the developers had expected a lot more players who wanted to shoot at each other. Literally it says:
"At the end of the day, our goal was always to put things in the game and then see how people out there react to them – and make changes afterwards. For example, we were a little surprised at how little people wanted to take part in PvP and how many fans would rather go hunting together in PvE. "
A dedicated survival mode was later patched into the game to make PvP more dynamic for fans of competitive shootings. The PvP multiplayer was switched off again on October 1, 2019.
Bethesda is currently working flat out on the large, free Wastelanders DLC, who wants to put NPCs, dialogues and many other aspects into play, the fans of the older Fallouts in 76 miss to date. If, by the way, you are interested in such unpredictable dynamics that arise from the community: We mixed up among the Fallout people for a Plus report.