Many Fallout fans have been worried about Fallout 76 since rumors first hinted at it being an online survival game, and Bethesda confirmed those rumors (and a lot more) at its E3 showcase. One of the most prominent concerns is how PvP will play into Fallout 76, or to put a finer point on it, how, and how easily, other players will be able to intrude on your experience (read: kill you six ways from Sunday). Bethesda's Pete Hines addressed PvP in a recent interview with Variety, assuring players that Fallout 76 is not PvP-focused.
"It is important to note this is not just a full-on PvP game where you get in the world and everyone shoots everyone," Hines told Variety. "It's more like a challenge to another player." Hines also said Bethesda is working on anti-griefing systems and that you won't lose all your items if you're killed by another player. He also mentioned "a revenge thing you can opt into and try go to head-to-head," which sounds like a way to minimize PvP.
The exact details are still a little unclear, but killing another player in Fallout 76 seems to carry sizable risks, and it's probably not all that rewarding since you can't loot everything from players you kill. Plus you only share a world with a few dozen players in Fallout 76, so it likely won't become as competitive as other online survival games like Rust or DayZ.
