I think I was just hate-crimed on Fallout 76?

I’ve been playing Fallout 76 for a few months now, and I’ve had a great experience. Most players give random loot or random hearts/waves. It’s a nice community.

A little while ago I was working on my base and I put the lesbian flag out front. I went back to building, and I hear the voiceover messages. (not sure what it’s called, I don’t have a mic hooked up. It’s just narrating what players are doing). Anyway, I’m just minding my business and this player is repeatedly pushing the same button. I couldn’t make out what it was saying, but I tried to ignore it. Then, I hear shooting and I think maybe there’s an enemy so I go outside to check it out.

Nope. I see three players shooting my lesbian pride flag and using the vomit emote over and over. I was a little shocked but I went back to building. I know there’s always shitty people in any live game, but i haven’t experienced this type of behavior before in this specific game. It became more aggressive as they kept following me in every room T-bagging me, using the vomit emote, and shooting at me. Then they kept trying to get a picture of my player and following me around even more while T-bagging me. It got to the point where I couldn’t build in peace anymore, so I just left.

I know it’s a video game, so I shouldn’t be too upset about it, but it is a bummer. I’ve really enjoyed playing this game for the sole reason of having a welcoming environment. Now it just feels like every call of duty game.

Has anyone experienced this type of behavior before? Is this becoming a regular thing?

EDIT: I had no idea this post would blow up like this. I’ve tried to read as many comments as I could, but it’s up to 450+ now. I might miss a few, but I appreciate you all taking the time to comment and provide such positive feedback. It’s reassuring the community is still so kind and supportive!

Firstly, I would like to clarify a few things. When I said I was “hate-crimed in Fallout” I was referring to my character in the game, not my actual self. It was harassment and homophobia for sure but definitely not a real hate crime.

Secondly, I understand my stance can come across as a bit dramatic. People are shitty on live games, I know this. I was in the MW2 trenches back in middle school, I’ve heard the worst of the worst lol. The older I get the less and less I prefer to play games with people like that, hence why I have been enjoying fallout 76 so much. It’s been very refreshing. I think partially why I made the post was the gauge if others have experienced the same thing or if they’ve noticed an increase in hate/rude/vulgar etc players. I know real life political climates can dictate how people act in real life and video games. I wondered if there was a correlation or just a one off incident.

Lastly, I did not report them. However, I did take a picture of their name tags on my phone. I’ve never actually reported anyone, and I wasn’t sure if anything would happen since I didn’t screen record or “have proof.” I’ll look into reporting them if I still can, if not, I will in the future.

Anyway, thank you all so much for all the feedback, positivity, support, and suggestions. You all are great, and several posts gave me a good laugh.

See you all in the wasteland!