• Doggie!!

• I’m looking forward to discovering the series. Fallout 3 didn’t really draw me in. I’ve seen awesome screenshots here from New Vegas but have never played. The FO4 trailer showed a world that I want to explore, so I’m optimistic.

• That dog!!

• Meeting my characters. As much as I dislike the character creation scene and the implication that all characters must be part of that specific family just in different colors, I expect that there will be enough world out there to forget the beginning scene and just be who the character is.

• Oh, did I mention the dog?

I am most looking forward to a game that doesn't have an awful green or yellow tint laid over everything. It is such a pain the rear to mod that out. Having a game with real colors right out of the box will be a refreshing change from Bethesda.

I hate the way Bethesda decided to define our character as a married, heterosexual, parent before the game even begins as well. I am sure their line of thinking is that there are no gay people in the world. There are no people in the world who are single (by choice or circumstance). There are no people in the world who don't want to have children. Or not able to. There are no people in the world who get married and have kids, and then get divorced! Or just skip the marriage part and go straight to the kids and breakup. Those things would just be unrealistic, and impossible for anyone playing the game to comprehend.

Apparently the idea that people might want to create their own character histories and personalities is completely unknown to Bethesda. Just like people might not want to play their crappy main quest, and play an open world game the way it was meant to, but just going out and exploring and getting into adventures.

Here Here! I don't mind having a main questline in case I choose to want to do it; just don't want it crammed down my throat and forced on me; or anything forced on me in what is touted as an "Open World" game. My biggest enjoyment in Skyrim and ESO is exploring; doing the random quests I choose to do as I come across them; and create my own adventures in my own way. There are some questlines I do enjoy and want to do, but want to do them in my own sweet time; not under dire pressure.

I really like the way Oblivion let you choose to walk away from anything at any time, and on your return it would pick up as if you weren't even gone from it. And a lot of times they gave you a few days between quests to go do other things; like in the Mages Guild when Arch Mage Traven had to "Think" for a few days between quests.

That gave the player every opportunity to go do whatever else and come back when they were good and ready to.

D'aaaaaaaw !!!! He is pupalicious!

I think your suggestions regarding the Easter Eggs referencing Adam Adamowicz is an awesome idea! I hope they do that, that would be a nice tribute.

That is from in-game? Holy crap, I can see why it requires so many resources to run this to Recommended status.

What am I looking for? More of everything I guess. Now that the PS3 / Xbox 360 generation has passed, the consoles won't be holding back the base game for PC players anymore. So hopefully there will be more content (as stated), more NPCs, etc.




This, period for me. It's too confining. Not just straight / married, but any sort of definition at all. We're all good at making our own definitions, it's what we do.

One of the things I hated about Mass Effect 1 (the only one I played much of), was that it forced you into playing a human Space Marine. You did have a choice of a few different backgrounds, like war hero, sole survivor, spacer, colonist, and so on. But I didn't want to be a Space Marine. I wanted to be a scout/explorer, just traveling the galaxy prospecting and perhaps getting into adventures here and there. I didn't want to be a human either. As soon as I saw an Asari, that is what I wanted to be. But just like the Fallout games, you don't get to choose your race.

Thanks folks! That doggie is so cute, isn't he? Not sure whether I am sold on the German Shepard thing, us Aussies just love our blue heelers too much. Still, if I do not have to use the 'dogmeat' name and can use something myself then it will be okay. However, I doubt that Beth will give us that freedom.

The dog does look like it has some real nice animation, nose to the ground as it tracks a scent and the ability to really throat rip and take down during combat. So fingers crossed it works out as planned.

SubRosa is spot on about the limiting main quest and character background. It doesn't look good with Beth now making two Fallout games with the forced beginning. That to me seems like a template that they will use all the time in FO. They copped a fair amount of criticism about the 'daddy' story line in FO3 and yet what do we have- more of the same...

The green tinge was certainly weird after 200 years and made no sense. I am also glad to see the blue sky and clouds back.

I must do a search on info on Boston before the game lands. Work out the landmarks etc.

Celtics and Good Will Hunting are all I know about Boston. Lol.

Oh so THAT'S where this idea of a forced protagonist comes from eh? X-| ... okay, I get it now. Beth is sick of hearing "your story sucks, BioEntertainment does it better", so they probably did something to make the story more confining (but "better') as well, by confining the choices we have at the beginning of the game. If that's the case, then I'll definitley be waiting until FO4 is out for awhile, so I can see if I'd be interested or not.

Not to bash BioWare, or the people who bought them out, but the one game I tried of theirs (one of the Dragon Ages) had me instantly bored. After I sat through like a half-hour of dialog at the start, and finally got to move my character around, I was longing for Oblivion, and literally put that game in the tray. Dragon Age gets a lot of respect, I know this, but me personally? My copy of DA sits in my CD rack to this day!

I'll probably be like mirocu, playing Fallout 3 for the next several years, haha.

Get ready to buy your Nuka Quantums on November 10th!

I want to try it!

I am worried about the color. I do not want some fake, artificially colored preservative drink. I want the real radiation thing, the one that burns holes through the snow and increases my action points.

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Interestingly, I am playing both Skyrim and the complete Mass Effect series while I am waiting. I bought the Bioware games years ago but never got around to playing them other than a bit of game testing.

I enjoy the characters and story-lines, far more than I expected and it will be interesting to see how the voice protagonist fares in FO4 when compared to it. On one hand I dislike the idea of Beth forcing a character beginning on me but I have noticed that Mass Effect is the only series that I can play a female character.

I have tried playing as a female in Beth games but it just feels wrong and I soon drop the character. The written dialogue forces me to 'think' as a female, and that is scary!

In voiced recorded dialogue I can just sit back and let the female part play itself out. So if things work out in FO4 I should be able to get twice the content from the game.

I have played most of Dragon Age. I enjoyed the cut scenes, but really that was it. NPCs and the testosterone mutt with the collar was too much for me. And turn based combat and healing....grrrr.....

I would, but I´m not sure the plane ticket is worth it...

Sure, some people are more comfortable with one sex or another. I think because I grew up table-gaming, and we had parties full of mixed sexes, I'm more comfortable with switching from male to female. I feel a lot more comfortable with females in Oblivion though. In Skyrim, I've been about 50/50.

Try peeing in the snow after drinking it; then you will see the holes burning in the snow!

Nothing wrong with any of that. Some people who play video games see their characters as extensions of themselves. They put themselves directly into the shoes of that character, and become that character. Sort of like Method Acting, but for gaming. Other people see their characters as separate beings, characters whom they are guiding through the game, and discovering the game with. They view the protagonist more as a companion than a projection of their own identity.

If you are one of the Method Actors like me, playing a member of the opposite sex can be difficult, if not impossible. I did it for decades simply because I had no choice in the matter. Male was all that the games offered, except for the rare games like Tomb Raider (that made up about 1% of the games out there at the time).

Thankfully now some game developers offer the choice between playing a male and female protagonist. Bioware, Obsidian, and Bethesda have always been good about this. Now I always play as female characters because I have the choice. I am so sick and tired from all those decades of being forced to play as males that I cannot enjoy it anymore. So I won't buy a game that forces the dick on you. The developers can keep their penii to themselves.

Yep, this! I fell in love with Tomb Raider when I first discovered it, for this reason. I wish they'd make a Grand Theft Auto with a choice of female protagonist.

Unquestionably the best move that the recent developers have woken up to is the massive female audience that was waiting to embrace video gaming. It is strange that Rockstar (as Renee has said) continues with their male lead, but I guess with such a story driven game it would require more work to achieve it. Saints Row did have that flexibility and it can certainly be achieved if they want to.

The old Beth fan fiction showed me just how passionate woman can be about computer gaming. Most of the best writers both there and here were in fact female. There is no doubt (in my experience) that woman have far superior communication skills than us males and role play games are perfect to express that. In general society males are more likely to be a 'closed book' personality and only mature later on. Well, we hope...

My female Shepard is one the best gaming characters I have ever played. It just works so well for me when Bioware swings the camera during dialogue and I can feel the character's emotion through facial expressions. I struggle to play a female normally and hoping that Beth nails it as well.

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Melbourne never has any snow during winter, mALX. That melting snow thing is never an issue!

I pre-ordered Fallout 4 on June the 4th via GameStop; they were supposed to take the funds out of my PayPal account. Well, they didn't; and just the other day I got an email from them saying that "soon" they would be removing those funds and shipping the game; that I should receive it two days past the date it ships to stores. Which means 4 days past the time Steam users can access it.

So, "Thanks, Bethesda for making pre-ordering with you such a bonus for me!"


I cancelled my pre-order via GameStop, and just in case they still tried to run it through still I cancelled it via PayPal as well.

I can drive over the the GameStop and buy the game with cash/credit 2 days before it would have come to my house and save myself the 11 dollars "rush" shipping that I paid; or order it via Steam and be playing it 4 days before it would have arrived.


Thank you SubRosa for the heads up on that rip-off, I did not know till you posted that link.

The feeling when you pre-order and get the game later than anyone who buys it the day it´s released....

Exactly.


I pre-ordered the Rolling Stones' last tour package; they sent it to me 2 days ahead of time and packaged a few extras in there for me giving them the pre-order/prepay to fund their release date. (I got the vid, plus they added in a book of pictures of the Stones; some of which were not released pics, like personal family shots of Kieth at home, etc).

That is the whole point of pre-paying on a preOrder; to get the item earlier than anyone else and/or to get bonus perks.


Why else would we do it?

Becuase we have too much moneyz and wanna just throw them at companies?

Blaspheme! There is never too much money!

Once upon a time pre-ordering did make some sense. Back when all games were on a disc and you could only buy them in store. If you showed up to the store and they were all sold out, you were out of luck. Unless you pre-ordered it, in which case they had your copy safely put aside behind the counter. You got your game, the store got their moneys, and the game developer got their cut. Everyone was happy.

But now that games are all downloaded there is no need for any of that. Gog/Steam/Gamestop's online storefronts won't ever run out of copies for you to download.

There is no reason for pre-orders anymore. But companies push it because they are a way to get people's money before anyone can actually play the game, and find out it sucks and tell their friends not to buy it. This is why game demos have vanished as well. Game companies want to get as much money as they can before anyone can play their game and spread the word that it is a bug-ridden mess.

Kotaku has a good article on the whole mess Pre-Ordering has turned into. The bottom line is that it is bad for the industry, because it rewards developers who churn out crap games, and screws over the people actually buying them.

mALX, I’m glad you were able to cancel your pre-order.

I’m going to pre-order mine because I’m getting a disc from a store on day 1, and I want to actually get it. It’s more of a reservation since they only put $5 down, and your $5 is refundable. I will not attend the midnight party at the store, however!

What he said made sense right up until he started saying not to fall for it if you get the bonus early release for pre-paid orders or some nice swag with it.

That is the whole reason I ever pre-order anything = have it first and the great loot/perks for buying early.

What bothered me about Bethsoft is that they (not only didn't give a single perk for the pre-order; but actually punished me for doing it, making me the last to get to play the game).

But he is right about one thing. I have pre-ordered every Bethesda game beginning with Oblivion and all through the Fallouts as well. And in that time, their games actually have gone downhill on how finished they are when they ship; and they have also gone down on their willingness to patch the issues. So his point is made and confirmed.

But if they had given me the game a couple days early or given me some perk for pre-ordering (like a special armor/weapon or unique to pre-order quest, etc); or both - I would not have minded pre-ordering at all. I just want something - some bonus that makes it worth my while to do it.

Why not? It´ll be you and a bunch of 12-year-olds!

Are you kidding? That party is a chance to get rigged up in Wasteland costumes!!!!!

Here is something to keep in mind about those pre-order perks. When I bought my latest video card it came with a free copy of Witcher 3. I redeemed it at Gog.com, and they gave me all the preorder bonus stuff along with the game itself. I don't know if they do that for all the people who bought the game after its release or not. But I got everything that the people who Pre-Ordered got.

So all the people who pre-ordered were more or less made chumps of, lol. Seriously, this is the first time I've ever been sorry I pre-ordered. Glad I was able to cancel.

I´ve bought many graphic cards and not once have I gotten a free game

I pre-ordered a physical copy on Amazon back when it was announced simply because it's cheaper. If I wanted to buy it digitally on Xbox Live it'd cost a minimum of £50, but on amazon it's only £40.

As for going to a store to buy it, the nearest place to me is a good 30 or 40 minute drive away...and I can't drive.

The only downside to having a physical copy is that I won't be able to pre-download it, but I'm not sure £10 is the price to pay to save a day or two of downloading time.

So they made the Pre-Order disc 10 lbs. lighter than the regular version? It sounds a lot easier to carry only 40 lbs of game than 50 lbs. Though I suppose it would be good exercise...


Start buying Nvidia cards!

I have always gotten Nvidia

A sterling effort, Rosa.

I pre-ordered Oblivion for the XBox 360 and got the disk rated "T" instead of "M" - by the time it hit the stores they had changed them all to an "M" rating. I have had many people wanting my "T" version game, wouldn't trade/sell it.

I missed this, somehow, sorry, WW!

On the dog's names, (question to SubRosa or Ghastley) = Is there a way to rename the dogs to what you want using just the console so you don't mess up its scripts?

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I hate the forced beginnings too; and always put in one save that is right before exiting (when they ask you "Are you sure this is the race/gender/appearance you want to be?" ) Just before that point I always save so I can start as many new games as I want from that point instead of having to go through it all again. (and have done that since Oblivion's tutorial dungeon through all the Bethesda games; both Fallout and Elder Scrolls series).

Skyrims was particularly aggravating with that wagon ride and beheading forced scene; but that was a theme throughout the game - scenes you were forced to stand helplessly by and watch whether you wanted to or not as soon as you entered Solitude; Markarth; etc.

I think on FO:NV they don't give that choice till you leave Goodsprings for the first time; which is really irritating because you never know when you are about to cross that line and trigger it; so may not have a save close by.


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The green tinted sky - I think it kind of gave the feel of the Wasteland in FO3; and since it was my first delve into the Fallout series I was glad it was there for the immersion factor. I really wouldn't want to change it to blue skys in FO3; but by NV would have preferred a less greeny sky; and am really glad they are cutting that out of Fallout 4.

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The Boston Harbor is famous for the Boston Tea Party; but here is a good list of things we might see (including some we have already seen in the trailer) :



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Natio...marks_in_Boston




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The dog's name is easy to rename. Just open the mod in the geck, find the dog, and change the name in the Name field. So long as you leave the ID field alone it won't effect anything else.

Wow, thanks for that. I was going to do a search next week but you have saved me the effort. I wonder how many of the 60 landmarks will make it?

Boston Tea Party. Wasn't that where 'freedom from onerous tax' got mixed up with freedom in general and Americans have got the two things mixed up ever since?

Glad that you sorted out the pre-order mALX. It would make sense if you gained a perk or the game arrived days before the general public. But 4 days later. Crazy.

Pre-order for Forza 6 meant bonus cars and getting the game about 5 days earlier than the general release. That way it made sense.

Yeah, I always pre-ordered and got some perk. Fallout 3 I got a special armor; and I think in New Vegas a special gun. I think GTA gave you a special car.

ESO gave pre-orders the "Adventure Pack" with their pre-order; (but some time after the game released they opened that Adventure Pack up for sale in the Crown Store with Crown Points.

Usually all those pre-order bonus items are released to everyone at some point. Either as dlcs, or just all tossed in when they get around to releasing a Game of the Year edition (or Ultimate Edition, or Super Ultimate Edition, or Super Duper Mart Ultimate Edition, etc...). When I bought New Vegas it was years after the game had been released, so I got the super edition with everything, and that included all the pre-order bonus stuff.

Yeah; and as long as it is bundled in something else the person has to buy; and/or with a gap in time or as a special given by a store, etc - I don't feel ripped off by that. But if they say you get a bonus for pre-ordering and then bundle it with every order for everyone, then I feel I've been duped by the company to get the pre-order.

Gamestop actually did give a bonus for a preorder of Fallout 4 if you were buying the XBox One with the Fallout 4 bundled in it; but just for the game they gave nothing, at least in our area. I noticed GameStop in 3 European countries did give perks with preorders for it.

Steam is giving the pre-orders the early playing of the game, though; which tells me that we will need Steam to play it when it is released. So I may as well buy it through Steam anyway; if I'll need them to play it.

I will not give too much away but it looks like the game is set in 2287.

Bethesda have decided to move the game forward in the time frame. Very interesting.

What does this mean in relation to BOS and Enclave....

A new collectible!!??



I WANT IT!!!!!!

What are the Chorrol members thoughts on weapon and armor condition.

Should it be dropped for FO4?

Do you wish it stayed in the series?

Do you miss repair hammers?

I for one would like to keep repair needs. It´s enough a shooter as it is and I wanna keep the details that seperates Fallout from CoD and other such games.

I agree completely. Having every gun at the same condition in a post apocalyptic setting spells disaster. Perhaps they are hoping that we will not notice with all the weapon mods. Too busy collecting adhesive tape...


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My city is gearing up for next week. Woo hoo!

Melbourne Tram

Outside Melbourne Station

Ha ha, that´s some sweet advertising

The best bonus I’ve seen so far is a poster, which does not appeal to me. I suppose it can be recycled, though.

Just kidding, I’m sure my son will grab it. He’s been trying to play FO3 since Friday as a warmup but this weekend is too busy.

WW, awesome pics of Melbourne excitement! Woo!