On the notion of correcting a mistake I made earlier in the thread:
Also, I don't like that Bethesda is once again going out of its way to ensure that your character has no knowledge or experience of the outside world whatsoever, and that no, you can't come up with your own backstory or motivation. It's like they don't understand that there are plenty of stories to tell in science fiction without falling back on the whole Campbellian archetype.
This is going to sound really dumb, but somehow, I misinterpreted the brief explanation of the story we were given at E3 and thought that for the bulk of the game, the player character was going to be the son or daughter of the introduction's protagonists, now grown up and with a character design reflecting that of their parents. I'm not going to bother reviewing the E3 coverage to see what it was specifically that tripped me up, but in my defense, can you tell me that you honestly couldn't see Bethesda doing something like that? Anyway, I was so relieved to discover a few days later that the PC was actually one of the parents that I couldn't bring myself to really complain about it. In fact, I actually think it's a fairly neat premise. Yeah, you have a prescribed backstory again, but at least this time you're an established adult with a military background and an active life, as opposed to:
You're a naive, gee-whiz young kid with zero previous life experience and no idea of what he's doing stumbling headfirst into a world he doesn't understand. The game sets this out so clearly that there is literally no wiggle room to imagine anything more interesting about yourself or your past. Maybe you feel conflicted from an event in your past that-NOPE. Maybe you once had this friend who-NOPE. Maybe you're seeking amends for-NOPE. Maybe something interesting once-NOPE. All you are is a bland and naive young kid, and if you forget it, the game will remind you every chance it gets.
What do the rest of you think about the Rip Van Winkle/Captain America premise? Also:
<CasterYourMom> Because F3 was unique enough by itself
<beardo> I do have a problem with the voice. Because I can't picture the type of character I want to play having that particular voice
<CasterYourMom> Did they even add hardcore more to F4=
<CasterYourMom> ?
<CasterYourMom> mode*
<beardo> I don't know if it's been announced
<Saddam> I don't think they're keeping anything that NV added
<CasterYourMom> what the shit
<CasterYourMom> it was the proper way of playing fallout
<Saddam> The Correct Way to Play the Game
<beardo> boo le hoo
<Saddam> Like the way they scrapped the gay perks
<CasterYourMom> No more fem fatale lesbian do de doo?
<CasterYourMom> lame
<CasterYourMom> I don't remember if fem fatale was gay or not
<Saddam> No, because in this RPG, it has already been decided that your character is straight
<Saddam> Cherchez La Femme was the lesbian perk
<CasterYourMom> Why not bisexual
<CasterYourMom> like every other fallout game
<beardo> it was the female equivalent of confirmed bachelor
<beardo> just got some unique dialogues with some female NPCs
<Saddam> And you could do extra damage against women
<CasterYourMom> I hope they at least included some kinky perks instead
<Saddam> Of course, Bethesda is too cool for unique dialogues
<Saddam> Instead, it's back to poorly-written persuasions that basically have your character going "Aw, c'mon!"
<beardo> "Fuck you."
<Saddam> All jokes aside, that's the one scrapped improvement from NV that disappoints me the most
<CasterYourMom> I loved hardcore mode. It made everything you did seem like it meant just a little bit more
<CasterYourMom> like you weren't just some invincible player character
<beardo> But you're not going to see what you're going to say anyway
<Saddam> Every single one of F3's speech checks reads like a failed speech check would in NV
<CasterYourMom> too bad new vegas had the shitty legion in it
<CasterYourMom> such a shitty concept
<Saddam> NV's speech checks were both really smart and really funny
<Saddam> The successful speech checks took into account the personality of the character you were talking to
<Saddam> And it was always clear why that would succeed but the failed ones wouldn't
<beardo> lol, Steam says I played Fallout 4 yesterday
<Saddam> Like when House offers to buy the Platinum Chip from you, the failed check is you making a lame joke about him being "chip out of luck" if he doesn't offer more money
<Saddam> The successful one keeps to the serious tone House prefers, telling him that the "market value" of the Chip is higher than what he's offering
<Saddam> It makes sense
<beardo> the flowers of poclypse
<Saddam> Bethesda would have written that check as "Aw, but I want more money than that!"
<Saddam> And sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't
<Saddam> BAW
<CasterYourMom> Aw, but I don't want to pay you a toll
<Saddam> Robot! Let me past!
<beardo> probably due to time constraints, Obsidian didn't have time to add dumb versions of every dialogue option if you play ad unintelligent character.
<Blanko> F3 couldn't really have unique failure lines because the speech checks were a dice roll
<beardo> that was bad
<Saddam> That's my point, it shouldn't have been dice rolls
<Blanko> Indeed
<Saddam> At the very least, they shouldn't have brought them back after NV showed just how much better its system was
<Blanko> I got into habit of quicksaving before every dialogue because savescumming lol
<CasterYourMom> I hate dice roles for important stuff like dialogue
<CasterYourMom> I like getting the most of the game by always maximizing social options
<CasterYourMom> rolls*
<Blanko> Bethesda is now even encouraging savescumming by making quicksaving possible on consoles