Fallout 3 is The Force Awakens

[Crni Vuk]

Fallout 3 is a game which is important to me and one I'm not going to apologize for deriving hundreds of hours of enjoyment from.

You don't have to appologize for anything. The problem is that many of us simply don't think very high about what Bethesda achieved with it, where a lot of so called 'fans' see it as the epidome of Fallout, while hating - yes hating - the first two games. Tell me how that is supposed to work. I will give you the answer, it doesn't. Those people are not fans, they are Fallout tourists. They don't like 'Fallout', they like something that simply looks like Fallout, a generic shooter-RPG-hybrid with Fallout art assets, nothing more nothing less.

 

[R.Graves]

So what are everyone's favorite and least favorite elements of Fallout 3?
SNIP

Favorite:
the pitt
Inon zur
Yao guai
Mirelurks
And I actually enjoy the music GNR plays even if it is a bit out of place for fallout.

Least favorite: literally everything else.

 

[Kohno]

So what are everyone's favorite and least favorite elements of Fallout 3?

Looking at the vistas from afar is a plus. Or was back then, it's been almost 8 years since I last touched the game.

Everything else goes to the negative side. One way or another.

 

[CT Phipps]

Okay, with a fresh mind, I'm happy to discuss any elements of the game or questions people have my views on if they still want to.

Sorry about that.

I'm also happy to answer any questions or comments I may have missed before if people are willing to give me refresher.

 

[Kohno]

It is somewhat sad that since there's no real future to look forward to to the series anymore, there's nothing more to discuss than how after 8-9 years of arguing about it Fallout 3 is still full of shit.

And how Fallout 4 tries to top it the best it can.

 

[CT Phipps]

It is somewhat sad that since there's no real future to look forward to to the series anymore, there's nothing more to discuss than how after 8-9 years of arguing about it Fallout 3 is still full of shit.

And how Fallout 4 tries to top it the best it can.

I'm of the conspiracy theorists that Chris Avellone quit his job at Obsidian not only because he hates working there and can barely contain his loathing for his bosses (not a hard thing to pick up on by the interviews) but because he wants to be hired as project head for Fallout 5.

Which I can easily see happening.

Albeit, I hope he gets someone to balance himself or it will end up a 100 hour RPG about how the Great War was somehow intristic to mankind and a reflection of the inner struggles of belief making the Enclave as the Brotherhood of Steel never existed at all.

 

[Kohno]

I'm of the conspiracy theorists that Chris Avellone quit his job at Obsidian not only because he hates working there and can barely contain his loathing for his bosses (not a hard thing to pick up on by the interviews) but because he wants to be hired as project head for Fallout 5.

Which I can easily see happening.

He's not going to walk over Todd or Emil. And even if he got there to work as a creative lead, I'm not too sure what one man could do to "fix things" especially since MCA is much less a systems guy than he is a narrative guy. The series needs both, good systems design and good narrative design. Good narrative (if he'd even be able to apply such) alone is naught but a curtain without a curtain rod.

 

[CT Phipps]

He's not going to walk over Todd or Emil. And even if he got there to work as a creative lead, I'm not too sure what one man could do to "fix things" especially since MCA is much less a systems guy than he is a narrative guy. The series needs both, good systems design and good narrative design. Good narrative (if he'd even be able to apply such) alone is naught but a curtain without a curtain rod.

Todd Howard isn't going to be the problem as everyone and their mother has basically said the guy has about as laid back a command style as the Dude from Big Lebowski.

Emil? Well, the writer will do something.

I do have pretty high hopes for Fallout 5 because there's so many different ways they can choose to go with the series direction. My big issue is that they tried to rip off Minecraft and that consumed the entirety of their game. They've also apologized for the speech system so getting rid of those two as well as the new stat system will be go a long way to fixing my problems with the game.

Far Harbor, for me, showed they could do good serious games and Nuka World just needed a "Good" Path to be perfect as a humorous expansion.

 

[Kohno]

I do have pretty high hopes for Fallout 5

Based on your vehement liking of Bethesda's games, I'm not surprised.

That doesn't work for me, though. Not anymore. I gave them a chance and they blew it, I gave them a second chance and they blew that one too. Nothing to suggest that whomever they might hire, even if it was MCA or Tim Cain himself, or what ever kinds of prospects there might be to explore would change a tradition that has been going on for well over a decade.

 

[Crni Vuk]

He's not going to walk over Todd or Emil. And even if he got there to work as a creative lead, I'm not too sure what one man could do to "fix things" especially since MCA is much less a systems guy than he is a narrative guy. The series needs both, good systems design and good narrative design. Good narrative (if he'd even be able to apply such) alone is naught but a curtain without a curtain rod.

There is this old rumor about how some old Fallout developers tried to apply at Bethesda after they bought the rights to make Fallout 3, but they have been turned down. Of course Todd never got tired to mention in interviews how much he adored the original developers and how honored he was to work on the game. No clue if the rumor is true or not, but if that is what happend, it shows how much they 'adored' them.

 

[Kohno]

There is this old rumor that say some old Fallout developers asked to work with Bethesda after they bought the rights to make Fallout 3, but they have been turned down. Of course Todd never got tired to mention interviews how much he adored the original developers and how honored he was to work on the game. No clue if the rumor is true or not, but if that is what happend, it shows how much they 'adored' them.

Yeah, I remember that. I might be mistaken, but I have a faint recollection from waaay back that it was Jason Anderson (possibly among few others) who got turned down. Don't quote me on that though, time has passed.

Todd never got tired to mention interviews how much he adored the original developers and how honored he was to work on the game.

Yeah. Also a dev team of "huge fans of the series" most of whom had never played it.

 

[Prone Squanderer]

Yeah. Also a dev team of "huge fans of the series" most of whom had never played it.

And/or just don't give a shit.

 

[joevonzombie]

I'm late to the party but I'll chime in. The key difference between The Force Awakens and Fallout 3 is TFA actually had people involved that have a basic understanding of the lore and universe. Fallout 3... not so much.

 

[High_King_Andoion]

Am I one of those rare people who like both the original Fallout's and Bethesda's (Questionable) version's of Fallout?
Bethesda could have done a LOT better, thats for sure but they feel like they did an 'Entry-Level' fallout, you know?
As in, here's some brief lore, the map, the items now go shoot some shit up and when you want a proper, lore soaked experience, go and get the originals.

 

[joevonzombie]

Am I one of those rare people who like both the original Fallout's and Bethesda's (Questionable) version's of Fallout?
Bethesda could have done a LOT better, thats for sure but they feel like they did an 'Entry-Level' fallout, you know?
As in, here's some brief lore, the map, the items now go shoot some shit up and when you want a proper, lore soaked experience, go and get the originals.

Their version fails even at the entry level because they still lack a fundamental understanding of what Fallout is.

 

[R.Graves]

@CT Phipps means to say that he prefers mindless entertainment, with no other redeeming value, over art that entertains.

Source: He prefers Fallout 3 over Fallout 1&2.

 

[CaptJ]

@CT Phipps means to say that he prefers mindless entertainment, with no other redeeming value, over art that entertains.

Source: He prefers Fallout 3 over Fallout 1&2.

He did call himself a "casual game connoisseur." I can understand not wanting to play a game that takes a long time get into but Skyrim takes forever to play while using so little of your brain power that I suspect that is possible for one's brain do its nightly flushing while playing the game (I don't actually think that. Visual processing uses too much effort for the brain to do that.) I do enjoy casual games tLoZ or Portal but I don't enjoy games like Skyrim or Bioshock.

 

[R.Graves]

He did call himself a "casual game connoisseur." I can understand not wanting to play a game that takes a long time get into but Skyrim takes forever to play while using so little of your brain power that I suspect that is possible for one's brain do its nightly flushing while playing the game (I don't actually think that. Visual processing uses too much effort for the brain to do that.) I do enjoy casual games tLoZ or Portal but I don't enjoy games like Skyrim or Bioshock.

Valve really did have a knack for making great games that both casuals and hardcore gamers can enjoy. and I did enjoy skyrim for what it was I just sorely wish It better writing because the writing it does have is unacceptable.

 

[CaptJ]

Valve really did have a knack for making great games that both casuals and hardcore gamers can enjoy. and I did enjoy skyrim for what it was I just sorely wish It better writing because the writing it does have is unacceptable.

The difference is those games focus on depth while games like Skyrim focus on length and width. The puzzles in Portal and tLoZ are the focus of the games while the puzzles in Skyrim and Bioshock are time wasters. There are tons of weapons in Skyrim while Zelda has a handful. Portal doesn't have ammo or health packs.

 

[Jogre]

So what are everyone's favorite and least favorite elements of Fallout 3?

I think I agree with you on a lot here but for probably very different reasons.

Most Favorite:

• Vault 101 Intro. I'd say you are kinda right about that one, it is fun seeing the inside of the Vault. Perhaps they could have given you a few more choices here and there, but other than that it's good. Also, by letting the player choose how they responded to certain events in there life, and figure out for themselves how they played out, it took a lot of the edge away from
• The Pitt - It was an enjoyable piece of DLC. It feels less generic than the rest of the wasteland because it doesn't reuse creatures. The Industrial feel to it adds a lot, the backstory, how it feels like an actual city state rather than just another rundown wasteland yet at the same time still has a Mad Max style vibe to it, I like how they used industrial smog instead of cliched radiation to justify the harsh conditions, ect. What I didn't like about it was the backstory before hand, I honestly can't understand why there were people living there before Ashur came along. All in all I did like a lot of details, also how the Raiders refer to the slaves as "Scabs", which feels very appropriate for an industrial town.
• The Art Style - While the actual content isn't great, the art style is on point. The grand deco-punk architecture, the distorted heads coming out of buildings, the big impressive statues. Plus the Supermutants and Ghouls look grotesque as ever, how they should be.

Least Favourite:

• Little Lamplight - For obvious reasons. Agree with you on this one
• Both the original ending and the Broken Steel style ending - The default ending was crap, I agree with you there, not because you couldn't play after it, but because it didn't tell you anything new. I want to find out what happens to this stretch of wasteland in the future, how each town responded to my actions, whether I made the right decisions or not. The Broken Steel DLC didn't fix anything, if anything it made it worse. That heroic sacrafice in the Purifier chamber is now totally meaningless. With the default ending, at least the finality of it meant something. Broken Steel ending feels like they are basically taking away all that's meaningful about the ending.
• Removal of Traits - Traits meant that you could trade a disadvantage for an advantage. They were an interesting aspect of character creation, and added more complexity to it. What possible good does removing them do?
• The way they handled Supermutants/Raiders/Brotherhood - Supermutants are generic dumb-dumbs, Raiders are psychopaths with no sensical motives, every single character in the Brotherhood feels like the same one sided, goody-two shoes character.