so this is my first time on the site, iv always heard bad things about it but to be honest those were mainly from the fallout subreddit. Ithe fallout subreddit has like 400k subs which is about 4% of the fallout community so I’ve decided to exploremany fallout sites such as this and see what the general community is like. And I like to start with talking about my favorite in the series fallout 3. Yes, I know fallout new Vegas was vastly superior and had 7x the RPG elements ( I love that game too) I just want to discuss genuine thoughts about the game. Hopefully we can keep this discussion civil, excuse me for being cautious but this is literally the first time I’ve been on this site.
Alphons
National Beholder
Welcome on NMA!
You've got nothing to worry about, but I'm genuinely curious why it's your favourite.
You've got nothing to worry about, but I'm genuinely curious why it's your favourite.
Well it would come down to my 2 favorite things:
1. The map. It has an amazing atmosphere and rewards me constantly for exploring, I find unique weapons and new locations everyday. However most people seem to disagree calling it copy and pasted which is simply not true, you see in every different part of the map there are different and unique unmarked locations and even some lore hidden around. Once I found a truck full of skeletons with a holotape about shipping some Chinese people to a concentration camp, and I found a letter from vault tech denying peoples entrance into the vault they have chosen. There are also special encounters all over the place and that enough is a reason for me to explore them. Some also say the map makes no sense because as they say: “the bomb fell over 200 years ago and it feels like it happened overnight” well the game was specifically designed that way. The devs said that they purposely chose for the east coast to be more dangerous, violent and desperate compared to fallout 1 and 2.
2. Now I know this is a controversial opinion. But I think fallout 3 is a RPG. I find it odd when people say it isn’t because fallout 3 lets me roleplay to be exactly what I want to be. It has a great combination of skills and perks to become whatever type of character you want, you can be a slaver, merc, a diplomat, a trader and even a mad bomber. It also has a a lot of quests that give the your characters alternatives to solving quests, inb4 “fallout 3 quests are either blow up a town or not” I really don’t get the argument that just because there is one ludicrous quest in the game then all of the quests are bad. Because fallout new Vegas had ghost town gun fight and run goodsprings run which are literally the same as the power of the atom yet no one brings up about how bad that quest is and how the whole game suffers from it.
Norzan
So Old I'm Losing Radiation Signs
Except you can't roleplay no more than a 19 year old who has a living father, dead mother, your childhood friend is a girl and you had a bully. You can't roleplay no more than this. The intro leaves very little to the imagination, one of the most important factors in roleplay. That's why your character's backstory is so vague in Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas. They leave a lot to the player's imagination, so that they can craft their own backstory.
And don't compare Power of the Atom with Ghost Town Gun Fight and Run Goodsprings Run because the latter two are a million times better written with much better characters. Power of the Atom is literally blowing up a nuclear bomb because some asshole doesn't like the town ruining the view from his house. While the New Vegas quests have clear cut motivations and it makes a ton more sense.
It doesn't matter if the devs "purposely" wanted to do this, from the context of the franchise and amount of time passed, it makes no sense. You can't just choose to do this something that makes no sense but say it's fine because the devs wanted to be like this.
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MPPlantOfficial
Look, Ma! Two Heads!
Unique? Same places filled with the same exact weapons waiting for you at the end of a long tunnel. The unique weapons are hidden in non-hostile Raider merchants and end of quests. Bobbleheads are pretty much the only possible rewards of exploring.
The environments are full of reused assets with identical layout. It feels like the dungeons were made 2-3 people. One thing I will give Beth credit for is their use of non-verbals in the game.
Perks EVERY level give you the opportunity to be a character with every perk available in the game for a single playthrough.
This is something I don't like from Beth. You can be head of Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, LEADER of Companions (who are a prideful bunch but for some reason will let a random rookie lead them??? Wha--???), Mage, Head Witch, Head Head, Head of anything you can think... all in a single playthrough. I mean don't you think some paths should be closed when you choose one over the other?
Even the guards are confused what to greet you now.
????
O.O
??????????????
Except that I find that fo3 intro is actually good for roleplaying because it allows me to build my characters personality, how I deal with bullies, what I do when I see him bullying someone else, how I act with my family and friends. I much prefer this as an intro into a RPG, than having a vague, short intro just so I can create a backstory.
Does it though? The only reason the powder gangers show up is because they are looking for ringo. So why can’t I just kill ringo and tell the powder gangers that he doesn’t have the money? Why do I have to kill the militia of goodspring if I want to help the powder gangers? That was literally the only reason they came to town but yet I can’t just do it for them, I have to kill everyone in goodsprings. Also there is no reason for me to join the powder gangers in attacking goodsprings, at least in the power of the atom there is a reward for both sides, but the powder ganger only offer me a entrance to the NCRCF, and that’s only after I decide to help them.
Fair point but I prefer this setting because it’s goid for exploration and adventuring
Norzan
So Old I'm Losing Radiation Signs
The intro barely allows any roleplaying because it locks my character into very specific things, things i can't control. What if i want to play a character that has both living parents? What if i had no friends during childhood? Or maybe i was a bully myself? Or what if i want to roleplay an elderly ex-marine? All these things are impossible with Fallout 3's intro. Fallout 3's intro is the antethesis to roleplaying, the thing that harkens back to Dungeons and Dragons. You know, pretty much the forefather of roleplaying.
The choices still make a ton more sense than Power of the Atom. Power of the Atom is literally destroy the town or not, there's nothing for the side of not destroying the town. And the side to destroy the town has a ridiculous motivation that is laughable.
Those two New Vegas quest have a lot more consequences and rewards than Power of the Atom. Not to mention teaching you how the faction system works.
What if my character was an ex-Powder Ganger? That pretty much allows me to side with them because maybe i want to go back to them. See how vague backtstories allow me to ROLEPLAY? Fallout 3 doesn't allow me to do this because doing anything else that wasn't setup by the intro is CONTRADICTING it. This is why one of the most popular mods of Fallout 3 is the one that removes the intro.
Implying a less destroyed setting isn't good for exploring and adventuring.
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Alphons
National Beholder
FO3 really doesn't give many RP abilities, as you always are James' 19 year old kid working for BoS
Also quest comparison
Power of Atom
Blow up the town (everyone in Megaton dies except for Moira, you get some caps and apartment from Tenpenny)
Disarm the bomb (no one dies in Megaton, you get some caps and a house from Simms)
Run Goodsprings, Run and Ghost Town Gunfight
Help Powder Gangers by extorting supplies and killing Goodsprings vigilantes (Trudy, Mitchell, Ringo and Sunny die, Chet still runs a store, saloon is taken over, you gain reputation with Powder Gangers, Cobb recommends you to Eddie, some Crimson Caravan employees hold a grudge towards you, you lose reputation with NCR)
Help Ringo and Goodsprings by convincing citizens to help(you lose reputation with Powder Gangers locking you propably out of their quests, gain favor with Ringo and positive reputation Crimson Caravan, NCR and Goodsprings).
Also quest comparison
Power of Atom
Blow up the town (everyone in Megaton dies except for Moira, you get some caps and apartment from Tenpenny)
Disarm the bomb (no one dies in Megaton, you get some caps and a house from Simms)
Run Goodsprings, Run and Ghost Town Gunfight
Help Powder Gangers by extorting supplies and killing Goodsprings vigilantes (Trudy, Mitchell, Ringo and Sunny die, Chet still runs a store, saloon is taken over, you gain reputation with Powder Gangers, Cobb recommends you to Eddie, some Crimson Caravan employees hold a grudge towards you, you lose reputation with NCR)
Help Ringo and Goodsprings by convincing citizens to help(you lose reputation with Powder Gangers locking you propably out of their quests, gain favor with Ringo and positive reputation Crimson Caravan, NCR and Goodsprings).
MPPlantOfficial
Look, Ma! Two Heads!
The reward is caps; something you can grind for (and ANOTHER lost opportunity for Beth to actually offer you something UNIQUE like maybe a weapon? A Unique perk? Another bobblehead?)
Whereas the choices in Vegas directly affect your travel to the next town as well as future quests in the game.
(which also teaches you the mechanic of Factions and clothing)
Well like I said I think character building is still a much more important aspect to RPGs than backstories because I actually get to develop my characters personality. And about the roleplaying as an ex powder ganger makes little sense because if you were an ex powder ganger roleplaying there would be nothing to indicate that through dialogue. Your backstory in fallout new Vegas is that you’re a 30 year old courier. And that’s it.
In fallout 3 I can roleplay as someone who used to be a goodie two shoes in the vault and turns into a monster once they come out of the vault. The power of the atom actually has a lot of reasons as to why to keep the town. There’s 4 major quests that can be started, a Booblehead head and most importantly the info about your dad. It may have a ridiculous motivation but it’s better than no motivation. Such as killing the goodsprings vigilantes for no reason. I take it most people here hate fo3?
Norzan
So Old I'm Losing Radiation Signs
Backstory is easily one of the most important things in RPGs with character creation and there's no need to have anything shown through dialogue about your backstory. YOU make decisions based on your own made up backstory for your character because the second you are making choices based on your beliefs, i.e yourself, then it's no longer roleplaying.
Also, let's look at the first two games. The ability to come up with your own backstory for your character is one of the most lauded features of the first two games, praised by both critics and fans. Bethesda effectively removed this in Fallout 3 (and 4) by not allowing you do so.
These are pretty much the reasons why many say Fallout 3 isn't a RPG because it isn't. These ones and the fact every quest decision is either you are Jesus or Hitler, no in-between, neutral, morally ambiguous decision.
And last, the Courier isn't 30 years old, the age is not specified. You know, for roleplaying purposes.
Except you can't do that because there's nothing in the intro that allows you to do that. Because again, Fallout 3 barely allows any roleplaying.
And also a monster that is forced to help BoS and your dad in finding a way to purify water. Such a monster. See why it doesn't work? There's no way to actively affect the game or have a route that fits your character's backtory in Fallout 3. Only goody two shoes is allowed because that's what you really can only be.
You get quests for both Goodsprings and the Powder Gangers, get vendors on both sides and get unique items on both sides. It also affects the main quest directly by messing with NCR reputation and Powder Gangers will attack you on sight if you side with Goodsprings. Power of the Atom is a barebones, laughable quest that barely affects anything. Probably the biggest example of this is how your father doesn't give a shit if you blow up Megaton. Reactivity, what's that?
And last, criticizing a game is not the same as "hating", so don't go there. You wanted people to discuss Fallout 3, that's we're doing.
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MPPlantOfficial
Look, Ma! Two Heads!
What?
So you're telling me a half full slate allows more opportunities for roleplaying than an empty one??? I don't think that makes a lot sense, bud.
Ok let's be fair now. That could be true IF the world reacted to you in more than 2 ways.
This is never more apparent in FO3 than with Thrrrrrrrreee Dawgggguhhh either preaching you as the Messiah or the Devil and the rest of the Wasteland reacting to you accordingly.
Whereas you have the faction/settlement based system for every other game.
You can have very good Karma but side with the Legion. You could be idolized by Freeside (who very much value their independence) but still opt for an NCR ending. You could be Vilified by the Brotherhood but idolized by the Hub and Adytum.
See I'm not buying this whole "I can be anything I want in Fo3/Skyrim" that most Beth fans preach when the Vanilla, unmodded game doesn't really react to you in those ways. (and I'm saying this a fan of Skyrim by the way)
The only time you're NOT the Dragonborn in Skyrim is if you haven't gone to see the Jarl at Whiterun so at least that sort of allows you to choose whatever path you want. But at the end of the day you're never really "Not the Dragonborn" but more like you're "A person who hasn't found out they're the Dragonborn YET".
But with Fallout 3 the moment you click on New Game you're ALREADY James' little girl.
Prone Squanderer
A bit of a Sillius Soddus.
I have nothing new to add.
mef
Where'd That 6th Toe Come From?
how are you guys even discussing a role-playing aspect in a game where you get a quest from the president to make water poisonous to almost everyone in the capital wasteland and if you do it, nothing happens 
Cobra Commander
Water Chip? Been There, Done That
Indeed, power of atom and run goodsprings run has some similarities. For example, you need 25 in explosives for Easy Pete to give you 4 or 5 sticks of dynamites and that is the same amount needed to disarm a nuclear bomb................
WHAT? Old pete did not reach his age by being careless.
WHAT? Old pete did not reach his age by being careless.
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Kohno
Water Chip? Been There, Done That
I don't. I haven't played it since 2009, and never will again.
Norzan
So Old I'm Losing Radiation Signs
Holy shit, i completely forgot about this. This game just keeps getting worse and worse.how are you guys even discussing a role-playing aspect in a game where you get a quest from the president to make water poisonous to almost everyone in the capital wasteland and if you do it, nothing happens
"Yeah, let's allow you to actually do what the bad guy is asking. But no, that doesn't matter because you are still gonna be forced to help the good guys. Oh and that thing that you did for the bad guy, didn't actually hapened because fuck choices."
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TerminallyChill
Be excellent to each other.
No Mutants Allowed is a website largely consisting of bitter CRPG fans who bond over a shared sense of disappointment in the direction that Fallout's new developers have taken the series. This place has a reputation for hostility because the uninitiated often find themselves swarmed with criticism following undeserved praise for modern titles in the franchise. I assume you are at least somewhat aware of these facts by now.
Enjoy the circle jerk you've created.
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Beardy Unixer
First time out of the vault
I like Vampire The Masquerade: Redemption, so I understand what it's like to be a Fallout 3 fan. I survived being a VTM:R fan by not going to White Wolf forums and pretending it had anything in common with the World of Darkness other than the name. Similarly, as long as you don't frequent Fallout forums and pretend Fallout 3 has anything to do with Fallout, you should be fine.