Plot Holes of Fallout 4 - Spoilers

[ZigzagPX4]

If Shaun is dying of cancer wouldn't that also imply that his DNA was never viable in the first place? I mean he has never left the Institute in his entire life so his cancer didn't come from radiation exposure (or maybe it did from the bomb at the beginning and the Robotic nanny with the atomic battery) so he probably had a pre-existing genetic condition too, maybe your character does too.

I think it was just supposed to be Bethesda's mishandled attempt at irony. The "special one", never exposed to radiation and the leader of an organisation that prides itself on being the most pure, got cancer. Meanwhile, the rest of the wasteland is exposed to radiation daily and never gets cancer.

But seriously, I agree. Cancer by genetics is pretty common, and if we are to assume that the Fallout universe doesn't have cancer...

(Which would explain A LOT, including how the nonexistent risk would explain the focus on atomic energy since research and experimentation would not put off people if it presents no fear of cancer, and as a result of subsequent events the world switches its entire focus no longer leashed by the fear of radiation. Change in scientific culture would influence the general public, causing slight differences in political decisions, and the divergence in the timeline occurs. But that's just a theory, since there seems to be a subtle shade of "cancer exists" in the lore I may have missed.)

...then it would be one of the few possible only ways to actually get cancer. But I suppose we'll never know the truth, thanks to Radiant™ vagueness.

 

[GeorgieBest]

If Shaun is dying of cancer wouldn't that also imply that his DNA was never viable in the first place? I mean he has never left the Institute in his entire life so his cancer didn't come from radiation exposure (or maybe it did from the bomb at the beginning and the Robotic nanny with the atomic battery) so he probably had a pre-existing genetic condition too, maybe your character does too.

I think it was just supposed to be Bethesda's mishandled attempt at irony. The "special one", never exposed to radiation and the leader of an organisation that prides itself on being the most pure, got cancer. Meanwhile, the rest of the wasteland is exposed to radiation daily and never gets cancer.

But seriously, I agree. Cancer by genetics is pretty common, and if we are to assume that the Fallout universe doesn't have cancer...

(Which would explain A LOT, including how the nonexistent risk would explain the focus on atomic energy since research and experimentation would not put off people if it presents no fear of cancer, and as a result of subsequent events the world switches its entire focus no longer leashed by the fear of radiation. Change in scientific culture would influence the general public, causing slight differences in political decisions, and the divergence in the timeline occurs. But that's just a theory, since there seems to be a subtle shade of "cancer exists" in the lore I may have missed.)

...then it would be one of the few possible only ways to actually get cancer. But I suppose we'll never know the truth, thanks to Radiant™ vagueness.

In my opinion the reason the irony doesn't work there is that it doesn't really mean anything in the end. It's just a fuck you to Father and something to think about for a millisecond (as long as it takes you to think ahh ironic - and thats it). I genuinely fear that Bethesda's writers truly believe that adding +1 Irony to their story actually makes their story better when they haven't even bothered to make a point with it besides look ironic..didn't expect that did you boy

Also I want more cancer in Fallout

 

[Someguy37]

The question is, how? We know literaly nothing of the nuclear weapons in Fallout, except that 200kt was like the uper limit or something - citadation needed!

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Vault_Dweller's_Survival_Guide

The megaton class weapons have been largely retired, being replaced with much smaller yield warheads. The yield of a modern strategic warhead is, with few exceptions, now typically in the range of 200-750 kT.

I think it was just supposed to be Bethesda's mishandled attempt at irony. The "special one", never exposed to radiation and the leader of an organisation that prides itself on being the most pure, got cancer. Meanwhile, the rest of the wasteland is exposed to radiation daily and never gets cancer.

But seriously, I agree. Cancer by genetics is pretty common, and if we are to assume that the Fallout universe doesn't have cancer...

(Which would explain A LOT, including how the nonexistent risk would explain the focus on atomic energy since research and experimentation would not put off people if it presents no fear of cancer, and as a result of subsequent events the world switches its entire focus no longer leashed by the fear of radiation. Change in scientific culture would influence the general public, causing slight differences in political decisions, and the divergence in the timeline occurs. But that's just a theory, since there seems to be a subtle shade of "cancer exists" in the lore I may have missed.)

...then it would be one of the few possible only ways to actually get cancer. But I suppose we'll never know the truth, thanks to Radiant™ vagueness.

Cancer has been mentioned a couple times

Going as far back as the Fallout bible, Roger Maxson was said to have died of cancer, and an NPC in Van Buren was going to have incurable cancer also. Cancer is mentioned several times in Fallout 3 as well. Some vault dwellers in one of the vaults were listed as having died of cancer, and the loading screen tips for the D.C. Journal of Medicine skill book mention cancer.

 

[Ilosar]

Maybe they also needed blood samples or something. I still see absolutely no reason as to why they would need rad-free DNA in order to build artificial skins for their Synths, but here you go. And why couldn't they pick someone in the Institute itself anyway? As far as I understand it, they spent all their lives underground like any Vault Dweller after the first generation.

The Institute was only founded 40 or so years after the war.

Between the war and then, it was just some students and professors hiding in the basement of CiT. The basement is, OFC, not radiation proof, so they all got exposed to radiation, thus their DNA, and the DNA of their descendants, isn't viable.

So was Shaun. Not only during the nuclear blast (possibly) but also in the Wasteland unless Kelogg teleported him to the Institute directly, which is possible but isn't shown. Also leaves the outstanding issue of the Institute killing all but one of the backups.

And radiation passes from parent to child like that? Even comparatively mild exposure? I'm not sure how it works in real life, but that seems like a big stretch.

And I'm still unsure why rad-free, unmutated DNA is required. The Gen 3 synths are going to go on the surface and be exposed to radiation anyway. I know, I know, plot device, but still feels like a pretty flimsy one.

 

[GeorgieBest]

Maybe they also needed blood samples or something. I still see absolutely no reason as to why they would need rad-free DNA in order to build artificial skins for their Synths, but here you go. And why couldn't they pick someone in the Institute itself anyway? As far as I understand it, they spent all their lives underground like any Vault Dweller after the first generation.

The Institute was only founded 40 or so years after the war.

Between the war and then, it was just some students and professors hiding in the basement of CiT. The basement is, OFC, not radiation proof, so they all got exposed to radiation, thus their DNA, and the DNA of their descendants, isn't viable.

So was Shaun. Not only during the nuclear blast (possibly) but also in the Wasteland unless Kelogg teleported him to the Institute directly, which is possible but isn't shown. Also leaves the outstanding issue of the Institute killing all but one of the backups.

And radiation passes from parent to child like that? Even comparatively mild exposure? I'm not sure how it works in real life, but that seems like a big stretch.

And I'm still unsure why rad-free, unmutated DNA is required. The Gen 3 synths are going to go on the surface and be exposed to radiation anyway. I know, I know, plot device, but still feels like a pretty flimsy one.

But dude, dude remember it's been a hundred and something years since the nuclear explosion when shaun is taken out of the vault.
Also i am by no means a scholar on the subject, but dare i say that radiation-induced mutations passing from parent to child depending on exposure is quite a complex subject that i frankly refuse to believe Bethesda writers ever actually gave any thought on

 

[Askorti]

And radiation passes from parent to child like that? Even comparatively mild exposure? I'm not sure how it works in real life, but that seems like a big stretch.

Well, not radiation, but genetic mutation caused by it, I guess.

 

[Someguy37]

So was Shaun. Not only during the nuclear blast (possibly) but also in the Wasteland unless Kelogg teleported him to the Institute directly, which is possible but isn't shown. Also leaves the outstanding issue of the Institute killing all but one of the backups.

And radiation passes from parent to child like that? Even comparatively mild exposure? I'm not sure how it works in real life, but that seems like a big stretch.

And I'm still unsure why rad-free, unmutated DNA is required. The Gen 3 synths are going to go on the surface and be exposed to radiation anyway. I know, I know, plot device, but still feels like a pretty flimsy one.

By the time Shaun was taken 60 years ago, it had been 150 years since the war. Radiation levels would have dropped down to normal background radiation level long before that(we saw in Zion in happened in a month or so). Unless Kellogg walked right through a radiation field with Shaun, Shaun should have gotten no more radiation exposure then he would have taking him outside to play in the park today.

Radiation? no. Mutation from radiation? sure.

Because the synth project was largely based off of the FEV project which required pure, unmutated, DNA to produce the desired result. You know, the whole reason why The Master was searching for pure humans, like those in Vaults? Also, synths are immune to radiation.

 

[whirlingdervish]

So was Shaun. Not only during the nuclear blast (possibly) but also in the Wasteland unless Kelogg teleported him to the Institute directly, which is possible but isn't shown. Also leaves the outstanding issue of the Institute killing all but one of the backups.

And radiation passes from parent to child like that? Even comparatively mild exposure? I'm not sure how it works in real life, but that seems like a big stretch.

And I'm still unsure why rad-free, unmutated DNA is required. The Gen 3 synths are going to go on the surface and be exposed to radiation anyway. I know, I know, plot device, but still feels like a pretty flimsy one.

By the time Shaun was taken 60 years ago, it had been 150 years since the war. Radiation levels would have dropped down to normal background radiation level long before that(we saw in Zion in happened in a month or so). Unless Kellogg walked right through a radiation field with Shaun, Shaun should have gotten no more radiation exposure then he would have taking him outside to play in the park today.

Radiation? no. Mutation from radiation? sure.

Because the synth project was largely based off of the FEV project which required pure, unmutated, DNA to produce the desired result. You know, the whole reason why The Master was searching for pure humans, like those in Vaults? Also, synths are immune to radiation.

In Bethesda's Fallout games, every body of water is full of radiation 200 years after the war.

So radiation? YES. Lots of it. Everywhere.

 

[coldroll]

Yeah there are so many holes in Fallout 4's plot I honestly stopped trying to make sense of it. Apparently Shaun has the ability to remotely let you out of cyro-stasis at Vault 111 at the start but he can't remotely deal with rogue Synths or the player when they're against the Institute..

I gave up trying to make sense of it too since doing so just results in a headache.

 

[Khannis]

I went back to New Vegas and boy, being shot in the head for a chip that controls an army of robots seems so, so MUCH BETTER. And you can roleplay whoever you want, however you want! Anyone could be down on their luck and agree to make a delivery for a few caps... So much better than Shaun over and over again forever, after 78h of FO4 I feel... disinclined to start another playthrough, to put it mildly.

And things feel cheap somehow. I remember the first time I got the Remnants together in New Vegas for a last battle in Hoover Dam... Seeing that vertibird soar like old days of glory, like a fading age, only to imagine the old warriors in the suits, fighting the NCR one last time... It was glorious. Seeing the Prydwen and its army of vertibirds in Fallout 4 just felt... Cheap somehow. I didn't feel like a grand achievement, it felt like a cheap amusement park, bigger is better and that sort of thing. There is something Obsidian did so well that Bethesda simply can't capture... This feeling of decadence within resurgence, of new governments slavishly emulating the old world, of lost treasures. The Fallout games used to make me feel WONDER. It just feels like a game now. I played a game. I had fun. That was that.

New Vegas and Fallout 2, and to a lesser extent Fallout 1, made me come back for more. Not to see Shaun get taken and my wife die again and again, not to watch my son-of-a-bitch of a father abandon me again and again only to later commit one of the most stupid and pointless suicides in the history of RPGs... I came back to see the wasteland, shaped, transformed, revived and torn asunder, where I could be the hero, the monster, or more frequently, something in-between. When I could ROLEPLAY a character! Imagine that...

*End of Rant, Thank You for Your Patience*

*Brought to you by Vault-Tec!*

Wow dude honestly, beautifully spoken. I think thats the difference between actually considering theme and background (Obsi) or just going full hollywood (as much as finances permit of course)

Of course to play the devil's advocate that may just be you getting tired of vertibirds

Hahaha, thanks mate. But If I wasn't getting tired of Vertibirds, I certainly am now. Bethesda just overdoes it. it's like the Adams Base Crawler, or a giant communist-hunting robot, I mean, c'mon...

 

[Someguy37]

In Bethesda's Fallout games, every body of water is full of radiation 200 years after the war.

So radiation? YES. Lots of it. Everywhere.

That's the water, not the air.

Hence why your rad out doesn't go up just being outside.

 

[MercenarySnake]

I can't begin to fathom why Bethesda has a fetish for irradiated bodies of water all over Boston.

 

[Spacemunkey]

I can't begin to fathom why Bethesda has a fetish for irradiated bodies of water all over Boston.

So in DLC they can rehash some form of water purifier plot line.

 

[Ninja]

I can't begin to fathom why Bethesda has a fetish for irradiated bodies of water all over Boston.

So in DLC they can rehash some form of water purifier plot line.

If they bring the Enclave back, I think I might have to shoot myself. The sad part is I don't even think it's that unlikely.

 

[Khannis]

It's funny, I love the Enclave, the idea, the faction, its history in the Fallout series (the 1-2-NV, that is), and I once said I wished they return in Fallout 4, or in some of its DLCs.

Now I wish the opposite, if only to stop Bethesda from ruining it yet again (as they did in Fallout 3)... What's even funnier is that I wanted to think it was a hiccup. I mean, it was their first Fallout game, right? With radical new ideas, like turning it into an FPSRPG, so they can be excused a horrible plot with no choice at all. Except they did it again! I dread the moment I'll have to hear the boy Maxson saying "Go kill the Enclave Remnants!" and my only choices were:

1. Yes!
2. Sarcastic... but Yes!
3. Give me something in return! Also, yes.
4. Who are these guys again? But yes, just so you know.

And his reply is "Also, we fixed the robot again!" (That or, Aliens!)

EDIT:

I can't begin to fathom why Bethesda has a fetish for irradiated bodies of water all over Boston.

So in DLC they can rehash some form of water purifier plot line.

If they bring the Enclave back, I think I might have to shoot myself. The sad part is I don't even think it's that unlikely.

Lol, Ninja'd. And the nickname even fits!

 

[Ninja]

It's funny, I love the Enclave, the idea, the faction, its history in the Fallout series (the 1-2-NV, that is), and I once said I wished they return in Fallout 4, or in some of its DLCs.

Now I wish the opposite, if only to stop Bethesda from ruining it yet again (as they did in Fallout 3)... What's even funnier is that I wanted to think it was a hiccup. I mean, it was their first Fallout game, right? With radical new ideas, like turning it into an FPSRPG, so they can be excused a horrible plot with no choice at all. Except they did it again! I dread the moment I'll have to hear the boy Maxson saying "Go kill the Enclave Remnants!" and my only choices were:

1. Yes!
2. Sarcastic... but Yes!
3. Give me something in return! Also, yes.
4. Who are these guys again? But yes, just so you know.

And his reply is "Also, we fixed the robot again!" (That or, Aliens!)

People on reddit are actually submitting some wonderful ideas. Here are some quotes:

"Honestly, I'd like to see some DLC where you have to travel to Maine for (X reason the developers can think of), and there's some Enclave."
-ddmneo

"I want anything that has something to do with Supermutants. Preferably becoming one."
-YosemiteSamBeard

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/3tvzcl/fallout_4_dlc_ideas/

 

[MercenarySnake]

It's funny, I love the Enclave, the idea, the faction, its history in the Fallout series (the 1-2-NV, that is), and I once said I wished they return in Fallout 4, or in some of its DLCs.

Now I wish the opposite, if only to stop Bethesda from ruining it yet again (as they did in Fallout 3)... What's even funnier is that I wanted to think it was a hiccup. I mean, it was their first Fallout game, right? With radical new ideas, like turning it into an FPSRPG, so they can be excused a horrible plot with no choice at all. Except they did it again! I dread the moment I'll have to hear the boy Maxson saying "Go kill the Enclave Remnants!" and my only choices were:

1. Yes!
2. Sarcastic... but Yes!
3. Give me something in return! Also, yes.
4. Who are these guys again? But yes, just so you know.

And his reply is "Also, we fixed the robot again!" (That or, Aliens!)

People on reddit are actually submitting some wonderful ideas. Here are some quotes:

"Honestly, I'd like to see some DLC where you have to travel to Maine for (X reason the developers can think of), and there's some Enclave."
-ddmneo

"I want anything that has something to do with Supermutants. Preferably becoming one."
-YosemiteSamBeard

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/3tvzcl/fallout_4_dlc_ideas/

Why?! WHY?! Why does there need to be more super mutants? That's like atleast 75% of the population of shithole Boston!

Do those people even know who the real Enclave are? Did they bother playing Fallout 2 at all? I doubt they even knew who President Richardson is.

 

[The_Time_Master]

It's funny, I love the Enclave, the idea, the faction, its history in the Fallout series (the 1-2-NV, that is), and I once said I wished they return in Fallout 4, or in some of its DLCs.

Now I wish the opposite, if only to stop Bethesda from ruining it yet again (as they did in Fallout 3)... What's even funnier is that I wanted to think it was a hiccup. I mean, it was their first Fallout game, right? With radical new ideas, like turning it into an FPSRPG, so they can be excused a horrible plot with no choice at all. Except they did it again! I dread the moment I'll have to hear the boy Maxson saying "Go kill the Enclave Remnants!" and my only choices were:

1. Yes!
2. Sarcastic... but Yes!
3. Give me something in return! Also, yes.
4. Who are these guys again? But yes, just so you know.

And his reply is "Also, we fixed the robot again!" (That or, Aliens!)

People on reddit are actually submitting some wonderful ideas. Here are some quotes:

"Honestly, I'd like to see some DLC where you have to travel to Maine for (X reason the developers can think of), and there's some Enclave."
-ddmneo

"I want anything that has something to do with Supermutants. Preferably becoming one."
-YosemiteSamBeard

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/3tvzcl/fallout_4_dlc_ideas/

We already had an ending where you become a super mutant.

 

[GeorgieBest]

I went back to New Vegas and boy, being shot in the head for a chip that controls an army of robots seems so, so MUCH BETTER. And you can roleplay whoever you want, however you want! Anyone could be down on their luck and agree to make a delivery for a few caps... So much better than Shaun over and over again forever, after 78h of FO4 I feel... disinclined to start another playthrough, to put it mildly.

And things feel cheap somehow. I remember the first time I got the Remnants together in New Vegas for a last battle in Hoover Dam... Seeing that vertibird soar like old days of glory, like a fading age, only to imagine the old warriors in the suits, fighting the NCR one last time... It was glorious. Seeing the Prydwen and its army of vertibirds in Fallout 4 just felt... Cheap somehow. I didn't feel like a grand achievement, it felt like a cheap amusement park, bigger is better and that sort of thing. There is something Obsidian did so well that Bethesda simply can't capture... This feeling of decadence within resurgence, of new governments slavishly emulating the old world, of lost treasures. The Fallout games used to make me feel WONDER. It just feels like a game now. I played a game. I had fun. That was that.

New Vegas and Fallout 2, and to a lesser extent Fallout 1, made me come back for more. Not to see Shaun get taken and my wife die again and again, not to watch my son-of-a-bitch of a father abandon me again and again only to later commit one of the most stupid and pointless suicides in the history of RPGs... I came back to see the wasteland, shaped, transformed, revived and torn asunder, where I could be the hero, the monster, or more frequently, something in-between. When I could ROLEPLAY a character! Imagine that...

*End of Rant, Thank You for Your Patience*

*Brought to you by Vault-Tec!*

Wow dude honestly, beautifully spoken. I think thats the difference between actually considering theme and background (Obsi) or just going full hollywood (as much as finances permit of course)

Of course to play the devil's advocate that may just be you getting tired of vertibirds

Hahaha, thanks mate. But If I wasn't getting tired of Vertibirds, I certainly am now. Bethesda just overdoes it. it's like the Adams Base Crawler, or a giant communist-hunting robot, I mean, c'mon...

That's what happens when your cultural and story-writing inspirations derive from Transformers Honestly man they were not suitable for something like fallout.
Also that "Robot" is one of the worst abominations I have ever had the misfortune to perceive It is truly baffling to me how a living, breathing human-being can have that as the climax of not one but TWO consecutive games (we just MUST do it justice!). We don't even get to fight it! Why would you even make this!! Why are we making this!!!! Its not even a goddamn boss fight...Wtf Bethesda!!!
Anyone that likes the "Robot" (not any robot mind you, this this robot! - whose only contribution to the saga has been a few decent anti-communist lines that could have been delivered by any fucking robot other than Optimus Fail and Optimus Fail Remastered) can only be a child lost in time. I mean wtf...is Todd's child writing this???

Ps. I mean they just put a big, useless robot there that fires lazers and shit and moves like a fu**ing tin can, to guide me along, how, what?? Why are we even building this...its a big target...its fucking useless..We can fire missiles and lazers and shit ourselves and we're smaller targets..OH MY GOD WERE BUILDING IT AGAIN!!! How can I even begin to consider the BOS as anything other than a video-game faction!!!
When goddamn Kojima-san went the gundam-way he at least had the decency to make them into moving, nuclear platforms (not that id want Bethy to roll with that idea)

 

[Earth]

It's amazing how much of Fallout 4 I predicted. I told myself, they can't end the game with Liberty Prime again, then thought, it's Bethesda.

Do those people even know who the real Enclave are? Did they bother playing Fallout 2 at all? I doubt they even knew who President Richardson is.

They must know to some extent right? The Enclave in Fallout 3 were so bland (not to mention their armour looked appallingly bad) it's absurd to me that people would want to see more of that rather than at least FO2 Enclave.

EDIT: goddammit I have no idea how quotes work. Whatever.