Sounds great! And I'm glad you like my suggestions. The only thing I would change in your characters is the base of operations. I feel like a woman might stay closer to home in the off chance her child might return there, whereas a man like the one you have spec'ed may be more likely to go out and actively pursue his spouse and child.

Either way you do it, I really think this is exciting and can't wait to see how it might turn out for you. The hardest part for me will be trying to not read any spoilers you thread might have if you pass me or diverge on the storyline.

Sooooo hate to be that guy but.... Where do you think it says we are "tasked to go out and find out spouse and Shaun"? We don't know anything about the story yet and with a character dubbed " sole survivor" it can be interpreted a bunch of different ways. Just don't want people to read that and be like "omg that's the main plot of the story, thanks so much gk you're amazing" cuz you kinda just make [censored] up as you go along lol that entire thing aside, I like the idea of playing two characters as spouses apart from each other. Just might change prospective if we find out they're dead ten minutes into the game lol

Not to answer for gkk, but if he starts the game and finds out quickly that the spouse and child are dead, experiment over. I find it hard to believe that BGS would invest the time and energy into letting you alter both characters, generate a baby from those characters, and then let both die. Why waste your time with such a mechanic? While I might expect to find out my PC's wife is dead, I fully expect the child to be a major factor in the main quest.

I plan to play multiple parallel characters anyway. I've always done this in BGS games but I'll be interested in your run

Well yeah obviously, it would be over if you find that out. I'm just saying, it's a disservice to people to state the main plot AS HE SEES IT. We don't know what happens or who is or isn't alive. How do you account for Bethesda themselves calling you 'sole survivor'? What would you be the sole survivor of if it didn't mean the vault? If you're thinking that we later on find out they're alive, we were never the sole survivor in the first place.

Why do you think they would go to all of the trouble of hiring a female voice actor if they weren't different? It may not be completely different but I should think that there would be some definite differences in choices and decisions.

I don't mean to answer for Gkk either but it makes perfect sense that would be the motivation, at least in the beginning. No offense but do you not have any imagination? That's what role playing is all about.

My whole point is that he doesn't really know but likes to play everything off as if he has insider knowledge. Look at the perk "speculation" and how off base most of that was. A lot of people thought that some of his "findings" were fact because that's how he portrays them. I think a lot of people are of the impression if won't be a "find your kid" kind of reversal of fallout 3

Imagination? That plot would have roughly the same feeling of fallout 3 and the "gotta find my dad" idea. I'm hoping Bethesda has more imagination than that

Speaking of socks, I strongly feel that this endeavor will only work by really getting into the mindset of the opposite six. That will require a certain amount of method acting, and a good place to start is with how one dresses.

Therefore I will only accept that the experiment is properly conducted with photographic evidence of the game being played as a male and as a female.

Another very good point! I agree that Nora would be more likely to stay at Sanctuary Hills, and this would also give her a settlement to rebuild. And when she's off exploring, there would be other people there to keep an eye on things. Jack on the other hand would use the garage mainly for storage and weapon crafting. I'm sure there would be other temporary locations he could use to rest, heal, or keep a few items stashed until he returns

Okay. First of all, I think it's safe to say that I have spent more time researching this game than anyone who does not have the word "Bethesda" on their paycheck. Secondly, many of the ideas and suggestions I have proposed are now starting to be confirmed, and so I do have something of a track record (including prediction many gameplay elements just from the original trailer back in June). Secondly, the reason I have suggested that we will spend time searching for our spouse and child is due in large part to comments made by none other than Brian T Delaney. In case you didn't know, he is the voice actor for the male protagonist. Here's what Mr Delaney said during his first two interviews about Fallout 4:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KC5rttlnC8&feature=youtu.be&t=9m44s

"He's a family man, he has a wife, or she has a husband, and you have a child, and you know, obviously there are things that you draw from, there's images that I had in my head during the whole 13,000 line adventure, as Todd Howard quoted, that like, all of the lines, no matter how nihilistic the line may sound, it's always rooted, it's always grounded in that reality. I'm a real person with a real family..."

https://youtu.be/nGnCrgw9BU0?t=14m51s

"What I found interesting was, because there's a voiced protagonist, some of the things you say, these are lines that, I think I can bring this up, there nuacned lines. Every line is nuanced, even the ones, honestly, even the nihilistic, brutal kind of line, it's always grounded in the overarching super-objective, which I can't reveal, but you'll understand when you play the game."

Notice the difference between the two highlighted portions. This clearly shows that we will be searching from our family during gameplay, especially as this information has been kept out of the second interview, which suggests Mr Delaney was politely asked not to mention this any more following the first one.

I think they hired a female VA because having one guy do both parts would sound kinda dumb don'cha think?

I love to role-play personally, but I have found many players in TES and FO that just want to kill things and couldn't care less about story or their character. Not saying they are wrong, but searching for the spouse/child will be completely meaningless to a lot of players ... they are just going to be looking for a bigger gun so they can kill more things.

I totally agree, and once again, thank you. Also, see my previous comment

1. How off base are we talking exactly? You must of course be referring to the many confirmed details, such as ghoulification, non-named human companions, the Rifleman perk, water being a predominant theme (track called "The Last Mariner" kind of gives this away), a perk that allows us to hold our breath for longer, as well as many other details. 2. Regardless of the way that people read them, my threads all have the word "speculation" plastered all over them.

Also, you may want to read my response to your last comment. Just saying.

Wait, you're still saying ghoulification is confirmed? From a picture? Ok haha don't think I really need to go further considering that proves my whole point. But I'm curious then, WHY would the character be called sole survivor if you feel so strongly founded in this "gotta find my wife and kid" story?

Absolutely. Costumes are extremely vital to role play.

After I nearly sprayed my beverage over the keyboard ... yes, lol.

Wait, you're still saying ghoulification is confirmed? From a picture of Vault Boy having transformed into a ghoul after walking away from a nuclear explosion on a chart designed by the creators of Fallout 4 to show the various perks and features included in the game, which suggests that either nuclear explosions or some other source including radioactive lightning (which has been confirmed by the Game Director of said game) has the potential to transform the player character into a ghoul? etc...

As for the Sole Survivor reference, did you not listen to the linked interviews during which the male voice actor clearly tells us that we are searching for our family, which means that we don't know where they are, which means that they did not die in the vault, which means that they could be alive? etc...

Again, imagination.

But we don't know what the perk is! If you didn't know what grim reapers sprint was would you think we're gonna turn into the grim reaper and anything we physically touch will die? <-- see how ridiculous that sounds?

These aren't inherent differences between man and woman, though. They're player decisions affecting a particular play-through. What really comes down to different results is the dialogue, and there were moments like that in previous Fallouts.

It's very interesting that you avoid commenting on additional evidence that I have provided, such as the linked interviews above...

The fact is, we do know what Grim Reaper's Sprint is, or at least was, as it was featured in previous games. But when you see a very familiar perk icon (Nuclear Anomaly) changed to such a degree, with a specific focus on showing VB as a ghoul after walking away from the nuclear blast, this actually carries a great deal of significance.

No, you're quite right. These are differences that I will be implementing myself (or at least the updated versions further on in the thread). The main purpose of my decision to play through the game in this way is due to both characters existing within the game world at the same time, which allows for something of a unique connection between the two. I'm sure that if I were to play through the game in exactly the same way for both protagonists, any differences would actually be quite minimal.

I'll just end this by saying I'm glad you're excited about the game. No use arguing somethibg neither of us really know nothing about. Adios

When you awaken from cryo and are the only one left in the vault, you are then the sole survivor by default. Even if you later discover that others emerged before you, it doesn't change that you were the last one out alive. Calling the protagonist "Sole Survivor" can also just be BGS' way of throwing us off as to what they main quest will be.

When I play any fantasy type game I always envision myself as that person, and what I would do given the background suggested by the story. Since I am a married slightly past middle aged man, have children, I can identify with our protagonist. So when I view what little we know of the story to date, I can imagine that one of my first things I want to know is what happened to my family. It would always be in my mind that if I survived, then so could they have survived and be out there still. I would have to know what happened to them.

As an aside, and not to distract from the OP, when I was 14 my older brother was killed in a crash that he and I were both in. I was told he had passed after I had returned home from the hospital a day later. From the moment I woke at the scene, and even in the ambulance ride to the hospital, I never saw him until the funeral. The hospital ride was one of the most terrifying events of my life, even now. I could hear the medics yelling and trying to save him, but I could not turn my head and see. It wasn't until the funeral and seeing him in his coffin that it finally sank in that he was gone. Many friends and relatives have passed since then and I always expect to see them unless I have seen them in the funeral. I would search, and I would exhaust all possibilities until I was sure they were gone.

First of all, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. No matter how long ago this may have happened, such things do stay with us, and I do know how you feel.

Secondly, I thought I should let you know that I have amended the OP to include your excellent suggestions, and have mentioned you in there as well

He has always been clear that it was just speculation.

It is even tagged as such.

Now some people have posted his material and not been clear that it was speculation.

Personally I've been amazed at how much he got right from that rather fuzzy perk chart.

It certainly has helped pass the time.

Only 45 days to go.

Strong evidence, and I personally think that the son survives and the spouse is dead leaving the SS free to romance one of 8 human companions.

Highly likely that the son and spouse were removed many years before the Sole Survivor awake from the Cyro Chamber and we will get to see the son as an advlt.

I love the idea of leap frogging the male and female play through to see the differences between male and female and between one play style and the other.

So I am definitely going to leap frog as male and female for my first and second play through (sans dress).

Dude, your spouse is dead, stop speculating wildly about the plot line.

More power to you if you actually stick with this playthrough, it sounds extremely painful to me, lol. Having to do the same thing over and over in quick succession, ugh! =/

I'll obviously be playing it more than once, but I'll play all the way through with one character before I start my 2nd playthrough. And most likely with the very first character I create and just deal with the consequences of my choices.

That is possible, but I'd expect the two character will be going in slightly different directions.

So there will be some overlap especially at first.

But I expect there is more than enough content that after the first 15 or 20 % of the game, there will not be that much overlap except possibly around the main quest.

And I expect that the main quest will involve major events that will have an impact all over the commonwealth so that is not surprising.

I mean look at the differences between playing a Thief and a Mage in Skyrim.

Just having a different set of companions and dealing with the factions they are friendly or not so friendly with should keep you from retracing the same steps.