Recently, I've been paying a lot of attention to two threads on these forums: Those speculating the possible locations of both Fallout 4 and TES 6, and I find myself feeling very differently about each.

With TES, each game offers a unique land with a rich culture to explore. We've seen vast deserts, metropolitan kingdoms, frozen badlands, and all manner of otherworldly terrain. Thinking about where we could go next: a horrifying swamp, a living forest, an elven paradise, each possibility is extremely distinct and exciting.

Fallout, by comparison, is a bit limited due to its chief thematic requirement: The post-apocalyptic wasteland. Fallout 1, 2, 3 and NV all featured some combination of bombed-out suburbs, ruined urban environments, deserts and shantytowns constructed from scraps. There was the occasional high-tech environment, often associated with the Brotherhood or Enclave, but not much variety beyond that. The DLC areas in Fallout 3 and NV spiced things up a bit, most notably Old World Blues and Point Lookout, but were still basically "Tech Wasteland" and "Swamp Wasteland."

I'm concerned because I feel that, the more games where we emerge into a vast wasteland, the less compelling it becomes to explore it. Even if we end up in the technological mecca that is the Commonwealth, I feel like it would likely end up as a less-comedic rehash of Old World Blues. A more extreme transition to a different type of environment, perhaps in another continent, would be interesting but would also clash with the series's signature 50's American aesthetic and tone.

The one interesting solution I can think of is a post-post apocalyptic world, set hundred of years after FO3, where humanity and nature are both well on their way to recovering from the bombs. The world would still be defined, and twisted, by the catastrophe that almost led to it's destruction, but we'd have more of a defined civilization emerging in place of another desolate locale.

I'm curious if others feel the same way, if people are excited for another typical wasteland, or if some feel that Fallout 4 will take place in a different, more compelling environment that I'm overlooking.