I think the question has been finally answered on did they really mean exactly 200 years or roughly 200 years (say 2004 years) per Todd Howard "Fallout 4 is set mostly after Fallout 3."

Some people may still be floating on the Nile, but having Fallout 4 start 2 months after Fallout 3 started is mostly after.

Having Fallout 4 start 4 years after Fallout 3 is not mostly after.

It is after the events of Fallout 3.

See for yourself:

Fallout 4 interview: Bethesda's Todd Howard on building the apocalypse - July 7th 2015

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/11723096/Fallout-4-interview-Bethesdas-Todd-Howard-on-building-the-apocalypse.html

"Mostly After"... the parts before being October 23, 2077.

I said this somewhere else... Comb all FO4 pipboy screen footage to see if someone can spot a date.

Yeah, mostly. We were also discussing this here: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1521918-fallout4-interview-and-gameplay-videos-thread/page-4

It really doesn't answer anything.

It is mostly after--two months after.

Obviously we know the tutorial is before Fallout 3. Since FO3 (post-vault) starts in August 2077, two months before the 200th anniversary of the bombs falling, we can assume that FO4 will be (mostly) after.

Now, it won't be entirely after, depending on how long your FO3 game was.

Eh... this would be two months after the start of FO3... I don't think the whole story of FO3 and Broken Steel is finished in less than two months...

Ha! I tried that, and the "Data" screen is never selected!

And "mostly after"? Well, of course; the "before" parts being the pre-war intro, and the events inside Vault 111. The majority of the game could still take place months, years or decades after the events of FO3.

Tho it isn't a 100% it does add to the pile of repeated claims it is 200 years, also it kinda indirectly confirms Beth does not take New Vegas into account when setting the time, so if they are still sticking to there time advancing philosophy it seams 3, not NV is the benchmark.

Agreed.

I really hope they get Obsidian to do the sequel to New Vegas, alternate coasts (Beth focuses on East Coast/Mid-West, Obsidian focuses on West Coat/Mountain Region)

Or maybe it is mostly after meaning that all of it takes place after f3, except the tutorial.

Possibly, actually I'd say that is probable and just put it down to vague journalistic writing.

Otherwise if at least some of Fallout 3 and 4 are happening at the same time, then they have caused problems for themselves with having CWBOS in the game....unless its a different BOS. I cannot see any great benefit to having the games happening (even in a limited way) at the same time or just after Fallout 3.

Well you get to use more of the NPCs and events of Fallout 3 in Fallout 4 if they have just happened.

Dr Li is going to be more open to an alliance if she has just arrived at the Institute then if she had been there four years.
Desmond is heading north to deal with another player of the Great Game and looking for allies he can trust.

A skilled Vet from 2077, who possibly has a grudge against the Institute is perfect.

Also you don't have to spend a lot of time explaining what has changed in the Capital Wasteland over the years.

And you don't have to decide which F3 events are canon and which are not.

Desmond's dead Jim, dead!

He tried to play with wrong guy.

Assuming its CWBOS who is in the concept art/footage then they probably are going to be explaining why they are there and what happened in the CW since Fallout 3.

I think mostly after suggests that there may be some overlaping and parallel events at the begining of the game. So the duress of the game is mostly after but not all.

You know there is the pre-war part...? That's most likely the 'mostly'.

I'd say you get to use more characters from Fallout 3 in Fallout 4 if the events of Fallout 3 finished a few years ago. That gives more people time to settle their affairs in the Capital Wasteland and head north. Desmond and Li (and possibly Zimmer and Harkness) are the only ones who immediately head north over the course of the game. Desmond plays the long game, and won't rush into anything right away, so he wouldn't need help right away. Li's breakdown probably would mean she'd rather be alone than making allies, and either diving headlong into her research or just trying to cope with what happened. A few years gives her time to pull herself out of her funk and establish herself, and actually reach a point that she'd need help from the player (gathering materials maybe?).

I'm still going with 2283 as the year the game takes place.

You wouldn't need to explain a lot about the Capital Wasteland anyway. Just have the people from there say it was a miserable place when they left and they don't know how it's doing now. Boom! But still, I'd rather hear about how it's been doing since I've left my mark on it. And they'd probably only talk about the MQ, which is probably going with the canonical good ending. I don't expect we'll be hearing who won the election in the Republic of Dave or anything like that.

If thats the case Todd Howard should go and learn his english again, cause thats not what it suggests. Mostly is a qualtative term describing a qauntity that is near complete.

Well if the game opens in 2077, but 98% of it is set in 2283, then the game takes place mostly after the events of Fallout 3.

Indeed, and since the prologue in the Pre-War is unlikely to be longer than an hour at most, it's fair to say the game will mostly take place after FO3...

Of course we will, as the Republic of Dave will have conquered most of the Eastern Seaboard by now and is heading to Boston to finish it's conquest of the East Coast. You do have a point , they won't be talking about much other than the purifier and maybe the Orbital Strike if the circumstances are right. If it is just after 3 though I would expect much less details compared to if it is a few years as by we would know if there was FEV in the water or if the Citadel was targeted or not, although I would be extremely shocked if the good karma choices aren't canon.

As others said... 1 % gametime pre-war 99 % game time after FO3: mostly after FO3.

It's not the Republic of Dave anymore. It's the Empire of Bob. And Bob has tanks. He even is strong enough to fight YouTube!

You are both Incorrect. The Republic of Dave is now known as 'Gary!' with the inflection on the r.

To add further fuel to this argument, Pete Hines has said that Fallout 4 is a sequel to Fallout 3 in this interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRh5D6UecR0. I really think the 200 years comment he made was more to confirm that BGS is not willing to discuss the actual date and less to confirm that it is exactly 200 years after the bombs fell. Mostly, because a re-tweet with the exact year or a yes or no, is less PR like. It also weird to put a few people who make comments about going to the Commonwealth the do something from FO3, only for you to not use any of those potential story and character easter eggs. It would be interesting to see Doctor LI chafe at the return of the BOS (Lyons or Midwestern) when she partially left the CW due to them, or find out who Desmond is talking about from before the Great War, or see Zimmer as a potential ally or enemy. Plus, there is always the reality that many of us want to hear how the CW is doing after the events of FO3.

interesting but

is this really important ,the game takes place in a part of post apocalyptic USA we know very little about giving the designers a pretty empty canvas to work with where they can use their imagination adn creativity with out changing the existing lore

I don't consider character creation as part of the game. Plus pre war would be considered pre F3, so I don't really see how this falls in to context with Todd Howard's statement.