Here are some unusual facts about the possible in-game timeline.

• November 10th, the release date for Fallout 4, is also the birthday of the US Marine Corps
• Marines must sign up for a minimum service period of 4 years
• The time between Fallout 3 and New Vegas was also 4 years
• If this pattern is continued, then Fallout 4 would be set in 2285, 4 years after New Vegas
• We have heard several times that we will emerge from the vault '200 years' after the Great War
• This figure of 200 years would seem to be something of an approximation, but may actually hold some relevance
• The year suggested above, namely 2285, is exactly 200 years after the planned launch date for the VB-02 Vertibird
• As we have seen from the footage, Vertibirds are featured prominently in Fallout 4

• It was also 'suggested' by Pete Hines during https://youtu.be/rRh5D6UecR0?t=12m interview that our protagonist may be around 35
• As we can play as either male or female, it would stand to reason that our spouse would also be 35
• Following this logic, this would mean that both of our couple were born in 2042
• The Commonwealth, as we know, is the home of the Institute, who have developed androids who can pass as human
• In 2242, the Institute developed the two androids featured in Fallout 3, namely Armitage and Harkness
• During Fallout 3, this would make both of the androids 35 years old, the same age as our couple
• Put a different way, the year the androids were made is exactly 200 years after our couple were born

Now this is where things get a little bit crazy:

• The Brotherhood of Steel, formed shortly after the Great War, also feature heavily in gameplay footage
• If we look again at the suggested timeline, the dates for pre and post-war gameplay would be 2077 and 2285
• The difference between these dates would make the actual timeframe 208 years, and not 200 as suggested
• If we take the number 208, and reverse it (as in mirror image), we get 805
• "805" actually looks remarkably close to "BOS", the acronym for the Brotherhood of Steel

Based on this, my money is on us starting the main game in 2285!

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EDIT: added information pertaining to possible events before main storyline

There are two other dates that would directly tie in with those show above, namely 2258 and 2281.

Assuming that cryogenics is in fact used in vault 111 (see http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1523172-is-vault-111-built-like-a-submarine thread), let's say that our spouse and child are both removed from the vault. My own theory is that the entire pod that they are in is removed and is taken to the Institute. The most logical reason why anyone would want to do this is the DNA of the child and his parents, as it would be completely unaffected by the outbreak of http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Forced_Evolutionary_Virus, and would therefore be very valuable. The protagonist could be left in the vault as an 'insurance policy' should anything happen to the other two 'subjects' that would contaminate their DNA. Ironically, shared DNA would perfectly explain the in-game requirement to play as a protagonist with a spouse and child.

Let's also assume that they are taken out of stasis at different times, the child in 2258, and his non-protagonist parent in 2281. Perhaps at first, only the child is needed, and is being prepared in some way (as the main antagonist?) Years later, the DNA of the parent is also required, and so they are also brought out of stasis. Using the dates mentioned here we would have the following:

• 2258: the child is brought out of stasis - this is the same year that the Lone Wanderer in Fallout 3 is born
• 2281: the parent is also brought out of stasis - this is the year that the courier in Fallout New Vegas is shot in the face and left for dead

If this is correct, then the ages of our three family members (excluding time spent in stasis) at the start of the main game would be:

• Protagonist 35
• Spouse 39
• Son 27

Which would open up a ton of gameplay possibilities.

There are two other dates that would directly tie in with those show above, namely 2258 and 2281.

Assuming that cryogenics is in fact used in vault 111 (see http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1523172-is-vault-111-built-like-a-submarine thread), let's say that our spouse and child are both removed from the vault. My own theory is that the entire pod that they are in is removed and is taken to the Institute. The most logical reason why anyone would want to do this is the DNA of the child and his parents, as it would be completely unaffected by the outbreak of http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Forced_Evolutionary_Virus, and would therefore be very valuable. The protagonist could be left in the vault as an 'insurance policy' should anything happen to the other two 'subjects' that would contaminate their DNA. Ironically, shared DNA would perfectly explain the in-game requirement to play as a protagonist with a spouse and child.

Let's also assume that they are taken out of stasis at different times, the child in 2258, and his non-protagonist parent in 2281. Perhaps at first, only the child is needed, and is being prepared in some way (as the main antagonist?) Years later, the DNA of the parent is also required, and so they are also brought out of stasis. Using the dates mentioned here we would have the following:

• 2258: the child is brought out of stasis - this is the same year that the Lone Wanderer in Fallout 3 is born
• 2281: the parent is also brought out of stasis - this is the year that the courier in Fallout New Vegas is shot in the face and left for dead

If this is correct, then the ages of our three family members (excluding time spent in stasis) at the start of the main game would be:

• Protagonist 35
• Spouse 39
• Son 27

Which would open up a ton of gameplay possibilities.

I'll point out that if you want to test a cryo chamber then seeing how many of Vault 111 dwellers survive after 200 years makes sense.

Maybe the cryo chambers were set to awaken their occupant 200 years after they went in.

Also Codsworth said that the Lone Survivor was 200 years late for dinner.

This could all of course, change before the game goes gold.

But if the Lone Survivor cryo chamber was set to awaken 200 years later, then he would have awaken a couple of months after the Lone Wanderer left the vault.

A couple of months is just enough time for the Lone Wanderer to complete his journey.

Project Purity will be up and running so Dr Li would have already left for the Institute.

That timing sounds like a nice fit.

Close enough to the events of Fallout 3 that any news from the areas would still recognizable, but far enough away that the two stories won't cross each others.

I do think that the quoted figure of 200 years is just an approximation. Two reasons for this. Firstly, having the game set after New Vegas would mean that we can incorporate individuals and events from both Fallout 3 and New Vegas into Fallout 4's storyline. Second, Bethesda have previously said that they would never go backwards on their timeline in any future Fallout games, which would mean we would be looking at some time after 2281. The suggestion in my OP fits both of these perfectly.

There was also a pretty significant implication in the presentation that the story is set more than 200 years later: The presence of a Brotherhood airship named after King Arthur's ship. This is a pretty heavy handed reference, and very likely connected to Arthur Maxson, who is probably somehow involved with the story if that airship is present. I find it highly unlikely that Elder Lyons would send a ten year old to Boston.

If my theory is correct, that would make Arthur Maxson 18 at the start of the game, which would be far more believable.

2285 is too soon, there is still the PC of the previous game around, unless they pull out a bethesda and say "he's gone to Akavir". Unless the canon ending is that the LV put FEV in the purifier. Plot is still [censored], but bethesda would show some balls.

Looking at all the correlations with the dates in my OP, 2285 would actually make sense. Don't forget that when we start New Vegas, the Lone Wanderer from F3 had still only been out of the vault for 4 years.

Just moved some additional information into the OP regarding possible events before main story

You guys are assuming a lot and forgetting a couple key details.

1. There were Arthurian references in FO1, 2, and Tactics. Using that as evidence is hardly telling.

2. There is one group of BoS who used Airships. That, is the MWBoS.

3. If the game was set exactly 200 years later, then it would still be technically after FO3. I don't think they will mention anything about NV in FO4, nor were they planning to, and I don't think they would view it as going back in time, when they never had any intention to include anything from NV into this game, lore wise.

The evidence in my OP would suggest that the game is actually set 208 years after the great war, and not 200. This would place us 4 years after the events of New Vegas, which would allow events from both FO3 and NV to be fully incorporated into Fallout 4.

As for the inclusion of airships (and Arthurian references), there would have been enough time after NV for other BOS factions to have either built or acquired them by 2285.

Except there is zero evidence of any airships in FO3. If Arthur was 18, even 20, he at most, would be a Knight. Not even a Paladin yet, regardless if his name is Maxson. Hardly of age to be leading an expedition, or even have an entire Airship built in your name. Sure, it fun to speculate, but what you have is just a theory. The harder facts, point toward MWBoS, just because they have experience with airships. Could be both factions. Could be exactly 200 years. Regardless of the time frame, I highly doubt we hear a single peep about FONV. I would be shocked if we found out who won the battle of hoover dam.

Remember that only a couple of weeks ago there was 'zero evidence' that any of the family members caught up in the nuclear blast would, or even could survive. And yet now we know that at least one of them did. There was of course evidence, it was just very subtle. As for the variables to do with whether the BOS had airships during Fallout 3, or whether Arthur Maxson could possibly have become a major player by the age of 18. Perhaps the airships were being constructed in a different region, or maybe one was 'acquired' from a different BOS faction. And as for young Mr Maxson, maybe his name did have some bearing in terms of an accelerated climb in rank, or perhaps he had proved himself in the field and had earned such a privilege quite legitimately. In both of these cases, the evidence we must consider most of all is that found in the footage we have been shown so far, and as we have seen, new connections are being made on a daily basis, and so we are starting to get a much clearer picture of what is most likely to be going on.

Non-canon pop culture easter eggs that were intended to be lulzy like the Holy Hand Grenade aren't the same thing as this.

So what? Just because there's airships in Fallout 4 doesn't mean the Midwestern Brotherhood is in any way involved.

If Bethesda is willing to hand wave a Vault with FEV into Fallout 3 despite how there's not supposed to be any FEV outside of Mariposa, they are sure as heck willing to hand wave in Lyons' Brotherhood finding a hangar with an airship or two.

Do you honestly think Bethesda is going to include such a heavy handed clearly canon reference to King Arthur and not do something with it? We're talking about Bethesda here, if there's a reference like King Arthur's ship, then there's some significance behind it. Either way I highly doubt Bethesda are going to opt to use the Brotherhood branch from an obscure spin off instead of Lyons' Brotherhood from Fallout 3, the one that most people who are going to play this game are actually familiar with.

Airships do exist in Fallout lore, operated by the Midwestern BoS.

I don't think Bethesda is putting Fallout Nv in there timeline. going by what was already said & lore. the bombs dropped in 2077, 200 years later is 2277 same as Fallout 3 so Fallout 4 must be in 2277 maybe just monthes after all the events of Fallout 3.

I don't think we should be taking the whole '200 year' thing to be a literal reference. One of the main reasons is due to the way that Fallout is regarded as a series, including the incredibly rich and detailed lore. Looking at it in this way, it would make far more sense if Fallout 4 were set some time after New Vegas, because this would allow for a 'continuation of events'. All of the games in the series have actually followed this pattern, and it really helps to build a sense of involvement in the Fallout universe as a whole.

For the record, I don't think that the pre-war tutorial in Fallout 4 would break this in any way. In fact I think it would actually enhance it giving us a glimpse of the true horrors brought about by the onset of nuclear war, and so we feel far more involved in the post-war world when we get there.

Hmmm, that makes sense. I was just going but what they said at E3, some series ignore games made by someone else so I thought that was what Bethesda was doing with New vegas that's I good question to ask Bethesda but for now you bring up good points. if your right that may mean the Tunnelers from the lonesome road dlc could be returning because in New vegas its said they are moving across the wasteland & quickly.

This is what I was trying to get across. The fact that this reference has been included at all means that it is most definitely relevant, and let's not forget that Bethesda have been putting the game together for more than 4 years! I'm sure that they've been thinking about exactly what to show us first for a very long time, hence the reason why both the trailer and the demo contain so many hints and references.

I wouldn't expect Fallout 4 to be littered with references to what happened in the Mojave since there's a large geographical distance between Boston and Vegas, but it's definitely canon. Todd Howard and his crew were the ones who approached Obsidian about making a Fallout game to continue the story of the West while they told their own story on the east coast, and he's on record for saying he thought NV was "great". There's no reason to assume they're going to pretend it never happened.

I totally agree that the events in Fallout New Vegas are canon but are not likely to show up.

But there is no reason that Fallout 4 on the East Coast has to be set after the events on the West Coast.

I'm still betting that the Lone Survivor is awakened 200 years after the War started.

200 years is just what I would expect someone to set as a default setting for a Cryo Chamber.

As in let us see how many of vault 111 occupants survive after 200 years of Cryo sleep.

So having the Lone Survivor awaken 200 years after entered his or her Cryo Chamber, makes perfect sense.

Especially if they wanted to see how well the test subjects recovered from 200 years of Cryo Sleep.

I wonder if they tagged the Vault 111 occupants/test subjects some how just to see how long they survived.

208 years doesn't make sense unless something is failing and the Lone Survivor is automatically awakened before the Cryo Chamber can fail.

And since it is a couple of months past the Lone Wanderer leaving the Vault 101, neither storyline should step on the other.

Where is the proof of this ?

well, that's something new I learned, again I didn't know if it was canon because some companies do that, thanks for the info. I didn't actually mean it in that way, I was thinking like maybe seeing one to two enemies from Fallout New Vegas if you search well enough maybe.

Does no one think that maybe this mysterious air ship that no one can figure out where it came from, was found by an expeditionary force at Hanscom ADB? Seems like a pretty logical and reasonable conclusion to make. They didn't HAVE to find it in DC and it definitely isn't going to be the Midwestern BoS because that is a tad bit REALLY FAR AWAY. (Though if you can give me a logical reason other than "They came for the tech" which seems like a REALLY easy cop out then im all ears)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Hanscom_Air_Force_Base_-_MA.jpg