They weren't undead and neither are ghouls but you're missing the point here. The original ghouls were a parody of zombies and I can agree that The Family is a parody (if not as well delivered) of vampires. The feral ghouls on the other hand are at best a joke on a joke which just makes it not funny (or fun) anymore.

Feral Ghouls aren't zombies, just crazy, irradiated, Ghoulified people. Not undead.

And yeah they are a staple, and no they should not be removed.

Are you complaining about the ghouls moving faster than fallout 1, or the fact that they exist?

The Mindless ghouls in F1, attacked because they were feral, wild creatures. From the Mindless ghoul wiki page: "The brain structure of a feral ghoul indicates that the regenerative ability of the neurological system that affords "normal" necrotic post-humans their longevity does not extend into the higher reasoning functions of the brain itself."The ghouls of Necropolis attacked out of self preservation and fear of humans. Whether you call them Mindless or Feral ghouls, they have always been apart of the Fallout Universe. That's been made apparent. So as to your question of whether Feral ghouls should be in F4, yes, because they've been in the Universe from the start.

Not to get off topic, but they DON'T think they are vampires. Vance himself outright says this.

they only drink the blood of people like vampires to appear less monstrous then they would be if they ate flesh.

Yeah they should, one of the best enemies to shoot for me.

The kind of feral ghouls we had in Fallout 3/NV does not fit in Fallout.

But hell, they screwed up everything related to ghouls.

Ghouls need a revamp/retcon badly, one which Bethesda ain't going to give 'em.

I thought they were a mistake in the first place so no. It's true that there were crazed ghouls and such in the original games, but they weren't raging baboon athletes. They were still ghouls; and to my recollection some of them carried and used guns.

Yea, feral ghouls are a staple. They're low enough level that they can be dispatched quickly in low numbers but en masse can be formidable (Vault 34/Nuclear Test Site).

At the very least Bethesda should explain 'why' feral ghouls are becoming more and more appearant when there were none depicted the way they are now back in the older games. If they at the very least gave a good explanation, a canon explanation, with no ambiguity, which explain that ghouls who suffer from mental issues such as crippling depression and stuff like that, their brains snap. And what does the mutation do? It rots and regenerates, so when the brain starts to go (not because of radiation, but because of mental disorders), the mutation kicks in and tries to regenerate it, which only serves to make the problem worse until it reaches a point where the ghoul become a mindless husk of their former selves.

Still doesn't explain why they can sprint faster than a healthy human when they look extremely malnourished but at least it'd give us a proper explanation for 'why' feral ghouls popped up out of nowhere and why it happens. Right now, all we got is some [censored] explanation that radiation turns them feral (which is contradicted by multiple occasions throughout the series, so that can't be canon).

I don't want the stupid 28 Days Later rip-offs in Fallout at all but since they were in the trailer they are not going to be cut so at the very least give us a proper explanation for why they are suddenly appearing. An explanation which doesn't contradict previous established lore.

From Fallout 3

These are terminal entries that are supposed to be located on Doc Barrows terminal in The Underworld. However, due to improper hookups, clicking on the the "buttons" on the computer screen doesn't cause them to come up. A bug which was, unfortunately, never fixed. But they are not cut content, they are supposed to be in the game, as the terminal still exists in-game, and has "buttons" that are supposed to link to these text entries.

Examination of the Post-Necrotic Human

Neurology of Luminous Necrotic Post-Humans

Study Of Ferocious Post-Necrotic Dystrophy

It doesn't explain why they did not turn feral by 2241 and have begun to turn feral by 2277.

Nor does it truly explain 'why' they turn feral. It has speculation, but speculation ain't concrete facts.

The speculation does add up, don't get me wrong on that, but at the end of the day it is just speculation.

Is it because of mental disorders? Is it because the mutation is deviating? Is it because of radiation? Is it because of the brain simply deteriorating?

Barrows doesn't explicitly state what exactly turns them feral.

He partly explains the process of how the mutation of feralization occours, but he does explain what causes it to begin with.

Nor does it explain why they can sprint faster than a fit healthy human being when their bodies are supposed to be rotting away.

"Feral" Ghouls is one of the most common enemies in Fallout though so won't be surprise to have them. Heck, ya can say it is a recommendation to have them (just like Deathclaws).

Yes.

There were "mindless ghouls" and "mad glowing ones" as far back as Fallout 1, and "crazy" ghouls in Fallout 2.

Those are the feral ghouls.

1. Doesn't explain 'why' the brains start deteriorating though. It says that the regenerative factor stops applying to the neurological system or something but again; It doesn't explain why 'that' happens.

2. No. They're not.

1. No, it says it doesn't apply to the brain EVER. Not that it stops applying.

2. Why are they not exactly?

Feel free to play FO1/2 to see why.

Have played them, don't see the difference beyond a more limited animation set due to the more primitive technology.

More like ''I'd rather believe watever lie todd cookd up''

Still remember three dogg's [censored] about feral ghouls on radio, ''can't tell the difference between a normal and a feral''

Um... Three Dog was a good guy who tried to teach people not to shoot at normal ghouls and that the feral ghouls are the ones you wanna shoot... What [censored] you are talking about?

1.

"The brain structure of a Feral Necrotic Post-Human indicates that the regenerative ability of the neurological systems that affords typical Necrotic Post-Humans their longevity does not extend into the higher reasoning functions of the brain itself. This is a condition that I refer to as Ferocious Post-Necrotic Dystrophy.

As the reasoning and high order thinking portions of the brain deteriorate, the Post-Human subject becomes increasingly hostile, giving into a carnal need to feed as opposed to the capacity for thinking that reasoning that a typical Necrotic Post-Human retains. It remains unclear exactly what precipitates this change in biology and psychology, but anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that non-social ghouls, or those in isolation, are more prone to the condition."

This indicates that there is a change and a cause behind it, that it doesn't just automatically happen the moment someone becomes a ghoul but that there is a trigger behind the feralization. All I'm asking for is an explanation for that trigger.

2. It is obvious. Look at how mindless/crazy/feral/whateverthehellyouwanttocallthem ghouls were portrayed in previous games and look at how they are portrayed in Fallout 3. There is a clear difference and my issue with this is that it comes out of nowhere and that Fallout 3 and FNV doesn't bother explaining 'why' ghouls who turn crazy/mindless/feral/whateverthehellyouwanttocallthem suddenly got such a drastic change. In Fallout 1/2 ghouls were ghouls. There were crazy ghouls and there were civilized ghouls. It wasn't until Fallout 3 that ghouls who's minds went became animalistic. And limitation of technology? Do I need to remind you of the ghoul scavengers? They were ghouls who were capable of running. Ghouls also had a regular unarmed hit animation. Yet scavengers use handguns to attack with. If Interplay/Black Isle wanted to portray them the way that they are portrayed in Fallout 3 they could've. There is no technology limitation.

The way that crazy ghouls are portrayed in Fallout 1/2/T is vastly different from the way they are portrayed in Fallout 3/NV.

That is a fact.

And we have no explanation for 'why' there was this sudden change from the year 2241 and the year 2277.

Hell, ghouls are healthier in general now. They used to be shambling corpses and by now they just look like burn victims.

And again, no explanation for this. No explanation for 'why' ghouls suddenly became a lot more healthier, can wear heavy armor and use heavy weapons.

For why they can suddenly sprint and how they can sprint faster than a healthy fit human when they become crazy and malnourished.

Feral ghouls are a big bag of questions which Bethesda has yet to answer. While I'd prefer it if they were retconned from Fallout completely that ain't gonna happen so the least they can do is properly explain why ghouls are portrayed so differently.

I honestly just see that as a fairly typical change of behavior/style that happens to many series as they progress.

I don't think Bethesda or Obsidian cared to "explain" it because they knew most people would accept the fact retcons like that happen all the time in series, especially ones as long running as this.

In lore they were always like they are in Fo3, their actions in Fo1/2 are simply artifacts from an older vision of the series.

Personal opinion on them is pretty moot at this point. They are in the last two games, so it this point, it's pretty logical that they are around for the next game.

1. So that excuses them from giving us an explanation for it? That is bad writing/design.

2. That is bad writing/design.

3. No. They were not.