Personally I feel as if the entire RPG element of Fallout has been dummed down in the extreme. Gone are the days of having multiple characters that I role play as different personalities. I loved this game and am still playing it. But I am now less excited for future games like Elder Scrolls and Mass Effect. I will still play them and more than likely enjoy them. But I still get a pit in my stomach thinking about what was left behind.

Edit - yes I understand ME is bioware... But both are RPG games that are loved and both have companies seeming to go down a path RPG gamers are not so excited about. Such as the dialog wheel etc.

It would be the perfect game to me if they'd kept the dialogue the same.
Everything else I can look past it but the dialogue is a real shame. The voice acting is quite mediocre too.
The game overall is extremely fun and you can still RP by setting your own restrictions. Simply look at that guy who stayed in sanctuary and never left.(There was a thread about it on the boards)

I really have no idea what to vote for since I still have not purchased Fallout 4 and I do not know what to experience, but these are the four features added and removed that from what we know so far has made Fallout 4 be a disappointment for me.

#1. Dialogue wheel

#2. Level scaling of both loot and NPC's as with any Bethesda Game Studios developed video games.

#2. Immortal companions and important quest NPC's and so on immortal ever since The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion with the Essential NPC's system.

#4. No armor and weapons degradation system just like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

So I guess I vote for No, my choices were too limited and linear?

RPG options are best in a Role Playing Game, when they are built into the fabric of the game to start with- more options on how to create and play your character in any and every way you may want, using the tools we've all seen before in previous games (and sorely miss today). Sure, you can munge in some level of personal RPG'ing by setting restrictions on gameplay and the like, but nothing beats built-in character and gameplay options, for that sort of thing. Making the player have to do their own limited RPG'ing by leaving out more and more of the old built-in standard RPG game elements we had in the past, seems to be Bethesda's MO anymore.

Fallout was never meant to be a sandbox game. You had a timer on the first one, remember? Exploration was a part of it but you were never meant to do your own thing while your vault was dying. So I'm not sure why this game would make you less excited for future Mass Effect (not even Bethesda related) or Elder Scrolls, the crowning jewel of the company and one where they pride about living another life, in another world.

Oh, a new thread on this?

Your poll is missing some options, for instance-

"It's a bit limiting, but an improvement on Fallout 3", which is incidentally what I would vote for.

I'm looking forward to the next Mass Effect(it's a Bioware game by the way not Bethesda). But I'm a bit nervous about TES 6 and Fallout 5 when it comes to the dialog system. I understand why they went with a voiced PC and the new dialog system but I personally don't like it all that much in Fallout. It works for Bioware's RPGs but not Bethesda's RPGs imo

If they continue I will be very disappointed. I'm still enjoying their games, but they are going adrift from the formula that made me a fan. Please no cut of skills in TES 6, no voice acted character and no simplistic dialogue!

The core problem is that they are taking away features that we like in order to appeal to a broader audience but in the end just alienate their original audience. And thanks for the catch on ME. Haven't had my coffee and had a brain fart. But it can be a lesson to all RPG creators that we expect more immersion and more play options as the tech gets better, not less. Better graphics do not make a better game as the indie game popularity is showing. I still throw in the original Fallout games from time to time and am even enjoying Wasteland 2 on the xbox one. Horrible horrible graphics but the RPG is really good.

Their "action RPGs" continue towards "action".

I'm not surprised. And not even that disappointed really. I have no history with Fallout or TES, so all i know are these new ones (since Oblivion and Fallout 3). And if i want to play an RPG, i play Shadowrun, Wasteland or Divinity and others like them. Not anything from BGS.

ME is a shooter since ME 2.

Irony

Of course, none of those technically have any impact on whether it's an "RPG" or not.

They are your preferences, however, and are therefore a valid means of deciding whether you want to play a game or not.

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Personally, I'm enjoying the game. And the whole definition of "RPG" has always been somewhat vague when applied to non-tabletop games (since you can't really roleplay all that well without a GM who can react to your decisions and modify the game/plot/story on the fly). JRPGs and ARPGs, for instance (as well as the oldest pre-Baldur's Gate D&D games) are much more linear (with generally no "choice" outside of picking class & skills, and no narrative variation or consequence). Are they RPGs? How about action games like the Zelda games? Are they RPGs? I've seen people over the decades argue all of those. By the general standards of the uber-roleplayers on these forums, at least 90% of the RPGs released over the past 30 years weren't RPGs. Doesn't seem worth it to get worked up about it.

There could definitely be a bit more choice & variation in conversations, that's true. Seems to be more an issue with their wanting to have dialogue chosen by up/down/left/right(or d-pad), rather than anything inherent to "dialogue wheels" or voiced protagonists (see Bioware games, that have plenty of options, on a wheel, with a voice.)

I found that this video somewhat accurately describes my feelings about the rpg aspects of Fallout 4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqkZXNZwZq4

this is very true they're definitely trying to appeal to a wider audience ...they've obviously sold a ton and the game is grossly popular(I really enjoy it) but some features get left out..which then pisses off the old fan base..I hope in updates and dlc they bring back a few more features

Not gonna lie here, I'm kinda worried about Elder Scrolls 6. While Fallout 4 makes huge improvements in areas like graphics, gunplay, and weapon customization (and introduced cool new features like base building of course), it hasn't expanded on the rpg elements at all, and in many ways its streamlined them and reduced some of the decision making.

Over the years many people have complained about where the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games are heading, and while I may have agreed with them, this is the first time I've ever felt uneasy about the future games. Fallout 4 may have been the tipping point for me. I'm still enjoying the game, but as an action game only. The rpg elements feel pretty shallow and tacked on.

Oh, yet another thread on this.

Isn't it time to move on now?

This is how it is.

(and it's fine)

(and the template for Elder Scrolls 6 I'm sure.)

Well if it's fine, then it's fine that Bethesda Game Studios has lost me as a customer after I purchased and played The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on 11.11.11.

But I'm sure Bethesda Softworks and Bethesda Game Studios don't care that they didn't earn my money because I did not purchase Fallout 4. They earned $750 million dollars (USD) anyways from selling Fallout 4 to a bunch of other people and brick and mortar retailer stores world wide.

But it means Bethesda Softworks and Bethesda Game Works won't be seeing my $60 dollars (USD) for Fallout 4 ever, The Elder Scrolls VI, Fallout 5, The Elder Scrolls VII, Fallout 6, and so on.

I'll just be complaining.

Since people are not satisfied with the direction Bethesda games have taken threads like these will never go away. It probably would be the same if Bethesda went all pen & paper on us.

How so? All of them have very similar gameplay the only real difference is they remove that stupid tank thing(I believe it was call Mako)

Fallout 4 is a great RPG game and has many RPG elements in it. It even does certain RPG elements much better than Fallout 3 and New Vegas even. I just feel that people generally don't like changes and want things to stay the same, without ever actually thinking about why the older elements were actually terrible for the type of RPGs that Bethesda makes.

Gotta remember, the original Fallouts and Bethesda's Fallouts are two different types of RPGs, but their both are great RPGs in their own area...

Though, I would say this. The dialogue system did hurt Fallout 4 quite a bit but that was just Bethesda trying something new and hopefully, for future games, they won't go this route.

Why would you complain about something you didn't buy and (presumably) haven't played yourself?

People like you bother me. As if people getting together to discuss what they like and don't like is a bad thing. The more on this the better, helping everyone involved. Players, modders, producers, designers... Everyone gets a little bit from these. I may not like the direction they are taking, but some might, but the poll and the comments let Beth developers stay in touch with their customers.

And just because I have a complaint does not mean I do not support Beth or its games. Still love them, still play them.

Welcome to the internet!

I find that fallout 4 offers more rather than less opportunity for roleplay.

"Military" and "Law degree" are descriptions that are very broad. You can be a flight navigator, a suit mechanic. You can be a public defendant, a reporter. The fields we are assigned are constrained, but they also motivate deeper character anolysis.

My character was a vehicular mechanic for the army. His wife was a translator for the FBI.

Yes, the dialogue svcks, but when it's modded to display text New Vegas style and the voice actor skips, you almost forget it's always offering four options. Which, by the way, aren't as moodring-esque as reviewers claim they are, once you aren't deceived by short descriptions anymore. Hell, I turned the voice acting back on and it's pretty bearable.

Edit: and all the while I was convinced I would hate this game and refund it.

Cause you want to buy it, but are seeing red flags everywhere that a game you wanted to love has been corrupted. It's relatively new that steam refunds have been made possible, so we are still under the mentality that if we buy it, we were svckered in.

I bought the game, expecting to refund it. I didn't.