Well ME (like everyone mentioned) wanted to have this feature from the get go, and while I love that game, it failed miserably in this regard,, it was all an illusion of choice. Little gimmicky stuff changed but even that was in a linear, continious story not an open world game.
I think even if they could make it work (for the small, flavory stuff) it would be too much hassle.

It would constrict the games' meaningful options in the long run, like it did in DA/ME. It's not really suitable for Bethesda games.

Canon.

(Honestly, I don't see a need for transfers like this unless you've got games that are continuing a single story or starring a single main character. I've got enough playthroughs of FO3 that there'd be no reason for me to pick one of them as the lead-in to 4, unless it were another chapter in the same Lone Wanderer's life. Mass Effect & Dragon Age did it because they were a connected narrative.)

Also, as an aside - Dragon Age Keep was a needlessly complicated mess, that didn't work correctly for me. Which wasn't obvious until 50+ hours into the game, when Not My Hawke showed up. Booooooooo.

Import systems work best for games that were actually designed for them. Mass Effect and Dragon Age were planned to carry choices over between games, and it works fairly well. Thrown into Fallout now it would just be a mess, just make canon and be done with it.

I voted no. Like many I have played the game and altered my choices on a few plays. I put FEV in the water, I didn't put FEV in the water. I went in, Sarah went in. I nuked Megaton, I didn't nuke Megaton. I killed the ghouls, I let the ghouls into Tenpenny Tower. Which ending do I choose to continue? Give me canon, or since this one is so close in timeline, don't say anything.

would somebody pls explain the question to me, i totally don't get what this is about?

In games like the Mass Effect series, where the main character & storyline continue into each game from the previous ones, they have an optional ability for (for example) Game 2 to read your save from Game 1, and carry over choices you made in the first game. (i.e, you did a sidequest where you spared some dude rather than killing him. In the following games, he might show up as someone you can interact with. Or the fact you spared him opens up a new source of aid. Or whatever).

The OP is asking whether people would want something like that with Fallout 3 -> Fallout 4. But I personally don't think it makes much sense, since they aren't that directly related. And, as someone just pointed out a couple posts earlier, it's something you're normally design into each game from the beginning - building the save file so that it makes a nice database of decision flags, for instance.

ah, i see. thx a lot for explaining.

phew, can't tell about anybody else, but for myself, this would totally fail right at start, i mean, fallout 3, that was 200EIGHT, since then, it's 1 new machine, 1 new OS, 3-4 new OS setups...

the technical aspects of it would be made easier with steam of course, but then, would i really WANT steam to store every sh** about how i played a game 7 years ago? and WHICH playthrough would that be anyway, i mean it's not like i'd played them just once, and i wouldn't always necessarily want my last, but an earlier game's outcomes

Considering the Legacy part of the wiki about the LW has Moira say that no one knows or remembers whether or not the LW was good or evil nor even their gender, Bethesda is probably going with a mix of both.

There is a canon for FO3, but it's along the lines of "there was a gal (or guy) that came out of Vault 101 to search for her (or his) father and along the way (and maybe on the side) they changed the Capital Wasteland. Also s/he was either a paragon of pure good, a nice gal/guy, an ok person, a jerk or the most evil person ever, not sure which"

Wait a sec..........if the majority of people in the this thread are advocating for a canon universe (I am too) and the majority are using Fo3 as an example. How does NV fit into this? It was made by the original devs of the original fallout but has multiple endings and four different main endings. Games with import features sport multiple endings based on choices made during the series or game. Arguably you could have put an import feature for NV then you couldn't tell the difference in STORY ARC STRUCTURE (im aware they are completely different games) between fallout NV and mass effect.

Many here praise NV for its return to old ways but it is not referenced here as example for or against cannon continuity. Why?

Going to say no as I see zero happenstance it could even have on the games setting.

There were choices in FO3?

I just want them to reference the canon.

Canon, not enough choices to matter for Fallout 4 and the development can be put to better use.

If we were playing as the same character from FO3 or NV then yes I would want my choices to carry over, but it's a different hero in a different place. That being said, I would prefer any mentions of the hero or choices from past games to be kept vague do it doesn't directly contradict your own playthrough.

No.

Real canon>Fake, obscure canon.

I want the Fallout universe to remain as one universe.

Because the questioner doesn't ask about New Vegas' decisions being imported into Fallout 4. They asked about Fallout 3.

And New Vegas shows that Fallout 1 and 2 had a hard canon, and it's likely that any potential sequels to New Vegas will reveal that New Vegas has a canonical ending (my money is on Good Karma House/Independent endings, with the Courier stopping Ulysses from nuking NCR and Legion).

They should just do a canon of FO3 and ignore save import for all future titles. It is hard to do well, even for a good developer like BGS.

I don't know, given how Shady Sands/NCR always come out on top I wouldn't be surprised if they became the canon ending. But yea, it's better to have a hard canon as proof with 2 and New Vegas.

The OP didn't for sure but the conversation has since evolved to cover (atleast in some part) the continuity of game lore in relation to fallout series as a whole and other games. Which is why I asked .

If the games shared a file structure, and all came out on the same system, I could see getting some bonus items or benefits for having a save file from a previous game. The original Ratchet & Clank games on the PS2 did that, where you'd get some weapons for free if you had a save file from a previous game.

But, since that isn't possible with Fallout 3 & Fallout 4 being on different systems, just pick a canon story and hint at it. Probably the "Saves the Capital Wasteland...somehow" type of ending. Of course, I always sent Fawks in, as I didn't want to sacrifice myself when there was someone right there that was immune to the radiation.

Help the ghouls get into Tenpenny tower/wipe out the ghouls

Side with Ashur/side with Werner/side with Werner first but then change your mind

Help Moira write the guide/convince Moira not to write the guide/sabotage the guide with misinformation

Help Stanislaw Braun torture his victims/kill his victims and leave him trapped inside

Help the slaves/help the slavers

Side with Birch/side with Laurel/side with Harold

These are a few of them.

Open Vault 101/help to keep 101 closed/manipulate the vault and force the evacuation of 101

Kill Autumn/Let Autumn escape

Destroy the Airbase/Destroy the Citadel

...

what about using savegame files ?