Perhaps, but it seems like a lot of effort just to get the player invested in the story. I have a sneaking suspicion the spouse and/or baby survived somehow. The footage has the family caught outside when the nuke hits, how could any of them survived? Perhaps they were already safe in the Vault in cryo when the war happened and what we see is a nightmare the PC has during the revival process......you wake to find the Vault Dwellers dead and the spouse and baby's pods empty and go looking for them.

Agreed.

I don't know how I feel about this. I love the freedom that Bethesda games afford, however, I've always fully embraced the main thread that the games were built around. I let my pseudo-desire to find my father and get answers drive and shape my protagonist in FO3. I let the discovery of being Dragonborn impact my PC in every game I played. I imagine I'm going to let the fact that I "had" a wife and child affect the development of my character in FO4.

In my opinion, I feel like the vast majority of people enjoy having these things to build off of and affect how they interact with the world. Having some character development that is outside of your hands can really immerse you in the world and let you experience something you couldn't otherwise. The Bioshock games jump readily to mind. You had a set gender and identity, but you still experienced the world on a first hand basis, and so you got to know the character (as much as they were defined) and BE the character. To me that is a richer experience.

That said, I respect that some people like to get really crazy and design all kinds of different backstories and characters. I don't have a problem with that, however, for the sake of the experience as a whole, I'd much rather that those people have to use a little bit of imagination to play the character they want, than sacrifice a deeper experience for the casual fans and others who enjoy a more personal set up. In short, if we all can't have what we want, then I'll gladly support the decisions that deliver a richer experience, even if it means sacrificing a few freedoms.

I believe you may be somewhat right. I don't believe the spouse will be alive. The child might. Todd did say that the childs appearance was generated from the parents. Meaning the child would probably be an advlt when you next see him/her. It's the only way the player would be able to see how it's appearance was generated from their original design.

My suspicion is that the spouse and child left the vault a century or more earlier, and that you find the descendants in the wasteland.

Er. Not... really?

1. I didn't say social progress was a straight line.

2. Presumably no one is going to drop a nuke on us.

3. Culture is the only thing that seems to HAVE progressed in the intervening centuries.

No, no I didn't.

Yeah, I guess my confusion came from conflating love with six. But as I said at the beginning it depends on the individuals involved, getting it up can be as mechanical as flopping your dike around a bit and thinking of England. Or Jeremy or Luke. But really I'm not sure what you and I are even discussing any more so... as you were.

More likely 20-50 years max.....otherwise neither you or the kid will make the connection.

Grandchildren can still look like their grandparents, and so on and so forth.

Of course this thread got so many damn repliues to it :/

What's wrong with people wanting such things?

We had a confirmed bachelor perk in FNV no ?

Isn't that good enough ?

It would be, assuming it came with opportunities to use it, yes. For me anyway. But that was an Obsidian game, not a Bethesda game.

What crap.

Fallout was anologous to the 1950's it wasn't a carbon copy. By your narrow definition you should not be able to make a mixed racial couple because that was socially unacceptable in the 1950's. Well they CLEARLY show you can make a mixed race marriage in the game.

I love how thinking diversity in games is a good thing makes you a SJW. I really would love someone to explain that to me because it make zero sense. It basically is saying I have to agree with you or i am being unreasonable. pffft.

Being married and having a kid isn't limited to hetrosixual couples. if you have to be married and have a biological link to the child as the player there is ZERO requirement for you to be straight. You are a woman in a same six marriage and using a sperm donor you carry the child to term Poof you are gay and you have a biological connection to your child. in a VERY plausible way for a same six couple to have a baby. You are a man in a same six marriage and you use a surragate to have a child with you as the sperm donor. Again poof like magic you are married, gay and have a biological conection to the child.

I can't think of any reason why the player couldn't be both the father or mother of the child and still be married in a same six relationship and not meet the requirments you stated are predefined. If it is this easy to be inclusive why not have the diversity of representation?

WTF is so wrong with diversity? WFT is so scary to some gamers about encouraging diversity?

Well bethesda controls obsidian.

So i don't see why you people are complaining.

That's exactly what i was trying to say, i completely agree with you. My point is that if things keep going like this, no game will be able to tell a story because it "offends" people.

@Gothfather

As i said before, i will repeat it, Fallout is a world where even way after the 50s, the CULTURE remained. That means yes, it makes sense that none of that stuff you mentioned exists in the first place, and the only way to have a kid is a normal heterosixual marriage, everything else is speculation and wishful thinking.

"I can't think of any reason why the player couldn't be both the father or mother of the child and still be married in a same six relationship and not meet the requirments you stated are predefined. If it is this easy to be inclusive why not have the diversity of representation?"

Because the fallout universe doesn't allow it, even if you don't like it, it doesn't make it any less true.

Why would anyone care if someone was offended to begin with? Offence is always taken not given in these types of matters. Besides, this issue is resolved with mods.

Uh. What?

I mean that they are all zenimax but bethesda is a bigger comp than obsidian.

Zenimax does not own Obsidian, man.

Oh i thought it had sorry.

But still i don't see why you people are complaining.

Oh i thought it had sorry.

But still i don't see why you people are complaining.

Cuz we want to taste the rainbow.

Didn't know you can eat rainbows

Why is it always the rainbow crowd that kicks up a storm over nothing in video games? I don't really care about gayness, but if Bethesda caters to them then I will be seriously worried they'll go down the path of Bioware.

Who decides that it's 'nothing?' And Bioware does pretty well for itself, all things considered.

It's nothing because its a video game.
Bioware has been pandering for some time now and their already poor writing has managed to become worse.

I thought BioWare writing has been rather universally praised...? I mean, at least Yahtzee praised it, and he's hard to please.