Well actually in Fallout 3 if you blow up Megaton there is one survivor, Moira Brown. And she has been turned into a Ghoul by the blast. Pretty instantly.

There is one particular perk i haven't seen explained yet. Fallout Boy looks like a Ghoul with a mushroom cloud behind him, not unlike what happend to Moira.

So who knows, it would be a pretty big thing as well as something people had been asking for in the past.

I wouldn't mind if it was irreversable, you'd just have to be sure you want to do this when you take the perk (and the perk needs proper warning ofcourse). Being a Ghoul can have all kinds of great benefits, in exchange for some penalties.

Wouldn't they die reverting back to a human anyway? Radiation is pretty much keeping them alive.

No, i would not count on it.

You can't just replace dead parts...cells in your body die often and they need to be changed.
You can't get nice cells if your spine I think it is (that makes new cells n' stuff?) is full of radiation and doesn't function properly.

I would like to see high rad exposure causing some sort of random mutation, rather than full-on ghoulification. Maybe some mutations are postive, some negative...or some could have a postive and negative side (like the optional traits in F1).

Maybe, but why would your DNA be unique to other ghouls? Ghouls after all, are almost without exception survivors of the War.

It's not. Just another wild idea lol

The negatives of being a ghoul include near universal prejudice against them. They are reminders of the war, they are nearly immortal, and they are immune to radiation. So it's a mix of disgust and possible envy.

The negatives of having a ghoul state in the game are that this implies that it's curable.

The negative of having a ghoul playable race in the game is that it's all but inconceivable that Bethesda would enact a worldwide hostility to the player by all NPCs, other than ghouls, and a few eccentrics... Which is what it should mean to play a ghoul; else the ghoul-skin is just that, a cosmetic skin for the player.

On the surface they could look human ~for a while; their plastic skin and mechanical limbs could seem human to others, but not to them. Also... Their ghoul tissue is probably in constant flux, and could pose a difficulty for the machine parts to stay attached to... Not to mention that they might even begin to regenerate the parts that were cut off.

Something that easily could be worked into the plot is the concept of what happens to a human body when it's kept in stasis for over 200 years. For all we know, this could impact the regenerative properties of individual cells (especially after the process has been 'put on hold' for so long)

Without truly being a cure, it's kinda perfect, though. It doesn't allow for a cure to be implemented, taking ghouls out of the universe. It's more of a full body transplant, only the body is synthetic. This makes it so only the affluent would really ever have the option of no longer being a ghoul.

I do feel that if ghoulification were possible, it would work better without a cure. It's a C&C thing. Deal with the path you took.

The main problem I see, is that Rad's take away from total health, so to be able to become "ghoulified", we would have to lose all of our health which would kill us, unless Beth decided to do a story line dedicated to ghoulification (kinda like vampirism in other games)

It's possible. The Institute is like a single, giant, plot device. Normally, I would say that they'd never let us play as a ghoul, as it would be far too restrictive. However, if anybody could "cure" it, it's them.

Hell, if they wanted to "cure" super mutants, they probably could. Rip the brain out, put in some implants to compensate for the loss of intelligence and other skills, and stick it into an android. No, you aren't *truly* cured, but it could potentially be a good approximation.

But, who knows. They might do something like that, they might not. It all depends on how they want to play their cards.

I'm pretty sure the E9 perk will be something along the lines of, "Enjoy all of the benefits of being a Ghoul without the downsides!". So, a ton of buffs as we get more and more irradiated. They certainly wouldn't add Lead Belly and Rad Resistance perks if they offered a perk down the line that turned radiation from a bad thing into something awesome. But having health regen or some extra buffs in exchange for severely reduced max health would open up some interesting playstyle opportunities.

And I'm almost positive they won't let us become a ghoul.

I don't remember any scientists working on it in FO3, there was a single doctor and nurse studying it but they were no where near a cure or mention what caused ghoulification, from the set up in the "chop shop" it didn't look much good for it. With the current time frame being close to FO3 it doesn't have much time to be made and travel the distance to Boston.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Barrows

There's 2 advantages to being a Ghoul gamewise, Ferals wont attack you and radiation will heal you. Downside is you look like corpse, are disliked by 90% of the wasteland and get less effect from drugs.

I just don't see this happening.

If the E9 perk turns us into a ghoul, then the L9 perk transform us into a brawling Leprechaun.

So...

Eh, I foresee if not this installment then a subsequent one - at some point in a Fallout game we're going to "solve" ghoulification. It seems kind of inevitable when I think about it, it's going to advance under the innate momentum of it's own themes. Of course we're going to run into scientists who want to cure ghouls in a Fallout game. I don't find that surprising at all. Given the setting in Fallout 4 we're inevitably going to be dealing with some themes around Science! and at least one NPC is going to also be looking for a cure. That only seems natural.

Barring any evidence or speculation on hidden clues and such, I can see where narratively it could make sense that one way to motivate the PC to help solve the ghoul "curse" would be to make them one in some way. In other words - I don't really see any of the evidence brought forward that there's a perk attached to being a ghoul as particularly compelling or convincing. But in kind of reverse-engineering the idea, it wouldn't surprise me if the path to curing ghouls led to infecting the PC. I think there's other ways to skin that cat (like if your spouse or son were to be the ghoul, for example, instead of the PC...)

But: I'd still rather see a Fallout game dedicated to that, if it were to happen. Ghouls are supposed to be tragic figures, I think. They work best when their demise is kind of a certainty I think (a la how their storyline wrapped up in the end credits in Fallout 1 and 2 - they all just sort of die off and fade into legend.)

If we were to cure ghouls of their plight and reverse their condition (we don't really need to worry too much about the logistics when we're playing a sci-fi game where Science! is wielded in the same way as a Sonic Screwdriver or Hyperdrives,) and we needed the PC to be a ghoul... I'd still rather see a game where that was the main plot. I'd rather just be a ghoul than make it a temporary condition like vampirism.

Just my thoughts, though - we'll just have to wait and see.

If they put in Ghoulification I'm fine with that and it might be fun.

BSG should make it more their own anyways and it could provide some fun new twists. Not at all concerned with the lore this has been something people have wanted for a super long time now, and well as far as how NPC's treat you uh they did make vampirism work in Elder Scrolls pretty sure those guys can handle this.

I'd be okay with being able to turn into a ghoul in FO4, but only if I can have a tree growing out of my head... And I get to pick which kind of tree. 馃槂

The thing that gets me is that with the introduction of advanced androids, we essentially have the solution to curing ghouls. They have the technology to preserve and connect brains to robotics, and tech sufficiently advanced enough to mimic a human body. Not only that, but ghoul brains seem pretty tough, considering they don't seem to degenerate with age.

Seriously, turning into an android would be the "get out of jail free" card. Turned into a super mutant? A ghoul? Just plain ugly? Put some implants in to increase intelligence, and stick it into a robotic body that is essentially better than a human's in most regards.

I don't really get why people are skeptical to the possibility. Old World Blues (one of my favorite DLCs) has us with our brains removed...and then we have an argument with that brain. Fallout has a history of wacky pseudoscience.

just like Darkman

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRqMajTbWpwt1foETVKvMMaa9vviV6N7-VwAPDGuWBKJAq4MaMJ

I completely agree with you here. Even in my speculation thread I suggested that the perk is related to ghoulification, but in a preventative capacity. The same way that the perk at L9 is clearly related to luck and combat, and is also tied in with the Boston setting.

What do ghouls get gameplay wise? Part of the reason vampires and werewolves are so popular is cuz they add different gameplay elements. What would a ghoul get? Long live/immortality? Not really relevant to the game. Increased strength? I don't know if ghouls are actually tangible stronger. The ability to eat people? We have that with cannibal. Healing when exposed to radiation? Is radiation present enough for that to count as an incentive?

Of course they could be adding the state just as something to avoid but I dunno. If it's present ghouls are probably gonna be more interesting in general too.

If only the Cyborg perk turned us into the Terminator in previous games.

Which is exactly the issue of implementing it as a feature, as it isn't much of a feature. Becoming a ghoul isn't some sort of power like becoming a vampire in TES. You're just a walking corpse that absorbs radiation. Of course, Bethesda could always pull off something silly in this game that does make ghoulification like a power. Radiation farts that resemble a Glowing One's, and a magic SCIENCE! potion that can can cure you any time. Become a ghoul whenever you want and instantly cure it away whenever you want. Who knows.

I say no to ghoulification.