Ok so I know it adds to the effect and all, but seriously here I am going through the game turning every single one on to find out at the end they do almost nothing except play some static. Pointless addition to make them turn on if they really don't do anything. Why can they even turn on?!?!?!?

There's no such thing as a "pointless addition" if it actually adds something to the game even if its not adding anything to the gameplay itself.

i do the same thing! and theyre not pointless, for me they add a little sence of wonder to the game E.G. what did beth originaly plan on doing with these

Some sets do work, but they only broadcast from underground areas hidden near that have to be located by , and even then they only switch off the signal.



I think they were a packaged item, like intercoms, that could have dialogue inserted, but most of the level designers just used them as decoration. Which is a shame because I thought they were going to be a quest alongside the big comm dishes or something.

They add to the atmosphere. Its like having the piles of rubble blocking many areas in DC. They dont help, and can actually hinder you, but they add to the atmosphere.

Its just a look-nice-thing. By those standards, most of the objects in the game are "Pointless"

Oh, and calling yourself FalloutMaster is a blasphemy...

Everyone knows that the Real (with capital R) Fallout Master is Ausir

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/User:Ausir

The word of Ausir is Law, He is the Keeper of The Lore.


(No offense though, I'm only kidding , but he IS the master of fallout)

I think, design-wise, the point is less that you can turn them on, but that you can turn them off.

And like has been said, there's the radio towers and such that lead to those little mini-quests of finding the source and seeing what's there. And it's one of those things where you want to be able to turn it off so that you don't later on forget you've already found that place, and end up searching around for a signal you've already discovered.

Pffft. The real master of Fallout is none other than Richard Moreau. Otherwise known as Richard Grey.

Well that question can be quite simple, and you first start by understanding the point of a Ham Radio and its history:

In the 1950s, amateur radio or "ham radio" seemed almost magical. There was no Internet, long distance telephone calls were expensive, and international air travel was limited. People knew that Hams talked to each other all over the world, which was perceived as glamorous and exciting. They also knew that Hams often provided emergency communications during disasters and had played an important role in military communications during World War II.

Most people were pleased to have a ham radio operator in their neighborhood. They were often even quite willing to allow a ham to run a long wire antenna across their backyard.

During that era, many home radios covered shortwave bands, which enabled people to listen to hams talking to each other. Some listeners decided to become hams themselves so that they could participate in this exciting hobby. Their first step would be to begin studying for a license.

Resource for this info was found on this site: http://www.ask.com/bar?q=1950+ham+radio+&page=1&qsrc=http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/topic/1081704-ham-radios/2417&dm=all&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.antiquewireless.org%2Fotb%2Fhamrad0705.htm&sg=imgjMij9bLbIojrAWmyVUv191Z2BWTkhEHEV2k9CAcg%3D&tsp=1268706920949

So my point I'm making is, there is a point to the Ham Radio in the game...because everyone and their brother had a Ham Radio (In the 50's era in our real world.) and in the Fallout world it has very similarities to that era style, however Fallout world is not our world but more of a Alternative Timeline of our own. Still the future of 2277 is a lot like the 50's era in the styles and so forth. So if there is Ham Radios in the game, it is not pointless because it keeps true to the reality of the real world 50's era. But where its pointless, is the fact no one in the game usages the Ham Radios....I thought the same thing and I also turned them most them on and off lol.

But another way to look at it, its like asking "Well why did they have Typewriters in the game but you can't use them?". What ever is not used in the game and you have no way of interacting with, its just there because its needs to be apart of the reality of the Fallout world....it just makes sense to be apart of the environment your in.

True, now that I remembered that fact as well.

I concede!

:sadvaultboy:

i hate those radios

When you activate a Ham radio, Three Dog, at Galaxy News Radio, is updated about your travels and encounters.
Once activated, He will talk about you being "seen" at a certain area, eg. Evergreen Mills.
activate one, Tune into GNR and see what Three Dog has to say!

The interaction with Ham radios have nothing being that they are meant to communicate with other places and being that most of the population has been wiped out there are few people to operate the device.

I guess that they're there to add to the atmosphere. It would be cool though that if one day, if Fallout becomes an MMO, for those to be places to communicate with other players that are at other HAM radio sites. Pure win.

I really don't think that that's correct.
I started the Tenpenny Tower quest, killed the residents in TT, got my reward from Roy, then killed him and his crew
Not once did I ever touch a single Ham Radio, but Three Dog still broadcasted the ordeal like he was there with me.

I havent actually played fallout, but think about it

Its the post-apocalypse. The radios are almost always silent. From all over the world.

Earth is the loudest object in the galaxy (from a transmission standpoint)

Earth is now silent, just the static of an empty carrier wave. Silence from all over the world.

A dead world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring_(idiom)

I don't mean to be rude but that is.... BS.
After I noticed they weren't doing much, I stopped bothering with them. Three Dog still knows all my adventures. :/

Agreed with everyone on the decoration thing, although I agree they are pointless also. They do add atmosphere but they also add annoyance in that you can do nothing with them, so why give them a function at all? That's like being able to click a bucket and 'view' it. Silly.

[censored].

Three Dog updates because of the magic of Quest stages.

@ashwanderer, That's creepy.

It's part of the ambience. Ham radios are one of the first things you'd find in bomb shelters or ramshackle post-nuclear settlements.

I don't know why but for some reason I like this explanation a lot.