My hopes for Project V13 in regards to wandering:

One of the many great aspects of Fallout 1 and 2 (FO1/2) was wandering the wasteland. There was very little indication as to where we (the players) should go (other than running into Deathclaws at level 5), and thus we wandered. We wandered into The Den, Modoc, Redding, hell we wandered all the way south-east to NCR. We were told “head south-west” and along the way anything could happen. Random encounters were exciting (Kill the caravan? Run from the super-mutants?), and made traveling interesting and fun.

Along the way we might get lost, might end up in a different town and spend hours exploring. There was no indication that we were going the “wrong way” because there was no such thing, and seeing that bright green circle was one of the best parts of traveling. There wasn’t an indicator to follow which led us through the game in 6 hours, and even more important, when we did “side-quests” it did not feel like some unimportant menial task that some boring and mundane character asked us to do. Guarding the Brahmin for Torr wasn’t just a way to get experience, it felt important! Now, onto Project-V13.

Nothing sounds more exciting than wandering through the wasteland online, meeting friends, making enemies, and exploring new places. One thing I am hopeful for is that PV13 will not feel like an MMO full of side-quests. I am confident in the developers that we will not have to kill any boars (I think I have killed more boars in MMO’s than any other creature). In FO1/2 the story was simple, yet compelled us to travel and search everywhere! Nothing is worse than knowing that what you are doing has nothing to do with the main storyline.

That being said, incorporating story into an MMO sounds incredibly difficult. I for one have hardly ever read any quest dialogue in the MMO’s I have played, not because I am lazy or illiterate but because I don’t care why you want me to kill 10 boars!!!! In FO1/2 I read everything! Anything could have been a hint of a new location, or just some bad-ass thing to do in the game. I am confident that the developers will incorporate a great storyline that opens up the entire world of PV13 to us, and does not make us feel like we are just killing time trying to level. That was the most amazing thing about FO1/2, the story was simple (simple in the best way, not mundane, not boring, rather it was pure), and it allowed us to explore the whole map without feeling like it was a giant waste of time.

I look forward to wandering through the wasteland with you all rather than killing boars.

Keep it up developers, you guys made my 1998 worth living!

PS: Per the developers’ request I omitted the names of any games other than FO1/2, but you all know what I am talking about.

I don't think you can blame it all on the various other games having too many side quests. I think blame is best placed on the poor to just plain decent writing most of those side quests get. Fallout games typically have very good writing and it's part of what made stuff like, to use your example, defending Brahmin, interesting enough to be memorable at all.

I'd say that quests where we'd be gathering stuff from dead critters, such as boars, or disposing of dangerous critters, such as boars with lazers mounted on their heads commanding giant armies of deathclaws using mind-control devices installed in their tusks, has more place here than in any other game due to the underlying focus on rebuilding humanity and securing even simple things like food, shelter, and mind-control tusks, and this is probably going to appear as the backstory behind some of these quests and unlike in other games, where resources are generally all over the place and survival isn't as big a part of it all, it won't feel forced for leveling purposes.

You make a great point. In FO1/2 the quests were of utmost importance to the NPC, and they didn't feel at all like NPC's. I totally agree with the mediocrity of MMO writing. If anyone has ever played Age of Conan (I am bringing up a non-gamesas game to point out a positive) they might agree with me that the writing and quest presentation (especially in the opening areas) were superb.

I have no problem killing X number of _____'s, but I just want it to feel purposeful and important. You're absolutely right that killing boars in PV13 would be important to the survival on man/mutant/ghoul-kind, and I would carry out such a task with a vengeance. I think that is where PV13's potential lies, in that every task has the potential to impact entire towns, settlements, etc. Unlike a fantasy MMO where your character has the power of magic and giant sword-wielding-ass-kicking, characters in the world of PV13 will live in a world where helping the farmer kill some boars will actually make sense and won't be the result of lazy game design.

But back to the topic of the thread, wandering, I hope this is an integral part of PV13. I hope the quests aren't linear, and that upon attaining a quest, a good deal of productive exploring/wandering must be done. It would be great to explore an area and find a decent weapon on a corpse, or some useful items on a dead merchant. One thing I resented with other MMO's is how fast I could do the quests once I knew where to go, and my exploration was hardly, probably never, rewarded with anything other than having wasted time. In PV13 I hope that a quest might inadvertently lead us to new towns, settlements, locations, random encounters, etc. This would open the game up to feeling much more alive rather than a point A to point B type quest system.

Its great to see the development team taking such an interest in getting this right. Being a former tester of an MMO whose opposite is "Initial Reality -14", and seeing how the developers did so little in response to the testers' (and fans') feedback, I am VERY excited about PV13.

Rock on gamesas.

My hope for wandering is that boars (/molerats) aren't bloodthirsty suicidal war machines. Aggressive doesn't mean single minded.


Also, as to story content, I'm hoping gamesas gives players the ability to create quests for others, either to factions members or to hired help. This should lighten their load a bit to create the more nuanced aspects that players can't access for balance reasons.


I do agree with the ability to wander, especially in an MMO where theoretically there should be some people trying to prevent the 2nd Coming of the Apocalypse. I daresay I'm also ok with not being "the hero of the land", à la Warcraft. Why do games studios have to fight and die? War, war never changes : (

^ +1

The potential of PV13 in terms of player immersion and story eclipses any other MMO. Aside from an awesome storyline which I am confident PV13 will have, simply being in the wasteland could be a story in and of itself.

As DoIhaveto put it, not every (or any) player is going to be a hero, taking this one step further, I also have hopes that the "epic" gear does not differentiate two max-level players beyond comparison. Nothing feels more isolating than seeing a player-of-the-same-level's gear being eons beyond your own. Hopefully, the distinguishing factor is player skill, not player time availability.

Back to the topic, I would love to hear from one of the Dev.'s regarding gamesas's plans on locations. I have always felt that the only relevant locations are towns/outposts. Never have I wandered into a cave and been rewarded with anything other than a quest. And the quest reward is ho-hum.

Any insight as to locations, random encounters, finding stuff on the road?

What about the toxic caves of fo2?Or the sierra army base?Or even the damn glow.Though they were quest related,you had only to do a small thingie and leave.But if you got deeper inside you were rewarded.

I remember the first two times i played fo1 i didnt ventured deep in the lower levels of glow because i was creeped!I was a kid back there dont laugh! -Duke:I am looking for some alien toilet to bag my bricks,whose first?

I still can't go up against zombies/skeletons in games. Feral ghouls are nothing, but I can't play games like Zelda anymore. So as long as those aren't in the game I'll be fine. Well I guess we're just a couple of problem solvers

New Vegas hardcoe mode shows that people enjoy surviving in the wasteland even more then fightings.
I like just to wander around and visit interesting places, simultaneously trying not to die. And what's interesting, most of my friends note the same thing. They really enjoy surviving part of the game more then a combat one. Excuse my bad English... I am a Russian bear, it's hard to type with claws.

Haha ! Man that brings back some memories... I was a kid also, and I was so creeped I get the hell out of there as fast as I could ! And discovered the mysteries of the Glow only a few years later.

True, we need to have choices... and most of all, as in every Fallout, we need to be able to get the quest done using many different ways : killing everyone, sneaking around, talking someone through, etc...

About the wandering, I agree... still, with the MMO-style, it'll be far more easy to find your way in the wasteland... there will be ressources on the web, you'll be able to ask another player for directions...

Every time I hear someone say "I for one have hardly ever read any quest dialogue in the MMO’s I have played" or something similar, I want to just scream. Especially when that same person says the game has no story. Believe me when I tell you the stories are there, and on some of them they are actually quite good. It's not the develpers fault you would rather wander along aimlessly with no attempt to understand why you are doing the tasks. Of course "killing 10 boars" is going to seem boring when you have no idea why you are doing it. Imagine ANY of the Final Fantasy games without their stories. Scary thought huh? To me games like LotRO and WoW wouldn't have been 1/10th of the games they were without their stories. Also if you want to see a VERY good way that an mmo can incorporate a story, look no further than Bioware's The Old Republic. Bioware seems to have seemlessly blended the storytelling from their past games into an mmorpg. I see no reason Fallout Online should have any trouble doing the same thing.

In previous games in the Fallout series its been more like the developers give you the tools and you create your own story. Sure there is a main plotline but that is hardly the brunt of your characters journey. I think this type of gameplay will lend itself quite well to the mmorpg genre. I really feel that if they try to make the game too structured it is going to be too cookie cutter.

I agree with you man.I have met many players who just had no idea of the vault experiment and how the war happened and stuff.If you search you get the lore its simply there.No on the other hand if you want fast food go play a console game or something. -Duke:I am looking for some alien toilet to bag my bricks,whose first?