Since the PC is actually an android with false memories it's pretty likely the Codsworth we meet isn't the original. I wonder if that box has the serial number on it?

Also: There's hardly a single element in any Fallout game that makes any type of realistic sense if you think about it. If it was realistic it would be unplayable.

Enjoy the jokes and have fun. Don't think about it too much.

''Hardly a single element'', really? You must live in another reality or something. (No offense though.)

Even if there are a lot of rads in-game, that's the only reliable source of water you can find, since there aren't enough water caravans (and those caravans have to take water from somewhere, too), even though there are no pipe systems, or rain, or anyone working on anything.

I have a theory. In the E3 footage, we see a bomb going off in the distance as everyone gathers at the vault. My theory as to why the place hasn't been looted is that the bomb is responsible. Assuming that the people at the Vault entrance wouldn't have been killed outright in real life (I'm not a nuclear physicist or doctor or anything), then the would probably have been dealing with at the very least some degree of radiation poisoning. Given that people probably know that the bomb went off nearby, raiders would probably be giving the entire area a wide berth, as they don't have the means to detect whether they're getting irradiated. Of course, without the means to detect radiation, they wouldn't be steering clear of just the irradiated area, but also a wide swath of land around it (since they can't be sure where the radiation starts, it's better to err on the side of caution than it is to die of radiation poisoning). It's likely that the subdivision the PC lived in is in this swath of land that wasn't affected by the radiation, but it's close enough that the raiders are steering clear of it just in case. Between that and the fact that going after either groups of people or places that would have had a lot of resources before the war (hospitals, armories, supermarkets, etc.) would be much more profitable for the effort involved, and the pickings of a small subdivision suddenly don't seem so appealing.

In addition, the only reason raiders attack settlements you create is because there's something there to find (this fits in with the 'groups of people' thing I mentioned above: they're not attacking because there might be loot there; they're attacking because people have settled there, which means that there is loot there). In fact, someone pretty much stated why the Raiders don't go there: why risk getting irradiated for a few bottles of Vodka or a few boxes of Sugar Bombs? And if anyone did happen to see Codsworth, there's no guarantee that he's the only one. After all, if the neighborhood is well enough off that one family could afford a Mr. Handy, then other people living there probably could, as well. Why bother going up what may end up being a rather large group of robots for such slim pickings? The rewards are nowhere near enough to justify the costs.

Anyway, that's my theory on the subject. I haven't been watching release info religiously, though, so there may be stuff I missed. The Fable series taught me a lesson about listening to pre-release hype that I've never forgotten. Better to enjoy a game for what it is than to be disappointed in it because of what it's not.

That may have been the case for the first few years, maybe 10-20 tops. But, it is 200 years later. Surely, in the last 150, the area would have been picked clean. Also, there is a lot more raiders and such would want besides 200 year old food like some people have suggested. Anything salvageable would be useful, and lets not forget weapons and ammo.

HERETIC!!!

They were great for the time they came out. Wouldn't take them seriously as new releases though

maybe he goes dormant for like 100 years and then checks whats going on and then goes dormant again for another 100 years? like hibernation

"...with science!!!"

mr handys have recharging pods. these are connected to ordinary power lines, and i assume i don't have to go into detail about how nuclear plants are still running etc..

in a recharging pod like this, he could easily just hybernate straight through the 200y and reactivate on owner approach detected

you'll also have noticed he's pretty well armed, as well as armored. any mr handy could easily deal with any ordinary raider, or if he just stayed switched off while scavengers to their job, he likely wouldn't have to fight them at all, and most stronger opponents are too big for bungalows (deathclaws etc) or just have no reason to fight a household robot (robobrains etc)

don't see any plausibility issues with this actually

...what's wrong with wells?

deep enough ground water might even stay pretty unradiated

Actually the first Fallout is probably the most serious of the Franchise. Humor didnt really seep into FO until FO2.

I don't know any details on DC's river (in real life) so I can't really go into details, but I don't remember anyone mentioning it or doing something about it.

Moria mentions she was going to use the mininuke she gives you as part of the Wasteland Survival guide quest to make another well for Megaton.

This is my level of thinking. It seems recently people are building too much mystery around Codsworth.

Some things I've read here, you would think people expected him to be like Alfred Pennyworth and just bust out in all sorts of wasteland tech weaponry when things get hot.

"Don't worry sir! In your absence I have trained myself in 100 different styles of self defense!" whilst regaling you with tales of the time he saved an orphanage from Deathclaws, and how he's BFF's with the Brotherhood who hooked a brother up.

Maybe our PC was a very important person and Codsworth is really a high powered war machine and not just a Mr. Handy.

or you know a rocket powered robot with a blowtorch and a circular saw is typically something bandits avoid.

That sounds really stupid. Not that she's smart, after all.

He survived through bad writing, it's as easy as that. It's Bethesda we're talking about here, they don't care if something makes sense or not just as long as it is either quirky or cool. Seriously, there is no way a robot with spare parts to scavenge would survive for 200+ years out in the open. It's absurd.

Explain all the basically defenseless robots in places across the Mojave then?

Equally absurd for the most part.

>A game whose universe is based on the absurdist 50's world of tomorrow vision of the future, as well as scifi b-movie cliches, has absurd elements from those things, like robots staying intact for hundreds of years, even though they realistically should have been taken apart by someone.

Seems fine to me, fits the setting quite well.

How do you really know 200 years have past? That's what Cogsworth told the protagonist. All of the other vault dwellers in 111 are allegedly dead (I have my doubts), so it's impossible to determine how much time has actually passed. Maybe only 50 years passed? Maybe less? Maybe Cogsworth is just a compulsive liar who is merely an agent of the Enclave gathering intelligence and brainwashing those they deem a "threat" or "useful"?

I prefer my anolysis over the more than likely "plot armor" or "comic relief" explanation.

Bethesda said a long time ago that they would not go backwards in the timeline. So since FNV was set in 2281 it means Fallout 4 'has' to be set at the same time or afterwards.

They can say whatever they want. That doesn't mean they told the truth. Developers lie all the time. Game development is unpredictable and often they have to change the experience. That's a part of the business. I'm not saying it's not 200 years in the future, but there isn't much reason to believe it other than Todd Howard has told us it's in the future and Cogsworth confirms this reasoning. I believe a certain story is being portrayed, but not everything is likely as it seems. I think that's likely one of the major points of the story. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if Cogsworth actually ended up being the main villain in the game (probably not since he's a confirmed companion).