NOTE: the year that Blue Star was bought up by Vitner's, as mentioned above, was actually 1977, exactly 100 years before the Great War!! This seems like an incredible coincidence, and suggests that this 'innocent looking' fridge magnet does indeed hold a secret regarding the factions and the start date of Fallout 4. As pointed out below, an article posted today (seen http://www.gamesradar.com/seeds-fallout-shelter-were-planted-fallout-3-trailer) shows Fallout Shelter actually being referenced in the original trailer for Fallout 3 almost seven years ago! This is just one example of Bethesda's brilliant use of easter eggs, and another reason to believe the addition to my theory as explained here.

-

EDIT: I have also added in the following extract from my original http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1523978-fallout-4-timeline. Note that this now actually ties ALL of the above information together!

• The Brotherhood of Steel, formed shortly after the Great War, also feature heavily in gameplay footage
• If we look again at the suggested timeline, the dates for pre and post-war gameplay would be 2077 and 2285
• The difference between these dates would make the actual timeframe 208 years, and not 200 as suggested
• If we take the number 208, and reverse it (as in mirror image), we get 805
• "805" actually looks remarkably close to "BOS", the acronym for the Brotherhood of Steel

-

EDIT: one addition fact that I noticed whilst responding to a comment on one of my other threads:

Regarding June 21st 2285.

Not only is the date I have suggested here a Sunday, which is the same weekday as the E3 presentation, it would also fall on the Summer Solstice, which is the longest day of the year (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_solstice). This would be the perfect day to begin the post-war section of gameplay, especially after a winter spent frozen in stasis that has just lasted over 200 years...

Let's see if I'm right about the date. Live Blog below, looks like things are just getting underway!

http://www.24liveblog.com/live/1298013

Very interesting. You might be on to something with this one.

I had a sudden flash of inspiration about half-an-hour before I posted this, and I nearly fell off my chair getting to my laptop!

Just for the record, given the focus of the theory thread I just posted, it would be more than a little spooky if the demo featured a female protagonist

Now that's just weird. Look at this entry on the blog just after I said that!

A new possible companion called Piper in Diamond City!

Is there really a ghoul city?

Male protagonist in demo. And yes, it does sound like there's a ghoul city!

Damn this is too interesting I'm freaking out over here. I want to be able to see all of this new stuff... damn damn.

Demo over. No confirmation of date yet, but I think that what I put in the OP of the thread is WAY too much to be a coincidence!

That they'll be some kind of civil conflict in Boston. I'd have taken that as written. Presumably the Brotherhood of Steel is an imperial force, the Institute seems kind of distant and not to concerned with people and the Commonwealth Minute men a grassroots kind of militia.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIHJ9RMAVGI. But I dig this theory.

I was referring also to how well the dates tie up. The odds of that being a coincidence, along with the details I posted in http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1528436-the-mother-of-all-theories thread, are not very high. And if I found all of this, you can be pretty sure that the devs have as well considering they've had years to research everything.

Also, with regards to BoS, the Institute, and the Minutemen, I could be bold and say that you're making assumptions based on what little we do know. The difference with my assumptions is that they tie together with multiple ideas across all of my threads in a way that actually makes perfect sense. I'm not knocking your comment, I'm just making a point that we are all working with limited information at this stage. And yet the clues are there if we look for them.

Just to demonstrate another point, I will show you something that opens up various 'other factions' to the Commonwealth. In http://i.imgur.com/cK2bhEy.png image (courtesy of lunamoonraker), which I have posted on two of my other threads, we can see a number of notes and other items on the fridge in the protagonist's home. One of the items, as I suggested http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1528500-the-time-traveller-and-the-big-bang/?p=24192644, looks like it may be a reference to a new craftable explosive.

One of the other items we see is a fridge magnet for 'Blue Star Potato Chips' that actually exists in the real-world, making it highly significant. The company who made both the fridge magnets and the potato chips (seen http://www.rockfordreminisce.com/Snack_Food.html) originally started in Rockford Illinois, and were later bought up by a company in http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Chicago. At the same time, notice that the blue star on the logo (shown http://www.rockfordreminisce.com/images/Blue%20Star%20Foods_1.jpg), looks surprisingly like http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Sunset_Sarsaparilla_star_bottle_cap one, as features on Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle caps found in New Vegas.

And so, not only do I think we will be seeing Capital Wasteland, Midwestern, and Mojave Chapters in Fallout 4, but this would mean that the start date would most certainly be some time after New Vegas. I think you already know what my guess is

Considering your own history on this forum I'd think that calling anyone else out would be a very bold statement indeed.


It just says buy more cola and cereal, absolutely nothing about him home-brewing explosives.


And I would say that that's catastrophically optimistic of you to believe based on your interpretation of a pre-war leaflet stuck to a fridge.

I was merely pointing out that claiming my theories are "baseless and mindless" (which you did on another thread) is a little ironic when you then use assumptions to prove a point here.

This is an example of a possible easter egg, of which there are literally dozens (no pun intended) throughout Bethesda's other games.

Like this one, where we see Fallout Shelter actually being waved in front of us way back in 2008 as seen http://www.gamesradar.com/seeds-fallout-shelter-were-planted-fallout-3-trailer.

Just updated the OP with a link to huneceaulage's thread (also http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1528552-hebrews-111), with permission of course.

Once again, an excellent find

Brand new info just added into the OP as detailed in one of my earlier posts in the thread. Note that I have also added another somewhat more compelling piece of evidence to support this

One further snippet added to the OP regarding my suggested start date of June 21st 2285. This one has even blown my mind!!

It's hardly a great leap in logic to assume that the presence of the Commonwealth Minutemen, along with Zimmer's dialouge from Fallout 3, suggests that the Institute isn't the government of the whole region and doesn't care to be. They seem like the kind that stick to themselves and do their own research.

Lyon's BoS are here with a very large war machine, they are presumably here to take something and considering the amount of destruction against them can be seen in the trailer they are obviously going to be one of the potential antagonists.


I would agree, your the one saying Jack was using it as a recipe for making home-made explosives.


Deriving so much from a leaflet that has the words "Blue Star" on it is not the same as Bethesda using assets in the making of a trailer IRL.

Not knocking your point of view (as long as it's civil), but do you not see that this is still an assumption that others may not have reached, and so can still be considered your own opinion based on the pieces of the puzzle that make sense to you? Our methods are actually quite similar, although the ideas I have posted are on a far grander scale, and so I would expect there to be at least some opposition to these ideas.

What I have done here, as well as in many of my other theory threads, is pre-empted some of the easter eggs that the devs will have hidden in the game. Most people look for easter eggs after the event, I like to do things a little differently.

This is not just a 'leaflet that has the words "Blue Star" on it'. It is a historical fact and an actual real-world reference. And one that Bethedsa have specifically chosen to show us in both pre and post-war gameplay right near the start of the tutorial. The fridge magnet in question is something that has been manufactured in real life, which ironically has parallels with the real world Pip-Boy that so many people fought to get their hands on in pre-order. And so yes, it is most certainly a real world asset, no different than what we see in the Fallout 3 trailer referenced above. And I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it was actually included as an additional bonus with the Pip-Boy edition of the game.

Yeah but it's a rational assumption, it's not saying a leaflet with Blue Star written on it might indicate the presence of the Mojave BoS - that's just too far.


It's just a leaflet, a background art asset.

Why wouldn't you be surprised if it was included with the game as a physical object? I'd be highly surprised if that was the case because it's just a logo on a fridge.

I would say that it's a lot less of a stretch than advertising a Fallout related mobile game seven years ahead of time without actually telling anyone, and then releasing said game as a time-filler until the next major release. Who on earth would do something like that?

Oh, sorry. Bethesda just did.

As I already stated, this is a real-world item, that was actually manufactured by the company who made the potato chips. Do you really think that Bethesda would have included this in-game without the full permission of the company involved, or at least the copyright owners, if it held little to no significance? If this was the case, then why didn't they just make up an alternative brand like they have with everything else?

Also, considering how many people, myself included, are preparing to play Fallout 4 whilst wearing a Pip-Boy replica on their left arm, my guess is that many people would love to have something else that connects them to the Fallout universe, and that actually has a real use. If it is included, I will enjoy leaving notes on my fridge like never before!

Let's just hope that Bethesda aren't planning on making a http://store.gamesas.com/collectibles/figures/pop-vinyl-brotherhood-of-steel.html version of Liberty Prime...

I've been putting forward the possibility of the MIdwestern BOS and the CWBOS both being in Fallout 4, perhaps on opposite sides for a while now and I think its a logical way for Bethesda to get a second Power Armor wearing faction into the game without straining logic to shoehorn the Enclave into another game.

It would also tie in quite nicely with the Institute storyline as the MWBOS are conquers at heart and since they have potentially access to a lot of high tech equipment, the Institute could be vital to their continued expansion. CWBOS on the other hand while expanionist in nature prefer to co-operate so I could easily see them working with the Institute, perhaps they are still attempting to rebuild Liberty Prime and need the Institutes knowledge of robotics.

The MWBOS habit of conscripting the local population would seem to immediately put them in direct conflict with the Minutemen who I'd assume are based around protecting that local population.

Also MWBOS use different Power Armor to CWBOS so there shouldn't be a problem with two factions looking to much alike, especially if the MWBOS has been influenced by connect with the Enclave and they now sport a different colour scheme to highlight their difference from the old BOS.

I dont know about the Mojave BOS making an appearance, but its not impossible that there was a third expedition east by BOS, lets face it unless NCR collapses their chances of longterm survival on the West Coast are not great, at best they will stagnate and hope to breed enough population to survive in isolation, at worst they will steadly decline from skirmishes with the NCR....never mind the possibility of another schism as the different chapters fight over the route forward.

Date wise, that is still the big question, officially (so far) this game happens in the same year as Fallout 3 and mostly after those events......until we get some indication of an actual in game date we are pretty much stuck with it as the probable date for the main game.

It would be problematic to work in time jumps unless they have events like in F3 where you are captured by the Enclave, where they could easily have 'a few years later' pop up, with your character imprisoned for a time. Of course this would I expect be generally unpopular with players.