So is every Bethesda Fallout going to feature a Baby at the beginning? Is this their starting gimmick like TES prisoner origin theme.

Maybe Babies wasn't the right idea, maybe each game starts with a Family and then tragedy ensues?

Two games doesn't make a pattern.

You're not the baby, you're the husband or wife based on your choice. Please actually do some research before just making a thread.

I made my comment in a general because I knew the dynamics in play and was trying to make a flexible premise.

Maybe Babies wasn't the right idea, maybe each game starts with a Family and then tragedy ensues?

if anything i'd say emerging from a vault to start the main portion of game is gonna be the stock start, not randomly having a baby/happy family with you in the beginning every time... that seems more specific to this tale rather than a broad thing like tes prisoner startups. until we actually see the events leading to you getting out of 111, cant really draw much from it compared to 101's collapse at fo3s start

Each game starts with people.

A definite pattern !

I think the broken home tragedy is supposed to increase the feeling of desolation or something. The problem is that the storytelling for that leaves a lot to be desired. At least for Fallout 3. I really didn't care whether James was found or not as a character. He was a plot point to get to the end of the game. I hate the Witcher 3 comparisons, but I have to admit that I actually felt something for Ciri based on the dream sequence. I'm really hoping that there is more to the Fallout 4 family dynamic that makes me care about them as characters within a story. As has been pointed out, story and scripting are not Bethesda's strong points.

Did James ever find out what went down in 101 after he left? He's very quick to reprimand you for leaving the vault, but as far as I can remember, you never tell him that Alphonse tried to kill you, which always puzzled me.

Anyway, OT, I think coming out of the vault is the equivalent of the "Prisoner Situation" in TES, as others have mentioned. Although I will add that F2 and New Vegas has shown us that it doesn't have to be the case. I would prefer Beth not slip into having the same sort of setup for every game.

No, Wanderer never clarified why, so as far as James knew, you just up and walked out of Vault 101 of your own free will.

In all the Elder Scrolls titles by Bethesda, we never started as either a baby or with a family, so no, two out of seven games made by them starting out with one doesn't mean a trend.

Even if it were a pattern, I don't see the problem. I wouldn't call such a beginning a "gimmick." I would call it a "narrative convention." Don't think of it as repetition; think of it as variations on a theme.

To be fair, he's just talking about the Beth Fallout games, not all the Beth games (the TES games have the "prisoner" start theme, at least the three I've played.)

Yep. Logic, lore, and precedent be damned, Fallout == starting in a vault.

I just released James from Tranquility Lane last night and in the conversation between he and the LW James says. "I guess things went bad in there after I left". I am playing through 3 again and data mining all conversations with the scientists to see if there are any clues about the Institute.

Look for the Boston 2015 graffiti on the metro wall