This is a long one so skip ahead if you're impatient.


My story starts somewhere long ago when I first played a game titled King's Quest, a first-person RPG on the first X-box. A gift from my neighbor. Like most games I eagerly devoured the enjoyment however upon first playing the game I started to dislike the idea of a first-person rpg and shortly the game was shelved and forgotten and I was left with a bitter taste of disappointment. About a few years later I was tended a community trade school and a friend introduced me to Morrowind. However upon glancing over the game I dispatched the idea of finding enjoyment in this game and settled with Halo. It was only but a short year later that I would own my first x-box and with it I decided to check out Morrowind. Aside from past experiences leaving a tarnished feel I refused to even bother with Morrowind as the game itself seemed like a time sink, something I just couldn't play at a friends house so when I finally owned the game I held little to no idea what I was getting myself into.

lvl 67 Dark Elf who conquered every quest, picked up every item, slayed every vendor and quickly established myself as owner of everything. From hours spent adjusting stacks of coins upon a desk and every item I could haul around fitting into some corner as a testament of my accomplishments. The file ended up being so large that the x-box itself would melt, forcing me to trade in the charred remains for a new one. Eventually after 4 consoles I finished Morrowind. Without spoiling much that game literally changed how I felt about first-person rpgs.

Fallout was a game that was whispered among friends who had the pleasure of owning a computer when AOL dominated the internet and dial-up was common. Being from a family that had little the idea of owning a computer was beyond our reach thus the original fallout was a game left untouched. With this being said I was young and now learning of these complex worlds that exist within the digital realm and I was dazzled and often dreaming of when those days when I would dip my fingers into the pools of madness that exist within the minds of developers.

I'm 29 now and I can finally say that not only did I finally enjoy some of these games but I enjoyed them on PC. Fallout 3 and the Elderscrolls series heavily modded became an obsession. I've almost clocked in 1400 hours on Skyrim and that's just counting PC and not console when I first played the game. The Elderscrolls Theme forever etched into my memory.

Now let's jump back a few years. College drop-out as tuition hiked I decided then to give everything away including my beefy PC and travel and for the last 3 years I've hitch across the entire country and some of my favorite memories is when I hopped a train out of Vegas and experienced first-hand the wild country-side that was often depicted in New Vegas. Not to mention I'm originally from DC. I spent 3 months hiking from Texas to the shores of California.

But what does this have to do with anything, specially Fallout 4?

Well I'm getting to that.

It started with a rumor. Rumor of Fallout 4. I was traveling then, penniless and dirty yet I was enjoying that sweet freedom that comes with owning nothing. But when I heard that rumor I felt compelled that if there was ever a video-game that I would play for the last time before leaving behind everything and returning to the wilds of an off-grid existence it is Fallout. And upon returning to my home town I found myself with a pretty little girl whom I've known for years. Nerdy yet lived the opposite life as she was denied video-games. We both share the same passions in life such as traveling and hopping trains but we also love video-games. So I vowed that upon release I'd obtained Fallout 4 and we'd play the game together.

It's been a few days since release and I'm already starting my 2nd character after absorbing so much. Spent a full day just trying to build my settlement. She spent all night exploring and building. It was lovely to fall asleep to the sound of her playing and seeing her smile.

Now I now we're playing on the console and at heart I'm a PC guy and for the last few days I've heard complaints about graphics to frame-rates and bugs which I myself are experiencing in the game. Just now my character sizzled out and glitched randomly into the air causing him to die upon going splat. Do I get angry at this? Hell no. Instead I see a piece of art where the men and women behind this beautiful game invested 4 years of their lives. Not only this but doing the development they paid attention to the top 20 mods created by the fans and incorporated these ideas into their next game. So for 4 years of time invested a bug here and there is nothing to complain about. I'm enjoying the game with a beautiful girl whose smile is so big that you just couldn't help but feel that warmth knowing we're sharing this experience with each other.

So Todd and the rest of the crew. Even that janitor who helped clean up the puke from the insane stress related to completion of this game. My lovely girlfriend and I would like to thank you guys.

From a fellow actual wasteland wanderer.

Kuddos for marching to the beat of a different drum.

I've started working in app Dev teams since my first Bethesda games, so I have a new appreciation for what it takes to deploy something of this size at this scale.

So I thank you as well, Bethesda.