First of all, let me say that there is a lot about Fallout 4 that has really improved upon the series and that are amazing features, but there are still many issue left to address and fix. I was also on the bandwagon against the voiced protagonist, in many ways I still am, but the voiced male is semi growing on me and thus its something I've come to figure that I can live with. However, I am still on the wagon that is highly against the forced backstory placed upon the character from the very beginning of the game. While a voiced character does intrude upon many character personalities and role-playing, nothing is so intrusive as a back-story forced onto character along with a personality based upon that back-story.

*Spoiler Warning*

You start off with a spouse and a son, an already set career for yourself and your spouse, then after you all escape to the vault, you are cryogenically frozen for a few hundred years, wake up to find someone kills your spouse in front of you and takes your child. I find several things wrong with this, why not only must everything about my life and my personality be set about my character without regards to any choices I might want? Not only are these things set but a good portion of the main quest is all about getting your son back and finding those that kidnapped him. What about those that want to have a character that never got along with their spouse, or didn't care for their child, or didn't want to have a character that had any family ties at all? All in all, all that being forced is bad enough but being the role-player that I am, I had already figured that my character could be a explorer who happened upon the vault and the entire prologue was some type of memory sequence stored in the cryo-chamber's computers(a program like Tranquility Lane if you will) showing the occupants last moments. However, this idea was ruined by the fact that not only does the game force this backstory on you and the events that follow, but no matter what you are trying to role-play as it continues to force to preset personality and the fact that your character wants to desperately find his child and injects that into several dialogues with no option other than to say "yes, this is my son and I really want to find him".

*End of Spoilers*

I'm curious to know what others think of this forced back-story, do you like it, hate it? If anything I would like either a patch or a DLC that either rids a good chunk of the backstory that forces you into a particular set of actions you may not want to take, or even better, gives you options for what you would like your backstory to be which would slightly alter what your main quest objectives actually are. Out of the many good things that Bethesda has done with this game, this is not one of them and it feels more like they are forcing you to play their character rather than one of your choosing...looking through the eyes of another as it were, much like games such as GTA, Witcher, etc instead of a proper RPG. I know many of you might say, "Bethesda has always had at least a partially set back-story in their games", and this is partially true but in all others it has been mostly open with lots of room for either creativity, imagination, or interpretation with no set feelings towards any individuals made for you. This is the first time in a Bethesda game that I can remember where the story, voice, and personality of your character are almost completely set for you with very little option for change and I have to say I'm not a fan of it. Again, what do you think, I'm curious to know if you agree, disagree, indifferent as this is a topic I'm hoping will catch Bethesda's eye for possible patch/DLC ideas.

I like it, but i don't mind a backstory for my PC. It makes it easier for me to connect and find the role i want to play. Amazingly enough i don't like blank-slate characters, i find them to be boring. I don't want to project myself onto them, i want to accept a role of someone and define myself in that role. The backstory was over quite fast though, it had its pacing issues. I get that they were going for the emotional connection and to make you, and it had a very powerfull moment. Still the intro could have been better.

As to patching something out or giving out a DLC to skip it, is most unwise. If you make a design choice then you stick with it, even if people dislike you for it. Having a spine and don't go into the catering and pandering part that some developers do. So yes this change is gonna svck for alot of people, and they will probably complain and stop buying these games. That is to bad, for both the people and Bethesda. But i respect their vision and decision to try something new and to see where it leads, it has caused a sea of complaints and negativity so far. Lets see how people feel about it in 6 months or so.

Have to point out that you aren't really forced to follow the main quest to have a good time with the game. Even if you do follow the main quest, you can come up with reasons to do so even if you don't like the kid or the spouse.

I don't know where younger folks come from with this. I grew up with very little tv, no computers, and lots of time to make my own entertainment. I can roleplay on the strength of a sentence or on even the most complicated and complete backstory possible. All it requires is a little thinking on it.

Yea, its not too hard to figure out a way around what theyve set. Most games have a backstory, even Fallout 3 had a backstory. Just pretend. I pretend some of my characters didnt even come out of Vaults. They have unique backstories and anything in the game that refers to the backstory theyve set for me, like Vault stuff, I just pretend their talking about something in the back that I've set for my characters.