How about we find out on 11/10? I believe that was the point of BGS keeping it a mystery. I'd rather speculate on http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1536192-the-implications-of-being-the-sole-survivor-of-vault-111/.

Like another said, 15 minutes into the game abandoning the whole PC story, god they best not have the main quest be some lame [censored] search for kid thing. I swear I'll off the kid when's mods allow unkillables to be kllled.

Bethesda isn't being so secretive about the story to conceal the fact that the family of the protagonist is dead. Personally, I actually hope the spouse becomes one of those romancable follower possibilities. It will represent the first time we actually got to make our own follower in character creation.

did that guy just plug his own thread? I'm not even clicking that

First character creation menu that doubles as a waifu generator - literally.

I like it.

I agree. I read here somewhere (not sure if speculation) that there's a "ring mechanic". The PC can choose to hang on to their wedding band or toss it out. If the PC's spouse is still around it'd be a cool reward for "remaining faithful".

Now that you said waifu I no longer wanted that to be the case

Yes, I did. Is there a problem with that?

My thing is, how are they going to preserve a baby for 200 years in a vault? I imagine it's not exactly as easy as sticking them in the freezer. And the whole "they wouldn't put in so much effort in making the baby look like us" thing doesn't work if we're all expecting to meet our son as an advlt later on... that's still a baby model used exclusively for the intro, either way (which I honestly think is entirely possible).

My wild, mostly baseless guess is that we're for one reason or another separated from or forced to abandon our wife and kid before we get preserved in the vault... and then when we get out, our character doesn't know how much time has passed and initially thinks they can reunite with their family. Until Codsworth drops 200 years on us and we don't know what to do.

Good.

That's just what they want you to think.

*Spoiler (not really)*

After you get together with the companion of your choice, the next time you turn on the radio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GONo6qG2Js will play. And you'll receive a new quest "Go Back Home" there you will find your now aged spouse who has remained faithful to you for many years waiting for your defrost timer... while you were out of the vault for a mere week before hooking up with someone else..

You [censored] right.

This could actually be really cool considering these voice actors spent so long with Bethesda they could provide some very interesting companion dialogue. I personally never use the romance system and it would be a bit weird for me to have a wife in game, so I'd probably prefer that something drastic has changed the spouse over the last 200 years such as becoming a ghoul or extreme age so it doesn't feel as strange. But I honestly do expect the spouse to be dead to fit with the whole "sense of loss + rebuild" theme they are going for.

^ This.

Bethesda Fallout prologues lie. When we start Fallout 3, we are informed that no one ever enters or leaves Vault 101. However, the Lone Wanderer was born outside of the vault and Vault 101 sends expeditions out into the Wasteland before the game starts. The whole Sole Survivor idea is just another lie that will be proven wrong as we play the game.

I think the child is alive somewhere. Why create the child from the parents if its is just going to die? For that matter, why create two characters when you only need one? There is something behind this. I think the theories that the kid and mother left early (or were taken) and the kid is now grown up and leading a faction is probably the way it will turn out.