Not sure if this is a spoiler, but here's a warning anyway.

Something tells me that Abernathy farm was going to be the first place the sole survivor was meant to visit, but was changed at the last moment to Concord to see PressedHam Mc'Gravy.

I mentioned in an earlier thread how the transition from pre-war walks in the park and salisbury steaks to post-war wasteland survival is without question. To recap on that you help some random people and they hand you bottle caps. You as the character would see this as garbage, but take it without question and say thanks.

However, at the Abernathy farm when talking to everyone there it is all as the character without knowledge of how this world works. (Mind you I am paraphrasing this, but this is basically what is said.)

Example 1:

"Help out and we will pay you 10 caps for each crop."

'Caps? Like bottle caps? Garbage?'

"It's money silly."

'What happened to dollars and cents?'

Example 2:

"...And our trusty brahman."

'Whats a brahman?'

"Umm, the big two headed thing with utters, patchy hair and smells. That's a brahman."

There are a few more examples there, but I will leave them for you to go there and talk to them yourself. There is some dialogue asking about raiders, trading and tatos too. All of this makes me think that Abernathy farms was meant to be the first place you were meant to visit, but Bethesda probably couldn't link PressedHam Mc'Gravy to it so they just have you go see him straight away.

My solution.

"Its been rough times ever since the minutemen broke up."

'Minutemen? Did I travel backwards in time?'

"I heard there was still a small group that were setting up over in Concord. They may be your best hope at finding your boy."

'Thanks Mr Abernathy. You and your family give me hope for this world.'

Interesting, Abernathy is certainly close enough to Sanctuary to be a players first potential stop.

Speaking of that farm, why do i have to even worry about protecting it since Abernathy himself is clearly Chuck Norris?

Oh good its not just me. I didn't want to say anything, but yea. As soon as I saw him it clicked .

I feel this way aswell. Also if you talk to his wife she will talk about Diamond City, and how they trade there etc. That could have been the link for the Sole Survivor to go "Aha, big town, might find Shaun there." Not Mama I see it all Murphy.

Yeah, soon as I saw him I just thought, Chuck Norris! Turns out he's the Highlander.

PressedHam Mc'Gravy The Nugget, Mama Sees-It-All, Lady F**K Off And Die, Weeny Guy and Sturges. He is the only one worth anything in my opinion.

I much prefer the Abernathy family.

I agree, but then the Abernathys have you go to the Sattelite Array where you end up fighting Ack-Ack and getting another Minigun anyway. It's like they couldn't help but blow their load early. "OOH LOOK AT THE MINIGUN"

Sturges is awesome, atleast his haircut! Actually if you go to Quincy and learn the story of what happened there, it is way better told through computer terminals then Prestons dull mouth!

Actually glad you mentioned that. You see its another reason that makes me think it was meant to be the first mission. They introduce you to how everything is in the wasteland. They get you to help them out. You find a minigun. Bethesda would have seen it as to bland so they set up a more "epic" fight scene for their gameplay demo.

There's also a full suit of power armor nearby the array too.

LOL. I thought I'm the only one.

But Chuck surely let me down in this one. He could have roundhouse kick every mobs instead of getting troubled everyday

Another one here who thought he looked like Chuck Norris too

I like the layout of Abernathy farm, the main farmstead house, but they tend to cheese me off a lot because I finish fixing one problem they have, and as soon as I get back to Preston, they've already radio'd in another problem in the short walk back to Sanctuary.

Abernathy farm is the first quest you get from Preston after talking to him in Sactuary. I don't think they changed anything. I think Abernathy is exactly what it was intended to be, your first contact with wastelanders after Preston's group.

It's not always the first quest. I've completed a few of his quests already on my second character and he's now waiting (and will be waiting for a while) at the Castle for the next major Minuteman quest, and my character has not yet gotten sent to Abernathy Farm. I don't remember what the first quest was for my first character, but don't recall her discovering the farm right away.

Tenpines Bluff is always the first quest from Preston no matter what, but after you become General it is totally random.

Tenpines Bluff isn't always the first quest. I was sent to Oberland Station the first time I talked to him at Sanctuary.

The thing I don't understand is why Tenpines Bluff sends you to Corvega while Abernathy Farm sends you to Olivia.

Olivia is closer to Tenpines Bluff than it is to Abernathy Farm, so why wouldn't the Raiders there just walk 20 feet toward the railroad tracks to steal food from Settlers?

It's mildly irritating how the women there are always getting "kidnapped"....I'm getting suspicious they have a secret fetish for 'Bad Boys' or something.

Abernathy Farm is so close to Vault 111 and Sanctuary I think it was just meant that it would be one of the fist places you find exploring.... except I didn't.

I went to Concord, did the thing at the museum, settled Sanctuary - didn't ever discover Abernathy until I was in the 30's levels and saw the location on a map of all the settlements on the net and thought- "How the heck did I miss that?"- and I still got the noob-focused dialogue the first time I went there. Never got the mission from Preston at all.

I think it's just scripted for the beginning player no matter what.

Yet doing Concord later in game gets you totally new dialogue.