As much as I enjoy running around exploring the Wasteland. Trust me, I have hours of fun, having Artair roam around collecting junk and making himself pretty little guns. But after a while, it gets tedious.

In my hours of exploration, the Wasteland is as soulless and empty as ever. I have not bumped into any interesting quest. And most of the radiant quest are saving people Artair could really give two [censored]s about saving.

I understand the DLC is bring back the Automatron. But I miss things like that. Walking into new locations, and bumping into strange and interesting stories. Like the Antagonize and Mechanist fighting each other in F3.

Salem is a waste of space, why not add some crazy Post Apo Witches who rear Deathclaws?

Boston is a waste of space, a bunch of combat zones for Factions of Super Mutants and Raiders. Instead of interesting people, with interesting stories. And I pretty much was forced to do the main quest with Artair because I am lacking the story I so wish and crave.

There's so much potential in this game and the Fallout 4 Wasteland is far more Vanilla than previous titles. It lacks soul and depth. And I know people have heard this before. But after hours of playing through it. It's really got nothing in the end of the day.

And trust me there are some interesting non journal quest. Like the school with the food paste. Or the haunted mines. But those are non journal questlines, that you don't actively seek. Unlike in previous titles, where there were also marked questlines, that had nothing to do with the story. Like in Oblivion or even Fallout 3. The girl who makes you test radiation and hit mole rats in Megaton. The Wood Elf suspicious of people and makes you follow them. Then you can turn the wood elf in or don't, etc.

Where is the Soul?

Where is the Life?

Where do I believe this is a living breathing world of people also trying to get by and raiders and super mutants?

I've come to the conclusion that Bethesda just isn't very good at that sort of thing. They've specialized in pretty sandboxes with lots of things to kill, and are branching out into Minecraftiness, but story and RPG replayability and truly interesting stories filling up those worlds? Not so much.

Quests aren't everything imo.


The game has lots of life, from the fishpacking plant where a guy tries to tame Mirelurks, a crashed boat now being used by NORWEGIAN raiders, an irradiated quarry full of ghoul raiders, a random state house that has a surprise Mirelurk Queen and even the random teddy bear infirmary.


Seemingly insignificant things have a deeper meaning through papers, holotapes and terminal entries, and I'm discovering places I've never even heard of still.


Of course, this is all my opinion.


My main gripe with this game is the lack of settlements I don't own, as they are usually more interesting. Think Republic of Dave.

That's great. And I already said that part is fine.

But it needs to be more than just those holotapes. Because in the end of the day, it's going to be a moment of WTF. I am going to remember. Like the Serial Killer in Diamond City sewer. Wouldn't it be awesome to actually one day find that Serial Killer? Go into a true crime detective quest with Nick Valentine to discover the Serial Killer? Wouldn't it be awesome to play detective with Nick Valentine from time to time? I would so enjoy that.

I mean the Silver Shroud quest was great and I hope we get to play the Silver Shroud with the Mechanist and the Antagonizer because, rofl.

There's just too much dead space as well though.

For example, I found a National Oceanic society. Instead of meeting some crazed oceanoligist, who has you Idk sample Mirelurk DNA, etc. It's just an empty building.

Environmental storytelling > questing, imo.

Bethesda is extremely good at the former, a bit lacking in the latter. But that's okay, because that's the kind of game they tend to make.

There's some empty and missed opportunities, like Salem you mentioned. As said above, Beth are best at doing Sandbox and telling stories through settings. We could hope they would use some of all those money earned on the game, to hire some more / better writers Altho, there are also some gems in the game

They are Norwegian

I disagree Mcaber. Because previous titles would tell me otherwise. From Fallout 3 to Oblivion to Morrowind. Bethseda has for a long time had quest to quest storyline, alongside storytelling exploration. And if that's the case then I'd like to see the license, Published by Bethseda, exploration and design by Bethseda. Story and written script from Obsidian.

Really? I feel stupid now.


Something I have noticed is the miscellaneous quests. I've found dead people with notes pertaining to some "great treasure" and then get sent to find it in a misc. quest. These quests are easy to miss, but they help flesh out the Commonwealth.

Agreed. I just went through the State House. Aside from the exhilarating fight, there's a few terminals dotted around that highlight the politics of that office before the war, and show people trying to normalise the state of impending war. Stuff like that is quite underrated and really adds character to the locations in my opinion. Suddenly it's more than just a big building packed with mirelurks and raiders.

There's always going to be missed opportunities for quests and such. Even in The Witcher 3, which is far more quest oriented than FO4, had NPCs who had weirdly little content based around them. You'll never have the perfect game, basically.

Again. That is not the developer Bethseda originally made themselves out to be with their previous titles.

Well, as a dane, I could hear it right away. It was one of those "wtf!??" moments

Aye, there are a lots of notes on bodies, dead settlers and even message in Bottles in some places And of course the Ham Radio messages.

I think a lot of this seeming 'lack of storyline quests' concern comes from the fact that Bethesda - for once - didn't let us join all factions and complete all quests in the one playthrough. You have to actually pick a side. People have been complaining about being able to do everything since Morrowind. Why can my warrior join the mages guild, etc etc. It seems they finally listened.

There are plenty of story-based quests in Fallout 4 ... they're inside the factions. You have to actually pick one (/2 counting the minutemen) faction and generally stick with it, though, so there seems like there are less quests overall. But there are definitely more quests in F4 than F3 - not even including all the awesome little misc quests and non-journal ones. And TES is always going to have more quest content than Fallout, simply due to the fact that the games are set in massive provinces teeming with life and society, rather than a single wasteland city where most people are either out to get you, or already dead.

But the factions on their own are not interesting.

I said this before and even with another thread, where people missed the point entirely. I have played Bethseda games for my Own Realistic Sack Boy. In the sense, that Bethseda came out as a developer, imo. Who gave us blank slate characters for us the player to express the character we want to express.

From Morrowind to Oblivion to Skyrim and even Fallout 3. I have been able to craft the character I wanted to craft. Never has a storyline focused so hard on an element. I the player should have been able to choose myself.

Whether my character is married

Whether my character is a child

Is up to me the player to decide. Instead it's shoved down my throat and joining the factions, overall has a bigger arc, but it's bogged down with the forced dialogue about a child I give two stones about.

And a wife I give two stones about.

I would have much rather had Fallout 4 start, like Fallout 3, kind of. More like Morrowind or Skyrim. Waking up in a cyrosleep. Wondering how the hell you got there. And then use the memory den to fill in pieces like, I was in war. Or I was a lawyer. etc.

I don't know, being in pre-war was really nice.


Though honestly, the finding Shaun thing isn't much different than finding James.


There was always that "have you seen my dad?" Choice in 3, and like 4, you could just ignore it. Heck, you can skip meeting Valentine in his office by going straight to Fort Hagen.

Yes, but it wasn't so forced finding Dad.

Considering the Piper Interview which I really [censored] hate with a burning passion of hate. I am given 4 Options That Should All Be Charisma Checks, imo.

"Who are you looking for?"

"Some family, nothing important" - Orange Charisma Check

"No one, you're mistaken" - Red Charisma Check

"It's not important" - Orange Charisma Check

I understand that it's so Piper can tell me to go look for Nick, but she can still do this. She can accept a Charisma check and say, "okay okay, clearly you don't want to say" then after the interview she could say, "I'm a reporter and I know suspicious when I see it, when you're ready talk to my friend Nick"

I shouldn't have to constantly ask about Saun and I want the three other options to be respected as well.

Well if we take Fallout 3 as a point of comparison, because TES is different to Fallout, then FO4 has way more quests on top of a Wasteland packed with enemies and environmental stories, not to mention a crafting system that makes all loot valuable and a Minecraft style building mechanic. The series has evolved.

I agree that the circumstances of the PC are too restrictive and I like your idea about using the Memory Den to fill in your character's past. The story lacks urgency - I've played the game for around 150 hours and I'm not very far in to the story at all, because I've just not felt the need. But this was the same in Fallout 3 - you're looking for a relative who you should care about but don't, so you spend hundreds of hours doing something else. What's changed?

I just walk by Piper and let McDonough chew her out, it's funnier that way


Also let's me skip the main quest, I literally found Valentine and Virgil through exploration alone.

@X27:


Whether the factions are interesting or not is entirely a matter of taste. I personally think the interplay between The Railroad, BoS and The Institute is the most interesting thing Bethesda has ever done, story-wise. They're certainly more interesting than the snore-fest that was New Vegas. Obsidians writing is not all it's cracked up to be (why the hell would I care about some impending war that has basically nothing to do with me? I'm a Courier, not a soldier).

As to your other points ... you've only ever really been given freedom to create whatever character you want in the Elder Scrolls games, and even then not to the extreme that you're making out. Skyrim: You are an advlt, you are The Dragonborn. Morrowind: You are an Outlander, and The Nerevarine.... Fallout 3 you were a 19 year old Vault Dweller whether you liked it or not. You were trying to find your father for the entire first half of the game. New Vegas (even though it wasn't written by Beth, the point remains) you were a courier, who had quite a detailed and storied history with The Divide that you had no control over.

Fallout 4 is no different. You are an advlt male/female who had a family before the war. You can ignore it if you want (just like in the other games) but it is what it is. This isn't Little Big Planet, and your characters never were Sack Boy.

But, their histories were up to me. In Morrowind, In Oblivion, and in Fallout 3.

I have stated this before. Anyone who think there F3 character is the same person from start to finish, clearly doesn't know how to craft a narrative. My F3 character the Atomic Survivor, actually a descendant of the first Fallout games, where Atomic Survivor is a title.

Was a bratty kid. He had a lot of bad karma. He took what he had for granted because he could. He started fights and made poor choices, just because he could. As he settled into the Wasteland and started to recognize his actions had consequences that affected others, he began to mature. And turned from a negative person, to a more positive person. Losing his father, helped him realize the greatness in his life.

Now onto F4 character and I think this has to do with the limitations of the Dialogue Wheel and the way the Voice Actor directs their lines. The character remains about the same person through out the narrative. Because the way the dialogue is deliver, there is not much room for evolution of the character.

And again, those are baseboard Backstories.

Morrowind and Oblivion don't really explain how you got into prison. I the writer of my character and expression of my character were able to do that. Even in Skyrim, I got to explain why they were at the border.

The Dragonborn, The Chosen One, the Nerevarine are all things your character evolves into. They are not their backstory. And the narrative I still write about them. I could give you the threads of the many backstories I have strung along.

Just like FNV doesn't fill in how they became Courier. Doesn't fill in their family.

Skyrim, I made a pair of brothers, Rashir Nashida and Ashan Nashida. And I sprung a pretty delicious backstory. How Rashir grew up as a kid. How Rashir and Ashan reacted with each other. Why they went to Skyrim. Etc.

Just as I did for Remlius and Demius. I created my own narratives and evolved the characters as I pleased. I got to choose whether they were soldiers or not. I chose what I wanted in their backstory.

Even the FNV Courier, I was able to write his own little backstory.

And I have fun with that. It's why I play these types of games.

I play Witcher for a Role to give to me.

I play games like this To Design A Role I want to Design.

Because I am into Pathfinder and DnD I like the Visual representation of this. I like to create my characters. I like to design their backstories. I like to design the character. And who they were because of my background in tabletop games.

It's nice to have an Interactive Version of this.

Sorry, but you are always dragonborn. It's not a title you earn, it's your heritage. And the Chosen One moniker is given to you in Fallout 2's intro.


I'm not trying to bash you, but your character in Fallout 3 is always gonna have a similar backstory to every other LW. Dr. Li and James even tell you your backstory, you just choose your personality in the vault section. Same goes with 4, I was a complete jerk to the Vault-Tech guy and was pretty vulgar towards Nora.


I have also crafted some very convincing back stories for my SS's, and my drug dealer Freddy is the best example of such.

But it's the role you chose to Evolve into. Yes, you may always be the Dragonborn. But You Can Choose to Ignore it. Despite the lack of inherent speech in Skyrim, like it was completely neglected. Inaction has Consequences as much as Action has Consequences.

You could figure out you were the Dragonborn and Still Choose to Ignore it.

Or You Could Figure it Out and Take Responsibility as the Dragonborn

Or You Could Reluctantly Agree For Selfish Reasons

But that's not part of the game I am arguing the most about. It's the ability to craft my own narrative and my own story.

And I want to choose if my character was a soldier or not.

Fallout 4....Intelligence Rarely Exist in this Game. Every Fallout character I made before this game were Science Sneak Tech Guys. They were not soldiers. Non of my characters are soldiers because that's not how I play.

But the game really focuses more on Charisma and Combat.

Rather than tactics and Intelligence.

Just once I'd like dialogue options that recognized Spenser's High Intelligence skill that I realized is now completely [censored] useless.

My Institute scientist George has an intelligence of 13, and while I admit there were times where I wish he could shown this off more, I found lots of times were in did use it. It works out well either way, you either knew it from your intellect, or you made a lucky guess.


The USS Constitution is a great example, having high intelligence let's you skip large parts of the quest.


Though I believe we have been side tracked, aren't we supposed to be talking about the environment?

But that's not the game recognizing my Intelligence.

For example, there were ways in dialogue in previous titles to complete the Dialogue Portion of a Quest With Intelligence.

Oooo boy I can skiip parts of this quest.

I want to use it in dialogue, like previous titles.

Your codename in the Railroad is affected by your top special stat, and Magnolia will also mention it. I am kinda disappointed in the lack of stat checks besides charisma, though the ones that are there are impossible to tell apart from the other choices.


If someone else wants to fill in, go ahead, I'm going to sleep now

I get the feeling of this game being sort of a let down, however, hand-held exploration with quest-markers are not a very good solution and really chips away at the enjoyment of exploring the wasteland. I do however agree somewhat that the wasteland is lacking, though I would make the ironic statement that the wasteland is not only void but also cluttered too much... What I mean by that?


There are no life in the wasteland, there are a few settlers in settlements (and I get to decrease engine use) but when you wander the wasteland you always only see hostiles. No farmers going to and from, no travellers, no friendlies you can piss off, you can′t really be ambushed by a raider-bandit who dress up like a farmer and let′s you up close before he demands a bribe (and get′s killed). This is what I mean by void, the wasteland is so empty, even for an atomic wasteland there should be a bit more people moving around. I for one would think it a cool feature to walk up to a place, meet another scavenger/group that tells me to piss off (with all owned by them) and if I don′t they will treat me as a hostile raider trying to grab their things. Just like I want my settlers to tag along on a scavenging mission where we clear a base of raiders and start stripping the place for junk for our settlement.


Now for the clutter part... They could have made the map even larger by making everything further apart... You can litterally take three steps then you stumble on the next interesting point or placement of items (which I think is cool), but having everything served to you like that really decrease the amusemant and joy of exploring it... When you "explore" the next cool thing, you can just turn around and see the last thing you explored three steps back... They could have spread them out more and increased the map, instead of making it so cluttery, along with this they could have made a small camp you could place and return to, icon like with PA on map so you could easily find it again. Then use this as a base of operation when you explore this section and move on.

The last issue I have, there are little to no reason to go back, since they lack the reason to... It doesn′t seem like there are any quests or things going on when you cleared an area, nor does the respawn mechanism take into account that someone else could move in instead... But making more quests that were delayed and came up at different occasions, so when I walk into Diamon City I would be presented with some odd-quests... Doesn′t have to be major all the time, could at times just be... Lost my teddy in the last trip out side the wall...