Id disagree. I think all they had been through in and outside the vault would be enough to get a connection at least started with the PC. Especially if the pre war world has the impact that i believe they mean for it to have.

disagree on what?...I didn't say anything but how terrible the writing would give off IF they chose the "Lol family ded" 5 minutes into the game. So are you disagree on how this would be bad writing? If so, good god.

Only plot of theirs that i have found to be lame is skyrims and thats mostly because i thought the end fight was anti climactic.

Yes i disagree that it would be a bad way to start a story. Because one we dont know what else happens to develop them during the brief time that we are in the vault and while we may not care about them, it could start a relationship with the PC who does care about them.

The PC? It doesn't matter what the PC is feeling, it matters what the PLAYER is feeling. No one's going to say "That's great writing" on how an AI is programmed to go "Muh family" once they're gone five minutes into the story. In fact, people are going to feel out of place more than ever, because we have the KNOWLEDGE that they're supposed to be our family, but do we really feel it? The Answer is no. You can't, because there hasn't been any real strong development that the player is witnessing. "Oh but he's a father and whatnot", nobody cares if this was done behind the scenes or out of the player's control. It's just not possible to make the gaming audience appeal to that.

It's like starting off a movie with the hero who lost his wife and now he's at a rampage but nobody really knows how she was, for all we know, she could've been a total hostile villain and somebody axe'd her to save people. Movies though, CAN somewhat get away with this by creating "flashbacks" and getting pieces of her through emotional dialogue, though it will never be effective as actually seeing the bond form/appear before us.

Maybe they might do so in trickles or so, but I doubt it. This is Bethesda.

Like i said before they could be used to develop and attachment to the PC.

Burst my bubble? I wasn't talking about your conclusion to the game. No one knows. They could be dead. They could be alive. I'm talking about your pathetic ideology that everything a Game Director says is the truth, especially when they are trying NOT to reveal the plot. (Not to mention that Beth used the same tactic in the previous game, which you had no idea about, hence do your own research before taking everything literally.)

Yes, Fallout 3 had the main quest center around your father, and I, like you and many others I'm sure, didn't really expect for them to do it again. But newsflash, no one is attached to a family that is only there for five minutes of gameplay.

Why would their existence make us more attached to the PC? That makes no sense. That's like saying,"That person over there is eating a donut. I too enjoy donuts. I suddenly like him a lot and think he's an amazing person."

Opinions are everything a person has, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with thinking the spouse/child is dead. But like I said, I was just commenting on your naivety and suggest you take everything Howard says with a grain of salt. (Like others have stated)

they're ghouls

I dont think that they have revealed much about the plot to be honest with you. I dont think the wife and kid are important enough to lie about because I believe the effect of the family on the PC dialog options are going to be where the impact on the player is at, as i have said before. The PC is voiced now and i think its for that exact reason. What i have done is rather than make up some elaborate theory, i took what Todd said and figured it made no sense to lie and deceive the fans about something minor.

TBH, he didn't necessarily lie about it is much as he played into the games intro narrative.
That is, after all, what the narrator says at the intro.

So, I wouldn't put him past us to be doing the same with this game.
He is trying to sell a narrative, and wouldn't be likely to divulge any plot twists.

I dunno sir or ma'am, in DA2 having a sibling for 5 minutes before they die didn't make me feel anything for Hawke (or that sibling), it just gave me the impression of bad and lazy writing. A good writer gets you attached to characters through their personality, actions, and the circumstances they're put in. A bad writer tries to rely on cheap methods like "well obviously someone would feel sad if their wife/husband/sibling/child died in real life so let's just give the player character a wife/husband/child/sibling/etc...and kill them off after 5 minutes so the player will feel sad." Same thing with ME3 "a real person would feel horrible if they watched a real child die in real life so let's make Shepard (even the 100% renegade psychos who kill innocents for fun) angst about seeing this vent kid die after 2 minutes on screen for the entire game." It wasn't sad it was cheap and lazy and it just made me annoyed rather than whatever deep sympathy or attachment they hoped I would feel.

The whole "I'm angsty and/or revenge driven after the death of my wife and child!" is so cliche for movies and video games it's ridiculous. Even if they live you have the "I must save my wife and child from evildoers!" Which is just as bad. Ugh. The only way this could possibly turn out interesting IMO is either if our spouse is dead and our son is an advlt and doesn't need rescuing OR if those memories are fake as part of a vault experiment or we're an android or something (anything else, please).

They haven't revealed anything. The game is months away. There is a difference between lying and not giving away details. Did Howard say they were dead? No. He didn't lie about anything. Howard said, events transpire and you emerge as the sole survivor of vault 111. That can mean anything, and that is exactly the point.

Was that your first E3 presentation? Because deception is everything. Reread what you wrote and realize that gamers like you are the reason they do that. That isn't an insult at all. That's what they want; To trick you and surprise you. And if it involves the main quest, that wouldn't be considered "minor" by the way.

------

Personally, like most, I believe the spouse is probably deceased (maybe not at first, but eventually). But your child is created based on the appearance chosen of your PC and their spouse, and the name, 'Shaun' is unchangeable. That kid is important. Again, that is an opinion.

((Also, I don't mean to come off as sounding heated. Because I am not. Predictions are the bread and butter of this community and many others. So, I apologize if I'm coming off rough. It's just your reasoning isn't sound is all, and I feel you should be informed that Beth has done this before with the intention of misleading their audience, while also enticing them.))

Well, I don't think it is being ignored by Bethesda. The kid will likely play some role in the main story.

Then again, it is Bethesda we're talking about, and we know how well they handled the father/child reunion in that vault when you find him.

I also think the wife/husband will either be alive or at least alive for a decent amount of time before dying. I think the wife/husband is at the very least needed for linking the PC to the baby when they meet, otherwise how the baby would know the PC is the father and not some random wastelander high on jet is beyond me. The baby as others have said is no doubt important, which is why I don't get the Ghoul theory. If the childs a ghoul it wouldn't really matter if he was based on the parents looks or not, decaying flesh is decaying flesh.

And here they all are on the christmas card, Child One, Child Two, Dud One and Child Three.

I presume that's what happens, if you pick "pragmatic" in real life.

It not like they told you we were born in a vault that never opened for Fallout 3..........well anyway we were the lone wanderer, apart from all the companions.

Sole survivor just means the only survivor at the time of the accident/incident, it doesn't stop them removing people from the Vault prior to the event that wakes the player.

I'm not taking the whole sole survivor thing literally, since they have deliberately not told us what happened to your family after the blast wave hits, the way they skipped the family home and didn't ask codsworth about the family's fate make me believe that the family plays a role in the main story.

Otherwise (for the Protagonist) the recent death of his/her family is probably going to be he most important thing on his/her mind......not much of a reason to go wandering around.....they need a reason (like Fallout 3/NV) for the Protagonist to be linked in to the main story. It was trying to find your father in F3, revenge in NV, a water chip in F1 and a GECK in F2.

The only link the 200 year old sole survivor has to the post war era is his/her family, so i'm expecting that to be the hook that is supposed to draw you into the main story.

I doubt they are dead. It doesn't make sense to kill them off so fast when we have no real emotional attachment to them. My guess is they tie into the main story somehow or at least your son does.

Is the default females name really Nora? (nod to Mr. freeze)

where did you see this?

Not ignored, They wouldn't put that much effort into them just to kill them off...

But then, It's really hard to say, given what little information we have.

Nora! Nora! Nora the Wasteland 'splorer!

You can be "sole" survivor just like you were "lone" wanderer in F3. Don't forget that writing isn't Bethesda's strong suit.

In the gameplay demo right after you talk to Vault-Tech guy. The camera turns around, passing the wife. For a split second, you can see that her default name is Nora.

However, I doubt they'd let you customize BOTH parents and have their baby take on the appearance of the two if the spouse and child are going to die anyway. Methinks they were awoken a while back, maybe 20+ years prior to Sole Survivor?

A purposeful misdirection to facilitate a plot twist is not inherently bad writing.

Of course they survived.

Let me see.

Partner will be a ghoul that involves a side quest where you play meet and greet and decide to play the humanitarian or give them the final solution.

Son will be the antagonist. He will be the most advanced android that overran the Institute and now runs the place. We will have to either battle with or against him.

Yep. That is about corny enough for Beth.

Could be an interesting dialogue if you sell your wedding ring...