I haven't seen this discussed very much, but I thought it was one of the most surprising elements of the FO4 trailer and E3 presentation. Specifically, I was very surprised that BGS decided to include the initial revelation of the outside game world in both the trailer and E3 presentation of the game. The initial experience of witnessing the outside world in BGS games at the end of their tutorials has always been one of the most dramatic and memorable points. People still talk about how breathtaking this experience was in Morrowind (exiting the ship at the Seyda Neen docks), Oblivion (exiting the Imperial City sewers), and Fallout 3 (exiting Vault 101 and witnessing the Capital Wasteland's sublime devastation). Skyrim didn't seem to have quite as big an impact but I do recall reviewers and some players talking about it. It probably didn't have as big an impact because the beginning of the tutorial already has you outside.

I have seen a couple of complaints about this choice on some of the videos of the E3 presentation but I expected a lot more discussion based on people's memories of the experience during prior games.

Did anyone else have any feelings about this particular choice? Was anyone disappointed that the experience was spoiled or just a feeling of not caring much?

Na...didn't they show the vault exit in 3 in previews too way back then?

In the end there is a huge diffrence between watching a video and playing the game, I at least will still feel the magic Im sure.

If you want people to buy something, don't forget to include in the trailer, something from the early part of the game that is:

'dramatic and memorable'

Task achieved.

Emerging from the vault is always such a thrill and adrenaline rush for me. Its very calming and yet you get pumped up knowing how much there is to do and explore in the world that has just presented itself to you.

Its kinda like reading "Once upon a time..." in a book and knowing that you still have the entire book ahead of you.

It'll still be amazing when you exit the vault and realize that you are finally able to explore the world of Fallout 4.

Coming out from a vault isn't much of a surprise, though. Neither is seeing a wasteland. It's already been done so it's not much a thrill. If they should have kept something hidden, it was the fact of playing pre-war. Just the concept art would've been enough to talk up a storm about.

The biggest surprises and memorable moments is through exploring the world and always will be.

Nothing could ruin that moment. That's the moment the tutorial is over and that whole unexplored world is laid out in front of you for the very first time.

I concur

No, the Fallout 3 E3 trailer showed the Vault-Tec ad and then segued into the gameplay while "Dear Hearts and Gentle People" played. In fact. one thing that people complained about was that the song was used for the trailer but was not included in the actual game.

They also have not done this for the other games, of course, and they certainly know that people still talk about that moment from almost all their games going back to Morrowind. That's why it's a surprising choice for inclusion.

@Porscha:

By your logic (that it's been done before) no one would have been impressed by the same moment in either Oblivion or Skyrim. Since that was not the case, it seems that your logic doesn't hold true for most people.

All of the intros are unimpressive, if you want my opinion. Skyrim's was the one that actually tried to be dramatic, even though it was painful to endure. The rest were someone telling you to wake up or that you're about to leave, while you're just standing there.

I still hold Oblivion dear to my heart, though. Probably for biased reasoning.

The "wake up" stuff is not the moment I mentioned so it doesn't matter for this discussion.

Obviously everyone has different impressions, but it is safe to say based on the sheer volume and longevity of the comments about the initial reveal moments that this is a very important moment for many players, a moment that stays with them even after playing the games for many thousands of hours and over a decade after they first experienced the moment. Most media (of any kind) never achieve that type of impression, so BGS has been doing something right, I think.

I think the big wow moment, happens between the pre-war segment, and when we leave the vault.

I know what you mean. I asked myself the same question. "Why did they ruin the moment?!" Maybe it's because most fans are already familiar with that moment you step out of the vault. Maybe they have something else in store before that.

I'm with the folks who brought up the moment you realize that you are free to explore this amazing world as being the most important one.

Skyrim actually blew it for me because my hands were bound and I couldn't loot anybody. Just because my hands were bound shouldn't mean that I'm not able to slice the bindings off using the blade of a fallen soldier. I know why they did it (because there was no way in Oblivion that your character should be able to beat Alduin at the beginning and people would try. Then they would get made because he was invulnerable, etc.) A much better way, imo, would have been for the ground beneath the character to collapse, dropping him or her into the underground tunnel network. There, they could cut their bindings off using the blade from the very ax intended for their neck. Skip Hadvar or whatever the Stormcloak guys name is. This is a game for me to explore, not have some character railroad me through my first dungeon. The remainder of the game is just awesome, but the tutorial was a complete disaster.

Fallout 3 svcked because the intro sequence, while cool on initial playthrough, got old real quick. Fallout 3 did have the "future master of all you survey" moment of awesome once you left the vault and has the award for that one moment. New Vegas was okay, in that one regard, because at least for the very beginning of the game, I had free agency. I could choose to visit Sunny Smiles or I could just go wander. There were advantages to seeing her, but it wasn't a requirement. Too bad the rest of the game wasn't so player agency friendly.

Oblivion and Morrowind get the top honors from me. One had you released immediately to begin your career and with little ado. The other provided you a dungeon to explore without intervention by the other group for much of it. You were accompanied by the Blades and Emperor just long enough to get the McGuffin. Beyond that, the world was your oyster.

Mods made all of that better. Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Skyrim all had alternate start mods. Not sure about Fallout New Vegas. High res long distance terrain and LOD and texture packs made those "world reveal" moments impressive even on subsequent plays through.

I don't mind the beginning intros at all! You spend maybe 20 minutes getting the game started for which you are going to spend 200+ hours exploring. I think the way they do it is perfectly fine and I've enjoyed every game thus far with the exception of New Vegas.

I understand, but opening the vault door and getting a breath of almost-fresh air to explore the wasteland isn't much of a wow moment to me. The sequence is like 5 seconds long.

I'm in a strange position. One one hand, I'm also frustrated that they ruined one of the most epic moments of the games. But on the other hand, I think I was secretly hoping for them to show it in the reveal trailer, because I was desperate to anolyse what the Boston wasteland would look like. And it's just made me more excited than ever.

For marketing purposes, it was probably a good decision to throw it in there. And while it is a bit disappointing that we won't experience that in-game, the reveal was a little disappointing IMO anyway, since it didn't really show much (unlike in FO3).

By the time the game comes out - 3 months from now - I will have forgotten about it.

But I remember a FO3 trailer where we can see the scene.

I think the big "moment" will be the crushing loss you feel when you enter the vault realizing the world as you knew it is gone forever..it will be quite a different and darker feeling than the others "bird leaving the nest" that has been done to death imo...you will still get that same "now we start to play" feeling but we all new that was coming anyway.

I think that if we had an opportunity to play more in the pre-War world, I would agree with you. Once again, my imagination went wild with the idea of the Main Character being a naval intelligence or CID officer who is caught up in a micro story to foil some sort of Chinese spy/saboteur plot. Realizing (s)he's failed, (s)he returns home and makes a run for the vault when the bombs start to fall. That way, the player would feel more invested in the world that they are leaving. The current intro is cute, but I don't think I am going to feel some sort of crushing loss because all I'm going to be missing are some sugar bombs, nuka cola and a spinning mobile. I know the world is doomed so I (as the player, not the character) will just come to see the intro as an annoyance after the first three plays through.