I understand some are concerned about the more set in stone background but it still boggles the mind. Nothing has changed really. You can still tell your story after you emerge. In Mad Max, Max loses it after his wife died. Things like this can change a person for the rest of his life. We are basically dealing with a clean slate when you emerge. To me it invokes feelings of being baptized. The vault was your dunk in the river, and now you are reborn. If it was to compare this one pinnacle moment to any other, it would be in Bioshock. In Bioshock a certain character is baptized after a battle and is born again. He takes a new name and goes on to do things that completely change the person he is.

Sure you are forced to start as a married man/woman with a child. Elder Scrolls and Fallout games split the fanbase like no other games out there. On the one hand, we have those who complain about their being a lack of a well balanced story (which I for one disagree with completely), and then those who now complain that we are now restricted to much. Now hear this, Todd himself said the stories of Elder Scrolls and Fallout was not as emotional as they wanted. Why? Our character had no voice. We couldn't feel the impact of our voice. He also said that because the player was given such a basic background, it prevented them from having an emotion an emotional story. Now we have the best of both worlds. Those that want to be engrossed can be, and those who want to just be free to not care can still do that! I don't see why people are complaining.

Oh man, I'm warning you, nothing good is going to come of this. This is not a can of worms you want. This is chum in the water.

For some reason people think past games were less story driven, when in fact we're 2/2.

I would actually put it closer to 3/1 since NV had a ton of backstory for the courier, with where he's been and his past actions being the story of the entire dlc arch. No matter who you RP as, you still ruined the divide at some point by delivering a package.

Also. Yea. Bad idea.

Sound the alarm. Another story war thread is coming. *gulp*

I'm outta here O_o

I've got Shaun! *grabs the baby and runs off* I love you! I love you both! *runs out of thread*

But seriously, baaaad idea what you just did OP. Bad, bad idea.

I actually really liked the Courier as a protagonist.

He danced the lines between "blank slate" and "definitive story." He had a backstory and an identity, but it very rarely intruded at all with your own story so you could shrug it off (for example NPCs often call him lucky, charming or durable, but not in such an overwhelming way to suggest it's little more than someone's opinion or impression). The end result was that playing the game let you explore both your own story while providing you with some curiousity to make you eager or interested in learning a bit more about the canon Courier Six.

I know I'm in the minority here but I actually wouldn't mind seeing another protagonist dance the lines between blank slate and definitive like that.

Having said that though, I get the feeling FO4's protagonist is gonna lean towards definitive quite a bit more. The Kotaku leak for example suggested that your character was in the military (marines?) before the war, not to mention that you simply can't control the tone with which he provides the dialog lines.

I don't have a problem with it.

The main character's ordinary life before the war shouldn't intrude on my roleplaying. The dumbing down of the game might cause problems, though.

I am looking forward to the story. I like the family setting from Fallout 3 so i am guessing i won't be dissapointed here. I know people don't like set backgrounds, but i can see it beeing free after we finish the prologue. That is after all Bethesda's vision for their games, freedom.

You guys are crazy haha. If we can't have a reasonable discussion about the story then I'll probably go insane! Flame bait will be ignored, but I seriously would like what is liked and disliked! I think its a good idea to have a post about this and so far no harm has come of it except having some of you say nothing more than its a bad idea!

Da da.....da da....da da da da da da DUN DUN DUN

On a serious note - No one should really be hating a story that they have not read. We literally know nothing about the story. Just wild speculation and rumors.

I really enjoyed Fallout 3 story and I know Beth has come a lo ng way since then. Probably taking inspirations from many other games like the Witcher 3 with story telling elements. I remain hyped and optimistic

I don't have a problem with the story's initial setup, I just want all that choice Beth harps on about to be reflected after the initial story/tutorial is over.

Thats a great point by the way. The entire time your playing NV you have a basic set reason your doing all these things! Revenge! And then it transfers into being more free and picking a side. Obviously you could forgive Benny... Or do other stuff to him... But yes, it danced a very find line and did it well! The DLC was a great example of partaking in an overall story while also being free to be free. In fact, to those that would prefer a story not so set in stone, Fallout 3 should have been golden because of the DLC's overall lack of focus. Kind of like the Joker you don't have a reason you did these things, you just did them!

What do we know about the story...?

Well this thread seems good enough, considering that it has been civil up to this point...

Just worried that it might turn ugly, because you can't predict weathers O_o

What's wrong with the story? I don't get it. Has it been leaked out what the story of Fallout 4 is?

No, and yes. Your PC has a voice and a family and for some reason it has set people off like a freakin' atom bomb.

I'm glad we have a voice. I am able to immerse so much more with a voiced PC.

Except Bioware. Worst voiced PC characters...
EDIT- Let me correct that. Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition has the worst. Mass Effect's Shepard is great

Deleted just in case it's not appropriate.

Well I meant more like....

For example, I have a theory the Courier could be a pure strain human and a descendant of the Enclave. Why? Well he doesn't know where he's from or what his home is, and we do know he has some strange fascination with Enclave symbols (Ulysses suggests this) while the Courier himself seems tremendously healthy.

Aside from that we know the Courier wanders and has always done so. Personality-wise, he doesn't like to be tied down, though the events of New Vegas can act as his turning point where he's forced to change this. People often ask why the Courier would bother with a dinky small change trip to Zion after running through the Sierra Madre. My theory? I think it's an attempted escape for him. I think it was him tiring of the problems of the Mojave and attempted to hit the road again, though that plan ultimately fails when things go south.

And of course, we have multiple reason to believe the Courier is insanely lucky and durable. The Courier's brain will tell you he's punched a deathclaw in the face and rushed a nightkin with a pen knife. The entire plot of OWB is that you were lucky enough to not only survive Benny's double tap, but you received led poisoning from it, which just happened to trigger a software upgrade to the autodoc, allowing it to finally successfully perform a lobotomy without essentially killing the patient.

Despite all of this, these details are not intrusive enough to ruin roleplay. You can easily play the game as a courier that's highly intelligent and loyal to the NCR and none of those little tidbits will interfere, because they're more suggested as traits of the Courier rather than stated as facts. Punching the deathclaw in the face suggests he's tough and lucky, but it's not a fact. Constantly being on the move suggests he's perhaps got some commitment issues, but in no way does it conclude he's afraid to settle down period or that he may not feel attached to the NCR.

That's what I'd like to see more of: a protagonist where certain canon traits seem heavily implied and hinted at so that you can piece together their story yourself, but not so intrusive that it disrupts your roleplay. I feel New Vegas did a fantastic job of this and sadly I can't think of another game that accomplished this. Didn't know it was possible til New Vegas.

People are just keeping expectations super low cause Bethesda's writing can be pretty derp. Not many are happy about the voiced protagonist either, and there is reason to question if Bethesda can handle writing a voiced protagonist, of course.

I don't know either. I guess change goes over some peoples head.

And that's enough with all the "its about to get ugly in here blaaa" its not going to happen and if it does, then those folks aren't worth talking to. If you don't want to discuss this then don't even post here in the first place, so the people that can discuss can!

Calm down, pal.

I find that to be the problem, myself. I do hope there is more to it than that.

[That's a genuine preference for a well devised story arc; with an interesting and hopefully unpredictable plot.]

We can probably totally ignore it. Worst case scenario if someone from the prologue comes up, shoot them dead and keep going as if they hadn't. Which because of dynamic convos you don't even have to wait for them to shut up 1st.

I think it's really interesting, judging by all the interviews and what not they seem to put alot bigger emphasis on story this time around. I think they took the criticism that their writing generally blows chunks to heart and i'm really curious how it will all play out.

I mean it's still Bethesda and story comes second but i'm really curious how it will compare to their past games.

That's a good example of what and RPG should be To me that is the defined role you have established for the Courier. Others think differently, but you have your own story to tell. This same thing can be applied to what we know of Fallout 4 or really any Bethesda game. Not that is exclusive to Beth, but think about Mass Effect. The story basically puts all the details out their for you. Shepherd has seen some stuff, and hes having trouble coping by 3. There is room to come up with our own niche for Shepherd, but not much. What ME3 did successfully was get people thinking. The Indoctrination Theory was one of the best examples of fan intrigue that I have ever seen.