The thing that really gets me is the SVD scope on certain weapons. There's no bullet drop so why bother?

Why are people talking about realism when it is a game? Yea, the developers made some design decisions that they saw fit for the game, not because of realism, but because it fits their vision of their game. Sure there will come more weapons, if not from the developers in future dlc's, then from modders.

Except they messed it up since the time continuum breaks away from today's reality, so having 90s weaponry makes no sense. It's rather pointless to have 2000s weaponry when you have 60s electronics. Bethesda fixed it up.

Disagreeing with his reasoning is one thing. That's fine. But even if they aren't calling him names, it is frankly an insult to his character, to claim that he made this thread with the sole purpose of showing off his gun knowledge. And telling him that he doesn't understand the series because of this is an insult to his intelligence and his experience. All minor insults, sure. But they'd piss me off a bit if they'd been directed at me, and in fact, some I agree with the OP, they do, in fact, somewhat bug me.

Unless I'm mistaken, nitpick is a complaint over something minor. Not a low-merit complaint. If I'm mistaken, then I retract my use of the word, and yoj can just imagine that I used something more appropriate. Point is, the OP's conplaint is valid because frankly, and I do not believe this is even subject to opinion, he IS right. Sure, the series doesn't take place in modern 2015. Nor did he state that. But it also doesn't take place in this mythical "everything is 50s" era that everyone is throwing at the OP. Sure, a lot of the world is like this, but guess what? The guns aren't. And never were. It is indisputable canon, written lore (lore written by Bethesda), that assault weapons exist that don't look like semi truck pipes. And they exist in bulk. Just because this new one came around doesn't mean that the old ones are suddenly decaninized. We could read terminals about the R-91, we could carry one in the Anchorage simulation alongside hundreds of other troopers. They're in the lore. Period.
Plus, half the guns that people complain look too modern actually WERE invented in the 50s. They just weren't used in WW2 or shortly after so everyone seems to think they're modern. This ain't the case. Plus, this new AR has a far less practical design than most ARs from the 50s had. It might've passed in the 30s, but not much later.

I get that. No offense taken.

Does the weapon get the job done? If so does it really matter what it looks like? The ak47 is a pretty old gun but its still being used today because its a reliable weapon.

I thought you started the "Bethesda svcks" but maybe I misinterpreted your statement.

In theory the customization in NV was a great idea and despite my not caring for the world and stories it was nice. I do way prefer the weapons that look like odd obscure real world weapons or oddball retro SF weapons to normal real world ones. Knowing guns has almost nothing to do with most peoples opinions on this thread just as much as knowing swords has little to do with discussions of TES swords. I prefect cede that the OP is right about the practicality and efficiency of weapons in the game but the ones that look odd and exotic I way prefer. I think that many look like something conceived by a SF artist rather than a gunsmith actually heightens my immersion. I realize that's just my opinion but that's where it is.

Actually I think NV is some of Obsidian's best work despite its many shortcomings, So for me, its more "Obsidian svcks".

Most of the weapons are from the 50s or even before (Kalashnikovs e.g)

Why are the oldies identical to ours, when there was a continuum break ?

And why are they listening to the same songs when the world ended in 2077 ?

because its a video game? Is the only answer i can give you

Now ammo crafting is something I could get behind. It only makes sense given the context of things

I see people roasting OP, but I applaud him for bringing some interesting viewpoints to the table.

I agree with his main gripe: that of the assault rifle. It looks horrible, doesn't fire full-auto (I guess I have to mod it to an automatic receiver first), has a water cooled barrel and has horrible ammo cap. It's DMG is the worst in the game, apart from the 10mm weapons, and as such I never use it.

In both FO3 and FNV, we had variations on M16/AR15/AK47. I don't understand why Beth couldn't have included a cool assault rifle instead of this clunky piece of [censored] we have in FO4. They didn't even have to include any of the aforementioned M16 etc, they could've opted for some similar type weapons that are different in appearance. Some examples:

- G3 (awesome weapon, that is a man's gun right there. Also, Norwegian Army's standard weapon for over 20 years)

- StG 44 (Sturmgewehr 44). The Nazi produced badass. The world's first proper assault rifle.

- Heckler & Koch HK- and G- series (best present- day assault rifles there are)

- FN SCAR (US special forces assault rifle weapon of choice)

And then there's the fact that if they all thought guns would look like this in the future and everything else looks like it does, why is the Vertibird decent and futuristic looking? In fact even the 10mm pistol is modern looking, as is Kellogg's .44 hand cannon thing.

A proper looking assault rifle would be nice...

^^^^ As for US Spec Ops, they also use the HK416. Delta Force were the first unit to ditch their M4 and they adopted the HK416.

First of all, F4 weapons resembling some pre 50ties weapons is one thing, assuming that they are identical weapons is another. Great war happens in 2077, that's more then 100 years from latest possible date of divergence (which is 1961). What chance there would be that US army would still be fielding M14, Thompson or BAR? How many of those weapons are still in military use today anyway?

What you see in game are likely new models resembling old ones by accident or modifications of old ones.

As for lack of weapons which would resemble other pre 50ties weapons, obvious explanation is that they simply were stooped to be produced and did not survived til great war and beyond in any reasonable number. Fallout happens more they 300 years after last Tomson or BAR was produced in both their and our timeline. Same is valid for most of the weapons of WWII era. How many 300 years old weapons can you see around nowadays? How many of those you do, would you dare to fire?

The reason for "relative" lack of variety of "base" models in F4 is that there was only so much time and resources to be spent on weapon design when developing game. With extensive modification ability, designing and coding each one of them took several times more resources then in previous games. Given same amount of resources, you can develop either many fixed weapons or few ones which can be moded, but not both.

But then I would even disagree with "lack of variety" part because all classic Fallout weapons are there, either as a basic types or as modification, plus 2 new pipe types. I saw people complaining that there are just 2 shotguns in game. Well guess what, there were 2 shotguns in Fallout 3 as well. However now you can modify most of the firearms in game in to pistol, rifle, sniper or automatic weapon. Few can be turned in to shotguns.

Amount of work designers put in to weapons is likely larger then in case of any previous Fallout game. Fact that they designed every weapon from scratch to fit alternative Fallout universe instead of just lazily copying our modern guns which are totally out of place in Fallout is worth praise.

Once again, most of the prior games' guns that folks keep calling "modern" we're actually designed in or before the 50s. I actually can't think of any that were designed after the 60s. M series weapons and AKs are part of the Fallout canon. They aren't out of place just because you claim that everything has to look like its from the "50s" (which the new AR doesn't. It's even older and less practical).

And we know for a fact that most of the realistic looking pre-war weapons weren't just completely destroyed because the confirmed U.S. standard issue AR, the R91, survived in mass according to Fallout 3.
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Assault_rifle_(Fallout_3)
This new, more absurd rifle just ignores the lore that they already wrote.

Canon is what designer decides is canon. There are plenty of things which does not get from one Fallout game to another and plenty of those which appear for the first time. Canon was that cats went extinct. Seems they did not.

Every assault rifle on US civilian market is single shot. Automatic weapons are forbidden by law, you should know that.

Those are armalite rifles. It's a common misconception that the AR in AR-15 ( the most popular civilian AR) stands for "assault rifle". It does not.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armalite_Rifle

Well according to Fallout 4 it did not. Fallout 4 is as much part of Fallout as any other Fallout. Things that one Fallout establishes are no more or less established in Fallout universe then those another Fallout game establishes.

Laser rifle in Fallout 2 is this:

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/8/8a/Fo1_laser_rifle.png/revision/latest?cb=20110308062908

Laser rifle in Fallout 3 is this:

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/9/90/AER9LASERRIFLE.png/revision/latest?cb=20110207054152

So which one is lore?

Am I the only one that thinks the assault rifle looks freaking badass. Sure its not the best most modern design, but its not supposed to be. It reminds me of the belt fed .30 cals used in WWII. And the idea of walking around with one of those while wrecking shop is awesome.

You might have miss understood me here. What I was saying was that since these weapons clearly resemble and act like their WWII counterparts, it wouldn't be beyond belief that many of the weapons that proceeded them would still be around too. Why not also have some other iconic US weaponry of the period? The M14 could fill the niche of semi-automatic marksmen rifle and battle rifle (with automatic and semi-automatic receivers).

Also regarding the latest possible date of divergence, there's events that still mirror our universe later in the setting. Ronald Reagan has been mentioned as one of the presidents of the United States. Where he left office in 1989, but I'm not saying that's the divergent date.

Perhaps. Though they could still be surplus and civilian weaponry that survived the nuclear war. The BAR wasn't taken out of active service until the 1970's. So who knows how long it was in service until in the Fallout universe (though that's still over a hundred years before the nuclear war).

Yes and no. There's many weapons that were produced in their hundreds of thousands, to millions and can still be found readily today. If the developers want to continue with the 40-60's trend, then weapons like the M1903 Springfield, the M1 Garand and the Grease Gun (which was in NV as the 9mm SMG) could also be added.

The modification system can use a large rebalancing in regards to weapons. Automatic weapons are completely outclassed by their semi-automatic counterparts. Doing less damage per shot and costing more to run, whilst often also being less accurate. The same thing can be said for miniguns, just not doing enough damage a shot and being overly expensive to run.

I'm not complaining about the lack of shotguns, but a pump-action would have been nice. Some kind of lever-action weapon would have been nice too. Just to round out all the possible options.

Those are two separate rifles with delegate explanations. The one in 2 is the Wattz 2000, which appears regional, and the one in 3+ comes from the military-issued AER series. Both fit in the context of the games we see them in, and neither contradicts the other. The existance of the new unnamed AR in Fallout 4 doesn't make the R91 in 3 noncanon, and because of that, it makes no sense as it should be obsolete as a result.

Or are you saying that Bethesda have silently retconned their own lore in just one game?

Every assault rifle, not just Armalite ones. You can't sell full automatic weapon on US civilian market therefore automatic weapons are modified to fire in single shot mode only. There might be certain conditions and people with special permits who can get full automatic weapons, I am not that familiar with US gun laws. I know it is possible in some European countries. But common people can not buy full automatic weapon.

What I'm saying is that those semi-auto rifles are not assault rifles. Same design. Damn near the same gun. But that's not technically what they are. That's just what people have taken to calling them due to misconceptions.

And you assume right, it is possible here for civilians to get ahold of permits to own automatic weapons. I've shot a few myself. But it ain't easy.

Then what problem do you have with assault rifle? They also appear regional, are military issued or not and both fit context of the game we see them in. Just like existence of two different laser rifles does not make any of them non canon, so does not existence of up to dozen different assault rifles in Fallout games.

That's what I am trying to tell you, that weapon in one Fallout game is not the same as in another Fallout game does not mean they are non canon.

That might be the case of weapons which are purpose build versions of assault rifles for US market. However military surplus weapons, like for example many ex Warshaw pact AKs sold at US market are simply moded to fire single shot only. Yes, technically they don't fit definition of assault rifle anymore but that does not make them different weapons.

My problem is that unlike the laser rifles, one of which is seen all across the wasteland and one of which is only found in the Core Region, there is a massive difference in practicality of the two ARs. The R91 should realistically be found anywhere that there was any sort of army or national guard presence (explaining its absence in NV), and it's wide-scale existance and usage would render the completely inferior AR of Fallout 4 obsolete, especially in Boston, where we get army and guard bases out the wazoo.

If you don't understand the basic engineering of fire arms its likely "because" is all you will be able to understand.

Try to understand this one universal concept of designing guns. Extra weight =bad there is no reason for BGS to make "assault" rifles heavy and unwieldly.

Technology had already surpassed the assault rifle used in game by the end of WW2. There is no reason over 100 years later they would be using 1920's technology they at the very least would be using 1950's.

The cars, homes, cloths, music ect are all not based on 1920's versions why would the guns be ?