So it is really cool that crafting allows us to use alternate components (such as duct tape or wonderglue for adhesive) but I am wondering how it will impact gameplay.

In previous games you had to go into tool sheds and consider what was most valuable to take, usually leaving most of the clutter and heavy stuff behind. Now that we can break everything down into simple and probably weightless crafting components, we will instead walk into rooms, scrap everything from baby bottles to tire piles and sometimes even the walls and floorboards, and then we leave a barren environment behind.

This kind of reminds me of the first time I played Morrowind. I went into town and stole every single thing I could click on hoping to make money. I later regretted stealing all that stuff since the town started to feel really artificial and empty (and I only got a couple levels out of it anyway). In fallout 4, crafting gives xp and also unlocks some really cool customization elements of the game, so the temptation will be even greater.

So yeah, will you be scrapping everything you see?

...Considering even whole buildings can be scrapped...Not everything...

I always looted the crap out of the gems in the mages guild in Morrowind in one of the second cities. Then I killed the guy in that city that owned the store and looted the entire thing .

Yes I will be scrapping EVERYTHING in FO4. I tend to hoard things a bit because I never know what I will need or want to use later. Maybe this is why the game is 400 hours of content.

It really does look like everything in the game can be broken down and used on your weapons and settlements. I noticed during the Junk Jet footage just before he uses the teddy bear as ammo that the teddy bear can be broken down to give you 3 leather cloth. Some of he the crating materials will be copper, aluminum, silver, gold, ceramics, gears, plastic, glass, fiber optics, wood, adhesives, steel, screw, rubber, concrete, spring, crystal, circuitry,cork and nuclear material.

Well, not everything. I want to keep Codsworth around.

Unless I'm missing the metal for my front door, he is safe!

From what it looked like to me, you at least need a Crafting Table to get components of any sort. So you'll have to grab everything, haul it with you, or to a "home base" of some sort. And sure, some people will want to rob every single place blind...but since *everything* (pretty much) is able to be used in crafting in one way or another...other than out of either sheer challenge, or sheer boredom, why would you go around robbing everyone? In previous games, when scrap metal was harder to come by, I could see stealing it. But in FO4, when all the scrap will be everywhere, and multiple things can be used for the same purpose, I don't see the need to rob *everybody*. Sure, if it is a faction I don't like, or the item is an easy swipe - maybe.

We still don't have any idea how the Karma System (if there is one) works in FO4. Will thefts cause you to be disliked by the faction you stole from? Maybe only if you are caught? Will you care?

How do we know components are weightless? Maybe Bethesda gave everything at least some weight - appropriate to what it is. Sure, you can snag everything in sight, but it's going to weigh you down. Of course, Settlement Components might be handled differently (as those would be rather heavy) - but we don't know.

In the end, I'm a pack-rat. I'll take anything not nailed down, unless there is a good reason not to. In New Vegas, I'm currently not stealing because one of my modded followers complains when I do and, well, I'm trying to romance her. But otherwise I'd be taking most everything in sight if it was worth the trouble of hauling it. The question is, what did Bethesda do in the game to make some things not worth hauling around? Are some things just too dang heavy compared to their usefulness? Are there in-game penalties that make hauling things too much of a pain? Do we eventually come to a complete halt if too over-encumbered? Or, perhaps, our Armor Rating drops as we add on weight, to simulate not being able to move out of the way as easily? That would put a damper on being too weighted down.

We will see, when the game releases, just what checks and balances are in there. If there aren't sufficient ones, you can bet I'll strip some places bare - and even take the nails if I can.

i guess since i know myself, i will not break everything down since i love to go to places and dont find it empty, so i guess i will try to take what i need only.

I think I will probably take everything necessary like weapons and valuables just like in the previous games and only hoard things when I know I am about to make a pit stop back to my settlement to drop everything off.

I don't want to deal with the hassle of being over-encumbered all the time and I'll probably only search for things once I get a blueprint that tells me exactly what I need to make "X" part for my weapon or armor.

Hoarding is something I will probably do well after 20 hours into the game once I get the hang of everything.

With the settlement building I wouldn't be surprised if areas respawned materials after a ton of days but you never know.

Consider I plan to use the weapon moding mechanic quite extensively, yeah I plan to be quite a active scrapper.

"See that mountain over there? You can scrap it."

I'll scrap a lot. Probably not everything I see though.

I'm not too sure for my first build I am going to get into too much of the weapons modding.

Buildings and settlement materials, though.. I plan on having a loot/destroy perimeter round any of the settlement building locations.
Clear the area out, buildings and all, so potential enemies can be seen from far off, with no cover.

It will all depend on how much carry weight figures into everything and how many places you can actually trade goods. Fallout has never been like TES with a huge amount of traders to deal with and there's really no reason to lug everything about. In the last few Fallout games I simply took note of easily accessed areas that seemed to have plenty of loot. If I needed something I'd go back to those areas later when I actually needed it. The e3 footage showed him scrapping a whole building but at the top of the screen you could see that the settlement itself has an inventory.. I imagine that sort of inventory is confined to when you are in a settlement designated area and doesn't carry over so that when you are actually out in the wastes. I have a feeling that anything you find outside the settlement will have to be taken back to it to utilize in that manner. But who knows?.. Maybe you can just run around the wastes svcking up furniture.

I hope that broken down scrap components have semi-realistic weight values. Perhaps it would be best if 'scrapping' could only be done at workbenches? And though I doubt it will be implemented, I would like to see more realistic limits on what can be stored in containers; no more stuffing entire wardrobes of armor and missile launchers in toolboxes.

Peter Hines mention in a post E3 interview that once enviromental objects and junk items in your inventory gets broken down to the raw crafting materials those materials are stored in hammerspace, taking no personal space or carry weight.

It would make sense that they limit your ability to scrap items, by restricting it to work benches or similar. Then you cannot just scrap event thing you see and carry it all for free. You have to manage your encumbrance limit until you find a place you can scrap it all.
Personally I don't want to be able to carry everything I can lay my hands on for free, games are often overly flexible in these areas. Which is understandable as we tend to carry our world on our backs as far as the games concerned, but there should be limits...

How about this:

It appears that you will be able to scrap http://orcz.com/Fallout_4:_Shaun into http://orcz.com/Fallout_4:_Glass

Will you really be that heartless and destroy some of the only items left that remind you of your baby?

Does anyone know if the scrap stuff weights or if there's a limit or something?

I think I may start by picking up all the scrap, only then will it become clear what has crafting value.

As has been suggested elsewhere, Duck Tape may be a valuable find, when other things will be less so.

I am guessing its based on what you can carry which is based on your strength stat?

as mention above, Peter mention that there is weight to the items themself (like say a nuca cola bottle) but once ya scrap a item for its raw compontents those compontents become weightless and stored in hammerspace.

My top priority for the first 30+ hours is finding a place where I want to set-up my home base. Until then, standard player housing and a place to store my stuff is all I need.

I will scrap whatever benefits me most whilst helping the wasteland. Securing travelling merchant routes from hostiles will bring in some resources, so I imagine dismantling bandit camps and the like, would help immensely.

At the end of the day, a base must be well supplied. I am quite industrious in that regard.

So, in short, it depends. I'm not one to disturb enemy spawning grounds unless it directly threatens friendly NPCs. Ecology and economy are central.

"And then again, it just works."