dr zimmerman in rivet city says he is from the commenwealth or something like that, but isn't that gone ? ... I have heard of the new california republic, but are there more governments in Post Apocalytpic North America, he speaks about Rivet City being a dump and that people are able to life there, just wondering ...

Nothing in the game specifies that the "Commonwealth" equals the European Commonwealth.

He could have been referring to the Commonwealth of Virginia or the Commonwealth of Massachussets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_(United_States)

Hmm... It was my understanding that he was from Maryland.

he's from up north somewhere.

Obvioulsy he's from either canada, or alaska, or mayber just further north in the state, and the commonwealth appears to be some sort of wasteland government, its only real claim to fame being something called "The Institute" A3-21 the escaped android was equipped with a plasma rifle so the commonwealth's governing party has access to SERIOUS technology but when it comes straight down to it the place is just one more piece of the wasteland.

uhm I guess its a piece of the old US government,

There's all kinds of possibilities.

One is that he's from Massachusetts, since it has the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and he talks a lot about the Institute.

Another possibility is that we're talking about somewhere in Maryland; he's said to be from the north, and in the Fallout universe Maryland, Virginia and DC were merged together pre-war into the "Capital Commonwealth". EDIT: In fact, all US states were merged into 13 Commonwealths before the war, which is why the US flag in the game has thirteen stars, not 50. I'd forgotten this fact, but it comes up in the Fallout Bible.

There are also other historical Commonwealths in the USA; the most likely is Pennsylvania, which is just north of Maryland, but Kentucky and Virginia are also Commonwealths.

Some people have even suggested Canada, since it was part of the British Commonwealth before it was annexed, but I find this far-fetched. It would be even crazier to suggest Europe, since we know the European Union fell apart during the Resource Wars, and if its slaves had the ability to flee across the Atlantic Ocean, you'd think they would have regular contact with the East Coast...and they don't. The only people who ever mention them are in the Science Lab at Rivet City. Nobody else seems to know or care about their existence, not even to gripe at their 'ivory tower existence' or freak out about their androids.

Of course, nothing says that the Commonwealth has to be a historical one! Many settlements in the Fallout series have been named after pre-war governments, like the New California Republic or New Reno...but just as many have been given completely new names, like Vault City, the Brotherhood of Steel, or the Den. Why not name a new country a Commonwealth? The name is just as attractive as a Republic.

My personal guess is that the Commonwealth is going to be one of the first DLC expansions for Fallout 3, and it will involve a small settlement built around a pre-war science lab or university and some land just north of the map, probably in southeastern Pennsylvania or northern Maryland.

according to the collectors edition guide, Zimmerman is from the commonwealth which is the equivalent to the enclave, on the eastern coast of america

i am sure where here more of that part, in the near future ... shouldn't be that far removed from washington d.c. if you ask me

It's strange that you would point to the plasma rifle as proof of SERIOUS technology and not the fact that they created a robot so advanced that it is indistinguishable from a real person. That seems like some pretty serious stuff to me.

Edit - I speel gud.

He simply refers to it as "The Common Wealth" It's more than likely a society nearby that was either largely untouched by the bombs or was located near large tech stashes.

It could have actually be the descendants of a vault that was used to house people of high intelligence or technical skill, same as the vault that was made up only of musicians and artists.

He seemed like he was in that Boston area.

Either way I'm sure the Commonweatlh will appear in Fallout 4.

I'm hoping we see more of them before then. With all the people that were complainign about lack of East Coast Factions, I think they need to be built up in future DLC or Expansions.

OH. MY. GOD.

Zimmerman is the last name of a friend of mine.
Kinda creepy...

We are already making impressive advances in robotics. Sure they're honestly little more than expensive and complex amusemant park anamatronics, but it is progress. We have yet to make any progress in laser weaponry, power armor and other general sci-fi stuff. So lasers > androids

harkness looks more human than data does with his yellow skin