Fallout 3 discussion

[Lemur]

Something's in the air, and that means that Fallout 3 previews are popping up like zits on a teenaged face. Here's a sampling:

Gamespot

Shacknews

Games Radar

Destructoid

Critical Hits

Joystiq

Next-Gen

There's more, but I'm getting tired of typing them. Stop pretending you won't play this game. You're only hurting yourself.

[Orb]

Lemur-san, you are mistaken.

Whether or not I (certainly) would buy this game, my computer doubtless won't run it, thus inuring me to disappointment.

[Bob the Insane]

From the Gamespot preview - Weapons and armor will deteriorate with use, but you'll be able to restore them by using your character's repair skill along with duplicate versions of whatever you're repairing. In other words, you can cannibalize parts from one item to fix another, as long as they're identical. You can't strip parts from a pistol to repair an assault rifle; you have to have the same version of assault rifle. As weapons break down, their capabilities worsen. For example, the weapon's rate of fire will slow, its accuracy will decrease, and so on. Having a fully restored weapon versus one that's falling apart is like the difference between night and day. Or, you can create your own weapons from various parts.

Sounds like the deteriorating and reparing of weapons will be a little more involved and logical than the "bang it with a hammer" approach of Oblivion...

[Lemur]

There's so much news coming out so fast, I was getting a little dizzy trying to track it all down and decipher the meanings. And the longstanding Fallout boards are just, well, mean. They're lovers who've been spurned so often that all of their affection has metastasized into hate.

So I found a neat little Fallout blog that's doing a good job of posting the relevant new info as it emerges. Thought I'd share.

[Phatose]

Well, with all due fairness, the meanness of the fallout boards lately is as much because of the number of people who've decided to come in and start flaming. They're certainly opinionated on a normal basis, but as of late they're also the bear people can't seem to poke enough with the stick.


As for the game itself, most of what they've shown so far has potential. Unfortunately, it's pretty much universally potential to be great, but also potential to stink to high holy heaven.

After being burned twice with Morrowind and Oblivion, I'm expecting it to be an 'eventually pick it up when it hits the $19.99 mark'. I'd rather hope for a used game, since at least that way I'm not putting any cash into Bethesda's coffers before I know if it's gonna suck or not, but used PC games are very hard to find anymore.

If the duck and cover and NMA guys give it raving reviews, then I'd probably buy full price. But they won't. And the rest of the gaming media and community...well, they talked me into Oblivion, so I don't trust them much.

[TinCow]

They're certainly opinionated on a normal basis, but as of late they're also the bear people can't seem to poke enough with the stick.

This is very true. I still find myself reading NMA a couple times a week for the 'gawk-factor.' Why is that? What is so compelling about that group that draws people to watch it even when they don't really care about what the people are arguing about?

[Whacker]

This is very true. I still find myself reading NMA a couple times a week for the 'gawk-factor.' Why is that? What is so compelling about that group that draws people to watch it even when they don't really care about what the people are arguing about?

Because some of us actually agree with some or all of what they are saying. The hard truth and reality of it is that the Fallout franchise and games have survived only because of the hardcore fans like them, not through other developer's attempts at actively destroying the game. Witness FOB(P)OS.

The problem is twofold as I see it, and neither trumps the other.

First, you have the 'hardcore' Fallout types, of which a few vocal minority ruin it for the rest of us. These few are extremely rude, condescending, and do nothing but flame and complain loudly and the most extravagant manner possible. You want to see a real jerk? Look up some posts by a guy named "Roshambo" on the NMA and RPGcodex forums. He epitomizes everything that is wrong with us self-identified 'old school' types.

Second, you have the hideous amounts of incredibly ignorant and equally as obnoxious and loud Bethesda Fanboys©. If anything these guys annoy me more, because Fanboyism in any shape or form is the bane of my gaming existence. The deal is there seems to be far more of these people, and when you get these guys going with a good head of steam, it can often tend to draw the FPS crowd types that Beth has hooked with Oblivion right along with them, thus creating this hellish synergy. Combine this with the NMA rude types, and you've got a seething mass of sheer hatred and angst that can really destroy braincells of people who suffer through reading those posts. "Bethesda can do no wrong, You guys need to get with the times, Turn-based is old and busted, These are definitely RPGs and you guys have no clue even though you've been playing real RPGs since before quite a few of us were born", etc etc etc. It's all just one big mass of .

My opinion hasn't changed one bit on this game since we finally started getting info. I was hopefully skeptical, then disgusted when my fears were realized. No turn-based combat, SPECIAL appears to have been gutted contrary to what many say, just like what Beth did with Arena to Daggerfall to Morrowind to Oblivion, and instead of super mutants we have something that resembles The Hulk Meets A Cave Troll, coupled with the super mega awesome Nukuler Warhead Launcher. As I still say, more power to the folks who look forward to this game and can possibly enjoy it. It's definitely off my radar though.