A Research Survey About Fallout 3

[Jack]

My sister is in this college class and has a research project about Fallout 3. She needs people 18 years or older that have played Fallout 3's main plot to discuss their experience playing through it. So I'd like some of you guys to do it if you want to.

Here's a link that explains it in more detail, and if you're interested, also has the link to the actual survey.

If you have any questions about the survey that the link can't answer, then you can ask here.
/shameless plug

EDIT: I feel this thread needs some spicing up, so maybe you can post your responses here as well. If you want to do that and take the survey, my sister would prefer if you took the survey before posting a response, so that you tell your experience with your own words.

You can make up another topic too, I guess, if this one is bad or something.

[JackSlack]

Conveniently, I've just been playing it for the first time now! Huzzah!

Edit: And done.

[Under_Score]

I don't suppose watching my friend play through almost the whole thing counts, huh.

[Dibria]

Wow, took longer than expected but now I really want to go back and play Fallout 3 again...

[Geoff_B]

Done. I waxed lyrical about the world and how much I love just walking through it.

[JackSlack]

I have a bonus question for those here: When did you stop, and what do you imagine your Lone Wanderer did afterwards?

My character ended her wandering after Who Dares Wins. She'd done her job; all she wanted to do was find her dad; to not be alone. Then, she wanted to finish his work. Then, to protect his work and ensure it was safe.

And after Who Dares Wins, she had. The Brotherhood wanted her to stay on, but she couldn't.

I imagine she returned to Megaton, and began building it up. She'd get talking with Moira (who needs a new big project) about trying to expand and develop Megaton into something better; into a proper city. She might, might help out as a deputy, putting on the Regulators Duster, but mostly I imagine her growing her hair back out from its shaved look, wearing a pre-war parkstroller, and supervising the building.

[Keab42]

I'll definitely fill it in, got to think about a couple of the answers it was a while ago that I played it. What is the time limit on this?

[Geoff_B]

I have a bonus question for those here: When did you stop, and what do you imagine your Lone Wanderer did afterwards?

My character ended her wandering after Who Dares Wins. She'd done her job; all she wanted to do was find her dad; to not be alone. Then, she wanted to finish his work. Then, to protect his work and ensure it was safe.

And after Who Dares Wins, she had. The Brotherhood wanted her to stay on, but she couldn't.

I imagine she returned to Megaton, and began building it up. She'd get talking with Moira (who needs a new big project) about trying to expand and develop Megaton into something better; into a proper city. She might, might help out as a deputy, putting on the Regulators Duster, but mostly I imagine her growing her hair back out from its shaved look, wearing a pre-war parkstroller, and supervising the building.

My character has been on many adventures including the Pitt, Broken Steel, Point Lookout and most recently Mothership Zeta. I imagine him wandering the wasteland becoming a figure of legend who would turn up to help those in need and who is lauded in every settlement as the greatest hero ever. He'll never settle in one place but everywhere he goes he'll find a welcome.

[Red Charlie]

I would help but I had a look over the questions and I sadly cannot remember exactly what I did to be able to give an accurate or honest answer regarding the questions also I'm too lazy to play it through to figure out the answers to the questions :s

[Dibria]

Well I stopped originally as I got Fallout 3 and New Vegas at the same time and once I felt I had 'done most of' Fallout 3 I played the sequel - this thread had me turn back on and how wrong I was.

My character has just visited Oasis where she put an old friend out of his misery... She now heads east to explore the topmost portion of the map and after receiving the 'Explorer' perk travels to find out what all these '\' marks on her map mean...

[Geoff_B]

You can never "do most of" Fallout 3

[JackSlack]

Also, I'm playing Fallout: New Vegas now.

Whereas Felicia, my Fallout 3 character, was a fairly persuasive young nerd (who was surprisingly good with long guns; Tagged skills: Science, Small Guns, Speech.); Scarlet, my New Vegas character, is a sneaky little bitch with a heart of gold. (Although she may have stolen it to begin with. Tagged skills: Lockpick, Sneak, Speech.)

[Dibria]

You can never "do most of" Fallout 3

I know, but I had a week to play and really wanted to complete both - four days of Fallout 3 and I thought I must have seen most of it... Yeah, I know, that was stupid.

Went on to New Vegas and didn't complete it anyway, got as far as meeting Mr. House but then ran out of time and now when I go back to play fallout I find myself drifting to Fallout 3 - New Vegas was great but 3 was the superior game.

[Geoff_B]

New Vegas was great but 3 was the superior game.

And that is all you need to know about Fallout New Vegas

[Dibria]

Anyone have any idea why New Vegas changed from perk per level to perk per two levels? I never found the perks overpowered in Fallout 3, half the fun was working out which would benefit you now and which would benefit you in the long run.

[Geoff_B]

I guess it was to slow the players down so they wouldn't max out skills too quickly.

[Dibria]

Possibly but it actually drops some of the longevity in my opinion, they use (almost all) the same perks from Fallout 3, a game that once you had the DLC you could have 30 perks in, in New Vegas (assuming the case is the same, I don't have any NV DLC) that caps at 15. Perhaps I'm just spoiled by 3 and want my ridiculous abilities in New Vegas, I sure missed not being able to walk through mine fields unharmed, was utterly baffled when I set of traps until I remembered it wasn't the same game.

[JackSlack]

So far I'm on Fallout 3's side: The introduction is much, much better. New Vegas could really have benefited from showing the courier job and how you got caught, giving you a solid act 1. Instead, it jumps straight in medias res and just leaves you a bit confused.

That said? There are some really sensible evolutions of the Fallout 3 model here, including one I was crying out for as I was playing Fallout 3: Changing the speech options from a percentage chance to a flat pass/fail criteria. THANK YOU, Obsidian, for that. I also adore hardcore mode, which makes the game much more ethically gray. Felicia would never steal someone's possessions, because she believes you can work hard and be a better person. Scarlet, meanwhile, is dying of thirst and wants your purified goddamn water right now.

There's also a much better sense of ecology in New Vegas, with radroaches placed near geckos, for instance. (And it being clear the Geckos eat the radroaches, while the radroaches eat the perfectly fine foliage around. I still am not sure how the Brahmin survive, but New Vegas is within spitting distance of plausibility in a way Fallout 3 simply isn't.)

New Vegas could still win me over as the better game, I can easily see how it could. Hardcore mode alone is a real game-changer.

[Dibria]

I have to concede that, New Vegas certainly felt more... natural, than Fallout 3 - the setting was somewhat more believable, as long as you ignore Ceasar's Legion anyway. I am entertained by the concept of a group of people emerging from a vault beneath Ceasars' Palace in Las Vegas and mistaking the scenario and leading to something like Ceasar's legion but I just don't find the way it was presented in game believable - a shame because as I said, the rest of the setting was very natural feeling.

I think it also helps that you walk around the Mojave Wastes and you see desert, in a place where you expect to see desert. The capital wastes always felt empty to me, not in the 'not enough to do' kind of way but in the 'where'd the buildings go' kind of way.

Obviou answer? They were blown up but that just doesn't quite explain it all away, there are large sections of solid city left but in other areas they've just fallen apart? If they were bombed you'd at least expect a crater wouldn't you?

So yes, I agree, New Vegas has the better setting and it definitely grew on me as I played it but Mr. New Vegas was no Three Dog - something I really noticed as I very rarely turn off my radio in game.

[JackSlack]

So yes, I agree, New Vegas has the better setting and it definitely grew on me as I played it but Mr. New Vegas was no Three Dog - something I really noticed as I very rarely turn off my radio in game.

Oh, definitely. They had the right instinct; don't just duplicate Three Dog, make it different, but their replacement wasn't half the fun. I miss Three Dog.

[Geoff_B]

I enjoyed New Vegas because it seemed to be based off Fallout 2 rather than Fallout 3 - it was wackier than 3 and had a lot of references that you only really get by playing 2. Plus there's a section where an NPC quizzes you on the history of the NCR which, again, makes more sense if you've played 2.

[JackSlack]

I am now utterly and completely on the New Vegas side. As it's opened up, it's just become so much more open ended, thoughtful and well written than Fallout 3 was. Don't get me wrong, both still have the problem that they don't seem capable of creating memorable, well written NPCs. But even there, Vegas is still edging out Fallout 3. I relished putting on a red beret, let's leave it at that.

Bitch.

(The big problem there, I've decided, is the lack of emphasis on companions, but even then, Bioware does a better job with the background NPCs too: Who doesn't remember characters like the honorable, conflicted Ser Cauthrien or the driven, conniving Gianna Parasini?)

Anyway. All of this is irrelevant, because:

I got to seduce Benny and murder him in his sleep.

Seriously, Obsidian? You let me do that? Holy shit, yes. I love you guys.

[Dibria]

It's funny actually I was listening to an old podcast in which Graham was discussing his experience of New Vegas and he was saying that he got the point at which he could chose which side to take (you know the bit) and sort of petered out. Looking at my own experience I did the same thing, my character is still stood outside Mr House'... House I guess, waiting for me to decide what to do because once I had made it that far I just didn't feel compelled to continue.

The main quest in New Vegas has no drive behind it, he shot me and took my package so I want revenge, great, now what? Fallout 3 was great because it had this great wilderness to explore but it also had a believable struggle for the main character, they wanted to find their dad. If you played an evil character you can imagine it was to find out why he abandoned you, a good character missed him, a neutral character wanted answers - you could easily superimpose reason onto it.

New Vegas, an evil character wants revenge, that's fine, a good character wants to... finish the delivery??? Hmm...

How about neutral? To find out who... oh no wait you saw who shot you - I just couldn't find a reason to care.

New Vegas I played for the Mojave Wastelands and they are great, good to explore and interesting things lurk around every boulder and in every crevice, but their was no narrative drive there... none at all. It's the same reason I've pretty much stopped playing skyrim, the amount to do is fantastic and there is a lot to explore but the story is driven by the mechanics of the game, it is there to give you a reason to go from point A to point B and explain why there are dragons/supermutants, nothing more nothing less.

Perhaps I'm spoiled by the epic storytelling of Bioware but I like to feel like I'm influencing a story not discovering something to do. I agree that it was a great feeling to put on that Beret and watch that womans head explode in all it's evil lying glory, but the sequence felt narrow. Talk to person A, talky to person B, steal key C, find evidence D, shoot person E, your only big choice was whether to kill her or an innocent bystander, gaining you absolutely nothing so what would be the point?

[JackSlack]

I do agree there needed to be a better drive to complete the main plot, but I think it's more about setup: Fallout 3 nailed the introduction. You get to learn your life, your father, etc. You have a personality in your head by the end of the introduction. THEN they hit you with the plot bomb. Your motivations are set then.

By contrast, New Vegas just plunges you right in.

Imagine if they'd given you a chance to make yourself known as a legendary courier; never missed a shipment, never robbed, sometimes unavoidably late, but always, always made the drop-off.

... and then this bastard ruined your reputation.

NOW you have good reasons. To keep your reputation. To get revenge.

I think the 'I want answers' thing there is fine: You want to know about this damn chip. Why is it so important? What were the other things sent? Why did the previous courier back out?

What was needed was more backstory.

[FourEyedTroll]

While I've only played 30mins or so of it (got totally overwhelmed and haven't touched it since), my brother is 23 and has completed it. Have sent him the link, he'll do that today hopefully.