Fallout 4...

[Gfted1]

Welcome back MC.

[GhostofAnakin]

As I played through, I noticed just how little there was to do in Diamond City.  Especially consider certain, um, individuals who hold notable positions there.  Nothing gets resolved in that regard, however.

 

It's like Bethesda was halfway through writing the story and realized the game had to be shipped the next day.  "Oh well, our fans won't notice the hundred plot threads left dangling.  They'll just craft an explanation in their own mind."

[WDeranged]

As I played through, I noticed just how little there was to do in Diamond City.  Especially consider certain, um, individuals who hold notable positions there.  Nothing gets resolved in that regard, however.

 

It's like Bethesda was halfway through writing the story and realized the game had to be shipped the next day.  "Oh well, our fans won't notice the hundred plot threads left dangling.  They'll just craft an explanation in their own mind."

 

It does actually get resolved. There's a scene where it all comes to a head, it's super unsatisfying though.  

 

 

This particular plot thread hugely pissed me off, I found conclusive evidence that the Mayor is a Synth but couldn't tell Piper.  Later in the game I was given a quest by The Institute to collect a report from Synth McDonough so I decided to take Piper with me and she didn't say a word.

 

[GhostofAnakin]

How does it get resolved?  I got the Institute quest my first play through, and it just kept sending me to pick up reports.  Granted, I gave up after the second or third "repeat" quest because I figured it was like the Minutemen repeating quests.  But there didn't seem to be resolution to it (ie. I was never able to "expose" him to anyone and bring in someone new).

[MrBrown]

Anyway, I picked up FO4 in the Steam Sale and would be very grateful for some advice on character builds. Basically I want to stealth / snipe the crap out of the game and lurk about with rifles etc. Am not interested in clunking about in power armour.

 

I play like that. Um, you want points in Perception and Agility. Then just look at the Perk Chart to see what fits your bill. You'll want Rifleman, Gun modding, Stealth at least. 

 

Just a word of warning, it's much more difficult than in FONV, where you could kill 90% of stuff with sniping.

[Lexx]

I remember how I felt betrayed by these repeating quests. I did a few of them because I thought something would happen, but after doing a few of them I slowly figured the game is just feeding me with boring fetch-quests (I honestly thought there were a bunch of BoS kids who wanted to learn from me and then something with plot would happen... Silly me). After that I never picked up any of such quests ever again.

 

You know, something like FNVs Return to Sender, which was mostly a boring slog as well until the awesome ending happens.

Edited January 7, 2016 by Lexx

[Humanoid]

Irritatingly you can't pre-plan perks while choosing your initial stats. But the only important ones for an assassin are 3 AGI to unlock the improved sneaking perk, and 7 agi to unlock the extra sneak attack damage multiplier. 4 PER for lockpicking might also be considered important for a sneaky type. Beyond that, most choices will likely depend whether you prefer doing your sniping manually or through VATS.

 

Companions are hopeless at sneaking so you'll probably want to perks that give bonuses while alone too, 3 CHA for the main one.

Edited January 7, 2016 by Humanoid

[HoonDing]

3 STR 4 PER 1 END 3 CHA 4 INT 3 AGI 10 LCK

 

If you want to skip crafting/hacking entirely, 1 INT and raise PER/STR/CHA accordingly

[Raithe]

The combination of Rifleman, Sneak, Ninja and Mr Sandman used in combination with silenced weapons works quite well. Especially with a silenced Gauss Rifle... 

[Oerwinde]

Fully tricked out legendary combat rifle from the store in vault 81 was my weapon for the entire game. Shoots extra projectile for no extra ammo cost, even the beefed out energy weapons were no match. Beastly recoil though.

[WDeranged]

How does it get resolved?  I got the Institute quest my first play through, and it just kept sending me to pick up reports.  Granted, I gave up after the second or third "repeat" quest because I figured it was like the Minutemen repeating quests.  But there didn't seem to be resolution to it (ie. I was never able to "expose" him to anyone and bring in someone new).

 

 

At some point McDonough outs himself and attacks a random citizen, there's a stand-off in his office.

 

[GhostofAnakin]

Sounds anticlimactic.

[WDeranged]

Sounds anticlimactic.

 

Doubly so, considering the wasted effort of trying to resolve it before the game decided it was time

[GhostofAnakin]

That's exactly the kind of thing I'm referring to when it comes to how the game feels like Bethesda quit halfway through.  That should have been a major quest, with major consequences depending on what you decide.  Instead, it's just a minor quest that's easily missed.

 

FO4 is chock full of such underdeveloped storylines.

[Amentep]

That's exactly the kind of thing I'm referring to when it comes to how the game feels like Bethesda quit halfway through.  That should have been a major quest, with major consequences depending on what you decide.  Instead, it's just a minor quest that's easily missed.

 

FO4 is chock full of such underdeveloped storylines.

 

I felt the same way, like the story could have used some more time in development to flesh out and develop and create more choice and consequence.

 

Its like they decided to go the exact opposite of the heavy narrative + finite ending of FO3 but created a number of new weaknesses in doing so.

[Raithe]

Is it me or is it partly a case of, they've made FO4 so open, that there's no actual consequences to most things? Apart from the relatively binary options of which half video plays at the "end point".

 

You have all the options for exploration and wandering, but there's no options or outright consequences to any story or character stuff.

[Hurlshort]

Good game, bad RPG.  

[Lexx]

Some people just need to have everything explicitly written out for them. That's OK too, no shame in that. 

 

There is a difference between pretending to be a city guard in a game and actually *being* a city guard (with tasks and quests) in a game.

[HoonDing]

"Good game, bad RPG."

 

It's Halo 4 all over again.

[Monte Carlo]

Surprise surprise, I'm enjoying it for many of the reasons cited for not liking it.

 

I'm only level 5 and getting my arse kicked in Lexington. It's still too twitchy for me and, for the love of God, where are the traders? I can't sell my junk anywhere. 

[WDeranged]

Surprise surprise, I'm enjoying it for many of the reasons cited for not liking it.

 

I'm only level 5 and getting my arse kicked in Lexington. It's still too twitchy for me and, for the love of God, where are the traders? I can't sell my junk anywhere. 

 

This was a problem for me too, you'll bump into some travelling merchants but all the shops are in Boston.

[Gorgon]

It's great until you discover it isn't. So just enjoy the next 20 hrs or so before you do. Technically you will have gotten your money's worth even though most of the main quests are broken and/or over simplified. 

[Longknife]

I remember how I felt betrayed by these repeating quests. I did a few of them because I thought something would happen, but after doing a few of them I slowly figured the game is just feeding me with boring fetch-quests (I honestly thought there were a bunch of BoS kids who wanted to learn from me and then something with plot would happen... Silly me). After that I never picked up any of such quests ever again.

 

You know, something like FNVs Return to Sender, which was mostly a boring slog as well until the awesome ending happens.

 

 

I recently read that....

 

So I knew that Oblivion was the last game created with TES' original staff on board, right? By the time Skyrim came out, not a single writer/developer from Morrowind and earlier was on staff save for obvious examples like Todd. This explains why Skyrim is so willing to take a dump on old lore and just not give a damn, as well as why the tone feels so different.

 

Apparently, at least one guy remained on board for Fallout 3. Most of the older Bethesda devs left after Oblivion was wrapped up, but one guy hung around. That guy was Mark Nelson. Nelson was responsible for both writing and quest design, as one of the leads.

 

This does so ****ing much to explain why...I mean FO3 had it's Bethesda-ness to it, don't get me wrong, but it still felt like it did an ok job of holding onto some Fallout elements, such as choice and consequence, SOME of the tone and writing, and just generally having quests that felt like someone put a lot of time and effort into them.

 

Fast forward to Skyrim and FO4, generic radiant quests are in abundance. The simple explanation is because their quest designers have changed. I already knew their writers had started changing starting with FO3, was not aware their quest designers were aswell.

 

 

So yeah, the jist of it is the simple truth that the same guys who gave you the hand crafted quests you saw in Oblivion or Fallout 3 are no longer working at Bethesda. Who's in charge of quest design now...? Hell if I know, but whoever it is apparently loves fetch quests and combat.

[Gorgon]

It's pretty much what Yahtzee Crowshaw calls the 'every open world game' syndrome. At least it doesn't have grind requirements for opening up new map areas. 

[CoM_Solaufein]

Haven't played the game for close to a month. They still don't have the GECK released? WTF is taking so long? I'm waiting for better mods to get made before I play again.