History Headscratchers / Fallout4

** Perhaps. Virgil's Lab in the Institute is filled with tanks of muties, and he turned himself into a mutant as a way of surviving the Glowing Sea to escape their ire. So experimenting with FEV is definitely a thing the Institute has done.

** The Synths are humanlike because they want to make agents who can infiltrate the Commonwealth covertly. Nick Valentine is their attempt to create a Synthetic infiltrator (ala Terminator) but failed both because he was a LawfulGood CowboyCop and they wanted TheHeartless SociopathicHero covert operatives like X6-88. Also, because he didn't look very human. [[spoiler: So, they needed someone with radiation-free skin so they could clone unlimited amounts of tissue without mutation for their Synths.]] As for what they needed Synths for, it was to prevent the surface from ever becoming a threat to the Institute (destroying the NCR-like Commonwealth of Allied Settlements) as well as help them kidnap people for their experiments. It seems strange so much effort is made on the ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' plot and people don't really seem to notice the Institute's replacing people so they don't know they're gone plot is, itself, the end game. Also, controlling society through robot dopplegangers. It's not a complex plot, really. Synths are advanced and RidiculouslyHumanRobot types because they need people who can pass for human beings but are under their thumb.

* Where did they go
** Replaced by the new robots. Protectrons, Mr Handy, Assaultrons and Sentry Bots dominate the Commonwealth; they are far more durable and deadly, and its likely the Robobrain never found a market there. A terminal at the Robotics Disposal Ground makes mention of several defective Robobrains being delivered shortly before the war, so they are at least acknowledged.

* A lame question that will probably be answered in the game, but why does Boston look so... Good? I mean, compared to DC, it looks practically undamaged. While it will be explained, why does Boston, one of the key cities of the world, look so good? Heck, even Los Angeles is a city of bones, and it's as important as Boston.
** Boston is on the other side of the continent, it would be easy to have China to cause a lot more damage to the west coast than the east coast.
** Washington STATE is on the west coast, but Washington DC (Where Fallout 3 was set) is on the east coast, not particularly far from Massachusetts. As for the question? The Commonwealth is supposedly a technological juggernaut, so they may have done some rebuilding.
** Bear in mind though, only the Institute is described in 3 as being technologically advanced. The Commonwealth IS described in 3 as being largely a bombed-out hellhole.
** [[HollywoodGeography Boston is over 400 miles from Washington, actually.]] This might not make that big a difference in real life as far as actual fallout goes, but it does in this universe.
** The game takes place over a hundred years after the bombs hit and people are beginning to rebuild.
** Fallout 4 is likely to be set in late 23rd or early 24th century, so that's a lot of time to rebuild everything from scratch.
** Furthermore, considering the tech at The Institute, it wouldn't be surprising if they had something similar to what House had in Vegas. It makes sense that Bethesda would go the extra mile to not make Boston microscopic, due to the sheer amount of rage that the size of New Vegas caused.
** Another in-universe justification: D.C. was targeted by far more bombs than anywhere else in the country, what with being the capital and all, which is why even after two centuries it was still a collapsed and broken mess. Boston could have been hit extremely hard (and it's mentioned that more bombs hit the East Coast in general, because higher population), but ''nowhere'' took it as hard as Washington.
** It's important to remember that the divergence in timelines means that Washington, in addition to looking different in style and layout, was probably built with stronger, more resistant architectural materials. Look at the Washington Monument; its got a steel skeleton, and stone seems to the prevalent material throughout the city. In addition, the city seems to have an underground nuclear reactor, as power still works after 200 years. Its incredibly likely that in the Fallout universe, the US government tried to nuke-proof Washington as much as possible, which may (rather shakily I admit) explain why its intact after getting absolutely carpet bombed with nukes.
** Washington, DC got absolutely obliterated because it was the capital city, its likely New York City was hit just as hard, but Boston was mostly spared on account of it (at least in whoever launched the strike's eyes) not being a critical city and thus only got hit with a few missiles.
** According to the Fallout Bible, Fallout 3 should ''not'' have been possible to even do. Washington DC wasn't just nuked to Hell. It was nuked to oblivion. The Chinese knew that DC was the capital, and focused more nukes on it alone than any other city or region. We're talking the entire region being turned to scorched earth, and then that scorched earth was turned into [[NoKillLikeOverkill scorched earth]]. For many fans, Fallout 3 shouldn't be canon to the source material. But it is, and the Fallout Bible has been partially {{Retcon}}ned out. My point is to reiterate that Boston wasn't as important a target as DC was.
** Boston was only targeted by one nuke, which hit somewhere on the coast and mostly missed the city itself.
** Boston is also nowhere near as big of a city as Los Angeles. At time of writing, LA is the US's second most populated city with close to 4 MILLION residents. Boston, on the other hand, ranks at 24 with only 655 thousand residents.
** The epicenter of the blast was a ways to the southwest of downtown Boston, in what is now the Glowing Sea. That place is now a nightmarishly irradiated wasteland. The city got hit with shock and heat, but not enough to level everything in downtown.

** Maybe it's not the core itself, but the support systems? I mean, preventing it from exploding or releasing radiation is a bit more important, from an engineering perspective, than keeping it in peak working condition. Also, possibly easier and cheaper.
** Seems a bit odd for the difference to be so drastic. They must be really crappy at designing the support system if the fusion cores went from lasting hundreds of years to lasting a few minutes.
** The power armor in this game is the T-60 power armor, almost certainly some form of prototype since canonically the last mass produced power armor model before the war was the T-51b (the one on the cover of Fallout 1). The T-60 seems to be the [[ComicBook/IronMan War Machine design to the T-51b's Iron Man]] and its possible they simple didn't fix the power issues before the bombs fell.
** Fusion cells that last for hundreds of years clearly still exist in the setting due to the implausibly active technology, generators and your very own robot butler (Though the latter is particularly baffling due to needing fuel for his jet propulsion system - you can even find the canister.) Maybe the real issue is the protagonist being unable to use the armor properly? Remember that previous games in the setting always locked the ability to use powered armor behind a perk obtained towards the end of the main plot.
** But why would not being able to use the power armor properly affect the core at all? The training has more to do with moving properly in it, as well as putting it on and taking it off. If anything a lack of training would result in dislocating your arm because you underestimated the amount of force the motor assist puts out, or tripping in it. It wouldn't result in the fuel efficiency going down.
** Well the Doylist reason is to keep Power Armor from being broken. In Fallout 1 and 2 it turned you into walking tank that let you be basically radiation, laser, and bullet proof and steamroll entire towns without taking a scratch. Fallout 3 and New Vegas nerfed it into just really good armor with a few nice stat bonuses. Here it's more like the original games, but I'm assuming the limited power supply is to keep you from breaking the game. Chalk it up to poor balancing on Bethesda's part.
** Power armor using fusion cores makes a lot of sense, and its not a huge handicap. By exploring everwhere, its not uncommon to have upwards of 25 cores by level 28. They're incredibly common, most buildings have them in their power systems, usually in the basement. Traders sell them (with the right perks) for around 270 caps.
** Also, with the advent of the ''Automatron'' DLC, many of the hostile robots you encounter drop fusion cores when defeated.

** I think that the fusion cores make much more sense than the 100 year power pack that the previous power armours were meant to have due to the fact that the whole point of the war was that they were facing an energy crisis. Fusion cores that last a day of in-game time makes sense. A power pack that lasts a hundred years perfectly fine does not. That's not an energy crisis - that's a minor inconvenience at best. And that has always been something that makes no sense in Fallout. A world with depleted resources to the point that America and China went to war that still has 200 year old robots and computer terminals that are powered up perfectly fine.
*** Power scarcity in the Pre-War era probably meant something very different in that period. While there are robots and computers and even entire power systems still functional 200 years later, these are isolated and individual components. The entire economic systems of the respective countries would have been consuming resources at a tremendous rate. Think of it as how those sorts of power technologies are what they had at their disposal and yet the Pre-War societies and their economies were ''still'' running out. The strain on available resources must have been titanic.

** It's been ten years since the events of ''Fallout 3''. Who knows what happened to the Lone Wanderer. And just because one dude/dudette turned out to be the best thing that could've happened to them doesn't mean every single Wastelander is. It could be that Lone Wanderer was just the one in a million. It also helps that the [=BoS=] had a history with his/her father, James.
** Elder Maxson is TheFundamentalist and is trying to turn the East Coast Brotherhood into the West Coast Brotherhood, perhaps because that organization is all but extinct now. That presumably means he's trying to limit recruiting from the outside and consolidate his control over the existing forces.
** Extreme xenophobia is the Brotherhood's hat. Although they have the occasional progressive member, overall they are extremely suspicious of outside recruits and are only willing to accept any under exceptional circumstances.
** The scary thing? They actually ARE much friendlier to strangers this time around, even compared to Fallout 3. You get invited to join the Brotherhood of Steel much earlier and after the relatively modest display of fighting off a horde of robots.
** It probably helps that he's a Pre-war military veteran.
** This also somewhat accounts for the possibility of a canon evil karma Vault Dweller; if they were good, and destroyed AAF, then it's just part of Maxson distancing himself from Lyons' leadership policy, but if the VD decided to destroy the Citadel instead, it's entirely reasonable that Maxson happened to not be on site, rallied the remnants of the East Coast Brotherhood together with the Outcasts, and possibly even the now massacred Enclave, and reinstituted complete isolationism and technology hoarding. On the one hand, regular [=BoS=] fervor, on the other, absolutely traumatic loss of everything he loved solely because of the one person they opened the gate for.

* In simple terms, ''where the hell did these guys come from?'' Are they the ones from the Capital Wasteland or is there ''yet another'' source of FEV we haven't noticed? I know RuleOfCool and all that but that got expended almost entirely in ''Fallout 3.''
** They're almost certainly ones from the Capital Wasteland that just migrated to the Commonwealth.
** Like the above said, many of them are probably Capital Wasteland migrants. As mentioned on the WMG page, if you talk to Deacon at the Freedom Trail, he mentions "FEV experiments" as some of the Institute's many crimes, which suggests that they may have created a significant number of the Super Mutants you encounter.
** Or people assumed they have. Hey, if you saw a giant mutant beast created with FEV, wouldn't you immediately think 'Institute'?
** Virgil's Lab in the Institute is filled with tanks of muties, and he turned himself into a mutant as a way of surviving the Glowing Sea to escape their ire. So experimenting with FEV is definitely a thing the Institute has done.
** Here's a question I'd have loved to see answered. What in God's green earth was the Institute thinking? Why experiment with FEV in the first place? The stuff seems to be pretty well understood and leads to exactly nothing good for anyone but Super Mutants. There's no real experimental data to mine beyond the apparent success at cross-breeding the Mariposa and Vault 87 strains, which, again, has no real use to anyone besides Super Mutants. I know Virgil started asking these exact questions and led him to resign his post with the Institute, so it's doubly frustrating that I can't track down Father and demand to know what this project was ever supposed to accomplish. So...what's the point?
** The Institute doesn't seem to have an endgame beyond, "Keep doing research that furthers scientific understanding." They don't need a reason to do something beyond that it seems interesting. Above that, in the past major scientific advances have been kickstarted by unfocused research driven by happenstance and tinkering. Someone gets curious about a perceived inconsistency in experimental data, starts designing new experiments to examine the inconsistency, and ends up with a groundbreaking theory with fantastic new practical applications.
** Biological weapons seems like a pretty simple answer. Maybe a route to see if they could make Super Mutant Synths. I do wish there was an ingame reason that you could find.
** Virgil's research notes mention repeated FEV experimentation despite continuous null results, each application generating the usual brutish Super Mutant types we see in the game. Such an exhaustive generation of null results suggests a search for anomalies. This leads me to wonder if the Institute was eager to replicate the FEV anomaly of the Master's mental abilities, housed in synth bodies and minds the Institute could control.
** That makes sense when you think about it. It would mean that the Institute was experimenting with FEV not just to create super mutants but to try and find other mutations like the Master. That could mean that Father might have been trying to recreate the Master, possibly under the delusion that if he made the new Master from a Synth then it and its super mutant army would be under his control. In his mind this would probably eliminate the need to watch and manipulate settlements on the surface that might be a threat to the Institute since the commonwealth would be dominated by this new slave race.
** Thinking about it, it always bugged me how the Capital Wasteland was ''infested'' with super mutants, who all came from this one small Vault. Now I'm wondering if many of those super mutants didn't venture forth from the commonwealth instead, and the reason behind all the different types of super mutants was that they were of different origins.
** It's also possible that the Institute is trying to perfect the process and create super mutants who don't lack for intelligence, aren't psychotically violent, and aren't sterile. If those hurtles can be overcome, then objectively speaking, Super Mutants are simply better suited for the rigors of life in the Wasteland. They're stronger, tougher, and immune to radiation - which doesn't appear to be going away any time soon. They do appear to be ''failing'' at this as so far their batch is the only one that, as far as we can see, hasn't created an intelligent, non-psychotic super mutant, but it still may well be the goal.
** Virgil's notes suggest that they were a parallel/alternative project to the Synths, I thought. In his reasons why they should stop the experiments, he mentions how well the Synth projects are doing, in comparison.
** Also, super-mutant idle comments mention "the green stuff," so they may originate from the Institute, but the new ones are coming from the mutants themselves.
** I'm sorry but I am in disagreement that any of these super mutants are Capital Wasteland migrants for a very simple reason: Vault 87 super mutants are universally yellow, whereas the Mariposa, Mojave and Boston super mutants are universally green.

** Because the West Chapter from the [[VideoGame/{{Fallout}} first game]] is the iconic iteration of the "asshole Brotherhood" model in most fans' eyes. To say nothing of the fact that it was the original chapter of the Brotherhood.
** Also, ''Fallout: Tactics'' is BroadStrokes canon since the Midwestern Brotherhood of Steel is mentioned as a small chapter by the Brotherhood Scribe in ''Fallout 3'' when you ask about it. Their massive empire is absent.

* I can understand why the [=BoS=] hate Super Mutants (mostly evil except for the rare sane members) and Synths (spys for The Institute), but why do they hate sane ghouls? Its not like they are going to go feral at any second.
** The Brotherhood are, essentially, high-tech Tribals at heart. Elder Lyons managed to blunt a lot of their FantasticRacism against Wastelanders but he didn't get anywhere with nonhumans of other stripes and Elder Maxson doubled-down on it. The Brotherhood of Steel hates ghouls because they're "not people" (ugly, undead, and radioactive) rather than because of the many who have gone Feral. It helps from a Doylist perspective to remember the Brotherhood hated ghouls before Feral Ghouls existed in Fallout 1. In short, the reason they hate sane ghouls is because they're bigots.
** It also should be noted that Elder Maxson's RousingSpeech is basically scapegoating and designed around giving his soldiers something to focus their rage on. "Destroy all non-humans" is a pretty good way to get his men to rally around him as well as give them a common cause.
** Maxson's pretty much a Bigoted Prick who's subtly implied to be a pawn of the elders of the chapter I forget the one, I think the one that TRIED to fight the NCR?) who may have completely fabricated his combat record (because, come on, Single-handedly killing a Deathclaw in your (Pre)Teens?), who's taking advantage of his Reputation and the Hero-worship common in the troops under his command to push an agenda.ironically, not unlike a dark mirror of the Lyons Family trying to Lead the Brotherhood away from their self-destructive path.
** They hate ghouls for the same reason the Institute had ghouls ejected from Diamond City. Ghouls are almost to a person, all survivors of pre-war America. The Institute threw them out because it didn't want their historical Pre-war culture and philosophies permeating into the general population. The Brotherhood thinks Pre-war Technology is bad, and wants to keep that technology away from the Wastelanders. Ghouls are the best shot a Wastelander has to gleam info about Pre-war Technology, so by eliminating them, the Brotherhood deny the Wastelanders access to old tech.
** The Brotherhood has no issues with sane ghouls. Their issue is with ferals, who attack any human they encounter on-sight.
*** Except that bringing Hancock on their airship will have the occasional [=BoS=] soldier badmouth him for being a Ghoul. Even your other companion, Danse, will call him a filthy Ghoul when swapping companions. They may not shoot regular Ghouls on sight, but they're really not fond of them as a whole and are probably hoping they go Feral so they can gun them down for a valid reason.
** Imagine for a moment that you're watching the Fallout universe from the outside - you see humans struggling to survive in a wasteland brought to ruin due to people misusing technology. You also see monstrosities, horrors and mutations that were never supposed to exist in the first place. It doesn't take much to realize how ''wrong'' they are. You never have the opportunity (or desire) to mingle with the population - so you never have to wrestle with the fact that (non-feral) ghouls and even some Super Mutants are still every bit as human as they once appeared. It's just easier to wipe out the "monsters", to return humanity to what it once was. This is essentially the view of the Brotherhood of Steel - they see themselves as protectors on-high, saving humanity from monsters, and itself, for the greater good. Even in ''Fallout 3'' they weren't that far removed from these beliefs, if anything, they were merely a bit more "hands on" with the local population. They still freely took pot shots at the (non-feral) ghouls outside of the Museum of History. It's just that their enemy was far more black & white, compared to the shades of grey that populate the Commonwealth.

[[folder:Is there a joint Minutemen/Railroad ending?]]

* Haven't heard anyone mention this as a possibility, but it seems like the Minutemen and Railroad endings go together pretty well in terms of goals, and its very easy for the minutemen to basically control all the settlements outside of Diamond City anyway if the Railroad wins.
** To be fair, the Railroad and Minutemen don't have any real reason to get in each other's way so either of them winning helps the other. The Minutemen as LawfulGood ReasonableAuthorityFigure types contrast to the Railroad's ChaoticGood RebelliousRebel business but neither have anything against the other. So if either wins, the other wins. At least in theory.
** Yes, there's a joint Minute Men/Railroad ending.
** How do you get them to talk to each other? It seems like it never comes up beyond me being general of the Minutemen.
** You basically just don't have to destroy either with the other, is my understanding. So they both keep operating, regardless of which one you actually "pick".
** If you infiltrate the Institute as a member of the Railroad but then get banished from the Institute, the leader of the Railroad specifically asks for the help of the Minutemen.
[[/folder]]

** I wouldn't be that surprised if he wasn't a human brain in a mostly synth body. And we know human brains can be kept alive artificially for centuries.

* I haven't encountered a single one after playing roughly 65 hours and being over level 40. Were they omitted for some reason?
** It appears so, replaced by the new robots. As a canon explanation for their lack of presence in the commonwealth... everything they can do, the Assaultron can do better. Maybe Mr House chose the commonwealth as a testbed for marketing his design as an alternative to General Atomics'.
** A terminal at the Robotics Disposal Ground makes mention of several defective Robobrains being delivered shortly before the war, so they are at least acknowledged in the game. Their absence is likely purely Doylist in nature: there are already so many robotic enemies which serve the same gameplay functions as the Robobrain that there was little point in including them.
** Protectrons, Mr Handy, Assaultrons and Sentry Bots dominate the Commonwealth; they are far more durable and deadly, and its likely the Robobrain never found a market there.
** It looks like they are going to be part of the DLC that will be released in March. If you really miss the Robobrains, you will be able to find them again in the Automatron DLC.
** The Robobrains are back with the Automatron expansion and you'll wish they weren't. It turns out there was a R&D facility producing them to be shipped around the country but none were ever released into the Commonwealth, which explains their absence... until now. The Mechanist has found the facility and has started the program up all over again, The Robobrains are back and commanding legions of robots to help the people of the Commonwealth... except that the Robobrains interpret "helping" as "ending suffering through [[MercyKill the quickest, most efficient means available]]".

[[folder:Timeline and New Vegas]]
* Have I heard it wrong? Does Fallout 4 take place in 2077, before the events of ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''?
** The main game itself will very, very likely take place after New Vegas, but the idea of seeing or visiting 2077 is not out of the question yet.
** I think this is just cutscene-material. We will be playing after the war.
** There's some speculation over in the official Fallout 4 forum that the guy wearing the 111 suit was [[spoiler: actually a pre-War citizen that was frozen in stasis and only awoke 200 years after the world ended.]]
** There's no reaåson why the game can't be set before New Vegas. The plots of the two games are unlikely to intersect, and setting it before actually frees up Caesar's Legion to have a possible role in the plot (Caesar tried to scout east after his failure at the First Battle of Hoover Dam).
** Truth is, we have yet to find out what year it'll be set. For all we know, we either jump forward a hundred years to 2380, or we're back in 2277.
** The Dweller's Robo-butler (who, like most other Mr. Handy's, survived the blasts) tells him it's been "200" years since he was put into stasis, placing this game in 2277, the same year as ''3''. However, it's unknown if this is accurate, or simply an approximation. It could easily be something like 205 years, which would place the game a year after the events of ''New Vegas.''
** I believe I read somewhere that Bethesda have some internal decree that says that a new installment in a franchise must advance the timeline. There was something about Fallout 3 was meant to take place quite early in the Fallout timeline, but this was changed because of the decree.
** Not sure why this hasn't been updated with the E3 info, but here we go: The game starts in 2077 for character creation and the first bits of introduction to the new game mechanics. Then you find out that ''this is the day the bombs fall'', you rush to the Vault...cut to two centuries (ish) later, you wake up (presumably from some sort of suspended animation) and find out you're the sole survivor of Vault 111.
** Personally I think that Codsworth saying you're 200 years late for dinner probably means it has been 200 years. I feel the Robot would specify if it had been 205 years. Honestly, if they didn't have to account for the game being free roam and the possibility of you taking your sweet time getting to Codsworth, I could picture him narrowing it down to the month and day as part of the joke.
** He actually clarifies it, after.
** Due to the leaks, we know the game takes place in 2287, after both Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Female Veteran?]]
* So apparently the player character is a veteran even if she's a woman. However, i didn't see anything indicating that there were female soldier in Pre-War's America. Plus, considering that Pre-War America had all the value of 50's America, how is it possible a woman was admitted in the military?
** While it is historically unlikely the female performed in a combat role, woman have been admitted as nurses throughout American military history.
** [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}} Operation: Anchorage]] had female soldiers as part of your squad. Also its an alternate timeline where America has been fighting a war against China for years on end. If they're low enough on manpower, there's no reason they couldn't send women to fight.
** It's probably fair to assume that certain elements of society advanced beyond 1950s sensibilities, in regards to racial and gender equality. For instance, you can make the protagonists an interracial couple, married and living together in a well off suburban neighborhood; that wouldn't have flown in the 1950s.
** [[GameplayAndStorySegregation There's a trope for that]].
** Considering that more traditional racism has been seemingly entirely replaced with the FantasticRacism against ghouls and mutants in the Fallout universe, it seems likely that pre-apocalypse society was probably pretty socially egalitarian (if not fiscally so).
** Further underscoring this is the way contemporary people refer to the Chinese. Whenever they speak ill of them, they only refer to them as DirtyCommunists, and never once bring any obvious YellowPeril tropes into it.
** ''Slightly'' subverted by Liberty Prime's constant references to the threat of the "Red Chinese." To be fair, there were probably still other types of Chinese, but...
** Still focused on the communism, though, so it's not so much racism as jingoism.
** The Trailers show a dude, so canonically it's probably a dude, but with Androids it doesn't matter. Its all just data and machine parts. During WWII Women were part of the Homefront focusing on Manufacturing, and industry. But in the Cold War we've had countries train women in the use of arms. If things got bad enough Women could be training for service.
** There's never been a canonical gender for any Fallout protagonist but the first, I believe. Also, it's not been confirmed that the protag is an android.
** To answer the question: [[CaptainObvious Because she applied for it.]]
** Only Nate is a veteran, Nora's a lawyer. (She could maybe have been a JAG officer I guess)
** There's several answers for this question. The first one I can think of, is that at no point is it directly said that Nora is EXCLUSIVELY a lawyer. In fact, the holotape given to her by Nate specifically says "dusting off the law degree". Which means she hasn't been a practicing lawyer for some time. Which means for the last several years she's been doing something ''else''. What that something else may be, your guess is as good as mine, but given her proficiency with firearms, power armor, and such, a military background isn't out of the question. The other possible answer is the other way around. She served in the military or law enforcement when she was younger, but then got a law's degree and retired to be a practicing civilian.
** In New Vegas, 3, and 4, you can find propaganda posters depicting an integrated workforce with women and Africa-Americans working alongside others. Additionally, the pre-war world had many women in positions of authority, and as one user said, Anchorage proved that women served in combat roles. There's even an interracial lesbian couple living on your street that you encounter when you run for the Vault at the beginning of this game! So yes, it's correct to assume that the prewar US is pretty socially liberal, if a little facist and nationalistic/war-mongering.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Brotherhood of Steel are evil, now?]]
* It'd been bugging me since the Release trailer dropped: Is the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel now bad guys after being the BigGood of sorts of the third game? Or could the Brotherhood we see in the trailers be the Outcasts?
** my best bet would be those are another Branch of The Brotherhood Of Steel. In case you don't know, they have 3 (known) branches: The West Coast branch, The Midwestern branch (perhaps non-canon, but they are mentioned in New Vegas) and the East Coast Branch. The last branch has rebelled and broken off from the rest and is practically a different faction of its own, and Fallout 4 is set 4 years before the event of Fallout New Vegas, before The Western branch was beaten into little more than a husk of it former self, so it's not impossible that The Brotherhood Of Steel we see in the game is the "True" one trying to destroy its Rebellious eastern cousin, or The Midwestern Branch making their move in the East. It is not however possible that they could be the Brotherhood Outcasts, since they are so undermanned that they have to use Robots as a large chunk of their troops and they so poorly-equipped that they have to get help from a complete stranger to open the Armory to get some more weapons, they barely hold their own in Capital Wasteland, let alone expanding into The Commonwealth. However, we shouldn't rule out the possibility that The Brotherhood Of Steel is our allies early on the game and turn on us later, or Vice Versa. Mostly because Bethesda has learned their mistake of portraying The East Coast Brotherhood as complete White Knights in a cynical Nuclear-desolated world. there must be more Grey areas in Fallout 4, making The East Coast Brotherhood more morally questionable would be grand.
** Some sharp eyed folks have spotted the symbol of the Midwestern branch on objects related to just group, along with the fact that they've been previously shown to have airships like the one pictured. The Midwestern branch for the record is generally sympathetic, but much more fascist and imperialist than any of the other branches.
** I wouldn't say evil, just morally gray. The Institute seems to be the primary antagonistic force in the game, and all the main factions hate them. It likely boils down to this (all speculation, of course) -- the Brotherhood has the tech and manpower to civilize the Commonwealth and eradicate the Institute, but has fallen back on their old KnightTemplar ways from their West Coast days and persecutes mutants and synths. The Railroad has high-minded ideals of equality, peace, and freedom, but lacks the manpower to make much of a difference and is likely seen as naive. The Minutemen are a middle-of-the-road "live and let live" group that's more focused on helping people survive the wastes and doling out frontier justice to those who deserve it.
** Going from their appearance in ''Fallout Tactic'', the Midwestern branch is unusually tolerant of mutants (and even recruits super-mutants) but governs by military dictatorship and forcefully 'extends their protection' to settlements that have resources to offer. Choosing them would keep the area safe and orderly, but would result in limited freedoms and handing more power over to a militaristic cult.
** IIRC, the Brotherhood/NCR war took place more than 4 years prior to the start of NV, so the West Coast Brotherhood could still be embroiled in conflict during this time or outright destroyed. I don't feel like the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood would be all that tolerant of a more fascistic splinter of the Brotherhood expanding into their territory. While the Outcasts were very weak in [=FO3=], perhaps they were able to reestablish contact with the West Coast and thus got the reinforcements needed to turn themselves into a major power? The CW Brotherhood suddenly going full-fascist while Lyons is in charge (seeing as 4 apparently takes place a single year after the end of 3). Edit: So after reading the Main Page, I remembered that 2287 is ten years after the end of [=FO3=]. However, apparently both Elder Lyons ''and'' Sarah Lyons are dead!? Owyn dying makes sense, but Sarah was barely in her 20s during 3! How in the hell did she die in the intervening years? Plus, apparently Arthur Maxson, who was being brought up as Lyons' ward, has now gone full-jerkass despite being raised by the third game's BigGood!?
** Going Doylist? IT's, essentially, a character check. The brotherhood was NEVER supposed to be the BigGood. Making them so was a blatant mistake, and is why the Brotherhood in New Vegas was liked better by hardcore fans. So, they're bringing the Brotherhood back to what they were meant to be. (Even if it requires fiddling with things).
** The answer is in the game: Elder Maxson took over after Elder Lyons and has reverted the organization to its traditionalist roots. He's TheFundamentalist and his attitude isn't really going over well with his largely recruited rather than born troops. In real-life, conservatives tend to take power after periods of great liberalization so this is nothing remotely surprising unless you assumed Sarah Lyons or the Lone Wanderer would take over.
** Sarah and her father both were in favor of extending their support across the wasteland, the support of a military organization who weren't individually ever particularly polite to you nor sympathetic to civilians. They were always a little naive in thinking that a 'benevolent' martial government was ever going to be viable long term, it's all too easy to corrupt.
** Also even in Fallout 3, the Brotherhood were still mostly dicks to you until you started working with them about halfway through. The Citadel gate guard treated you with scorn and wouldn't even give you a chance to apply to join. Their patrols wouldn't give you the time of day. Even Sarah Lyons and her squad treated you much like a dirty hobo they picked up when they met you outside Galaxy News Radio. I mean they ''were'' nicer than the West Coast Brotherhood...but not by much.
** Not to mention, if Sarah is dead Maxson would have taken it badly. If you read his diary entries in 3 his awe and affection for her is pretty obvious.
** which begs the question: why would he essentially destroy everything She and her Father Fought for if he cared/looked up to her so much,and does anyone else wish there was a character present who KNEW the Lyons to Call him on this?
** Blaming the person who is dead for character flaws that you feel GOT them dead is a fairly common symptom of grief.
** They aren't ''evil'' as much as "almost exactly like the [[VideoGame/FalloutTacticsBrotherhoodOfSteel Midwest chapter]]; wich had a "either you agree to serve us, provide us with men and supplies, and we protect you, or we kill you and take your stuff" policy.
** It could be argued that while the Brotherhood may be blunt (to say the least), they're not entirely without a point. Supermutants, feral ghouls, and synths ''are'' dangerous. Playing Devil's Advocate for a moment, the actual factors that make a ghoul feral aren't fully understood and the majority of supermutants tend to be violently unstable. And synths? While it can be argued that synths do have a right to a free existence, they were all created and programmed by the Institute. The Railroad may be able to help liberate synths from their programming, but can we ''really'' be sure that there aren't hidden programs or subroutines that could turn that sweetheart of a liberated courser back into a cold-blooded killing machine? The Brotherhood's policy of 'shoot synths first/ask questions never' may seem cold-blooded, but given the Institute's tactic of infiltration and assassination can they be completely blamed for it? Simply put, the Brotherhood's stated goal is the protection of humanity. While their definition of humanity is arguably limited, it's hard to argue against them when you take stock and realize that (companions and a few npc individuals and communities notwithstanding) ''every single ghoul/supermutant/synth is actively trying to kill you''
** That's hardly fair. Every human you meet while exploring is trying to kill you too. In fact, I'm pretty sure you'll kill more humans wondering around the Commonwealth than you will super mutants, ghouls, or synths. And it's the same deal in the last games too.
** It's not that they're ''evil'' per se, it's just that they're not entirely ''good''. Which, really, is par for course in this game - as none of the main factions are entirely good, or truly know what's best for the Commonwealth. They all ''believe'' they know - but it entirely boils down to which faction's beliefs mesh best with the player's beliefs, that makes said faction "the good guys" in the eyes of the player.
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** Actually, there's still plenty of open space in Fallout 4, too. And there are lots of other settlements besides Diamond City, even if you don't count the ones you can found yourself. Furthermore, the game developers could've simply established that some organization (like the Institute or the Minutemen) cleared the roads in the intervening 200+ years that passed since the Great War, thus making it easier and more practical for automobiles to be used. The Commonwealth has rain, cats, and androids (all of which were considered a rarity in the rest of the series). Why not working cars and motorcycles, too? Or if they thought it would've looked like a GTA clone or something, they could've included giant mutated animals that you could ride on like a horse.
** The settlements have, at most, two people (aside from Covenant). They really don't count. Story wise, the Minutemen have never been strong enough to clear the roads. If you win with them, they set up at the check points and start doing so effectively. The Institute explicitly avoids interacting with the Surface World when they can, and can teleport themselves, thus have no reason to clear the road. Heck, the places you go to haven't even been looted in 200+ years, what makes you think anyone has the time and resources needed to clear the road? The androids are part of a faction that has teleportation (where they are going, they don't need roads), rain and cats are hardly a sign of technological advancement. Of all the giant mutated animals, the only ones who have actually been tamed are the Bramin. Everything else would kill you if you tried to ride it, and Bramin walk slower that a human can run making them poor mounts.
** Bethesda could've still introduced a species of mutated animal that ''can'' be used as a mount. They already established cats still exist in the Wasteland. Why not horses (or their mutated equivalents), too? And even if they were only using what they already introduced in the series, they could've given the Animal Friend perk another rank that would allow you to ride animals that you tamed.

** I think this event occurred in between the ten-year span of Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. As I understand it, Li thought that Project Purity was going to be use solely to provide the citizens of the Capital Wasteland with clean, non-irradiated water, but then the Brotherhood began to use it for their own personal gains, [[NotSoDifferent much like the Enclave was trying to do in the climax of Fallout 3]]. In short, she felt the Brotherhood had betrayed not only her, but everything she and James had fought for and suffered to get Project Purity to work by acting like the Enclave, so she just left.