Fallout

The name is, ironically, quite appropriate; there has been a steady flow of negativity towards Bethesda ever since they began work on resurrecting this classic franchise.

I recently wrote (on May 5th, but didn't publish) my own thoughts on the development of the series:

When the Fallout 3 forums recently opened I generated a new password and made my first posts at the Bethesda Forums (I had created an account the week before Shivering Isles was released, but never used it and forgot my password). What resulted was a learning experience for me. The immediate result I took out of it was a reminder of the depths of devotion - and strictness - that some hardcore gamers hold for their beloved developers. I also was reminded of the many areas in which The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion could be improved.

What was not evident to me was that I had reversed roles. When old and new collide I generally find myself on the side of tradition, because most of the time I was at times stridently [anti-Koji Igarashi, the current head of the Castlevania series].

Boy, how times change.

Since then, I've mellowed out a bit. Casual gamers need some love too, and I don't begrudge the Pokemon gang their new Castlevania games quite like I used to.

Also, there was a slight incident on the FO3 forums on the 8th. I made a post for giving away (ahem, community building exercise) free RAD/Away. RAD/Away, in real life, is a product for filtering liquids. You can't use it on your own blood, at least not easily. I then changed it to Neumune. Poof, topic deleted. Turns out a mod thought I was glorifying drug culture. To be honest, I thought it was amusing more than anything else.

Tonight I went with plan 2: Free Iguana-on-a-Stick! Strangely enough, I was counting on the first post to be exactly what was actually written, although as you can see I made only slight comedic use of the opportunity. Fans who know every last line...you've gotta love 'em.

Oh, right...a question, then: The "real" Rad-Away, Neumune, is not addictive in the least (you may feel the panicky urge to use it when rads are flowing throughout your system, but we cannot attribute this to any psychotropic effect of the actual drug!). Why is the product addictive in Fallout, then? I blame the military/industrial complex, an idea that the Fallout games make explicit use of. Simple enough. Hmm, addicted soldiers...somehow, I'm not convinced that this is a scheme the Pentagon would've been that complicit with, but who knows in the world of Fallout.