Its great to see Bethasda putting in a lot of effort to provide lore to the series. Its comforting to see them trying to stay true to the series despite approaching the game play from a new angle.

Art looks nice, steampunkish. Hopefully they can recreate the same style ingame, too.

Shit that scared me for a sec. I had thought it was another FO:BOS game. D:

The concept art looks nice!

Awesome[bold]

That's some great looking art work. Kudos to Bethseda!

Bethasada is going to reinvent this series. and for the better.

Happy to see you guys are liking the diary. We've definitely received a lot of questions re: how the BoS would come to DC, so I was glad Emil was able to right something up about it.

Oh man, we need to cool the hype jets when everyone freaks out about concept art.. we don't want another bloated year like 2007.

I seriously cannot wait for this game. I don't care if it's as good or the same as 1+2... I just really want to play it.
 
Now.

Erased from cannon? Really? Cannons? If I knew there were cannons that needed wiping, I would have started playing Fallout a long time ago.

I -love- the Brotherhood of Steel, to me at least they are one of the more likeable factions in the twisted future that is Fallout. The PC game was not bad at all, but it made a huge, huge mistake that damned it forever with all of the super hardcore Fallout fans. It simply didn't follow canon properly and for that, it was cursed.

Not gonna comment on the console versions because they were pure shit. Also, in before Fallout pureists screaming about how Betheda's ruining the games.

I don't want to poop on the party, but I always thought that the point of the Fallout games was that nobody valued human life, even these saintly armor-clad knights. I'm not sure "honorable" and "courageous" are adjectives you could have really applied to any individual in the earlier games, let alone an entire faction.

separated factions of the BoS acting differently is 100% fine in my book.

I dunno about the change in direction for the BoS and I hope it's just a plot device for "the more things change, the more they stay the same." One of my favorite moments in gaming is the intro to Fallout 2 where two BoS "knights" perform an execution on the street and wave like in that old war clip. That's the BoS that I love, not because of their ideology, but mostly because of their stance that they're right because they're mighty. It makes killing them and stealing their armor much more fun.

Awesome, I really like the art, the lore article was very cool too. Keep up the good work, this game is going own. Can't wait.

@huginn: Are you kidding me? Bethesda is incapable of making a good RPG. Good looking, sure, but not a good game.

@Norellicus: What are you nuts ? Have you even played a Bethesda game ?

I still don't understand why Bethesda couldn't have just used these unrelated to Fallout ideas in their own sci-fi action game, instead of taking the Fallout story and twisted and pummeling it into submission so as to put their ideas in there.

@Norellicus: Yeah, look how aweful Oblivion was. It was so bad and sold so poorly that Bethesda almost went out of business! Oh wait, thats in Bizzaroland...what the hell are you talking about Norellicus?

Great story piece on the Brotherhood's role. Guess we know the two factions we can join now, the ragtag abandoned team or the badass Outcasts. Paragon or Renegade, Light Side or Dark Side.

Kinda cookie cutter, but still, it's nice to have the choice.

@KaneTaker: Shhh. Do not feed the noobs.

@spot778:
I'm an RPG lover and oblivion is one of my favorites.
You didn't like it at all?

@KaneTaker: Oh dear, you haven't realized it yet? That game was delicious in potential... but like every other Bethesda game, corrupt in such an essential, basic manner that it completely ruined the whole game. Enemies scale their levels to you. There are more problems with this than I can count, but I'll try. One, it completely eliminates any feeling of progress, because that bandit you fought 7 hours earlier and barely beat could STILL kick your ass with any luck. Two, it screws non-combat characters (like myself), so that if you spend a fair bit of time levelling off of mercantile and persuation, and non-combat magics, you suddenly find yourself completely outclassed by everything you meet. And three, and most importantly of all, it DOESN'T MAKE SENSE, and eliminates the entire point of having a level system at all. Why exactly does this goblin have enough time to keep up, skill-wise, with the hero of the nation, who spends ALL his time fighting?

Bethesda makes amazing, beautiful, deep, NOT FUN games.

@Ashurahori: Read your post a moment too late, sir... pray tell, what have I evoked?

@spot778, KaneTaker: Oblivion was a pretty graphic novel that told you to push a few buttons. It was not a good RPG by any stretch of the imagination (unless you like games that pretty much just carry you through the whole thing with little-to-no thought of your own involved).

You were not asked to assume a role and be that person, make all of their decisions, and live with the resulting consequences that actually mean something besides a single NPC getting pissed at you (see also: Mass Effect); the whole game was one big flat A->B->C linear process, set in a graphically stunning world and well defined story realm that left no space for you carving out your own personal niche in it.

@gstaff: Ahem... uhm... do you work at Bethesda? Um... well, please read my post before, and take it as contructive criticism? Each time I play one, I really WANT to like your games... I just don't end up liking them. The cliffracers and slaughterfish in Morrowind were a bit of a dealbreaker too, but there was more to it than that.

I wasn't a huge fan of Oblivion, to be honest, but it's clearly an excellently designed game in a style that I just wasn't too enamored with. If Fallout 3 retains a distinctive personality which is what I really felt was missing from the generic fantasy setting of Oblivion, then that'd be great for me. Also, from what I've read about the development of Fallout 3, they changed several of the things that I didn't like in Oblivion, making the combat more in depth and adjusting the way the leveling system works. In other words, it seems like Bethesda is doing everything I want as an RPG fan for the design of this game. So I am personally very excited for this one.

@Dangeresque:

I agree on the scaling. That was the dumbest idea I've ever seen in an RPG, which quite simply puts Oblivion behind Morrowind. That being said, I wouldn't go so far as to say that Bethesda doesn't make fun games. Perhaps they simply don't appeal to you.

Back in the day, I was a hardcore anti-Microprose gamer ('cause they suck), yet many people treat Microprose the same way I treat Looking Glass Studios. Yes, Microprose had some great titles, but they kinda went the Midway route in that though the genealogy (I've misspelled this) of Microprose is strong, enough crap came out of there that the name was stomped into the mud.

Oblivion wasn't such a bad game, I don't know why people crap on it so much. But what do I know? I liked Fallout Tactics:BOS.

@VishusBurn: yeah man, i agree with you. But i guess the idea of enemies leveling-up with your character could work, if only the combat-system was a little bit more refined and skill-based.

I think I am the only person that actually liked Fallout: Tactics. Of course, if I went back now and played it probably not so much.

Super-Mutants, here I come!

By the way, will there be any appearance by the Desert Rangers from Wasteland?

@jBat17: I'm sure I'll receive a ton of shit for this, but I liked the idea of enemies leveling with you in Final Fantasy VIII. It meant you didn't have to level grind (though you did have to draw-grind, but that's another story) and it shifted the focus from balls-out brute force attacking to tactically analyzing your situation and using your abilities to exploit weaknesses in your enemies.

I think a thinking man's (or woman's) game like Fallout would benefit from this, but definitely reward grinding in some fashion.

@code.monkey:

I liked it too. It's nice not having to level grind. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion tried to do the same thing I think, but failed horribly.

@Dangeresque: Now see, THATS a good argument against the game. That specific reason is why I got it on PC and not 360. Their was a mod in place within a month or so that made it non-scaling. The scaling did perturb me once I hit the first gate. Everything kicked my arse and no amount of leveling was going to help that.

@Norellicus: I agree Oblivion was a bit dumbed down. I lean more towards Morrowind myself as that had far more reaching consequences.

VISHUSBURN: I wasn't knocking Oblivion at all.

I actually thought Fallout Tactics was exceptional for what it was. A squad-based tactical game.

The fact that it was set in the Fallout universe (And a rather unused portion of it at that), was just icing on the cake.

Canon, not cannon.

One can only hope for greatness.

Damn that's some awesome artwork, and taking into consideration that the game will look very similar to what the artists have devised then I just hope that it offers gameplay just as awesome as the artwork is.
Is this game PC only?

I haven't really played Bethesda's games because I'm sick of the whole Medieval theme in games. The Elder Scrolls has thus never, ever appealed to me, but I can appreciate that they are the perfect company to take on Fallout, as they are used to making massive open-ended RPGs. Fallout 3 is definitely going to butter my parsnip.

@eldunce:
Someone gets it. The Brotherhood ain't a knightly organization.

And yeah, I'm not too fond of Oblivion, so I doubt Fallout 3 will impress me.

This'll sound crazy, but I wish Troika still existed and was making the game. There, I said it.

@Dangeresque: @Norellicus: I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Oblivion sucked. I really wanted to like it too.

why are so many people talking about the artwork? it was nice n all but...the little writeup about the BoS was about a million times better. i gotta admit, i'm now really excited about this game.

at the people who are saying that the BoS werent actually that knightly:

i disagree. okay, maybe they werent THAT knightly or heroic or anything, but u definately (or at least i did) got the sense that they were the good guys. i love the turn that they are making with the BoS and if a few certain critical things are done correctly (such as the combat system) then this will be the first game that i have truly loved in years.

Wait... what the..

Oh they have got to be shitting me, just the other day they said how "Morally gray" the game would be, and now they make one of the key factions into some steampunkish-goodguy-paladins-wannabies.

One of the main elements to the fallout series is how there is actually two sides of the coin, even if the coin is held by a dead infant in its cradle you know something good could come out it in the fallout universe.

Sqrew this, im going to sulk with my buddies over at NMA-fallout.com

@Mupp: "Sqrew this, im going to sulk with my buddies over at NMA-fallout.com"

Please lock the gate to hell behind you when you go in, we don't need the hoards of Fallout fanboys escaping here and screaming rape.

Haha, the Brotherhood of Steel has become Starfleet. Still, intriguing and beautiful artwork none of the less - I'd expect nothing less from Bethesda. Interesting read too.

@heretrix:

People crap on everything. Being negative is the new black!

@Norellicus: Why did you have to go and turn this thread to crap?

I'll be playing this game the day it comes and out and the haters can suck my nut.

I loved oblivion, the only issue I had with it was I figured out the dirtiest way to kill just about anything and then exploited the hell out of it. I was a mage/knight and created a super paralyze spell, so basically anything which wasn't utterly immune to paralyze I would zap em, they fall down and I'd mash em up with a giant melee weapon. If they started to unparalyze I'd quick paralyze them again. It was stupidly effective...

I think I made it even simpler later in the game, by using invisibility damn near constantly, backstabbing, paralyzing, mash, repeat...

@Vydas: Just because the game sold a crapton of units doesn't make it a good game. Otherwise Deer "Hunter 27: Revenge of the Hillbilly" should have won every Game of the Year award....

@