Quote Originally Posted by MCerberus View Post
I'd say the biggest difference between the worldbuilding styles is that Bethesda never seems confident in letting the setting inform the characters and having that do the heavy lifting. Everything not utilitarian to the player seems to be shoved off to the background.

Remember that moment in New Vegas when you talk to the Ranger commander the first time, and he talks about the lake? It's a sad moment where an old veteran doesn't know if he's left the world a better place. It has nothing to do with anything, is optional, but it MEANS everything if you do the quest associated with him.

Meanwhile, in FO4, 90% of the Railroad non-hostile NPC's doesn't have dialog options if they aren't handing you a radiant quest.
FTFY

And that's really my problem with the direction Bethesda went with the series. It's supposed to be an RPG, but there are actual unashamedly combat-focused first-person shooters with more plot development than FO4 (Rage 2 being an example). Your only interaction with NPC's, aside from shooting or vendors, is limited to a) Yes, I'll take your quest, b) I'll take your quest, but I'll be sarcastic about it, c) Make an RNG-dependent check to get some caps for agreeing to take the quest (or take it without the extra caps anyway), or d) I'll do your quest later. And 95% of the quests devolve into "Go here, kill that, optionally get something to bring back to me for quest reward".

I mean... come on. You went ahead and villainous the Brotherhood (as compared to previous fallout iterations, but especially FO3 and NV) and turned them into jackboot bigots, you've got the mustache-twirling sciency-evil of the Institute, and yet neither has any personality beyond 'Villainy for the evlulz'. Hell, Caesar from New Vegas has more charisma and personality than both put together, and manages to be both a more believable villain AND a nastier one in the bargain. I mean, it's kinda pathetic how you turn the Brotherhood into an actual literal racial purity faction and still somehow manage to make them as dull as wet cardboard. I mean, hell... Wolfenstein New Order has a better evil scientist than both the Brotherhood and the Institute combined.

You want to know how we got F76 and no NPC's? This is how we got there.