Last Week Today · 10:09am Jul 18th, 2015
art by NCMares
This week, instead of the usual single topic, I'm going to shotgun out a number of tidbits that you might like to know about. First:
...to the Fallout: Equestria Reddit community! On July 15th, the Fallout: Equestria subreddit was honored as Reddit's "Subreddit of the Day".
wallpaper by Bluedragonhans
This week also marked the very friendly and successful Reddit "cultural exchange" between members of the My Little Pony and SquaredCircle (professional wrestling) subreddits. It's always cool to see that kind of positive interaction between very foreign fan groups.
(It also spawned some nice art like this week's opening feature piece by NCMares. 
)
In Fallout-related news, Bethesda released a couple new videos of Fallout 4 gameplay and combat from their E3 showcase:
This is familiar footage, so there isn't much in the way of new information to be gleaned. However, that hasn't prevented Arkuhtect from obsessively checking each frame for any new clues, and he has broken down what he has found here.
I was alerted to this by Eurogamer, whose Fallout 4 Friday video this week covers the most interesting bits, as well as talking about The Art of Fallout 4, the artbook for Fallout 4 which has recently appeared available for pre-order on Amazon. (He also does a bit regarding customizing keyboards for Fallout 4. Amusing timing to me, as this week I prepared for the upcoming game by purchasing a new keyboard -- a Corsair Gaming K70 RGB mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Red switches -- and installed the "Corrosive" profile to get that proper Fallout "Vats of Goo" look.)
Of course, the exploration video does again stir up concerns that Fallout 4 has significantly changed or even done away with skills, replacing them with an expansion of the perks system. Barring new evidence, this does seem likely. But I'm withholding judgement on whether this is a positive or negative change until I have a chance to play the game. I know there has been a lot of visceral negative reactions to the very idea, and I can understand that people are resistant to having something they are deeply fond of being altered. (Remember, there are still people who react with mindless vitriol at the very idea of ponies and Fallout.) But I remain firmly in the "change isn't necessarily bad" camp. The Fallout games, as much as we love them, aren't impossible to improve on. And just because something is beloved through the power of nostalgia doesn't mean it should be used as a template for future incarnations. Progress and evolution don't have to be evil and scary.
This upcoming movie might be absolutely awful.
But if so, it won't be because they made the characters female.
Any more than the original was good because the cast was male.
(But then again, I'm one of those heathens who actually preferred the cast of Extreme Ghostbusters, so what the hell do I know?)
As a final note, a lot of people have been asking if I will write another Fallout: Equestria story after playing Fallout 4. The answer is that I don't know. All the reasons that I voiced before about not wanting to write a sequel still apply. But they didn't prevent me from giving you "Origin Story". And if anything would be capable of inspiring me and driving me to write another story in the Fallout: Equestria universe, it would be a great new Fallout game!
My first foray into Fallout-themed writing was writing a series of "PipBoy Diaries" for my friends in the Fallout 3 Underground modder community. Essentially, a "Let's Play" in written form, rather than as a series of YouTube videos. If you guys are interested in that sort of thing, I think I could be easily persuaded to spend a number of my upcoming blogs delivering a written "Let's Play" of my first Fallout 4 playthrough. (Warning: it would, by nature, be both non-pony and full of spoilers.) Let me know in the comments if you would want to read that.
art byErthilo
On the topic of you potentially writing a journal recording your progress, I'd say lets go, pal!
I would totally be up for reading a pip-boy diary from you as you play. Although I might not actually read it until I get the chance to play the game myself, for want of avoiding spoilers. *Loves surprises more than hearing what is going to be new*
In regards to your ending question: Yes, I would like to read that.
(and yes you are a heathen, but I will admit it was not that bad all told)
While I have only played one Fallout game I can say that it will probably be my last one for a while. Truth be told I have sunk more time into playing New Vegas doing just the quests, than I have exploring both Liberty City and Los Santos from the Grand Theft Auto universe. Seriously, I have spent more time than I'm willing to admit playing Fallout.
Hopefully the Ghostbusters remake will be good, but seeing as how a lot of remakes aren't as good as the original I'll just have to wait and see. Actually, how many remakes have been better than the original movie?
In all honesty Kkat, I'm surprised you haven't written something not related to Fallout Equestria or Fallout. You've got a lot of talent using words and I'm willing to bet you could turn another game you enjoy into another well told story. If we're talking about sequels though, I personally enjoy stories told as a trilogy. My favorite trilogy being Fast and Furious movies four through six. Yes, that was made as a trilogy.
Before I go though, I have one thing to say about that wrestling picture. GIVE TIARA THE ROCK BOTTOM!
Don't let the naysayers get you down, Extreme Ghostbusters was awesome.
And even without making a true sequel, what about the idea of a stand alone story? A hero(ine) that was somewhat isolated from Littlepip's exploits, or started their journey before Fallout Equestria?
Just a thought.
i'd like some sort of story-related ponyfied journal, but it could be tricky... probably it will need a lot of adaptation and it would probably be better if the story was mostly related to the game but still going on its own tracks...
Journal of FO4 playthrough? Yes please!
If Extreme Ghostbusters is the one I vaguely recall and think it was.... yeah I remember liking it. Though not quite as much as the first Real Ghostbusters cartoon. Come on, it outright had Cthul'hu in it at one point. The movie... ehhhh skeptical. Not so much the "All women' as well, it's a remake which in and of itself is rather bad sign, the original cast had some fairly big name comedians at the time, this is, no one I've ever heard of. Plus the screen shot... those uniforms just look hideous to me for some reason.
And well can keep hoping you get some inspiration from FO4 that just makes you need to right more FOE.
The Let's Play-esque action reports sound really cool, actually.
Considering you took major storylines and locations from Fallout 1 to New Vegas, I don't think that Fallout 4 on it's own is enough material for a sequel to Fallout Equestria.
Yus.
Sure, I;d love to see that! Sounds cool! At least I'd get a taste of Fallout 4 before I can afford it...
the journal idea sounds cool, I've never seem someone take notes of their let's plays but could be a new experience.
I just hope the dont bitch around for the european market and give us the real uncut game and not the waste they try to sell us as "100% uncut", not like they had done with Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Getting the cut content from the interwebs is a pain.
I would read that lets play blog thing. That sound cool.
hi hi
I might put a lets play into the "read it later," category, until I'm not worried about spoilers anymore, but I still think it is a good idea for those who are less bothered by spoilers. (And anyway, I'd get around to reading it eventually.)
As for getting rid of skills, I say good riddance. It isn't like you compare your character's skills to anyone else's when determining the outcome of a conflict like in a tabletop game. I find that it can actually break immersion when your own character is struggling with raising their skills, but the opponents never seem to have any trouble firing a gun or swinging a blade/fist/claw. In Fallout 3 and Wasteland 2, that was very noticeable when I was struggling to put points into non-combat skills, and I'm running across random raiders, all with crackerjack accuracy.
Not to mention the issues of being a grandmaster in one skill, but totally incompetent in a related skill, but then again, if I was making a skill list, I would probably make a different one.
I also really hope Ghostbusters is good. I hear that Dan Aykroyd is working on the writing, that could help. Remaking Ghostbusters is going to be hard, since the original was so well done, but there have been remakes that have surpassed the originals in the past, like Oceans 11, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Insomnia, and Gone in 60 Seconds.
I would totes read a let;s play of any kind
I say if yo ufind inspiration, you will find inspiration. If you do not, you will not.
Though i would rather see a new story about the universe over a absolute sequel. Largely cause removing littlepip from her little pod would kinda ruin the everything about fallout equestria.
I can't even begin to describe how utterly fantastic that thing is. Thank you so much for this blog! Not only did I see some awesome footage that I missed, but now I have this "corrosive" thing to buy and love. Simply awesome...
I would definitely read the blog/let's-play thing, after playing the game for myself first of course.
I have a pet theory about this new system. I think Bethesda made SPECIAL more Skyrim-like - we still would have skills, but they would work like achievement perks from FNV (deal X amount of damage with Y weapon and gain Z more damage/less spread/whatever). And of course we still would have usual perks.
Disclaimer: I don't have a single scrap of evidence to back up this theory, I just like the idea of improving skills by actually using them rather than by allocating points. Yeah, this kind of leveling isn't ideal either (*cough* *cough* make lots of iron daggers and become the supersmith *cough*), but it's better than improving your craftsmanship by killing everything in sight.
I'm interested.
I'm cautiously optimistic about the skill change. Making them perks makes sense. Honestly, many of the skills already operated that way. Lockpicking, for example, had distinct break-points, with intermediate values having no real effect, basically turning it into a skill that only had four distinct levels (Plus "unskilled"). Several other skills are largely dependent on similar break-points, and most of the other effects are small enough that turning them into perks doesn't really lose anything.
Remains to see how well it's done in the end, but I could see it working quite well.
I wouldn't read it, but I don't have to read it. I don't read all the blogs that pop up on my list. Then again, maybe I will. Depends on how quickly I progress myself.
Damn it, why isn't it November already?
As unlikely as it may be that you will, if you ended up writing a new Fallout: Equestria story for Fallout 4 that would make me utterly freaking happy.
That exchange between /r/SquaredCircle and /r/MyLittlePony was incredible. I'm so glad I was able to be there to watch that all go down. I've certainly not been in this fandom as long as you, but I don't think I've ever seen such an influx of individuals with no connection to this fandom keep such an open mind about things, and really participate in the community. In fact, it marked the second-highest single-day new-subscriber mark since stats are available for the subreddit. It was all-in-all just very heartwarming and a great reminder of the magic of friendship that the series always tries to teach us.
I've no opinion on the gaming thing; I'd probably not read it though. If you decide to pen any other fiction, whether FOE-related or no, though, I'd be there!
Dude, I'd totally read that.
Having watched a number of the videos, the gun play seems and sounds like wolfenstien: the new order and old blood. As for skills I'm wondering if they are to run them like skyrim and oblivion where you gain through use.
You should write a new story all together, completely unrelated to FoE.
As I'm planning on doing nothing but play it the second it goes live, and my playstyle is similar to your "pick a direction and meander", It would be awesome to read your journal entries and compare our journeys!
You should totally do that. Hell, I might actually do that. Make some use of my dusty old blog
Would definitely read the Pipboy diaries.
I'll read the Pipboy diaries after I beat Fallout 4
I'd like the Pipboy Diaries, though I'd honestly hold off on reading them until I'd played Fallout 4 extensively.
The exploration is most of the fun for me, seeing the stories and hidden gems the devs put in as well as our own unique experiences in the wastes.
The latter is why I'd be interested in the Pipboy Diaries - it may be the same game, but we all have different experiences and see things in a different light.
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On perks vs skills, I'd personally like a more perks focused system.
I always enjoyed the unique and often quirky perks in New Vegas to the bland, seemingly invisible impact of skills.
It made me feel like my character was progressing in a unique way based on my decisions, not simply getting generically better.
In my opinion Skyrim's perk progression system worked well with by offering more design space to how players progress, with more noticeable and unique changes.
Extreme Ghostbusters has always been and will always be best Ghostbusters :) Even the theme song was better.