I'm getting really tired of all these petty complaints, normally about basic game logic type stuff.


Reading a full length in-depth book gives you a lasting boost in knowledge. Reading a few articles out of a magazine gives you superficial knowledge that's just barely effective enough to get the job done for a short time.

If it bothers you that much, don't use them and find something worthwhile to moan about.

I don't want to be a god in this game. I had all of that that I could stand in FO3.

I'm perfectly fine with a temporary skill boost. I have nothing against that. But as a magazine that you "forget" a few minutes later, it makes no sense. I guess for me its the whole thing about reading information from one source provides a permanent skill increase but the same information from another, very similar source is only temporary. It just makes absolutely no sense.

Try this as an example.

You read the phrase "To configure what programs run on system start up, type "msconfig" into the run bar of the windows start menu then click the "startup" tab."

If you read that from a book or magazine, or even online for that matter, you still read it. There's no logical reason that you would retain the information if you read it in a book but forget it if you read it in a magazine.

Why does it matter? Holy Bahjeezers.

It's a gigantic load of BS is what it is.

Fallout NV = a game. its not real life. stop whining.
seriously, don't buy the game if you disagree with this easy concept.

Because it makes no sense at all to retain information read in a book when forgetting the same information minutes later that was read in what is essentially a thinner book.

:rofl:

how about this for an explanation... every time you read a magazine 5 minutes later a magic fairy comes over and hits you in the head with a bat causing you to lose your memory of the last 5 minutes...which invloved reading the magazine... yea that explains how you forget right thrrr

It makes no sense that I can reload a save after I die. This game svcks

While I get your attempt at sarcastic humor, I find it as valid an explanation as anything else.

Yea man. I mean like, how dumb of a concept is that? I agree. Not buying this game anymore.

I think the implication is you read a book to learn something for life, but a magazine you're just reading casually.

Like you're leaning against the elevator reading your issue of "fixin' things" and you say "oh, look, an article on how to fix elevators, isn't that cool!"
And then you say "oh, wow, this could work, i can do this!" and you fix the elevator.

*cut to 5 days later*
"Oh another broken elevator... how did I fix that last one? Aww Hell, I forget. Where'd that magazine go to? Huh. I must have left it somewhere. Shoot."

Okay, how about this:

You come across a terminal you can't hack, but one of the magazines in your inventory JUST HAPPENS to have an article about the EXACT kind of terminal running the EXACT operating system you're trying to hack. So you read that mag, hack the terminal, but when the temporary bonus wears off, that reflects the fact that all other terminals are different with slightly different operating systems.

You come across a lock you can't pick, but one of the magazines in your inventory JUST HAPPENS to have an article about that EXACT kind of lock. So you read the mag, pick the lock, but when the temporary bonus wears off, that reflects the fact that all the other locks in the world are different.

You're shooting geckos, and one of the magazines in your inventory JUST HAPPENS to have an article about hunting game out in the desert using the EXACT kind of gun you use with the EXACT kind of ammo you have loaded into it, thus giving you a bonus for the duration of the fight, and when it wears off that reflects you're fighting other things in other terrain.

You're crippled after a fight, and one of the magzines in your inventory JUST HAPPENS to have an article about the EXACT type of injury location you have, and when the bonus wears off that reflects you having a different injury?

Do you see where I'm going with this? Does this work for you?

There's no need for that kind of sarcasm. I guess I'll just sulk quietly until a GECK is released and I can mod the magazines to work differently.

I can assure you it can happen. As soon as I close this thread I'll forget about it and do quite well, thank you.

I'm actually serious.

I say this is the perfect explanation. It's like a "cheat sheet". Sure you're reading it, but you're not going to absorb all the information into your head. It's just like copying somebody else's homework in school to try to get a better grade (considering they know more than you on the subject). Copying that person's assignment will get you better results, but you really won't learn anything new.

The fact that these exist to placate the whiny [censored]s from NMA doesn't upset you?

lol... That's actually somewhat helpful. Still means we're very lucky to always have a magazine with the exact article we need but it actually is somewhat helpful.

why should anyone be concerned about NMA? Thats like worrying over the codex's opinion of nv lol

Really? Care to explain? If anything I thought the way magazines work would actually be ONE MORE thing for NMA to complain about. Among many, many other things.

Yes, I know, but we have a SPECIAL stat dedicated to luck, plus other mysterious ways of affecting the outcome of events (such as having a Mysterious Stranger following us around and popping up out of nowhere, and now Miss Fortune as well), so I figured this would be palatable in the Fallout world. I do what I can to help out. :fallout:

I don't know what you're talking about. I don't go to NMA.

Nice name btw. Avatar reference? The cartoon, not the big blue people.

I don't care about immersion or how they work, or any of that.

From a game mechanics standpoint it's self-contradictory.

They want Skill point allocation to really matter. Meaning that there are going to be some skills you will not be able to level, thus they will be ineffective. Then they add temp buffs that allow you to do things with the skills you couldn't level.

When I think of how this design meeting went, here's what I picture.

Ok, so we are going to reduce skill points. Players will have to think about skill allocation and pick different options on different playthroughs.

Well, yeah but we have a problem. See, we added so many skill challenges, that if players stick primarily to combat and survival skills, they really aren't going to be able to do to much in game.

Oh. Welllllll...how about we just add some temp buffs, so they can do stuff anyways?

Errrrr...I thought we didn't want players to be able to do a bunch of different things on one playthrough.

We don't, that's why they get less skill points.

Ummmm, yeah, whatever, I just work here. Temp buffs coming up. Magazines ok?

Its a [censored] game.