I wonder how they'd be able to close off a large portion of the southern map..
With all the wildlife, raiders, mutants, bandits and scavengers out there I can't imagine their fence holding very long unless they have watchtowers around it.

I like the idea of closing us off to places, it means I'll actually have to do something to earn the right to explore there.

If that involves something along the lines of, using speech to talk my way through, sneaking through, or blasting through, I'm all for it. So long as it isn't easy. If I as a lowly starter character, and just blasted my way through a checkpoint of hardened soldiers, it should feel like it. I should just get by with the skin o' my teeth, and I should be generously rewarded with xp and item drops. Mirroring that, the stealthing should be hairy, and a speech success ought to involve the greatest yarn ever told.

I could see some areas being harder than others with regards to enterance and faction standings. But I don't think anything should be permanently locked. As MiamiThrice pointed out, full exploration will be somewhat gimped. If it's possible to kill everyone in the game, save one, I'm pretty sure that one way or another it should be possible to explore every area.

Edit: I didn't read the entire post...sorry...

In one of the interviews a dev said that they are using things like this gate to open up the wasteland in stages. Basically, they're limiting access to higher-level or late-game areas until you are equipped to deal with them. This is very much like gaining access to the strip--you need a high enough skill, enough money, or an item that is obtained through a quest. I imagine that there will be e few ways to open up the gate to the south--complete a quest for the NCR (or their enemy), talk your way through, kill the guards and get the key, etc.

It has been noted that a lot of the recent previewers were playing the entire game with one hour limit. Its not a special demo with only certain areas and things to do...they have the full map and a one hour time limit.

Demo or not, in the final game there will be many ways in, thats how fallout tends to work. You will probley be able to either use speech, steal the key, or do a quest. I think it's kinda cool to have it blocked, it gives us more things to do along the way.

As long as you can still break in by force I don't see anything wrong with it.

I imagine it's a restricted area. However, just because you're not allowed in doesn't mean you can't get in. You just have to be creative.

Or kill them.

Key phrase being "as long as you can still"...

The guy did say he went as far south as he could go, so, perhaps this gate is at the map border.

However it is common for some areas to be off limits to some characters based on their choices for some or all of an RPG. I don't see why this is an issue, choices matter.

Agree, the citadel and the Taft tunnels in FO3 were off limits for most of the game. But its funny how the mod I downloaded gave me a sewer access from my new bunker to the citadel and I was within the walls and they like didnt care a outsider wearing outcast power armor was within the citadel lol.

I would like to go underneath their gate if they won't let me pass. What if you don't want to join NCR or CL maybe you could find some diggers who have dug a tunnel into the southern land and you pay or kill them for access.

My understanding from the E3 videos is that a lot of quests are centered around the same objective but depending on your faction choice you have a different goal with said objective. For Example NCR the quest will be defending a town, and CL will be attacking the town. Maybe certain parts are locked until you accept that quest from your faction. So maybe to unlock that southern area you have to take a quest from your faction to attack, defend or other(Maybe transporting supplies to the highest bidder if you choose the people of NV or a different faction)

Its said that a neutral character will be very difficult to play as, so I can imagine a lot grinding until you are strong enough to blast your way in. :flamethrower:

I imagine if you work for neither faction there will be a different option. Such as this conversation:

NCR Ranger: "Hold up. I haven't seen you around who do you work for?"
PC: "[Lie] [Speech] I'm a trader. I was hopin' I could get through to sell my goods."
NCR Ranger: "[Success] Alright, but there is nothing ahead, but a bunch of Powder Gangers, and Deathclaws."

Or maybe some other skilled dialogue option such as [Guns]. Saying "Let me in or I'll blow you [censored] head off."

[quote name='CCNA' date='21 August 2010 - 11:02 AM' timestamp='1282406531' post='16304361']
The guy did say he went as far south as he could go, so, perhaps this gate is at the map border.
/quote]
I don't think its at the border because he made it sound like there was still land beyond the gate...

Cheers. Hoping the dialog is that versatile. :foodndrink:

O_O
I never think about the most simple solutions...
Great idea and awesome avatar bro.
One Piece is even more awesome than Fallout.

Same, because he received a quest to get through... There will probably be another quest for the other factions in order to get in.

^

Maybe the gate is at the end of the map but once you gain access beyond it you travel a couple of miles to a separate map. (Pitt, AAFB, PL, SAS)

Who's to say it blocks the entire southern part. It could have blocked just the lower left corner of the world map... We might be over-speculating.

Fallout fans never over-speculate. ^^,

Read http://www.vg247.com/2010/08/19/gamescom-keza-finds-significant-changes-in-fallout-new-vegas/ He kind of describes the same type of situation.

It's not really necessarily talking about areas with that sentence though.