As with all the previous fallout titles, fallout has been designed as a single player game (Where the player is essentially a god in his/her own right, and what he/she does changes the entire landscape of the world)

This essentially means that ALOT of things in the original fallout cannot be present in the online (multiplayer) version.


For example, one off events. If as part of an quest, you have to kill the Master and you do so. What happens when you walk into the location the Master is in while ANOTHER player is attempting to kill the Master as part of the same quest? Do you see the 'dead' Master engaged in combat against the other player, or do you see the other player being like a stroke victim and fighting something YOU cannot see?

What happens to the fact that when you kill the Master, fallout radios and NPC will congratulate/berate your actions, but to another player (who has not completed the quest), that same radio channel/NPC will talk about the Master as if he's still there?


For that matter, what happens if as part of a quest you're tasked to blow up the headquarters of the Enclave and you succeed? You obviously will see the area as a crater, but what about another prospector (whom has not attempted that same quest)? Is he able to view that area as still new (as far as "new" in fallout goes) and not blown up? Can he still explore that area? Can YOU join that new player in killing the [already killed] Master?


What about killing merchants? If we blow up Crazy Ivan's head and wear it like a hat, where does that leave other players wanting to buy a Chem Blaster? This would also apply to the gun-runner's vendor-tron, or just any other ordinary NPC merchants.

What about wiping out an entire town? If I utilize a fat man/plasma caster/vindicator minigun/super sledge and go completely nuts in a town like megaton or Shady Sands, and liquidate EVERYONE there, would I come back and see that it is now a ghost town? What about OTHER players? What if I came back with OTHER players? WHAT WOULD WE SEE?

The TL;DR version is such : Fallout is all about a 'unique' vault dweller/chosen one/the courier, being able to change the political/economical/social landscape of the fallout world. So how much can YOUR actions affect EVERYONE else in a multiplayer online game without severely causing other players to feel the effects of your actions?

PS: I love the idea that Fallout will be online. I just don't understand how =) Feel free to disagree with me, or to suggest how this could be circumvented. and I'm not a gamesas-hating troll although I loved FO3 and FO:NV

If you've played another mmo's they don't have this problem. Instance'd zones or area's allow for non-interrupted events to happen. Summoned quest npc's allow for singular interactions as well. But let's be honest, why have an online game not be about interaction with other players. MMO's are not about playing by yourself they are about playing with others.