History GameplayAndStorySegregation / Fallout

* In Point Lookout, the most common enemies are "Swampfolk"; [[HillbillyHorrors psychotic cannibal hillbillies]] deformed by generations of incest and genetic pollution from the radioactive fallout carried into their swampy home by the Potomac River, armed with fairly low-tech weapons and wearing nothing but filthy rags and tatters. They ''should'' be easy prey for a more heavily armed and armored Vault Dweller, right? Wrong. [[DemonicSpiders They have defenses and health on par with some of the game's most elite enemies]], and they get ''an unshakeable +35 damage boost'' against the player character. There is ''no'' explanation for them being this strong and tough in-universe, because its "justifications" are purely meta: they were artificially bumped up because the developers figured that by the time the [=DLC=] dropped, most players would have late-game or post-game characters ready to take the trip. It's literally FakeDifficulty at its finest.

* Averted in one sense. Most games from [[VideoGame/Fallout3 the third game]] onwards takes place centuries after the great war. And while various official and [[WebVideo/GameTheory non]][[WebAnimation/FalloutLoreTheStoryteller -official]] sources have attempted to justify why civilisation hasn't been totally rebuilt by that point, [[SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfTime all cities should be overgrown and large buildings collapsed due to lack of maintenence.]] WordOfGod, however, is that they were aware of this but kept the setting and aesthetic mostly the same to fit the genre, and [[AnthropicPrinciple it's been established that science and physics work very differently in the Fallout-verse.]]

*** Though this is downplayed since he's only the third wheel in terms of Elijah's plan. For Elijah Dog/God and Christine have specific skills for their roles which he has planned out while Dean is just another body. In terms of the wider story Dean has the most experience and history with the villa and could probably be the the BigBad of the DLC if it weren't for his bomb collar.

* Most of the shelters used by characters (and later players, after the fourth game introduced settlement building) match the post-apocalyptic aesthetic, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIrB9TFmCmA&list=LL&index=3&ab_channel=GreyGaming would actually be insufficient to survive the climates of the real-life areas the games take place in,]] let alone in worlds where radioactive rain is a regular phenomenon. Shelters with actual insulation, and few to no holes in the roofs and ceilings are either exclusive to enemy or wealthy factions, and or require high-level perks and abundances of material to construct, meaning many people survive or even thrive in living conditions where freezing to death or having everything they own ruined by bad weather would be a common occurence. Without this aesthetic, though, much of the franchise's world-building would be undermined, though.

* In Point Lookout, the most common enemies are "Swampfolk"; [[HillbillyHorrors psychotic cannibal hillbillies]] deformed by generations of incest and genetic pollution from the radioactive fallout carried into their swampy home by the Potomac River, armed with fairly low-tech weapons and wearing nothing but filthy rags and tatters. They ''should'' be easy prey for a more heavily armed and armored Vault Dweller, right? Wrong. [[DemonicSpiders They have defenses and health on par with some of the game's most elite enemies]], and they get ''an unblockable +35 damage boost'' against the player character. There is ''no'' explanation for them being this strong and tough in-universe, because its "justifications" are purely meta: they were artificially bumped up because the developers figured that by the time the [=DLC=] dropped, most players would have late-game or post-game characters ready to take the trip. It's literally FakeDifficulty at its finest.

* One example acknowledged directly in dialogue: Doc Mitchell will remark if your Endurance or Luck is very low, which is at odds with being sturdy/lucky enough to survive a DoubleTap and recover in just a few days.
* A common issue pointed out by fans both during and after the release of several [=DLCs=] was that completing them out of the order they were released in (''Dead Money'', ''Old World Blues'' and ''Lonesome Road'', in particular) caused huge issues with the plot, with the Courier developing amnesia and being unable to ask DLC characters about their actions in other locales. (This was later explained by WordOfGod, via Josh Sawyer, as being prohibitive to do given the salaries of voice actors, and not wanting to bring them back just to record special dialogue for an unrelated DLC, and it would have been virtually impossible due to the nature of the engine, especially with the infamous rushed production of New Vegas, to code every DLC to account for other [=DLCs=]). As such, the plot goes completely out of whack if you complete, say, ''Old World Blues'' before ''Dead Money'', with the player character having significant knowledge of what Christine, Ulysses and Elijah were doing (over a period of several weeks/months) in the Big MT, but has no option to bring it up in dialogue, and both the characters and the Courier treat the reveals about "another Courier" and the "battle at the Divide" as some big revelation to the player, even if they'd already completed the latter DLC.
* EnergyWeapons are discussed as if they were fantastically rare, cutting-edge things few Wastelanders have ever seen... but Fiends and raiders (to say nothing of the Van Graffs) throw them around like party favors. At one point, Veronica wonders how the Fiends manage to cause more trouble than the Brotherhood despite their lack of energy weapons, in the middle of a Vault full of Fiends armed to the teeth with energy weapons. Though it oddly is explained where the Fiends got them from.
* Despite the comments that Legionnaries are trained to fight to the death with no regard for their own safety, members with low HP are still likely to run and hide.
* You can only use Empty Soda Bottles to make Cactus Water; you can't fill them with water from a tap to make a bottle of plain water, and you can't make Cactus Water from an empty bottle of any other drink (including soda bottles of ''specific brands''). Even in ''Old World Blues'', the sink you have in... The Sink home base [[YouHaveResearchedBreathing needs to be upgraded to fill bottles.]] ''Honest Hearts'' adds the ability to make homebrewed Nuka-Cola, which requires an empty soda bottle, not the visually-identical ''empty Nuka-Cola bottle''.
* A wrench, which is used to craft a weapon repair kit, mysteriously disappears when the repair kit is used.
* Bedrolls are found all throughout the Mojave, but the player can't actually pick them up and use them as portable bedding. Portable bedroll kits would be introduced in the ''Lonesome Road'' DLC... of which there are only three, and the player is likely to miss at least one of them by accident if they're not thorough checking every location. Notably, there is a mod (included in New Vegas Enhanced Content) that turns ''all'' bedrolls into Roughin' It bedroll kits, along with lowering their ridiculous value (a bedroll kit is worth nearly '''6,000 caps''' in-game) to a much more realistic 20 caps.

** The [[IconicOutfit Veteran Ranger Combat Armor]] (the one on the cover and all the trailers) itself. Everyone says that the special thing about them is their low-light optics... which the player cannot use until ''Lonesome Road'' with the Riot Gear and [[AceCustom its Advanced and Elite variants]] with Sneak Sight. Even more galling is the fact that in the opening movie, you see a Veteran Ranger [[CutscenePowerToTheMax turning on his low-light optics before performing a headshot on a poor Fiend.]]
** Conversely, the Desert Ranger Combat Armor (a set of NCR armor used by a former soldier in multiple historical in-universe battles, and later worn by Randall Clark prior to the events of the ''Honest Hearts'' DLC) is not considered to be faction armor, despite being functionally-identical in shape and major design features to all other NCR Ranger gear. This means you can parade it around Caesar's camp without anyone looking twice. More notably, NCR Rangers will even comment on it at some locations in the gameworld, suggesting the faction ties were cut late in the armor's development.
** The Remnants Power Armor is a fantastically-rare set that is only worn by a select few individuals within the Mojave (including the Enclave Remnants, and an explorer/prospector whose suit you can nab from the high-level Deathclaw Promontory near the southeastern corner of the map). In-universe, the NCR ''hates'' the Enclave and has a shoot-on-sight order (and in two of [[spoiler:Arcade Gannon's]] endings, the character is forced to go on the run when NCR rangers recognize his Enclave armor). However, you or your companions can freely wear Enclave armor around the Mojave without anyone saying a word, even around veteran NCR rangers like Chief Hanlon. WordOfGod from designer J.E. Sawyer is that he had intended to give the Enclave armor an effect similar to Ezio Auditore's family cape (a BraggingRightsReward) from ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', where all factions would attack the player while wearing it, but couldn't figure out a way to balance it in gameplay.
** Like the Remnants Armor, the Armor of the 87th Tribe is a BraggingRightsReward offered for completing ''Lonesome Road'' and letting the nuke destroy a Legion settlement (in Dry Wells), then defeating Gaius Magnus and pilfering the armor off him. Despite carrying similar colors to Legion armaments, being functionally identical to Legate Lanius' armor and sporting a ''massive'' Legion symbol on the back (that of the Bull), the armor is not considered to be tied to a faction. Thus, the player can parade it around in places like Camp [=McCarran=], Camp Golf or Camp Forlorn Hope without any NCR soldier batting an eye, even while the latter is under constant threat of Legion attacks.

** There is also the fact that wearing an enemy faction's armor will make the units hostile, it only applies to the player character, you can perfectly put a Paladin armor on Veronica and no one will react
* Collecting any of the snowglobes found in the [=DLCs=] before you've been to New Vegas will display a pop-up revealing that they've "been added to ''your'' snowglobe collection at the Lucky 38," in addition to handing the players 2,000 caps[[note]]In ''Dead Money'', this awards 2,000 Sierra Madre Chips, which (if traded in at max Barter value at the Sierra Madre Casino) result in 2,000 stacks of Pre-War Money -- approx. ''20,000'' caps at 100 Barter.[[/note]]. This is before you find out that the snowglobes you've been collecting are (a) apparently your property, not those of Mr. House's, and (b) they are located in a special area within the Lucky 38, spoiling greater prominence than the player might have originally believed. Notably, there are several mods that disable monetary rewards from the snowglobes entirely until you reach Jane at the Lucky 38 and speak to her for the first time.

** [[BigBad Father Elijah]], who despite being an OmnicidalManiac and perhaps one of the most callous characters in the entire series, has [[KarmaMeter neutral karma]]. Same goes for Dean Domino, who's TheSociopath. This is most likely because the former has to be taken out one way or another to complete the DLC, so it wouldn't make sense for the player to gain karma from killing him.

* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'':
** When talking to Codsworth, the protagonist is surprised that two centuries have passed, although the player is able to look at the date and time at the moment they activate the Pip-Boy. This is a DownplayedTrope example, since the situation is disorienting and nightmarish from the perspective of the player character.
** The Brotherhood of Steel has a shoot-on-sight policy regarding ghouls, synths, and super mutants, but have no issues with you bringing Hancock, Nick, or Strong to the Prydwen or any of their bases. This is especially odd because they ''will'' shoot [[spoiler:Danse]] on sight if you do the same, after discovering that he's a synth.
** Diamond City is also incredibly anti-ghoul, but Hancock has no issues getting in. This is a far cry from ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', where you couldn't enter Vault City at all if Lenny, your ghoul companion, is in your party. You have to leave him at the gate.
** Like in most games in the series, you get a bottlecap from drinking (using) a Nuka Cola or beer. You don't get an empty bottle though, even though empty bottles are a common item and can be used to make dirty or purified water in survival mode. Also, filling a bottle turns the bottle into a dirty water (which is stored in a carton) or purified water (stored in what appears to be a tin can). It makes sense then that you can't reuse the containers in normal difficulties, but in survival mode, why is the sole survivor throwing away beer bottles that he uses to store water just because they're empty when he found them empty in the first place?

* Averted in one sense. Every game from [[VideoGame/Fallout3 the third game]] onwards takes place centuries after the great war. And while various official and [[WebVideo/GameTheory non]][[WebAnimation/FalloutLoreTheStoryteller -official]] sources have attempted to justify why civilisation hasn't been totally rebuilt by that point, [[SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfTime all cities should be overgrown and large buildings collapsed due to lack of maintenence.]] WordOfGod, however, is that they were aware of this but kept the setting and aesthetic mostly the same to fit the genre, and [[AnthropicPrinciple it's been established that science and physics work very differently in the Fallout-verse.]]