History Headscratchers / Fallout3

** That said, one way these issues could be solved is if the Lone Wanderer has an option to [[WhatTheHellHero call out the 'Good' characters who really aren't that Good]] (like with a Speech Check or certain dialogue trees), and causes them to have a HeelRealization - or at least, drop them from 'Good' to 'Neutral', so that, while it doesn't penalize the player for deciding to KickTheSonOfABitch, it doesn't openly reward them that much either.

* Vault 108 makes no sense whatsoever. The terminal in the Brotherhood of Steel Base that gives information on the various vaults in the region mention like 4 different experiments going on in Vault 108 (the power generator was rigged to fail, there were triple the normal number of weapons stocked in the armory, no entertainment, the Overseer had cancer, and the Overseer was responsible for personally choosing who filled important positions within the vault), but when you actually get there it's just filled with clones of some guy named Gary. There's no mention of anyone named Gary or a cloning lab on the terminal, and the vault lacks things that ''are'' mentioned, like the well-stocked armory. The only written information in the vault itself states that the clones were being made intentionally, but why? Why did they just keep cloning this one guy when all of the clones were always hostile to non-clones?

** My thinking here is, if the game allowed you to open or destroy the pods once you've been let free, this would open up additional options including some that'd be a lot better than inflicting anyone with a FateWorseThanDeath. If you decide it's better to MercyKill the trapped people but don't like the idea of inflicting Braun with an IronicHell, having the option of busting open Braun's pod after you and dad escape would solve that moral condundrum. Or, playing along with Braun only to bust a cap in his pod the instant you're free, while leaving the others untouched, could allow for what might be the best possible ending for the centuries-old vault dwellers, assuming that taking Braun out of the picture doesn't also kill everyone else like the failsafe does. Or of course betray Braun after playing along by removing his playthings, resorting to KillEmAll, whatever. I'm now curious if there's a mod for that...

** As for how the Enclave could effectively weaponize Project Purity without any mutated FEV: for it to actually have any impact downriver, logically enough of the Potamac has to be routed through it for it to affect the purity of the water. So now you have the Enclave effectively in total control of the system responsible for what must be a large portion of the river's water flow. If anyone makes trouble for them, they can either cut the water off or (if the resevoir upstream can't take being backed up like that) shut down the purification system and let everyone downstream enjoy having their water become radioactive again. Since it's made clear that purifying the river would be a massive boost to agriculture in the area (implying that other sources like local rainfall isn't cutting it). they could hold the entire region hostage and inflict collective reprisals on the wasteland (something that's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_punishment#By_Germany definitely a fit]] for a fascist organization like the Enclave). Autmun might balk at commiting a FinalSolution against all wastelanders, but this is still an organization shown in-game to experiment on and execute wastelanders who fail their genetic purity tests and shoot all ghouls on sight. At the end of the day, they still view wastelanders as impure and inferior, and using the concept of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_empire hydraulic empire]] to keep an enslaved population in check is entirely compatable with that mindset.

** The science behind Project Purity is just one big case of artistic license, intentional ZeeRust, or the writers just didn't care, what Dr. Li is researching is much more difficult and more important in dealing with agriculture. Pure drinking water isn't the issue when dealing with vegetation. Water itself does not hold radiation, just the impurities in it. The soil itself has radioactive fallout, and what is in the soil is what is being absorbed into the vegetation, so any radioactive isotopes still releasing their energy from the soil moves on into the plants, where it is concentrated. Humans or animals who ingest those plants will concentrate the radiation again, and then that's where the issues form. Several people in southern Utah for instance, would drink milk from cows who had eaten grass from irradiated soil left over from nuclear testing. The isotope Iodine-131 built up in their thyroids and caused a lot of damage (particularly in children, who are more susceptible to this sort of damage). For this reason, this is why people in Japan after the recent tsunami and the subsequent nuclear plant situation were given iodine tablets - the tablets are there so that the population would not absorb radioactive iodine into their systems, but rather the safer non-radioactive iodine.

** Oh, and what the hell is happening over in Europe during all of this? A terminal implies that Moriarty came from some other country, which we will assume is Ireland. There are also a lot of dead Chinese secret agents running around. I kept waiting for China or [[Franchise/CodeGeass Britannia]] to show up and be the new BigBad, but instead we just learn that Thomas Jefferson is god of all {{Idiot Plot}}s. Maybe only the USA got nuked and the rest of the world decided to leave it at that and get on with their lives?

** Indeed, within the simulation, the two choices are a final death via violent and brutal end by way of a virtual Chinese Army invading and killing everyone, or eventually working your way to murdering a rather nice older woman in a variety of horrible ways, before going MonsterClown on [[KillEmAll the entire neighborhood]].

** We know much more about how radiation works because of the extensive testing over the years, as well as from more recent nuclear events such as Chernobyl and Fukushima, as well as Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Wiki/ThatOtherWiki has a great article on it [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fallout here]]. Fancy that, it's even called Fallout. Simply put, radiation from nuclear bombs has a shorter half-life and will dissipate in that time. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were rebuilt in ten years after the bombs and have long since been non-radioactive. Chernobyl and Pripyat, both areas which are still quite radioactive, [[http://www.benlovejoy.com/journeys/chernobyl/exclusion/index.html have quite a bit of wildlife growing there only 20 years afterwards, despite being highly dangerous for humans]].

** I was always bugged by the fact that you would ''lose'' Karma for stealing from evil characters yet would ''gain'' Karma for killing them. Talk about MoralDissonance.

** I thought that too. Maybe, whether you're the Last, Best, Hope or the Scourge Of Humanity, CallingTheOldManOut is [[EvenEvilHasStandards just]] [[MoralDissonance too]] [[AssPull mean]].

* Vault 101's original purpose was never to open its doors. For some reason, however, they let your father in (unlike all the sign-toting skeletons you find in the doorway). It's probable James had a very high Charisma score and seemed like a nice guy. Not to mention he carried baby Lone Wanderer with him all that way from the Jefferson Memorial and probably looked extremely bedraggled and exhausted from the presumably harrowing journey. One tired man and a baby couldn't cause the vault any harm, right?
** As with most other Overseers, the one in V101 had shady dealings going behind the scenes...and "rules for thee, not for me" (ie; don't open the door) were standard practice.
** It was stated by the Overseer himself in the "Trouble on the Homefront" mission that they all kept quiet about it so that future generations would actually think that "no-one ever enters and no-one ever leaves." Simply put, they '''lied.'''
** Previous Overseers had sent out scouting expeditions - [[spoiler: the current one may have had the last one, who let James in and sent out the expeditions, killed in order to put a stop to outside contamination]]. You can find their reports in the Overseer's office if you check out his computer.
** It is implied (in the guide I think) that the previous Overseer was killed in secret by a small group of isolationists led by the current Overseer when he was wandering in the Wasteland, specifically because of his open Vault policy, and the other inhabitants, while not outright voicing this accusation, was at least suspicious of the group's involvement in the Overseer's disappearance. The skeletons outside the door is perhaps not war victims, but core supporters of the previous Overseer, forcefully thrown out of vault on some dubious basis because attempting to make them "disappear" would raise the suspicion of foul play further.
** I always assumed they really needed a doctor (which is what your dad's job appears to be in the vault), particularly since the only alternative they have when he leaves is the AxCrazy robot. If you listen to the dialogue during the flash forward after you've chosen your appearance it supports this to a degree ("We need a doctor, not a dentist").
** I thought he said "We need a doctor, not a scientist.".
** I was certain it was "We need a doctor, not a deadbeat." implying that they only let him in due to his skills and that he had to pull his own weight.
** "We need a doctor, not a dental nurse. If you fail to live up to my expectations...". Both a doctor and a dental nurse are medical practitioners, but one is far more qualified than the other. The Overseer was basically saying, "You'd better not be lying to me, or there'll be hell to pay".

** They did acknowledge it. During "trouble on the homefront" the none dialogue NPC's say things like "We never should have let your father in." etc.

** You have to keep in mind that no one group ever has every single member conforming to the exact same ideals. Consider the situation at the VSS digsite for The Outcasts. They are low on manpower and heavily besieged by Super Mutants, in addition to the fact that they've been unable to find an easy way into the Armory. Morrill was expecting Outcast backup but instead gets you, the Lone Wanderer, who just happens to have the one piece of technology they've needed to get the armory open. Since they're already in a bad situation, it makes sense that Protector McGraw would strike a deal that is uncharacteristic of the Outcasts, even though he himself seems a bit abnormal for the group anyway (i.e. being far more polite than any other Outcast). It also easily explains why his decision leads to Sibley and some of his soldiers rebelling against him after you complete your end of the deal.

** It makes sense, the Enclave regardless of which side the Wanderer is working for is going on a witch hunt. Remember what happened in Fallout2 where the Enclave greeted the Vault 13 dwellers by gunning most down and dragging the rest off as 'controls' for an FEV experiment? They will not welcome the overseer with open arm and instead gun down anyone who resists.

For examples related to the DLC's, [[Headscratchers/Fallout3DLC go here]].

** The fact that it still was not working when the Enclave arrived and that Autumn would not listen to Dad surely backs up his actions, if he didn't turn it on he would have been shot to death or kidnapped, tortured and then executed, if he did turn it on and they noticed it was not working they probably would have killed him anyway. So I assume Dad took the only option available to him, sacrifice himself, sabotage the generator, kill a few Enclave and buy some time for his child and the scientists to escape and locate the G.E.C.K. Presumably he would have sent his son to retrieve it once they had located one anyway had the Enclave not interfered and I guess he would have expected his child to carry on his legacy. I also assume that Dad suspected the Enclave would have betrayed and killed him and his child anyway even if he had accepted their demands, considering the Enclaves reputation and a lot on instances in Fallout 3 where they happily stab someone in the back at a moments notice. Plus sabotaging the project would have slowed down the Enclave anyway while they worked out how to repair it until his child, the Scientists and the Brotherhood could regroup and reclaim it. They would have seen his notes and realized they needed a G.E.C.K anyway and since they were in on the vault experiment they could easily locate one nearby. This works on the assumption Dad backed up his notes and didn't just leave them on holotape. To sum up, Dad did what he did because he had no other option and the project still wasn't working anyway, he was backed into a wall, and I think he hoped that his final action would have allowed the time needed for his child to finish the job. I still can't account for how the Enclave found out about the project and how convenient their arrival was, his also assumes he had accounted for several variables so considering the chaos caused when he left the vault despite his hopes to the contrary it depends on the opinion of the player.

** Not at all far-fetched, judging from FO3 canon. Heck, take a look at the Halloween costumes ad in the loading screen; one of them is a kiddyfied power armor suit. In the FO3 universe ''things really have just gone that far''.

** At the time it was probably just a bit of flavor (and a shout-out to ''Film/BladeRunner.'' However, the Commonwealth and its androids were brought back for ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' in a big way.