Bethesda’s Pete Hines deflects question: Fallout 4 fans flip their collective lids

When questioned about the authenticity of a personal log discovered in the world of Fallout 4, Bethesda’s VP Pete Hines, for the most part, deflected the question. In response, a good deal of Fallout 4’s fans lost their collective minds.

The fan in question, Jarrett Johnston, curious about potential mistakes regarding the lore and narrative of Fallout 4, questioned Hines – Hines’ responses weren’t taken very well.

@JohnstonJarrett doesn't say what year that was posted

— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015

@JohnstonJarrett not interested in discussing how realistic things are in an alternate universe post-apoc game w/ talking mutants and ghouls

— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015

Jet is indeed a post-war drug, having been concocted by Fallout 2 personality Myron and requiring brahmin to be synthesised, so Johnston is not wrong to assume that this piece of text is incorrect when you consider the lore of Fallout.

Taking a cursory glance at the terminal message, however, Hines isn’t wrong to assert that the year isn’t specified on the message – the premise:

Vault 95, like all vaults, was created for the sake of social experimentation. This particular vault was setup to study the behaviour of rehabilitated drug addicts following the introduction of a large quantity of drugs. According to terminal entries found throughout the vault, the experiment continued in spite of the war. The result, unwilling to leave the safety of the vault, the residents were overcome by the insatiable pressure presented to them by the freely available narcotics and tore the proxy community they had established apart. All of this was recorded by the vault’s staff as well as overseer, all of whom eventually abandoned the vault.

Is it possible that, instead, the vault remained sealed as the bombs dropped, eventually being opened and settled many years into the apocalyptic world of Fallout. Gracious for the shelter it provided, those who first moved in followed the instructions left by Vault-Tec and appointed themselves its caretakers, following the strict procedures left for intended residents, even recording and documenting the results. All they would need is to find addicted residents of the Commonwealth [http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/The_Commonwealth] and followed through with the prescribed study – that would allow the use of Jet.

Shaky as that explanation is, the open-ended nature of the terminal entries allows for any number events to have transpired. Rather unfortunately for Hines, he didn’t engage in a lively debate, nor did he say that in so many words. “Doesn’t say what year that was posted,” was his reply. Fair enough.

Following that, Johnston asked how a ghoul kid from the quest ‘Kid in a Fridge‘ survived living in the fridge for more than 200 years, having hid in said fridge when the Great War started.

Hines responded with the message above, “not interested in discussing how realistic things are in an alternate universe post-apoc game w/ talking mutants and ghouls”.

In Hines’ defence, ghouls, especially as Fallout depicts them, would not likely exist in any shape or form, no matter the circumstances – radiation simply doesn’t work like that.

Authenticity and consistency, however, are very real factors one needs to consider when crafting a fictional universe worth caring about, a sentiment those enraged by Hines seem to agree with:

@DCDeacon @JohnstonJarrett Internal consistency is the basis for believability of a fictional universe, it has nothing to do with realism

— Duke (@Duke_Bilgewater) November 23, 2015

It’s alright to make mistakes, it’s going to happen when more than one person is responsible for crafting that world, but it’s not the inaccuracies that frustrated fans, it’s the indifferent and seemingly uninterested tone of the message that caused the fuss and bother.

It’s clear that Fallout’s fans care a good deal about the universe Fallout finds itself in, and they responded to Hines in kind.

@DCDeacon ever heard of "internal consistency"? Nah you're just vp of the biggest RPG company in the world, why would you? That's nerd stuff

— Claudio Colavalle (@cloudropis) November 23, 2015

@Gzalzi we do. a lot. this isn't about lore consistency. i'm pointing out a writer can have fun w a quest premise

— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015

We think that Hines saw the initial tweets proposed by Johnston as an attack on their IP, something developers and publishers will undergo when releasing any title.

We wouldn’t blame him for being fed up by relentless assault regarding every detail of Fallout 4, many of which we imagine are largely unfounded or overtly negative. Still, he probably should have thought about how he replied.

He’s not wrong to assert that level designers should have fun when developing a game:

@DaChemicalCat no, i'm saying that writers and designers can have some fun in the worlds they build

— Pete Hines (@DCDeacon) November 23, 2015

But rather than shutting those curious about potential inconsistencies down, take their criticism on board and use it for the better.

Either way, Hines stepped in it this week. Fortunately, Fallout 4 is a lot of fun and we’re okay with the odd inconsistency. Just take your game’s PR a little more seriously next time Hines. Many will take your words as the words of Bethesda in its entirety.

That goes out to all developers and publishers alike. Even if you take your game very seriously, there will be gamers who take it just as seriously, if not more so.