Fallout 3 - Roleplaying in the Wastes

A site called Experience Points has an interesting piece on roleplaying in Fallout 3, when illuminated against a Pen&Paper experience. The author created motivations for his character and set out to see how well the game supported his choice:

Despite these barriers, I had fleshed out my character to my liking and came out of the vault comfortable with my decisions. My evil actions would be driven by mistrust, paranoia and a desire to find my father. Yet the game design did not facilitate this interpretation. I stole to survive, yet for every Stimpak I would steal, I would lose Karma points. At one point, my negative karma allowed one "shady" gentleman to view my character as a potential compatriot, despite the fact he had never seen me steal or kill. The personality I gave my character was not the personality Fallout seemed to be shepherding me towards.

More information.

"I stole to survive, yet for every Stimpak I would steal, I would lose Karma points."

So, his character was a thief and he expected just what exactly? I think he needs to look up what karma means. From wikipedia, "Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others." No witnesses needed.

"My character’s desire to find her father also collided with quest decisions. I rarely felt justified setting aside the main quest line to accomplish any of the many side-quests available. … When I did finally find my father, my character's story arc was essentially complete, making the rest of the game moot."

Umm, dude, that's how RPGs work. You must have hated Fallout 1 if you chose "Find the water chip" as your character's "desire" and then given up on the game when you found it in the first 30 minutes after ignoring everything else.

I made up my mind that my character was a gay clown from Sandusky Ohio who believed in his heart he was the reincarnation of Batman. It didn't let me play him like that either. Epic Fail, Bethesda! Or perhaps it's the "Experience Points" person who doesn't get it?