OnTheBounce wrote:That's something that the designers got carried away with starting with FO2 that wasn't really done in FO itself, and then in FoT it just got out of hand. Manufacturer, model and some basic characteristics are fine, but the item desc shouldn't be a primer on the history of the type.
Hmm unless the weapon is found in it's original packaging, with such info still intact then I think the item descriptions should be more descriptive as seen from a citizen of the post-apoc's point of view. Having the manufacturer's name and the serial number missing, partially erased over the years, so that the weapons get some funky new names as people try and guess what the missing letters/numbers were.
OnTheBounce wrote:If any of you have played T$R's old Gamma World PA game, they had a system which forced character to figure out anything that they encountered. If it was an old, disposable lighter the going was fairly easy. If it was a Bubble Car...things weren't so easy. Not to mention that you could damage an item while trying to figure it out, or accidentally discharge/start it. More than one PA denizen died horribly that way... (Yes, your character's Intelligence score played heavily in trying to figure out how to use things.)OTB
I vaguely remember it, would of been nice if they had incorperated something like that in Fallout. One of the little touches that I love in books, games and films set in the future (not necessarily the PA) is when the characters try and figure out something that's an everyday item for us. I love it when the writer is very ambiguous with their description, so that you don't automatically recognise what they've found.