Jarrod said:

And despite Spike's warning allusion that something bad might happen to my shack, nothing has happened yet.  Maybe something will trigger when I leave Megaton for good, I don't know.  I'm going to try to finish all of the Megaton quests before I head off permanently, and I'm half-way through the third chapter of the Supply Chick's book quests.

 

Hey Spike,

I took care of Mr Burke early in the piece, so I don't know if he'll come back to haunt me.  I gained karma for killing him, so assume it was not such a bad act.

Actually, I told Sheriff Simms about him, and he marches in and tries to arrest Mr Burke.  Without giving too much away, I didn't like how that event played out, so I re-loaded and got proactive, taking out Mr Burke beforehand.  No-one seemed terribly upset.

I broke into his shack, and was disappointed with what was inside, considering there was such a high level lock on his front door.  If ever I need a new shack, I'm moving into his!

I found Rivet City, after spending about 2 hours searching right there.  That damned intercom is tiny, how is anyone expected to see it and know that's the way in?  Bastards.

I'm pretty impressed with Rivet City, thematically.  I dig the big boat (reminds me of a certain big boat in my fav book, 'The Use of Weapons' by Iain M Banks).  Definitely not to be confused visually with Megaton.  It is a bugger to travel around in though.  Damned convoluted passageways.

I'm level 10 now, and I'm getting the hang of VATS, and multiple shots.  Once I've finished the Supply Chick's quest there, I think I'll try to track down the Brotherhood, and see if I can hook up with them.  It would be good to do their quests (if they have quests) before I complete too much of the game.  I've got two sets of power armour just begging to be used, so that I can look all kinds of awesome.  I don't know if there is any better armour than the Brotherhood's to be had in the game, but it is a tantalising thought.  Mind you, I'm sure my sneak will suffer from the heavier armour, but what are you gonna do? [Image Can Not Be Found]

I thought of killing them off during random encounters, but I'm basically a Nice Guy.  Also, if I killed off a couple, would the rest of them hate me?  I still want to be able to interact with the Outcasts for the duration of the game, if I can.

I've given up on my search, of not the quest, for the Brotherhood, for a couple of reasons.

1. I was checking out a wiki entry on the companions you can get in the game, and they mentioned a Paladin (Cross) or someone, and before my eyes could stop reading, it mentioned a Citadel that you only come to fairly late in the game.  Why would you only be able to access the Brotherhood's Citadel late in the game?  I thought to myself.

2. There are a great many walled off areas in the built up section in tge SE corner of the map.  A lot.  Trying to comb through these areas was frustrating - I don't often come to Bethesda games thinking they'll have walled off sections.

3. Whenever I was walking along in the game, not doing too much, just trundling, my sleek, seductive, shiny, and new Transformers: War for Cybertron kept calling me.  Adventure?  Excitement?  Sack tearing, adrenalin-fueld frantic robot carnage and bullet-hell-on-wheels destruction?...  how can I resist thee.

So, I gave in to my impatient fault, and looked up the Citadel online.  I read somewhere that it was close to a library that I needed to visit anyway, and made the trek there.

My elation at finding the Citadel soon became horror, as I realised the Brotherhood guards were not going to let me in.  The bastards.

So I went back and finished off the Survival Guide quests (the library quest being the last of the chain), and continued on with the main quests.

Some Enclave came and messed things up, and out of it I picked up my first plasma rifle (which rocks) and some new power armour - Tesla Power Armour.  After the Enclave did their dastardly deeds, we all fled to, lo and behold, the Citadel!  Armed with whining refugees, we were granted admittance, and I've finally been trained to wear the awesome power armour.  I've levelled a couple more times, and after maxing out my lockpicking skills, I'm now building up my energy weapons skills.

I'm also relying far more heavily on VATS for combat, having taken a few VATS specific perks that allow me to pop heads clean off and turn to ash those deluded souls who believe we shouldn't be working together for the betterment of all.

I was hoping that I could become a fully-fledged member of the Brotherhood, but haven't come across any quests that look like they lead to initiation... yet.  We'll see.  I might go visit some other Vaults or otherwise look for quests, as I'd like to give the power armour and plasma rifle a full workout before proceeding to the end of the game (if it happens to be close).

In Transformers news, I've played some more multiplayer matches, and don't totally suck (which is nice), and have even killed the most in a Team Deathmatch (which was totally unexpected).  I do hope they bring out some Character Packs or something for it, as I'd like to see more robot variety.

I'm up to the end of the Decepticon Chapter 2, having just fought a massive Autobot who looked a little like Jetfire (but wasn't) and I've been trying to take out the end-of-level boss immediately after the titan - but he's pretty damned difficult.

Anyway, I need to ask - how do you guys juggle two games that you are enjoying equally as much (if for completely differing reasons)?

Jarrod - have you been to all the forts and vaults?  Great fun and lots o' loot.  If you haven't discovered it yet, which you probably have, check this link out.  It can be your friend if frustration gets unbearable.

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout_3

BTW, you can, if you choose, become a full member of the Brotherhood, but that won't happen just yet.  They will even be "...honored by your presence here."  Which is great the first dozen times you hear it, then like yeah, yeah, blah, blah, the next thousand times.  [Image Can Not Be Found]

I can't play more than one game at a time.  I get too caught up in the story, which is made so easy by the graphics.  Now books, I can have several going at the same time without problems.

I'm the opposite of Spike - I simply can't read more tha one book at a time!  But games I can juggle a little.  I think I'll let my circumstances decide what to play - if I'm likely to get on the PS3 for less than 30 minutes, I'll play TF:WfC - but if I'm likely to be on for more than 30 minutes I'll jump into Fallout 3.  I probably won't purchase another game for a while, so I'll be able to dedicate a few months to these two games, relatively exclusively.

And no way have I been to all of the Vaults and Forts!  I came across a Talon Merc fort the other day, and was happily killing away, when someone lit me up with several rapid-fire shots from a rocket launcher.  Totally uncalled-for.

I've tried to steer clear of the wiki so far, but might have to indulge.  I might look up locations of some of the best gear, and see how powerful I can make myself.  Incidentally, the robes that the Brotherhood scribes wear look pretty cool - are they any good?  Worth killing a scribe for?  [Image Can Not Be Found]

And Yap, I can sympathise with the controller mix-ups - my fingers have a very short term memory indeed, and forget what game they should be playing, quickly.