Fallout 3 Q&A

IGN UK has cranked out a two-page Fallout 3 Q&A with Bethesda's Pete Hines about Dogmeat, the game's many endings, the Fallout community, and more.
IGN: Fallout's got a massive following and quite a vocal community. Have you at any point consulted the fan-base to see what they want from a Fallout game?

Pete Hines: Back when we first announced we were doing it in 2004, there was tons of feedback with people saying here's what we want and here's what we don't want. We're not really into consulting, in that we've got 75 people who spend all day every day working on this game, so we look for information and feedback for the kinds of things the fans are looking for, and feedback from the last game that we made. Even though it's an Elder Scroll game, we've looked at the things they liked or didn't like from that, and we have our own opinions about what we liked and didn't like, and look at what things may be applicable to Fallout. Whether its how fast travel works, or for example how we've changed the way leveling works, so it's very different from Oblivion.

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IGN: Has it been restrictive working with a canon as well defined as Fallout's?

Pete Hines: It's more just a pleasure to be able to work in that fantastic universe, and the canon is not that restrictive to work with. We obviously took it to a different coast for a number of reasons, but the canon itself is a lot of fun and there's still a lot of opportunity to play and we're pretty used to that with the Elder Scrolls, with the canon that we ourselves have created.