There is no such thing as canon

[TheHouseAlwaysWins]

I have come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as canon. "Canon" is just a spook used by companies to control the creative vision of an IP. You might initially see it as a good thing to have control over the objectively worse parts of your IP, but what happens when a company is only in it for capital (the entire AAA industry as it is) and they do things against a large portion of the fanbase desire's in terms of lore/worldbuilding? Bethesda has shown this with their treatment of a lot of the background ideas in Fallout (pre-war jet) and the fact they, at least in my personal perspective, have not much respect to the IP.

Ideas like canon and the idea of an IP itself are just spooks that distract toward the central ideas of an artpiece. In order to get what "Fallout" or any other video game really is, the community has to look at 2 things.

1: The overall experience - a lot of well meaning gamers look at just the worldbuilding for crtque in regards to Bethesda's treatment of the IP, but it is not enough, you have to look at the overall picture. Parts such as the overall quality of writing in the vidya, the memorability of characters/questlines, the gameplay, the worldbuilding, soundtrack etc and how that fits in the environment are parts to the larger experience.

2: The central theme if applicable - in the case of West Coast Fallout, Fallout 1/2/NV all have central themes. Fallout 3 has some allusions to Christianity, to my knowledge Fallout 4 and 76 don't really have themes in those installments.

So with 2 factors that we've gotten out of deconstructing what a vidya/IP actually is, the community can now observe the "spirit" of an IP. The spirit nowadays is often made opaque by spooks like canon and IP.

There are two different spirits in regards to looking at west coast Fallout and east coast Fallout. The west coast Fallout is a spirit that we're familiar with in terms of RPG gameplay, funny characters, and writing quality that's both silly and serious at the same time through 1/2,NV. In contrast, Bethesda's Fallout has the spirit of a sandbox game and is much more in the design of other Bethesda games such as the Elder Scrolls. A lot of us on here also feel that games like Wasteland 2 are more like Fallout because they are in the "spirit" of west coast Fallout compared to Bethesda's interpertation of the IP which is of a spirit not really similar in theme to the west coast entries of the IP.

In conclusion, there is no such thing as "canon". Canon is a spook used originally to control the vision of an IP, but nowadays, it often tends to distract from the real tenants of an IP. (Experience and theme). Fallout 2, Fallout Brotherhood of Steel, Fallout 76, Fallout New Vegas, and fan content are all as valid to each other. In my opinion. Canon is really just what you are able to personally get out of the IP in my view on it.

// I posted this in general discussion because this idea can be applied to a lot of art

 

[Atomic Postman]

I agree and I think you'll find most here do also, since most users here have been runing with their own view of Fallout canon for quite some time now. I think creative continuity trumps all else and it's why it makes seperating franchises or stories that have been taken in different or disagreeable directions by new and different creators so easy to segregate and seperate.

 

[TheGM]

I disagree. there is such a thing as canon. But your canon is in my way and I neither have the time or inclination to learn or remember what yours was. So I'm just going to hammer my canon square into your canon round hole and hope for the best.

 

[uncultivatedfox]

Interesting read, I get where you are coming from, but I think canon can be important because it can often relate to theme/experience. A retcon to canon as little as the name of a location changed, or a removal of a historical figure doesn't necessarily change the experience or theme, but if you look at all these little details that seem insignificant to the experience as a whole, they can have pretty large implications. Like if you retconned Fallout lore to have had the alt history spit at the 1910s, the themes and overall experience would be way different. We would be listening to Billy Murray on the radio and searching through bombed out factories with child skeletons everywhere. Obviously that would be a pretty huge change to canon but it is the best example I could think of.

 

[Millim]

Canon does exist, but it basically allows a greater sense of World in an IP.

I think, that depending on media and the longevity plus the amount of People working on said IP, that Canon can be rather flimsy.
Something like Fallout has a canon which is heavily involved, it's basically a guideline to fitting stories within that World. If you don't follow those guidelines, you get something like "Kid in a Fridge" which makes no sense with the first game. It also cheapens that first game's choice.
Ghouls can be hand waved away however, seeing as there could be numerous ways for one to turn into a Ghoul.
It also stops aspects like Super Mutants from getting overused... even trough they are in every game now.

Something like comics can be forgiven, with 60 years of continuity for some of these Characters, and multiple spin-offs, team-ups and Super Hero teams with One Character (here's looking at you Spider-Man and Wolverine), it's harder to fit a story within that canon. So silly things happen to get to the better stories.

Simple answer, unless Fallout was on its 15th main game, there's no reason for such huge flaws in canon.