Hi flufifes,

I threatened previously that I would speculate more on video games in this profile, and I shall! An earlier post described my speculations for the location of Fallout5, and mentioned that I would speculate on Fallout4 DLCs later. Well, it turns out that I was a little late on that "later", since at-least one of the Fallout4 DLCs have been announced.

What do I mean by "at least one", you say? Haven't they mentioned 3? It depends on what you mean by DLC. Of course, any downloadable content is technically DLC, but when we're talking about Fallout DLC, it conjures up memories of Operation Anchorage or Honest Hearts - not new skins or weapons. From that definition, I can't say that Wasteland Workshop is really a DLC in the same sense. When I think of Fallout DLC, I think of new maps, a new self-contained story, and more.

By this definition, only Far Harbor is definitely a Fallout DLC (in the traditional sense). But I will get into The Automatron as well.

Speculation below, which may be spoilers if I turn out to be right.

Speculation on The Automatron
This is the first Fallout4 DLC to drop - and dropped today! I haven't played it yet, so this is all speculation on my part, and I didn't listen extensively to the Silver Shroud radio broadcast, so if I say something stupid, kindly correct me in the comments below.
1. I don't consider this a full DLC myself because it still takes place in the Commonwealth Wasteland. However, I do speculate that the location of the Mechanist's base will be in the Glowing Sea. I speculate this because of something that I THINK... is a glitch in Fallout4 on PC, where X6-88 will stop and look toward an area of nothing, and comment saying something like "That looks like it was built after the war". Clearly the developers intended for there to be something there. Its a lot of effort to give a character a reaction and recorded speaking lines for something that isn't there. Of course - perhaps its something that they deleted. Or (more likely, in my estimation) this was for DLC and they forgot to turn it off for X6-88 for the release of the base game. Why do I think its The Mechanist? Because - where better to put a secret evil robot mad-scientist base than in a glowing radioactive wasteland?
2. I do think that this COULD BE a full DLC. For example, The Mechanist has sent rogue robots all throughout the Commonwealth - that implies extensive industrial capabilities. I'm wondering if the entrance (still assuming to be in The Glowing Sea) might lead to an extensive complex of factories and laboratories. One can only hope!
3. Guessing here, but I'm thinking the Automatron is female. Auto-Matron. Get it? Maybe there will be some hot robot luvin in the future Boston.

Speculation on Far Harbor
Its Clear from Fallout3 and even-moreso from Fallout4, that there are some serious H.P. Lovecraft fans at Bethesda. In Fallout3 there's the Dunwich Building - a strange building with strange recordings, that wrecks havoc on your compass and has a strange maze. In the basement there is a twisted alter that is unique in the Fallout3 cityscape. In Fallout4 there are at least 4 references to H.P. Lovecraft stories: Dunwich Borrers (Dunwich Horror), Jack Cabot (based on Herbert West from the Reanimator series), the Parson's State Insane Asylum (counting this a second time because the artifact on Lorenzo's head is not from Reanimator, but is more "generally Lovecraftian"), and finally Pickman's Gallery. While all 4 of these are interesting and well-known stories, we're ignoring the Cthulhu in the room. And that is - none of them are based on H.P Lovecraft's most-famous story: Call of Cthulhu. Why would they skip the most iconic Lovecraft? Maybe to give it its own DLC.

The underwater mechanics of Fallout4 are quite well-done. Clearly a lot of work has been done to make good undersea environments, and yet (submarine aside) it wasn't that well exploited. So - why put in all that effort unless you plan to use it? Add to this the deleted Harpoon Gun and you must conclude that more undersea adventures are in store for us.

Put these together and you have a compelling case for a R'lyeh type undersea cosmic horror city ready for the making.

Now we are told of Far Harbor - which appears to be a spooky seaside village in Maine. What is there in Maine? Not much. Trust me - I'm from New England. I've been to Maine many times. So why base a Fallout story there? Could it be the kinda spooky colonial-style hamlets? The rocky, stormy shore? The robust sea fishing industry? If you were to make a modern Shadow Over Innsmouth - its the perfect place.

So my speculations are as follows:
1. Far Harbor will be based on Innsmouth
2. Given that Innsmouth worships Dagon, not Cthulhu, and that they will probably want to base the "boss" on Cthulhu, I expect that it will be an original cosmic-horror mashup monster of Cthulhu and Dagon.
3. The townspeople will be Deep Ones.
4. The Valentine's Detective Agency tie-in will be a murder or disappearance that will lead to a cult. Further investigation will lead to occult alters and shrines across the "untamed" stretches of Maine.
5. Ultimately this will deal with a lot of undersea combat, with a showdown in or around a sunken city like R'lyeh.
6. Possibly an undersea vault?
7. Be on the lookout for the dark obelisk from the story "Dagon".

So those are my speculations! See you in The Wasteland!

~ Jaspian