It may also be that they assumed that the Vegas map we see in the game was the actual size, and was not a case of Space Compression.
The creators clearly love New Vegas for all the nods they put in the show.
Everyone who thinks its spite are assuming that publishers ever were part of the Obsidian vs. Bethesda rivalry that doesn't exist and never did.
(One of the most telling Tim Cain things is that he doesn't blame Todd or the other Fallout staff because Todd wanted them paid their bonus anyway)
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.A bit off-topic but this series seems to confirm that a Yao Guai can potentially kill someone in power armor, and it's not just a case of Improbable Power Discrepancy.
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I think there's two points that are being conflated by a lot of folks. The question of the motive of some narrative decision can be interesting, but is fundamentally unproveable (and maybe even unknowable except in some very limited cases).
But, like, speaking for myself blowing up the NCR and giving the world a definitive clear, overarching, still active Big Bad is just not a set of narrative choices I enjoy.
On a more specific note, did we ever get an explanation of how Moldaver survived the centuries? And why, despite having NCR forces and being clearly involved with them, she decided to launch her critical invasion of a Vault with a bunch of crazed raiders? Once you know Moldaver's stated motives, a lot of the first half of the show doesn't really make that much sense?
Might actually be better? There's a bunch of easter eggs, but they're mostly just fun either way. Like, the opening scene is clearly riffing on how you do character creation, but it still manages to be funny and demonstrate the weird, messed up nature of life in a Vault, even if you don't get the reference. I think I'd have enjoyed it more as an apocalyptic setting I wasn't familiar with.
Edited by ECD on Apr 13th 2024 at 10:44:42 AM
I've got a running theory, admittedly supported by nothing but vibes, that Shady Sands was a late-production "we're in the middle of filming" change to the script.
As mentioned in my last post, the way everything's set up with the location of the nuked NCR city it would have made far more sense for them be stumbling across the ruins of New Adytum. Part of me thinks that some kind of higher up decided that it should be Shady Sands because it would have "more of an emotional impact" and be "more dramatic" to have the one of the most iconic locations of the classic games destroyed, instead of a place that barely gets mentioned after Fallout 1.
Like I said, pure speculation and nothing but vibes, but it makes sense to me. The place is only mentioned by name in the last 3.5 episodes and all references prior are vague. It just has the vibe to me of them having find-replaced New Adytum with Shady Sands in the script, made a new welcome sign prop, and otherwise changed nothing because they didn't have the time to make the necessary adjustments.
It would also explain why they talked a big game about not invalidating any endings to previous games in interviews only to fully decapitate the NCR government, which is as close as you can get to invalidating their ending in NV without outright contradicting anything. Just having New Adytum destroyed and Los Angeles specifically left in anarchy as a result would have left all these "the NCR might still be hanging on out there somewhere" hopes that I see in the community much more plausible, and I think they were probably angling for that at the start.
Edited by Dirtyblue929 on Apr 13th 2024 at 10:48:03 AM
I'm confused as to how this isn't accurate if you assume:
- She hates Vault Tec
- She is not actually a good person
- The Raiders are Ex-NCR
yeah, only obsessive fans are the ones who notice those things, thanks for responding.
Edited by Luisdalas on Apr 13th 2024 at 11:36:25 AM
I'd say it's a perfect jumping on point for people new to the series. The show establishes the setting (and more importantly, the tone), quickly and quite well.
Above all else, it's very entertaining, regardless of if a viewer catches the little references or not.
Edited by ArthurEld on Apr 13th 2024 at 12:34:23 PM
Not in the slightest. No offense was intended.
I mean her plan was explicitly made to sexually assault and murder the bride AKA Lucy.
That's not an almost happening. That is very deliberate hatred.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 13th 2024 at 12:42:52 PM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
I repeat, considering Moldaver`s relationship with Lucy's mother, she didn't tell her underlings to not hurt Rose's children.
Yeah, totally in line with Miss "I'm unable to kill a feral ghoul" and "I don't do anything to the person I hate the most".
And the funniest thing is that a lot of the incongruencies could have been fixed with a simple line: "She told me not to hurt you, but you are HIS daughter".
Edited by Edward45 on Apr 13th 2024 at 1:12:56 AM
x12 Not sure where we are on spoilers, but you may wish to add some to that comment.
As to the substance of your comment she doesn't just want Hank, she wants him to give her the code, which he only does because of his daughter. Maybe she could torture it out of him, but she's literally got them both, why not just...take them both? 'Give me the code, or I'll kill your daughter' seems pretty likely to work.
But back to the main topic they really don't act like NCR or ex-NCR. Their entire behavior is dead classic 'crazed raider'. I mean, if we're actually going by 'she knows what's going on,' I also don't understand why she didn't just take a few more raiders and take over Vault 33, either killing everyone, or explaining what's actually happening to everyone and killing/capturing everyone from Vault 31. I'm also confused as to how the trick could have worked? Was she sitting there for two years pretending to be the former overseer? When the assumption was minimal communication and only formal trades it was okay, but when you're all part of a big conspiracy...it makes a lot less sense.
Even more if her hatred of Vault-Tec is that strong, I'd have expected her to do exactly what Norman did and try to get access to Vault 31, to kill their frozen folks. Or, if that fails, depopulate Vault 33, just to fuck with them.
Also, who exactly cleaned up Vault 32? I was assuming that there was like a big enclave contingent in Vault 31 which did it, but it's only that brain on a trolley and a bunch of frozen executives?
Also, how do any of your answers explain how she's alive two centuries later?
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Which plan doesn't actually make a lot of sense given her goals. Like she wants Hank. Hank is the overseer, which she knows, and is going to answer the door, which she knows, as it's obviously a protocol she's aware of. She has a military force that far exceeds his. Why are we going through this entire charade instead of just grabbing him with overwhelming force the second the door opens? For raiders, this makes some sense, they want to Rape, Pillage, and Burn, but for an allegedly military force it's a terrible idea and very hard to justify. You could try if they actually, say, looted the place of all food supplies or something, on the justification that their supplies are limited, but they don't do any of that.
For that matter, does she even need them to open the door? They got into Vault 32 just fine and Vault 33 evidently doesn't know about it...
Edited by ECD on Apr 13th 2024 at 1:33:49 AM
I think there is a problem with how Moldaver's goons are portrayed in episode one vs. how she turns out. It is, legitimately, to the point I find I do actually consider it an inconsistency.
Personal, not-terribly-serious headcanon on the matter: The raiders in episode one weren't her regular crowd, but mercs she hired for whatever reason. Even then I'd consider this kind of cheating
I will say that I don't consider it a huge dealbreaker for the story, however, just a minor flaw.
Leviticus 19:34I guess I'm thinking Moldaver doesn't consider her being Rose's daughter a reason not to horrifyingly murder her or her brother. Remember, she doesn't make any effort to spare Norman either, The Un-Favorite or not.
Like I said, I think it's better for her character that she's not someone without horrible flaws.
She doesn't seem to soften until she sees how much Lucy resembles her mother.
Basically, I think her plan is very much the product of a woman looking for Revenge.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 13th 2024 at 1:49:49 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
If that's the case, it's really, really, really weird that she just walks away, leaving them to rebuild Vault's 32 and 33 and never even attempts to get into Vault 31, despite us seeing how incredibly easy it is. I mean, given the whole 'choice thing' I assumed she was going to massacre everyone else, but then she just...doesn't? It's also weird that she would hold onto that about the general Vault dwellers, despite Rose and despite seeing what happened in Vault 32 once they figured out what was going on.
Edited by ECD on Apr 13th 2024 at 1:58:43 AM
I took her sparing the people after the choice as a deliberate choice actually. Seeing Lucy's face shook her out of her Roaring Rampage of Revenge. But yes, I think the idea is that she did something absolutely awful because this kind of world turns good people bad—but you can come back as we see with Cooper.
This seems like good Alternate Character Interpretation fodder.
Edited by CharlesPhipps on Apr 13th 2024 at 2:32:09 AM
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.

I will say that House's claim always rang a bit hollow to me, as the US had become highly authoritarian by then and run by people...well, people like him.
Well, it'd be pretty strange if that happened.
I think fandoms are often too quick to assume malice or spite as a motive for a creative's decision. I'm not saying it never happens, but it's pretty uncommon.
With New Vegas, I don't think we have enough evidence to speculate on at this point. For example, it's possible that New Vegas appears small because they were running out of time or money to show a bigger city.
Leviticus 19:34