Fallout: New Vegas

I think the problem with the Institute is they have a really simple plan but for whatever reason the game writers don't want to admit it's simple. "We want to build a nuclear reactor underground and expand living here because the surface is irradiated and dangerous."

I mean, call it Operation: Morlock and it is probably the most sensible one they could come up with.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Nov 1st 2021 at 9:23:45 AM

except, how does kidnapping surface dwellers, replacing them with synth replicas, and then turning the originals into Super Mutants and then dumping the Mutants back in the wasteland factor into that?

Like, just villainy for villainy's sake here.

For Science! and a lack of an ethics committee to say that you shouldn't do weird things with unwitting surface guinea pigs. You'd probably have to ask who, specifically, was in charge of each bit to find out why they're doing it. Like, that's purely pulp serial villainy stuff, yeah, but that's Fallout for you.

It just means that they do a lot of stuff with nothing to do with their overarching plan, because the overarching plan is simple and actually kind of smart.

Edited by RainehDaze on Nov 1st 2021 at 4:58:45 PM

I?

So

but

no, it's so stupid though

like, they get everybody to hate them, they get invaded (and despite their protestations, they basically deserve it and get destroyed because of it)

All for things that don't even further their goal. It's total Idiot Plot

Honestly, I have a better time in Fallout 4 ignoring the main story and just building a socialist utopia by uniting the settlements and helping people. Sim Settlements: The Game.

I hold my previously stated opinion that Far Harbor is superior to Fallout 4 and Far Harbor should have just been the game. Better factions, better writing, better atmosphere, better difficult-to-get Golden Ending. More difficult moral questions regarding Peace vs Justice.

Did anyone go into Far Harbor blind? I once innocently walked up to what I thought was a destroyed van and had the surprise of my life and it changed me

This is why you need an ethics committee! Or at least a foresight committee.

There's another clear logic to it, every person replaced by a synth (particular in a position of power) increases their control over the Wasteland which improves upon their collective safety.

Sure, it makes people hate them but if they assume that the Wasteland is going to be hostile regardless of what they do then it's easy to take hostile action first. That is after all how self-fulfilling prophecies work.

That's not to say that Bethesda wrote it well, it is Bethesda after all, but it can be justified fairly easily.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Nov 1st 2021 at 10:17:33 AM

It can't just be a Bethesda thing though right? Bethesda also wrote Far Harbor, and Far Harbor is brilliant.

What was the difference there? Maybe the tighter scope? Maybe they didn't have as tight a deadline?

Their main story plots are habitually far more meh than their DLC. It's always like that and I have no idea why.

Morrowind would probably be the exception, but even there the pacing is kind of slow.

Edited by RainehDaze on Nov 1st 2021 at 5:30:30 PM

What Raineh said, also there are individual missions that are well written but the main plots never are.

I suspect it's a product of organizational priorities (if you don't care about writing a deep RPG story then you won't) and specific people having more power than others (I suspect the writer(s) responsible for the good plotlines have less pull then the hacks).

Maybe the limit on how long a given DLC will be (probably will be a fair bit shorter than the main story, otherwise people start getting bored) forced them to pick up the pace?

Fairly sure that Shivering Isles takes longer than the Oblivion main plot did, and that was wonderful.

Perhaps the people who wrote the base game are off working on the next game, leaving a smaller team to work on the DLC. They might have more freedom because of it.

Edited by SilentColossus on Nov 1st 2021 at 1:50:12 PM

There's actually some decent Synth replacement arguments:

• The Mayor of Diamond City gives them control over the largest settlement on the surface.
• The abusive family man they replaced is monitoring soil and crop rotations.

I assume every individual replacement has a purpose. Far Harbor illustrated why Dimah did what he did.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Nov 1st 2021 at 3:57:28 AM

Ok, started Honest Hearts in full Legion garb, met Graham, he doesn't care since Caesar says he's officially dead and won't do anything about it.

Is that the extent of a "Legion" run of Honest Hearts? If I shoot Graham at the end of it, does Caesar even acknowledge my deed?

Really not liking this run and really just want to get it finished up, but would like to see whatever Legion-relevant story that's available.

Nope, no effect at all. It would have been a lot of work to change up the main game to fit HH's choices into it.

Damn, if that's the case I guess I'll just go do Lonesome Road. As I mentioned before, this character has just been a mess of roleplaying; doing all the shithead stuff even when if it doesn't really jive with the ultimate shithead route. I'm glad I left a separate save before Dead Money because I just don't care about fucking over everyone because . . . I'm the bad guy?

I know Lonesome Road at least allows me to sagely nod as Ulysses rambles and go "lol, pizza pizza!" and nuke the NCR.

Yeah, that's a big part of why I almost never play a totally evil character. It just ends up being Stupid Evil. I try to go for Pragmatic Villainy instead, but it's hard to do even that when so when often the good path is easier and/or has a better reward.

Yeah, this run is just so botched. Nuked the NCR and the Legion is still neutral to me. Trying to be a bastard but I have fantastic karma because killing a few raiders makes up for being a backstabbing cannibal.

Yeah, I think mods are needed to make the karma at least not... zoom up.

I am... genuinely moved by and of the impression that Fallout New Vegas' Dead Money DLC is a "must play" for any Fallout fan.

How did they write something so tear-jerking.

Edited by FOFD on Feb 4th 2022 at 8:16:44 AM

shouldn't that be Ron Perlman narrating that?

Yes.

Having multiple voices of the people you encountered and even Elijah himself is a lot more impactful though.

I've never played Dead Money so you'll have to excuse me if I'm not used to a different narrator

Edited by Ultimatum on Feb 4th 2022 at 1:35:17 PM

Dead Money's ending was definitely my favourite of the DLC endings, which is saying something cause they are all exceptionally strong.

Old World Blues is my personal favorite of the DLCs but Dear Money does have some of my favorite story and characters of the game, even if the explosive radios got kinda annoying.