New Vegas

[stryke]

Woo New Vegas, one of the finest games ever made period, and that it could have been so much more with the proper amount of development time rather than being rushed out... well, ain't that a kick in the head.

My only regret is that he didn't switch the genders for 3 and NV playthroughs. Mainly as it doesn't really matter in 3 while in NV has the truly jaw dropping/hilarious/this is so, so, sooo wrong option to seduce and screw the guy who shot you in the head.

[FaxModem1]

I do think they could have done a bit more to emphasize that the legion wasn't just the bad guy faction. The mongols were brutal conquers but the order and peace in their empire was a benefit. It was said a merchant could walk down any road carrying gold on their head and have no fear of bandits. The NCR is creating an empire just as surely as the legion, one that tolerates far more corruption than the legion. It's entirely possible that the thing the wasteland needs more than anything is peace and order.

A benefit to the merchants who had gold that they could carry on their heads, not really anyone else. And only as long as they have anyone worth trading to.

The Legion may benefit their merchants, for now, but any who are made into slaves, or purged when conquering a local tribe, or used as a brood mare for more Legion soldiers isn't going to benefit from this peace. And that's contingent on peace coming.

Spoilers for this game....


The Legion is a house of cards sitting upon one bald's man tumorous head. Their indoctrination of the tribes has nothing to do with the good and more civilized parts of Rome. They are conquerors and subjugators, with Caesar's closest allies having no real following of Caesar's ideology, only to his presented strength. Lanius himself doesn't share Caesar's vision of transforming New Vegas into a New Rome. He is only a soldier good for keeping everyone in line. And the Legion, like ancient Rome, only has strength due to constant conquest, until it stretched itself too far and has to deal with rebels and insurrections, without the things the NCR puts in place to keep itself intact, like Railroads, electricity, medicine, schools, etc, to keep a civilization going. Caesar's legion rejects all of that in favor of only having guns, healing powder, and brute strength.

Whether Caesar dies of his tumor, or just of old age, he will die, and the Legion will tear itself apart because it lacks real direction AND the capability to have a direction apart from 'the strongest rules over everyone else'. And the NCR will meanwhile continue growing and advancing, with their industrial capability making the Legion useless in comparison.

[Nealithi]

New Vegas, here is a game I wish was not so buggy on a new PC. I have gotten to enjoy bits of this game before horrid crashes required me to start all over. Yet I loved it. None of the factions seem totally good, though the Legion fell more heavily to evil due to its brutality. I felt the NCR was too feudal in that the core area might be prospering. Out in the Mojave you have generals starving off sections under their command in order to foment chaos so they look better winning a battle against the Legion 2.0. House seemed too much he wants to rule. Why? To rule. So I went Yes Man.

Or... Fallout 4. I really like the new power armour system. They feel like they actually have weight and power now instead of just being like any other armour. And worse, in 3 and Vegas, the power armour is actually a bit of a waste of time as despite the hardship trying to acquire it, all it does is provide a small stat boost not all that much better than normal combat armour. And no fall damage! And a jetpack!

As a fan of FO4 and how they did the power armor. Heck armor at all. I liked the mix and match aspect so you could have this mishmash suit where the arms and legs don't match etc. But they seem to have put in too many suits and start you higher than the bottom of the suit barrel. So raider power armour is not something I would downgrade to. Despite it having a pretty good look to it. And the frames all being the same. I get we needed a base to put the arms and legs on. But one frame for all of them seemed off.
But I do love that power armour in 4 is not another suit of clothing. It is a small walking vehicle.

[Kinky Vorlon]

New Vegas, here is a game I wish was not so buggy on a new PC. I have gotten to enjoy bits of this game before horrid crashes required me to start all over. Yet I loved it. None of the factions seem totally good, though the Legion fell more heavily to evil due to its brutality. I felt the NCR was too feudal in that the core area might be prospering. Out in the Mojave you have generals starving off sections under their command in order to foment chaos so they look better winning a battle against the Legion 2.0. House seemed too much he wants to rule. Why? To rule. So I went Yes Man.

There are many mods which stabilize the game and eliminate most of the issues you experienced.

[PerrySimm]

One of the last great static RPGs, before Minecraft hit and suddenly everything had to be a user crafting sandbox.

Companions as a serious thing was a welcome change from F3, as was the "choose your own ending" aspect. They don't make all the choices easy, either.

Definitely looking forward to the next session!

[Beastro]

Whether Caesar dies of his tumor, or just of old age, he will die, and the Legion will tear itself apart because it lacks real direction AND the capability to have a direction apart from 'the strongest rules over everyone else'. And the NCR will meanwhile continue growing and advancing, with their industrial capability making the Legion useless in comparison.

That's the problem with the "antagonist" factions in NV.

Caesar's entire gambit is based on him assuming Hegelianism is the way the world actually functions. It could go that way, but if it doesn't, then all he's created is a monstrous army of rape and slaughter, which as you said about Linius, is what the game poorly hints at it becoming without him. I do not see that changing even if the Courier tries taking over his place as a successor - it's not like one of the largest issues Rome suffered from was poor concepts of succession and legitimacy to rule; I could see Caesar saying you're to succeed him and everyone nodding until he draws his last breath, then it going "to the strongest".

House is similar. His entire plan hinges on the idea of building a rocket to go to another planet and start over. Discounting how outrageous Fallout as a setting is, even factoring in what is real in its world, I take pause in having faith that a guy planning that who is running a mere city in the middle of a post-apoc desert. It screams out that it's an ambition a touch too far for him with nothing there in game to demonstrate it as a realistic possibility, especially given treatment the Ghouls at REPCONN are given in tone over their own silly plans of escaping on a rocket.

One of the last great static RPGs, before Minecraft hit and suddenly everything had to be a user crafting sandbox.

Companions as a serious thing was a welcome change from F3, as was the "choose your own ending" aspect. They don't make all the choices easy, either.

Definitely looking forward to the next session!

Wut?

We got Underrail and Pathfinder: Kingmaker kicking about to name two. Underrail itself is the closest thing to the original two Fallout's that has ever been released. IMO, it's a better game gameplay wise than both that has as excellent world building and a good story to boot. The only downside it has is the craziness at the end called the Deep Caverns that might be impossible for you if you don't have a good enough build.

"User crafting sandboxes" are only RPGs in Todd Howard's silly, strict definition of the term (which is simple LARPing within a game) that has nothing to do with the genre's tabletop origins.

[Nealithi]

New Vegas, here is a game I wish was not so buggy on a new PC. I have gotten to enjoy bits of this game before horrid crashes required me to start all over. Yet I loved it. None of the factions seem totally good, though the Legion fell more heavily to evil due to its brutality. I felt the NCR was too feudal in that the core area might be prospering. Out in the Mojave you have generals starving off sections under their command in order to foment chaos so they look better winning a battle against the Legion 2.0. House seemed too much he wants to rule. Why? To rule. So I went Yes Man.

There are many mods which stabilize the game and eliminate most of the issues you experienced.

Trying a few different ones for FO3 right now. So far all they are doing is reducing the frequency of crashes and freezes. But not them happening.

[CharlesPhipps]

The thing is you have to also question whether Caesar actually's idea would work or whether he even cares. He didn't have to adopt the tactics of Immorten Joe in order to become a warlord and a lot of his ideas like Luddism or a reintroduction of slavery as well as feminine oppression don't make his state any better. They just suit his personal needs as well as loathesome personality. He's basically a warlord who really enjoys his cult.

I think that makes it more interesting versus just assuming he's an extremist.

He's a raging egotist that has shaped the world to his needs.

[clearspira]

I do think they could have done a bit more to emphasize that the legion wasn't just the bad guy faction. The mongols were brutal conquers but the order and peace in their empire was a benefit. It was said a merchant could walk down any road carrying gold on their head and have no fear of bandits. The NCR is creating an empire just as surely as the legion, one that tolerates far more corruption than the legion. It's entirely possible that the thing the wasteland needs more than anything is peace and order.

A benefit to the merchants who had gold that they could carry on their heads, not really anyone else. And only as long as they have anyone worth trading to.

The Legion may benefit their merchants, for now, but any who are made into slaves, or purged when conquering a local tribe, or used as a brood mare for more Legion soldiers isn't going to benefit from this peace. And that's contingent on peace coming.

Spoilers for this game....


The Legion is a house of cards sitting upon one bald's man tumorous head. Their indoctrination of the tribes has nothing to do with the good and more civilized parts of Rome. They are conquerors and subjugators, with Caesar's closest allies having no real following of Caesar's ideology, only to his presented strength. Lanius himself doesn't share Caesar's vision of transforming New Vegas into a New Rome. He is only a soldier good for keeping everyone in line. And the Legion, like ancient Rome, only has strength due to constant conquest, until it stretched itself too far and has to deal with rebels and insurrections, without the things the NCR puts in place to keep itself intact, like Railroads, electricity, medicine, schools, etc, to keep a civilization going. Caesar's legion rejects all of that in favor of only having guns, healing powder, and brute strength.

Whether Caesar dies of his tumor, or just of old age, he will die, and the Legion will tear itself apart because it lacks real direction AND the capability to have a direction apart from 'the strongest rules over everyone else'. And the NCR will meanwhile continue growing and advancing, with their industrial capability making the Legion useless in comparison.

I think the NCR is probably the most powerful faction in Fallout for this reason alone. Sure, it would be a massive war if the Fallout 4 Capital Wasteland Brotherhood went against them, but I think its their industrial capability that probably would seal the deal on an NCR victory. Laser rifles are cool and all, but you can make 50 service rifles for each one. Power armour is cool and all, but they're not invincible. I once saw a question on Quora note that in real life, power armour would make a great addition to a team but it would hardly be a one man army like it is implied in this game as any modern anti-tank rocket launcher or anti-material rifle would go straight through the thing. In real life it would be used like we are currently planning to use power armour in real life - allowing the user to carry more weapons and equipment for longer distances.

The only stumbling block is Liberty prime, but again, IRL it simply would not be the powerhouse it is portrayed as in game. The thing would have to reload for starters.

[Nealithi]

I think the NCR is probably the most powerful faction in Fallout for this reason alone. Sure, it would be a massive war if the Fallout 4 Capital Wasteland Brotherhood went against them, but I think its their industrial capability that probably would seal the deal on an NCR victory. Laser rifles are cool and all, but you can make 50 service rifles for each one. Power armour is cool and all, but they're not invincible. I once saw a question on Quora note that in real life, power armour would make a great addition to a team but it would hardly be a one man army like it is implied in this game as any modern anti-tank rocket launcher or anti-material rifle would go straight through the thing. In real life it would be used like we are currently planning to use power armour in real life - allowing the user to carry more weapons and equipment for longer distances.

The only stumbling block is Liberty prime, but again, IRL it simply would not be the powerhouse it is portrayed as in game. The thing would have to reload for starters.

Well I see the power armour differently. They have many of the same uses as tanks. Sure there are counters to power armour. There are counters to tanks too. We still use them. But with power armour you can room to room clear a building, trench, or tunnel that a conventional tank simply can't fit inside. And coupled with a relatively light vertibird you have unparalleled rapid response you would not get with tanks alone.

As for Liberty Prime? He may be tough but he is neither invincible nor totally under control. Now I have not seen him deployed in FO3 yet. But I have seen him in FO4. And there he knew Boston landmarks to salute, while trying to save Anchorage Alaska. So his programming is badly hacked together. He kills a few mutants. Nothing the BoS hasn't done with a vertibird. Then it digs a tunnel so the power armour can get inside.