FelixSH
(He/Him)
I guess many people here have played that game. I'm curious, which faction did you support, why, and would you decide different, today?
I played now 30 hours during the last two weeks, or so, and I think I'm done. The endgame is exhausting - I tried to side with the NCR, but it just doesn't want to end, and I get so tired of this horrible place. And, honestly, I'm not sure who I should be siding with, anyway.
Ceasars Legion is garbage. Just the basic idea, of bringing sexism back to this hellhole of a world is disgusting, and completely pointless. I can vaguely see, how the idea of a strong men in times of need might be a good idea, but the whole "let's treat one half of our population as subhumans" is absolutely inacceptable. But aside from that, the philosophy is awful. As far as I understand it, Ceasar wants to be the strong man now, and whenever they achieved stability, something more sensible will be created. Which isn't how it will work, of course. You only establish a horrible society, a kingdom that is based on fear, slavery and violence (plus, of course, sexism), and it will take centuries to get rid of these awful ideas. Nevermind that Ceasars backstory implies, that he is just an asshole, who wants to rule.
But let's assume, Ceasar is decent, and, if he would live forever, he would part with his power and create a democracy, just for the discussion. Well, he will soon die, and then this Legate jerk will take over. I don't even think, that the legion will fall apart, after his death. It is a society, based on the strong and powerful, and the Legate is a living legend already. And under him, the whole empire will be even more brutal and awful, than it is now. And this will be the future of this world.
People point to the security, this awful people bring to their region. Well, they might defend their citizens (or, more precisely, slaves) against enemies from outside. But only by being the worst enemy itself. No one will protect the people from their own rulers.
In summary, the Legion is godawful, and I soon killed everyone of these jerks that I found.
The NCR seems decent, but as the game continued, I found indications of big, big problems. They are a society without sexism, at the moment (at least, as far as I can tell). But there is one letter, about getting all female soldiers out of this one camp, that is in big danger of being destroyed by the legion. It's just one sign, but the point is, this old, horrible idea is coming back, and made its way to at least one powerful member of the NCR.
There is an NCR camp, with a guy who talks about how beautiful the sea nearby is. And then, he mentions that there are no more seas inside the NCR territory. They are all pumped dry. If nothing else, this means the NCR doesn't take care of their ressources, which is a giant problem. There simply aren't many ressources around, anymore, and overusing the once that still are will doom everyone.
I also don't remember where from, but I think someone in the game mentions, that ressources are running out anyway, and that there will be mass starvation in one or two decades. So, the NCR is basically on the brink of collapse, and all that will help it is continued expansion. With no indication, that anything will be done to change their ways.
There is also talk about Brahmin Barons getting way too powerful. In the early times, they were only allowed to own a certain amount. These restrictions were slowly lifted, until the current President simply killed that law. So, I imagine their either is or will soon be a big amount of impoverished people. This is also a reason for the NCR to push their borders - people probably see what's coming, or are already poor, and want to try their luck elsewhere.
Also, no one invited the NCR into the Mojave. They are expanding, and if there is something important for them, it seems like they will take it, no matter what. Like they would have with the Hoover Dam.
In general, I think of taxes as something good and important. A country needs taxes. But they also don't seem to give anything back, for now, so no wonder that the people don't want them here. Their promises seem very hollow, as they can't keep the Mojave save. Also, they just are a power that is coming here, where there was none. No wonder that people are sceptical, and stuff like Bitter Springs doesn't help, even if their was just incompetence behind this, not malice.
Dunno, especially the way the NCR is now, and where it is headed seems pretty bad. I imagine you will get, whenever they have all territory under control, an awful country, where a few rich assholes will live in luxury, and 99% of the population will starve and suffer.
Considering that the people here seem to be able to take care of themselves, on the whole (at least, if one gets rid of the goddamn Legion), I'm inclined to help Mr. House. Not because I generally think his plan is that great, but because it gives the world time to form another big power, that isn't as bad as the NCR seems to get, soon. With Yes Man it's similar. But even if you just are the great guy that solves problems everywhere, and make sure that no assholes get too strong, there is no promise for a decent alternative. And after your death, a power vacuum will bring death everywhere, I assume.
Dunno, I really don't like any of the alternatives much. But I see, how some of the settlements get along fairly well. Goodsprings, where you start, can even defend themselves against jerks like the Powder Gang, which shows that they have staying power. Jacobstown, where the Supermutants live in peace, is a very nice place, and has some goddamn, real trees. It's basically the most beautiful place I have seen in the whole game, and my canon ending is, that I just stopped roaming the Mojave at some point, and simply stayed here, punching off everyones head, who is a danger. Seriously, I enjoyed my short stay there very much. The Boomers, too, have a nice situation, and seem self-sufficient (at least hey say they are). They also can defend themselves very well. Settlements like these don't seem to need something like the NCR, that will collapse in a few decades, and the certainly don't need the Legion. I honestly want them to continue living in peace, it at least seems, like they have something kind-of stable going on.
Which is probably just wishful thinking, you just need the wrong gang at the wrong time, and everything blows up. But the choices are all kind of bad, so that's my view on this.
But, as a last point, I really feel like this world is over, and the people here are just prolonging the inevitable. The power structures that get established, are based on the ones from before the war (which is expected), but they were then based on much more ressources, than are available now. Maybe it's just a baseless feeling, but there don't seem to be any actual new ideas, which would be needed for this world.
I played now 30 hours during the last two weeks, or so, and I think I'm done. The endgame is exhausting - I tried to side with the NCR, but it just doesn't want to end, and I get so tired of this horrible place. And, honestly, I'm not sure who I should be siding with, anyway.
Ceasars Legion is garbage. Just the basic idea, of bringing sexism back to this hellhole of a world is disgusting, and completely pointless. I can vaguely see, how the idea of a strong men in times of need might be a good idea, but the whole "let's treat one half of our population as subhumans" is absolutely inacceptable. But aside from that, the philosophy is awful. As far as I understand it, Ceasar wants to be the strong man now, and whenever they achieved stability, something more sensible will be created. Which isn't how it will work, of course. You only establish a horrible society, a kingdom that is based on fear, slavery and violence (plus, of course, sexism), and it will take centuries to get rid of these awful ideas. Nevermind that Ceasars backstory implies, that he is just an asshole, who wants to rule.
But let's assume, Ceasar is decent, and, if he would live forever, he would part with his power and create a democracy, just for the discussion. Well, he will soon die, and then this Legate jerk will take over. I don't even think, that the legion will fall apart, after his death. It is a society, based on the strong and powerful, and the Legate is a living legend already. And under him, the whole empire will be even more brutal and awful, than it is now. And this will be the future of this world.
People point to the security, this awful people bring to their region. Well, they might defend their citizens (or, more precisely, slaves) against enemies from outside. But only by being the worst enemy itself. No one will protect the people from their own rulers.
In summary, the Legion is godawful, and I soon killed everyone of these jerks that I found.
The NCR seems decent, but as the game continued, I found indications of big, big problems. They are a society without sexism, at the moment (at least, as far as I can tell). But there is one letter, about getting all female soldiers out of this one camp, that is in big danger of being destroyed by the legion. It's just one sign, but the point is, this old, horrible idea is coming back, and made its way to at least one powerful member of the NCR.
There is an NCR camp, with a guy who talks about how beautiful the sea nearby is. And then, he mentions that there are no more seas inside the NCR territory. They are all pumped dry. If nothing else, this means the NCR doesn't take care of their ressources, which is a giant problem. There simply aren't many ressources around, anymore, and overusing the once that still are will doom everyone.
I also don't remember where from, but I think someone in the game mentions, that ressources are running out anyway, and that there will be mass starvation in one or two decades. So, the NCR is basically on the brink of collapse, and all that will help it is continued expansion. With no indication, that anything will be done to change their ways.
There is also talk about Brahmin Barons getting way too powerful. In the early times, they were only allowed to own a certain amount. These restrictions were slowly lifted, until the current President simply killed that law. So, I imagine their either is or will soon be a big amount of impoverished people. This is also a reason for the NCR to push their borders - people probably see what's coming, or are already poor, and want to try their luck elsewhere.
Also, no one invited the NCR into the Mojave. They are expanding, and if there is something important for them, it seems like they will take it, no matter what. Like they would have with the Hoover Dam.
In general, I think of taxes as something good and important. A country needs taxes. But they also don't seem to give anything back, for now, so no wonder that the people don't want them here. Their promises seem very hollow, as they can't keep the Mojave save. Also, they just are a power that is coming here, where there was none. No wonder that people are sceptical, and stuff like Bitter Springs doesn't help, even if their was just incompetence behind this, not malice.
Dunno, especially the way the NCR is now, and where it is headed seems pretty bad. I imagine you will get, whenever they have all territory under control, an awful country, where a few rich assholes will live in luxury, and 99% of the population will starve and suffer.
Considering that the people here seem to be able to take care of themselves, on the whole (at least, if one gets rid of the goddamn Legion), I'm inclined to help Mr. House. Not because I generally think his plan is that great, but because it gives the world time to form another big power, that isn't as bad as the NCR seems to get, soon. With Yes Man it's similar. But even if you just are the great guy that solves problems everywhere, and make sure that no assholes get too strong, there is no promise for a decent alternative. And after your death, a power vacuum will bring death everywhere, I assume.
Dunno, I really don't like any of the alternatives much. But I see, how some of the settlements get along fairly well. Goodsprings, where you start, can even defend themselves against jerks like the Powder Gang, which shows that they have staying power. Jacobstown, where the Supermutants live in peace, is a very nice place, and has some goddamn, real trees. It's basically the most beautiful place I have seen in the whole game, and my canon ending is, that I just stopped roaming the Mojave at some point, and simply stayed here, punching off everyones head, who is a danger. Seriously, I enjoyed my short stay there very much. The Boomers, too, have a nice situation, and seem self-sufficient (at least hey say they are). They also can defend themselves very well. Settlements like these don't seem to need something like the NCR, that will collapse in a few decades, and the certainly don't need the Legion. I honestly want them to continue living in peace, it at least seems, like they have something kind-of stable going on.
Which is probably just wishful thinking, you just need the wrong gang at the wrong time, and everything blows up. But the choices are all kind of bad, so that's my view on this.
But, as a last point, I really feel like this world is over, and the people here are just prolonging the inevitable. The power structures that get established, are based on the ones from before the war (which is expected), but they were then based on much more ressources, than are available now. Maybe it's just a baseless feeling, but there don't seem to be any actual new ideas, which would be needed for this world.