Thread for Gamers IX: God Howard Starfield Edition

[Dresderstan]

My one problem with FO4 is the factions and their questlines. The Minutemen are monotonous long, and boring as fuck, the Railroad is a joke, the Institute is just a diet Enclave, and the BOS is quite racist. And yet I find myself allying myself with the BOS and the Minutemen the most, for a small number of reasons. Mostly the rewards for the BOS, like a fucking jet pack and sick power armor, plus sparing Danse and having him be a companion later on, and the Minutemen because they are the ONLY faction that I know of that can't be killed off and if possibly destroying the other factions, sans the Institute doesn't have to happen.

[The New California Republic]

The way the Brotherhood are literally airdropped into the story halfway through was just a sign of how threadbare the story was, the fact that they were needed to actually make it go anywhere. And the fact that they made the Brotherhood go back to their Nazi-esque roots was so forced as well. The game was crying out for the Enclave to return as the major antagonist, but they made the Brotherhood into an Enclave caricature instead. For shame. They really missed a trick, as who wouldn't want to see the Institute going toe-to-toe with the Enclave?

I don't think there's any way they could have justified the existance of the Enclave in Boston without retconning both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas.

It has already been shown that the Enclave is quite fractured and in disarray since the events of F3, but elements undoubtedly survive, so it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch for the story to show that one of the fragments is in the Boston area.

[The New California Republic]

My one problem with FO4 is the factions and their questlines. The Minutemen are monotonous long, and boring as fuck, the Railroad is a joke, the Institute is just a diet Enclave, and the BOS is quite racist. And yet I find myself allying myself with the BOS and the Minutemen the most, for a small number of reasons. Mostly the rewards for the BOS, like a fucking jet pack and sick power armor, plus sparing Danse and having him be a companion later on, and the Minutemen because they are the ONLY faction that I know of that can't be killed off and if possibly destroying the other factions, sans the Institute doesn't have to happen.

Agree with it all except your conclusion that the Institute is a diet Enclave. The Enclave is essentially stuck in the past, seeking the total restoration of America to what it once was. The Institute, on the other hand, is just blindly barrelling forward, progress for its own sake, without harbouring any concrete goals socially or politically. That was the main problem of the Institute, they had no idea of the social, ethical, and philosophical ramifications for the human race in regards to producing human beings on a production line.They are largely content to stay isolated underground indefinitely, as shown by Father's disdain for the surface when he does emerge in that one occasion. There are hints of social and political goals from some elements of the Institute, but they are definitely just tacked on and secondary.

[Ifreann]

F4's story is pretty stupid from the start and through the middle as well.

The way the Brotherhood are literally airdropped into the story halfway through was just a sign of how threadbare the story was, the fact that they were needed to actually make it go anywhere. And the fact that they made the Brotherhood go back to their Nazi-esque roots was so forced as well. The game was crying out for the Enclave to return as the major antagonist, but they made the Brotherhood into an Enclave caricature instead. For shame. They really missed a trick, as who wouldn't want to see the Institute going toe-to-toe with the Enclave?

The Enclave, who want to rebuild and recreate pre-war America, versus the Institute(ideally better written), who want to build a new society with a new humanity, seems like it would make for a far better conflict than the Brotherhood, who think technology is bad and only they should have it, versus the Institute, who think technology is good and only they should have it.

[Dresderstan]

My one problem with FO4 is the factions and their questlines. The Minutemen are monotonous long, and boring as fuck, the Railroad is a joke, the Institute is just a diet Enclave, and the BOS is quite racist. And yet I find myself allying myself with the BOS and the Minutemen the most, for a small number of reasons. Mostly the rewards for the BOS, like a fucking jet pack and sick power armor, plus sparing Danse and having him be a companion later on, and the Minutemen because they are the ONLY faction that I know of that can't be killed off and if possibly destroying the other factions, sans the Institute doesn't have to happen.

Agree with it all except your conclusion that the Institute is a diet Enclave. The Enclave is essentially stuck in the past, seeking the total restoration of America to what it once was. The Institute, on the other hand, is just blindly barrelling forward, progress for its own sake, without harbouring any concrete goals socially or politically. They are largely content to stay isolated underground indefinitely, as shown by Father's disdain for the surface when he does emerge in that one occasion. There are hints of social and political goals from some elements of the Institute, but they are definitely just tacked on and secondary.

Well okay, maybe the wrong choice of words, but I just really don't like them and I rarely if ever side with them. Father is a stubborn dictator with his "my way or the highway" attitude, it's especially seen when he chooses the sole survivor as his successor, all while going against the other scientist big wigs. The Institute says they are misunderstood and are the future of humanity, kidnapping humans and replacing them with synths and letting super mutants run wild is not what I call the betterment for the future of humanity. If anything, it only helps the Brotherhood's point, it's technology run amok, and Danse points out to this in ArcJet how companies like Vault-Tec didn't care about the risks and only did it for profit, and the Institute isn't much better, only blindly following progress. Also I honestly believe that the Institute has brainwashed or hypnotized Father (Or Shaun if you must) since Kellogg kidnapped him.

[North German Realm]

My one problem with FO4 is the factions and their questlines. The Minutemen are monotonous long, and boring as fuck, the Railroad is a joke, the Institute is just a diet Enclave, and the BOS is quite racist. And yet I find myself allying myself with the BOS and the Minutemen the most, for a small number of reasons. Mostly the rewards for the BOS, like a fucking jet pack and sick power armor, plus sparing Danse and having him be a companion later on, and the Minutemen because they are the ONLY faction that I know of that can't be killed off and if possibly destroying the other factions, sans the Institute doesn't have to happen.

The Institute may be pure evil like the Enclave, but it neither the cartoonish evil that pre-FO3 Enclave was nor is it the misguided evil of FO3. I mean it's possible it was a pre-Enclave (a Vault 0, if you will) but I doubt it was what Bethesda intended.

[The New California Republic]

The way the Brotherhood are literally airdropped into the story halfway through was just a sign of how threadbare the story was, the fact that they were needed to actually make it go anywhere. And the fact that they made the Brotherhood go back to their Nazi-esque roots was so forced as well. The game was crying out for the Enclave to return as the major antagonist, but they made the Brotherhood into an Enclave caricature instead. For shame. They really missed a trick, as who wouldn't want to see the Institute going toe-to-toe with the Enclave?

The Enclave, who want to rebuild and recreate pre-war America, versus the Institute(ideally better written), who want to build a new society with a new humanity, seems like it would make for a far better conflict than the Brotherhood, who think technology is bad and only they should have it, versus the Institute, who think technology is good and only they should have it.

I am hoping that they bring the Enclave back in a future instalment, but the opportunity to have that type of conflict between the Enclave and the Institute has likely been permanently lost. The only way I could see that it could be done now is if the Institute ending was determined to be the canon ending of F4, and they encounter the Enclave in F5.

[Cisairse]

My one problem with FO4 is the factions and their questlines. The Minutemen are monotonous long, and boring as fuck, the Railroad is a joke, the Institute is just a diet Enclave, and the BOS is quite racist. And yet I find myself allying myself with the BOS and the Minutemen the most, for a small number of reasons. Mostly the rewards for the BOS, like a fucking jet pack and sick power armor, plus sparing Danse and having him be a companion later on, and the Minutemen because they are the ONLY faction that I know of that can't be killed off and if possibly destroying the other factions, sans the Institute doesn't have to happen.

Yeah I agree, it's like Bethesda saw that FNV was a more loved game by its dedicated fans and decided to make a clip-art version of the hydra endings that FNV had.
They came up with a bunch of ideas for factions and then just added them into the game without actually writing more than concepts.

[The Derpy Democratic Republic Of Herp]

I like the minute man faction personally.

It was fun buliding towns up.

[Ameriganastan]

Brotherhood all the way. Boffo Power Armor, cool flying base, Tuvok, crushing those smug Institute punks and their creepy robots, riding shotgun with Liberty Prime again, etc. Best faction.

[The Huskar Social Union]

I sided with the BOS first time around, found their story the most enjoyable, the minutemen were disappointing, railroad was alright, same with the institute.

[Purpelia]

Whilst we are on Bethesda games am I the only one deeply disappointed at the lack of depth to companions? Like, they are literally cardboard cutouts that only exist to lug things around and swing a sword at your enemies. I wish they were more fleshed out like say the companions in KOTOR.

[The New California Republic]

I sided with the BOS first time around, found their story the most enjoyable, the minutemen were disappointing, railroad was alright, same with the institute.

It was Elder Maxson's speeches and the way he carried himself that made me go "ew, Nazi", and thus I had to hold my nose when I did the BOS playthrough.

[Rostavykhan]

Minutemen were best faction IMO. Dank colonial aesthetic, defending the common folk from evil, and rebuilding The Commonwealth, all while shacking up in an old fort. Was pretty great. The BoS annoyed me a lot in FO4, and the Institute just made me sad because they weren't The Enclave, and Enclave > BoS.

Railroad was...meh. I didn't mind them. Didn't care for them though. Minutemen just seemed like the most "good" of them to me.

[Cisairse]

Whilst we are on Bethesda games am I the only one deeply disappointed at the lack of depth to companions? Like, they are literally cardboard cutouts that only exist to lug things around and swing a sword at your enemies. I wish they were more fleshed out like say the companions in KOTOR.

Literally the exact opposite is true in FNV.

Although, I guess that's not a Bethesda game.

[Ifreann]

Brotherhood all the way. Boffo Power Armor, cool flying base, Tuvok, crushing those smug Institute punks and their creepy robots, riding shotgun with Liberty Prime again, etc. Best faction.

Nothing I love more in video games than doing nothing while some other character fights through the enemies. Like a reverse escort mission.

[The first Galactic Republic]

Never could get into Fallout 4, even though I loved 3 and New Vegas.

I can’t really articulate exactly why it never clicked, but I do feel like it was focused more on shooting and less on the RPG mechanics.

[Licana]

F4's story is pretty stupid from the start and through the middle as well.

The way the Brotherhood are literally airdropped into the story halfway through was just a sign of how threadbare the story was, the fact that they were needed to actually make it go anywhere. And the fact that they made the Brotherhood go back to their Nazi-esque roots was so forced as well. The game was crying out for the Enclave to return as the major antagonist, but they made the Brotherhood into an Enclave caricature instead. For shame. They really missed a trick, as who wouldn't want to see the Institute going toe-to-toe with the Enclave?

I wouldn't. The Enclave are dead and gone, let them die.

My one problem with FO4 is the factions and their questlines. The Minutemen are monotonous long, and boring as fuck, the Railroad is a joke, the Institute is just a diet Enclave, and the BOS is quite racist. And yet I find myself allying myself with the BOS and the Minutemen the most, for a small number of reasons. Mostly the rewards for the BOS, like a fucking jet pack and sick power armor, plus sparing Danse and having him be a companion later on, and the Minutemen because they are the ONLY faction that I know of that can't be killed off and if possibly destroying the other factions, sans the Institute doesn't have to happen.

>he didn't kill danse
for shame

[The New California Republic]

The way the Brotherhood are literally airdropped into the story halfway through was just a sign of how threadbare the story was, the fact that they were needed to actually make it go anywhere. And the fact that they made the Brotherhood go back to their Nazi-esque roots was so forced as well. The game was crying out for the Enclave to return as the major antagonist, but they made the Brotherhood into an Enclave caricature instead. For shame. They really missed a trick, as who wouldn't want to see the Institute going toe-to-toe with the Enclave?

I wouldn't. The Enclave are dead and gone, let them die.

There isn't any evidence to suggest the Enclave is completely destroyed though.

[Cisairse]

Never could get into Fallout 4, even though I loved 3 and New Vegas.

I can’t really articulate exactly why it never clicked, but I do feel like it was focused more on shooting and less on the RPG mechanics.

Yeah, FO4 basically wasn't an RPG. They got rid of the skills mechanic from FNV which meant that there was no real character development or planning, you never had to actually think about what your character wanted to do. You just got stars and put them into the 4 perks that were super overpowered and went back to playing the FPS that the game really was.

[Licana]

I wouldn't. The Enclave are dead and gone, let them die.

There isn't any evidence to suggest the Enclave is completely destroyed though.

Their chain of command has been severed at the top thrice over by this point, and they are at the top of the shitlist of the most powerful factions of both the west and the east coast. If they exist in any organized form, it's not anywhere near either the NCR nor the East Coast BoS's reach, of which the setting of FO4 clearly is within. Logically, they're gone, and if you're anywhere near either coast of America they should remain so. FO4 made a lot of stupid decisions regarding the story, but failing to bring back the Enclave was not one of them.

[Ameriganastan]

I mean, there is a maintained suit of Enclave Power Armor in Fallout 4. So they definitely got out there.

[Licana]

I mean, there is a maintained suit of Enclave Power Armor in Fallout 4. So they definitely got out there.

They're obviously not still out there.

[The New California Republic]

There isn't any evidence to suggest the Enclave is completely destroyed though.

Their chain of command has been severed at the top thrice over by this point, and they are at the top of the shitlist of the most powerful factions of both the west and the east coast. If they exist in any organized form, it's not anywhere near either the NCR nor the East Coast BoS's reach, of which the setting of FO4 clearly is within. Logically, they're gone, and if you're anywhere near either coast of America they should remain so. FO4 made a lot of stupid decisions regarding the story, but failing to bring back the Enclave was not one of them.

It's a given that they are not going to be on the west coast, but the east coast is a possibility, as the power of the BoS on the east coast is not equivalent to the power of the NCR on the west coast, and nor does the BoS control most of the east coast.

[Dresderstan]

Is it just me or does Ellie look like she could be in Bioshock Infinite?