Poll: The Vault Question

[Tuesday Night Fever]

For those who haven't, in the world of the games a private corporation and the government collaborate to build a number of blast and radiation proof shelters in which people can survive a nuclear war in.

Ehhh... kind of? It's pretty heavily implied throughout the series that the Vaults were never actually intended to survive a nuclear war. Neither the government nor Vault-Tec really thought nuclear war was going to happen, so the Vaults were built more for social experimentation. Sure, there were a few control Vaults... but the majority of them came with some kind of catch meant to test its inhabitants' ability to adapt to harsh situations.

What got me thinking was what if our real world governments built vaults in co-operation with a private corporation as in Fallout?

Ugh. Assuming they were following the same path as the fictional U.S. government and Vault-Tec, they'd probably still be mostly for experimentation... and I have no doubt in my mind that the real-life government can probably come up with significantly more sickening ways to test people than the Fallout universe government.

Could you trust them after playing the games? Even if everything was perfect with them, would you be okay living the rest of your days in one? That's a long time to be in close proximity to other people and (presumably) with great restrictions on your freedoms for the good of the collective.

Hell no I couldn't trust them. I have a hard time trusting that the government has the people's best interests at heart as it is. I'd rather take my chances out in the world. I live in pretty much the middle of nowhere with no major population centers or important military/industrial/infrastructure locations nearby, so my chances of getting killed in the blasts is pretty low. Whether or not I'll be able to survive out in the wilderness, who knows? On the up-side, I'm close friends with a few people with military training that live in the same area and probably have better-than-average wilderness survival odds. A former Army Airborne engineer, a former Air Force pararescue jumper, and two Marine riflemen (one of which a relative).

I also have a large collection of real-life bottle caps that I'd actually been collecting prior to playing any Fallout games. So I've got that going for me.

So yeah... screw being a lab rat in a Vault.

 

[UltraPic]

I live on a small densely populated island with nowhere to run to, so sign me up for a vault please. However shit life may be in one, it'll beat being dead. Anything outside of continous torture is better than death in my eyes.

Britain's not all that densely populated, is it? :/

Well, at least it's not up here, where we should be relatively safe. Nobody's gonna bomb Scotland! Inb4 someone says "what would be the difference".

[small][sub]Oh. Unless they hit the nuclear submarine bases...crap.[/sub][/small]

The nuclear submarines are based in Scotland, after London it's Glasgow.

 

[Michael Tabbut]

I live about two miles outside of Boston. Going Vault despite the risk of inhumane experimentation.

 

[Dragonlayer]

Dive inside the local Vault, hope against hope it's not one of the crazy social experiment ones - "We shall now determine the long term effects on humans in cramped conditions while wearing underwear stuffed with bees." - and then dive back out just in time to help President Eden rebuild America, as murderously as possible.

 

[Erttheking]

I'd take my chances with the Vault. Yeah, I'd probably have to end up fighting for my freedom, but at least there's a steady supply of food.

 

[Fijiman]

Fuck that, I'll just stick outside. Besides, the vaults probably have terrible internet.
[sub][sub][sub]That and I'd probably get nowhere near the vault before they got full and/or closed it up.[/sub][/sub][/sub]

 

[Olas]

Eh, life in the Vault didn't seem so bad. I was surrounded by people I knew, who didn't want to kill me on sight, and I can't pretend that I'm a big fan of the outdoors when I spend this much time on the computer.

Let's face it, staying outside the vault is suicide, how long did you last before you had your first death?

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I live in New Zealand.

If global thermonuclear war were to start I doubt anyone with weapons long ranged enough to reach here would bother throwing a few ICBM's down into the middle of nowhere and even if they did they'll most likely target Auckland (biggest city) or Wellington (capital) which I would consider a win/win situation.

That said, I would either head to the local Vault or to the Uni I work for. I have access to some of the underground tunnels there and ride out the ensuring shitstorm.

Why would losing two of the biggest cities be a win win? Especially since I happen to live in our capital This would be while I'm out of town right? Right?

 

[Vault101]

Fuck that, I'll just stick outside. Besides, the vaults probably have terrible internet.
[sub][sub][sub]That and I'd probably get nowhere near the vault before they got full and/or closed it up.[/sub][/sub][/sub]

its true! I live in Australia...

I live in New Zealand.

If global thermonuclear war were to start I doubt anyone with weapons long ranged enough to reach here would bother throwing a few ICBM's down into the middle of nowhere and even if they did they'll most likely target Auckland (biggest city) or Wellington (capital) which I would consider a win/win situation.

That said, I would either head to the local Vault or to the Uni I work for. I have access to some of the underground tunnels there and ride out the ensuring shitstorm.

wouldn't the fallout...[i/]drift[/i] or something? if I recall there was an obscure Australian book about just that

 

[Kyrian007]

The sirens are blaring? Missiles are in the air?

I'll need an option for "Reduced to ash and bone (and maybe one of those cool shadows frozen on a wall things.)" Where I live is generally considered a "primary strike" area (or at least the old USSR considered it one.) Unless Vault "x" is buried under my neighborhood, chances are I won't make it to anywhere safe in time.

But as far as vault or overland? Knowing what I know I would decide based upon which vault I would get put in. Vault 21... cool, I'm all in. Vault 11, yikes no way. Vault 10, ehh sure I'd eat well at least. Vault 12 or 17... no thank you.

Vault 69... oh yeah. I'd go for that without a war. I'd get locked in there for life just to be a part of the experiment. And I'm well aware I'd probably wind up dead... don't care, totally worth it.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

I live in New Zealand.

If global thermonuclear war were to start I doubt anyone with weapons long ranged enough to reach here would bother throwing a few ICBM's down into the middle of nowhere and even if they did they'll most likely target Auckland (biggest city) or Wellington (capital) which I would consider a win/win situation.

That said, I would either head to the local Vault or to the Uni I work for. I have access to some of the underground tunnels there and ride out the ensuring shitstorm.

Why would losing two of the biggest cities be a win win? Especially since I happen to live in our capital This would be while I'm out of town right? Right?

I'm sorry you have to live so close to the Beehive, but sacrifices made to cull the politicians numbers will be remembered.

The Auckland bit is more my father and grandfather talking.

wouldn't the fallout...[i/]drift[/i] or something? if I recall there was an obscure Australian book about just that

True, but drift from a strike on Australia or even Auckland will take time to reach where I live, giving me enough of a window to hoof it to the tunnels even if caught flat footed about the nuclear exchange.

 

[OneCatch]

I live on a small densely populated island with nowhere to run to, so sign me up for a vault please. However shit life may be in one, it'll beat being dead. Anything outside of continous torture is better than death in my eyes.

Britain's not all that densely populated, is it? :/

Well, at least it's not up here, where we should be relatively safe. Nobody's gonna bomb Scotland! Inb4 someone says "what would be the difference".

[small][sub]Oh. Unless they hit the nuclear submarine bases...crap.[/sub][/small]

Easily within the top quarter of the world for population density,
not so much in Scotland but it's pretty packed here down south. Nuclear war isn't quite as destructive as many imagine but I wouldn't fancy my chances when I live a couple of hours drive away from UK target number 1: London. If they/we survive the Londoners will probably end up raiding our farms!

Faslane, Edinburgh and Glasgow would probably get hit at the very least. List of suspected Soviet nuclear targets in the UK for your viewing pleasure! http://static.guim.co.uk/ni/1401981345665/UK_USSR_Targets_WEB_060614.pdf

That said, as long as you're more than about 10-20 miles from any of those you're probably ok, less with suitable terrain.

It depends for me. I'm currently in the Cardiff/Glamorgan area, so if I'm at work I be dead (I work about 200 meters from Cardiff docks / Welsh Govt, and my office has a lovely panoramic view of central Cardiff - so whichever one gets hit I'm dead). There's no way I'd be able to get out of Cardiff fastenough, so a vault is the only feasible option.

If I'm at home when the sirens start I'd probably stay outside. There's plenty of hills/coastal bays nearby to give blast protection, and the only targets are RAF Athens (fair distance away), and possibly the old continuity-of-government nuclear shelters in Bridgend (which are known to be decommissioned).
Fallout is overrated anyway, and we've got prevailing winds off the Atlantic, and plenty of rain, so radiation exposure would be minimal compared to elsewhere. The trick would be to find some isolated farm in the Valleys or the Beacons, and gather enough people to quietly run it without drawing attention to ourselves for a few years.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Fallout is overrated anyway, and we've got prevailing winds off the Atlantic, and plenty of rain, so radiation exposure would be minimal compared to elsewhere. The trick would be to find some isolated farm in the Valleys or the Beacons, and gather enough people to quietly run it without drawing attention to ourselves for a few years.

Precisely my thought which is why, as a resident of the Lake District, I won't be taking up the offer of a vault. Just gonna load up on outdoor supplies and head up into the fells with a few canny friends to live off the land, settle in our own secluded valley and slowly devolve into a group of savage, cannibalistic Northern hill-folk for whom humanity is but a distant memory.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I live in New Zealand.

If global thermonuclear war were to start I doubt anyone with weapons long ranged enough to reach here would bother throwing a few ICBM's down into the middle of nowhere and even if they did they'll most likely target Auckland (biggest city) or Wellington (capital) which I would consider a win/win situation.

During the Cold War, the Soviets were going to target even minor nations (including their own allies) with a limited number of weapons.

NZ might not be a threat to anyone now, but after WW3, the relative strengths of nations would be rather different, and places like NZ would suddenly seem a lot more powerful.

 

[Squilookle]

You kidding me? coop myself up in a vault somewhere in the outback and miss out on all of THIS?


haha- I think not!

 

[RevRaptor]

I live in New Zealand.

If global thermonuclear war were to start I doubt anyone with weapons long ranged enough to reach here would bother throwing a few ICBM's down into the middle of nowhere and even if they did they'll most likely target Auckland (biggest city) or Wellington (capital) which I would consider a win/win situation.

During the Cold War, the Soviets were going to target even minor nations (including their own allies) with a limited number of weapons.

NZ might not be a threat to anyone now, but after WW3, the relative strengths of nations would be rather different, and places like NZ would suddenly seem a lot more powerful.

Dude I can see where you are coming from but have you seen our Navy, it's two dudes in a rubber dingy with a flare gun and a cat named Salty.
Nuclear war or not Salty is the most dangerous thing floating in our waters.

 

[K-lusive]

Post-apocalyptic world? Raiders, mutants, ghouls 'n' radiation? No thanks.
I'll hold my head up high and walk right into that mushroom cloud.

 

[Lethos]

I think I'll probably opt to stay outside. I mean I live in London so I'd be fucked, but dying outside, or surviving for only a brief time seems preferable to slowly going insane inside a vault.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Hah! Screw you guys, I'd rather live in a government funded, self-sustaining environment than live in a world full of Mirelurks.

Fuck Mirelurks, stupid bulletsponges with no good loot and pitiful XP.