Poll: What Fallout: New Vegas faction is your favorite

[Genocidicles]

I think House is the best for humanity, but my favourite is the Legion. I like playing as an evil prick in these games.

Interestingly though, a low karma ending with Yes Man is arguably worse than the Legion. You're a horrible tyrant who can gun down any who resist with an army robots, people are starving from a famine you caused and so on.

 

[Muspelheim]

The NCR, as corrupt and flawed as they are.

At least they're trying, and it's got the potential to get better, being a democracy with a large population. Plus, they're in it for the long haul, having the means of production. Unlike the Legion, they're not dependant on having people around to conquer or an alpha-figure to not utterly collapse.

 

[scorptatious]

Yes Man!

The future of New Vegas belongs in the hands of the people!

Viva la revolution!

I guess if I had to choose between the other three though, probably House. Even if he does come off as an asshole who's totally full of himself, he did save New Vegas from being annihilated like the rest of the Mojave.

Also, I'm loving how they're so many Fallout: New Vegas threads!

 

[teh_gunslinger]

If all you got from NCR is that it's a corrupt government I'd say you missed the point of it.

New Vegas is basically a tale of taming a land and how you want to do that.

NCR, for all it's bloated faults, is the best bet if you want an actual civil society based on rule of law, a civil code and a system of justice.

NCR has a plan and a purpose and while they're not perfect by a long shot, their heart is in the right place.

I always thought that they should be the ones called the Legion as they actually strive to embody the best parts of the Roman res publica (though they also embody some of the more lame parts such as insufferable arrogance, overreaching and complete lack of doubt).

Caesar on the other hand is a total scumbag that read Darwin upside down and thought he understood it. He's like a teenager who thinks he actually knows how the world works while in fact he's completely clueless and mistakes seeking his own gratification with a world view.

Yes Man is basically poison for the idea of a coherent society and House, well I can't even remember what he wanted me to do. I killed him as soon as I could.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

I'm a big Mr. House fan. He's just so weird and creepy. Plus, The Strip is the nicest location in the game, thanks to him. The man knows his shit. Also,

Spoiler

If you side with him, he lets you stay in that penthouse indefinitely. Seems like the happiest possible ending to that story. Plus you get to shoot that pompous NCR general right in the face. He melted when I shot him with the plasma rifle.

 

[EquestrianGeneral]

*Secret Option E: Brotherhood of Steel*

Now, actually from the available list. Well, a corrupt government is still a government... I gotta go with the NCR, if only for the fact that they're the least poor choice.

Legion: Well, it's pretty clear why I wouldn't associate myself with them.

Mr. House: Selfish, rather untrustworthy, and one man having all of that power is never a good idea.

Yes Man: Personally, government is better than anarchy, no matter how sweet a personal army of robots sounds.

So, NCR basically wins by default.

 

[IFS]

I vote NCR. Sure they are overextending themselves in their efforts to acquire land (your opinion may vary as to whether they are motivated by greed or have more benevolent intentions) but they are also trying to bring back democracy to the world and improve/civilize/settle the wasteland. They're main problems lie in the fact that their current leaders are less than competent and they have a few too many layers of bureacracy (which is true of most modern governments).

Caesar's Legion is a totalitarian nation that is built around a charismatic leader and will likely collapse when he dies. While his extreme methods do keep his territory orderly, (although new vegas and the mojave is basically the unsettled frontier so the player doesn't really get a good picture of the criminal/raider element in NCR territory) his nation is built on slavery and incredibly harsh punishments. Besides that his stand against most forms of technological progress will inevitably lead to his nation's collapse as others advance past it.

House thinks that he is the only person who can rebuild the world, his condescending attitude to the PC certainly didn't endear him to me, and his vision for vegas is stuck in the past.

Yes Man, while I can understand the appeal of ruling new vegas yourself I don't think I could trust him since he's the one who actually controls all of the robots and can't be killed if he does turn against me (he just switches to another robot body). Besides that anarchy would only make things worse.

 

[DustyDrB]

Favorite faction: either the Boomers or the Followers. I love the mural that tells the Boomers' history, and that kid is pretty cool. The Followers are just a group after my own heart. I plan on volunteering for Doctors Without Borders when I finish PA school.

Favorite main story choice "faction": Independent Vegas, and not with me as some sort of dictator. I go my own way, and Vegas goes its in turn.

 

[aguspal]

The one that gives me the most EXP fast..

I dont particulary care. But I guess NCR because they are the good guys and all xD, yeah.

 

[Reincarnatedwolfgod]

main story factions:
the there are only two wrong choices imo
the legion who are savage that enslave people and treat women like breeding cattle.
and evil karma Independent Vegas which is just pure chaos

every one else you can at least make a case for when saying they should control New Vegas


non main story factions:
the brother hood of steel- they are ass holes and i don't like them. i may add more to this one later

the great khans- sure they sell drugs and supply the fiends(before i kill the fiends leader) but you can convince them to make helpful medical supplies too
if they were gone some one worst could replace them. yeah they are not good or evil

 

[MCrewdson001]

Yes man because there is so much choice

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I like the legion. While they may be rapists and slavers they actually protect their citizens, no matter how far their empire reaches, and they care about everyone not just one city, and they are not as corrupt and stupid as the NCR. I will update my post with more details later.

Uh... no. No they don't give a single shit about their people. Caesar is the only person that Caesar's Legion cares about. Whenever a new group of people enters (see: forced) into the Legion, the first thing done is a systematic destruction of their culture and concepts of individuality. Families are torn apart, and all rights and privileges are removed. To Caesar's Legion, people are little more than exploitable resources. Women become laborers and sex slaves used for assigned breeding, children are torn away from their mothers and brainwashed for military service, the elderly are forced into light rear-guard duties (if they're lucky), and men get forced into brutal military service.

Adult men get arguably the best deal... and even then, they're forced to fight in human wave tactics wearing sports equipment with machetes and baseball bats against a foe wearing military grade body armor and using assault rifles. Not to mention that they could potentially be executed by their superiors at any time as little more than an example to the rest because some other unit failed their objective.

And while the Legion may not have the corruption that NCR has, they most definitely do have the stupidity. It's implied throughout the game that when Caesar dies the Legion is pretty much destroyed. Caesar's death would create a power vacuum that his officers would attempt to fill through heavy in-fighting. The tension between Lanius and Vulpes is a prime example.

Frankly, of the game's choices, Caesar's Legion is probably the overall worst for the region. Horrific quality of life, complete technological regression, a government run entirely through a cult of personality that could potentially shatter upon Caesar's demise, a faction that devotes itself so heavily to its technologically inferior military that it would dissolve completely should that military ever be defeated (which it absolutely would be if they ever got into a stand-up fight with, say, the Brotherhood of Steel even with the Brotherhood's reduced numbers)... yeah...

All the factions in the game are meant to be a mix of good and bad, but the Legion is the only one that's overwhelmingly terrible.

The followers of the apocalypse because they represent constructive change and the ability to go forwards instead of just relying on your forefathers - a direction I find lacking in many post-apocalyptic IP:s.

The Followers of the Apocalypse aren't a true faction though. They're really more of a humanitarian foundation looking to provide education and health care. They completely lack the structure or resources to participate as a government. It'd be like firing the U.S. government and handing the country over to, say, the Red Cross.

Most of the factions don't seem to really mind the Followers, though. So their presence would likely still be felt regardless of your choice.

Unless you choose Caesar's Legion, anyway. They don't believe in modern medicine, and they certainly don't want education. Cultural and societal regression, ho!

 

[LobsterFeng]

The people of Goodsprings, because they're all good!...what do you mean that doesn't count?

Okay I'll go with Yes Man because you just can't say no to Yes Man.

 

[The_Lost_King]

I like the legion. While they may be rapists and slavers they actually protect their citizens, no matter how far their empire reaches, and they care about everyone not just one city, and they are not as corrupt and stupid as the NCR. I will update my post with more details later.

Uh... no. No they don't give a single shit about their people. Caesar is the only person that Caesar's Legion cares about. Whenever a new group of people enters (see: forced) into the Legion, the first thing done is a systematic destruction of their culture and concepts of individuality. Families are torn apart, and all rights and privileges are removed. To Caesar's Legion, people are little more than exploitable resources. Women become laborers and sex slaves used for assigned breeding, children are torn away from their mothers and brainwashed for military service, the elderly are forced into light rear-guard duties (if they're lucky), and men get forced into brutal military service.

Adult men get arguably the best deal... and even then, they're forced to fight in human wave tactics wearing sports equipment with machetes and baseball bats against a foe wearing military grade body armor and using assault rifles. Not to mention that they could potentially be executed by their superiors at any time as little more than an example to the rest because some other unit failed their objective.

And while the Legion may not have the corruption that NCR has, they most definitely do have the stupidity. It's implied throughout the game that when Caesar dies the Legion is pretty much destroyed. Caesar's death would create a power vacuum that his officers would attempt to fill through heavy in-fighting. The tension between Lanius and Vulpes is a prime example.

Frankly, of the game's choices, Caesar's Legion is probably the overall worst for the region. Horrific quality of life, complete technological regression, a government run entirely through a cult of personality that could potentially shatter upon Caesar's demise, a faction that devotes itself so heavily to its technologically inferior military that it would dissolve completely should that military ever be defeated (which it absolutely would be if they ever got into a stand-up fight with, say, the Brotherhood of Steel even with the Brotherhood's reduced numbers)... yeah...

All the factions in the game are meant to be a mix of good and bad, but the Legion is the only one that's overwhelmingly terrible.

The followers of the apocalypse because they represent constructive change and the ability to go forwards instead of just relying on your forefathers - a direction I find lacking in many post-apocalyptic IP:s.

The Followers of the Apocalypse aren't a true faction though. They're really more of a humanitarian foundation looking to provide education and health care. They completely lack the structure or resources to participate as a government. It'd be like firing the U.S. government and handing the country over to, say, the Red Cross.

Most of the factions don't seem to really mind the Followers, though. So their presence would likely still be felt regardless of your choice.

Unless you choose Caesar's Legion, anyway. They don't believe in modern medicine, and they certainly don't want education. Cultural and societal regression, ho!

There are cities in the legion. Else why would there be traders? Cass wishes she could but sexism yeah. Samuel or what ever the trader in their camp trades which means there are cities and what is an empire without an cities. They are trying to recreate Rome. They wanted New Vegas for their Rome. That means there are people there living actuall lives and doing something other than fighting. They regress because in Fallout you are going to have to regress to progress. Like I said in the OP when the world is set back to square 1 you start at square 1 not square 21.

 

[Alssadar]

I went with the NCR my first time around, mainly due to my GOOD OL' AMERICAN SPIRIT reality that if I didn't take them, Vegas would become a very contested battleground and I'm helping all the people there not get caught in a bloody conflict(even if I'm giving them old democracy). Besides, despite their bureaucracy and idiocy in command, they have generally good intentions (much like a current world power stranded in a desert...) though the policing of such is rather rash.
Besides, from my perspective, the NCR is an expanding empire, and, in order to eventually develop more advanced technologies, control over the old tech of Vegas would be necessary to aid all the folks back in California.

I was also allowed to save the Brotherhood of Steel. That was great. But having to fight spore crawlers... *Shudder*

 

[kortin]

Despite everything, The Brotherhood of Steel is my favorite faction. I'm planning to, at one point, wipe out all the rest of the factions. I just need to bide my time and keep leveling up. Eventually I will be able to strike.

captcha: lunch tuesday?

Did the captcha just ask me out on a date...?

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

There are cities in the legion. Else why would there be traders? Cass wishes she could but sexism yeah. Samuel or what ever the trader in their camp trades which means there are cities and what is an empire without an cities. They are trying to recreate Rome. They wanted New Vegas for their Rome. That means there are people there living actuall lives and doing something other than fighting. They regress because in Fallout you are going to have to regress to progress. Like I said in the OP when the world is set back to square 1 you start at square 1 not square 21.

Just because there are cities doesn't mean they are places you would want to live. I know that Mogadishu, Somalia exists in real life, and I know that there is some level of infrastructure and trade there - but I most definitely wouldn't trade up the quality of life where I am to live in Mogadishu.

Notably, in trying to recreate a modern Roman Empire, they're trying to recreate a society that started out strong and then utterly collapsed, notably with a huge amount of corruption and in-fighting.

The idea that you progress by regression is absolutely absurd, and wholly dis-proven by the series as a whole. NCR, for example, did start at square 1. The NCR started out as just a tiny little town called Shady Sands and eventually worked its way forward to where it currently is. There's corruption, sure - there's going to be corruption in any government - but it's actively seeking to improve society and help its citizens. Is it stretching itself thinly, yes. Is it trying to remedy that, though? Yes. NCR started at square 1 and is working its way back up to square 21. The Legion is at square 1, and is perfectly content to stay there while the bodies pile up.

 

[solemnwar]

Just because there are cities doesn't mean they are places you would want to live. I know that Mogadishu, Somalia exists in real life, and I know that there is some level of infrastructure and trade there - but I most definitely wouldn't trade up the quality of life where I am to live in Mogadishu.

Notably, in trying to recreate a modern Roman Empire, they're trying to recreate a society that started out strong and then utterly collapsed, notably with a huge amount of corruption and in-fighting.

The idea that you progress by regression is absolutely absurd, and wholly dis-proven by the series as a whole. NCR, for example, did start at square 1. The NCR started out as just a tiny little town called Shady Sands and eventually worked its way forward to where it currently is. There's corruption, sure - there's going to be corruption in any government - but it's actively seeking to improve society and help its citizens. Is it stretching itself thinly, yes. Is it trying to remedy that, though? Yes. NCR started at square 1 and is working its way back up to square 21. The Legion is at square 1, and is perfectly content to stay there while the bodies pile up.

The part of your quote that I bolded, that's the part that bothers me about the Legion the most. WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU WANT TO EMULATE THAT? People focus so much on how "great" the Roman Empire was that they ultimately forget how it ends- it collapses in the West somewhere around 400-500 AD, and while it continues to some extent in the east (the Byzantine Empire) that also collapses in a rather pitiable way and overrun by Turks. Learning about the history of the Byzantine Empire was probably the most depressing of my history courses, really...

 

[Genocidicles]

The part of your quote that I bolded, that's the part that bothers me about the Legion the most. WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU WANT TO EMULATE THAT?

Well the same could be said of the NCR, and at least the society the Legion is emulating didn't help turn the world into a nuclear wasteland.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Well the same could be said of the NCR, and at least the society the Legion is emulating didn't help turn the world into a nuclear wasteland.

It's heavily implied in both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas that China was the one who initiated the nuclear war. Considering they were the aggressor against the United States in the Resource Wars as well, it isn't much of a surprise. Had it not been for China's actions, the United States likely would have continued onward just fine.

Mutually Assured Destruction sucks. Massive understatement. But it's used as a deterrent. If China hadn't launched, the United States wouldn't have retaliated. It's the sort of situation that MAD is supposed to prevent (and so far has in real life).

Regardless of which form the new world's governments take, nuclear technology still exists. Regardless of how governments shape and form themselves, they will eventually become nuclear-capable. Maybe with actual pre-war nuclear weaponry, maybe by reverse-engineering the remains of nuclear technology, or maybe just through pre-war knowledge of nuclear devices. The only government that wouldn't is Caesar's Legion (under Caesar, at least), which would set it ridiculously far behind whichever faction does start manufacturing nukes.

It's pretty hard to imagine a future in the Fallout universe where MAD doesn't happen all over again anyway, regardless of what form NCR takes.