JohnPascal

I'm going to ignore most of the post above (but for good reason! Wait, stop writing how hypocritical I am!) because last night while I was losing track of time playing way too much fallout I came to an important realization. This plays into what you said about not having evidence because the private message was sent roughly two hours after I explained the joke but before you responded. It also renders most of our previous posts irrelevant which is why I'm choosing to ignore most everything that's already been said. WARNING! THIS EXPLANATION WILL PROBABLY LEAVE BOTH OF US UNSATISFIED! As we've now both mentioned, there isn't any evidence to suggest that I wrote it comedically (and that's because I don't shout out to the world what my plans are before doing something. What is this? The 80s? Am I about to perform my super special ultimate attack?) which means that I can't prove that I did. Unfortunately (for both of us, really) being unable to prove that it was written as a joke doesn't imply that it was written as something else. (There would need to be a proof demonstrating that it was written as a serious post.) It could have been written as anything but there's no way of proving it, the post could've been originally written as a romantic comedy for all anybody reading this knows. In other words, because I have no written documentation, and you don't have any either (there isn't any documentation at all, because none of us are cartoon characters from the early 80s) we're down to saying: "Uh huh!" "Nuh uh!" "Uh huh!" "Nuh uh!" "Uh huh!" "Nuh uh!" "Uh huh!" "Nuh uh!".... in an endless loop. From there, we can consider what the typical methods for interpreting written media are. There are two mutually exclusive methods of interpretation which are: believe in the author's interpretation or find your own interpretation. It's pretty clear what my interpretation is but just so it's down in writing, I claim that I wrote it as a joke. Now from here, it's all up to you. You can choose to trust me and believe my interpretation or create your own. I say trust because that's all you can do seeing as I don't have any evidence that predates my third post. As for the reason why I say it'll probably leave us both unsatisfied is because now the choice is black and white. If you choose to create your own then I can't do anything about that and that's sad because I'm being absolutely sincere when I say that I wrote post #1 in a joking manner. Likewise, if you just take my word for it without believing me then you're not forming your own opinion. (and I still think that you making your own opinion is a good thing, no matter how you go about doing it) If you choose to make your own interpretation (i.e. that I'm lying to you.) then no matter what I say you can create a reason to explain how this is just me trying to defend myself and at the end of the day this will only have wasted more of your time that could've been spent on more important or enjoyable activities and then I'll be to blame for wasting your time which is probably very unsatisfying to you. I feel like I'm repeating myself but I'd like to end it with this. At the end of this discussion, if you choose to find your own interpretation of my writing then I can't disagree with you because that's your interpretation and if you choose to trust me then I guess we don't have anything more to say.

Again, I'm short on time so I apologize if I can't type a full response. I say this so that you have an answer to why you think Because believe me, I'd love to answer all of the points you'e brought up but I simply don't have the time to. Okay, let's jump right in. You believe that: I didn't understand what a mime was in my original post.My original post was serious.My post explaining the joke was my attempt at saving face for wanting a talking mime even though that would be entirely unbelievable and destroys the identifying characteristics of a mime.My later posts are nonsensical don't support my argument. I just wanted to put that down in writing just so it's clear. If I missed something or misinterpreted the problems you have with this thread then please correct me. Let me give you a look into my train of thought before writing this post. I had just watched a mod review and for the umpteenth time there were many characters with no voices and made the silly little joke to myself, "Wow, there are so many mimes in this mod!" (Original and funny, right? [sarcasm, in case you can't tell through text]) Compiling a short list of gripes I had with the modding community I decided that a good way to voice my concerns was in a satirical mod request. (Amazing idea that could never possibly backfire or be received negatively.) My main concern were elements of modding that broke immersion, which could be broken down into three pieces: lack of voice acting, elements of lore that are out of place/backstory that directly conflicts with the lore, and repetitive/uninspired quests that have nonsensical enemies. From there, a really bad joke was born which you took way too seriously and now we're here. No, I thought that we had all moved on because we had accepted that it was, in fact, a joke instead of continuing to be skeptical. Although when I put it this way, I don't mind actually mind skepticism too much, which is why I keep responding. I'm doing my best to assuage your concerns that this post was serious. Unfortunately I'm having a hard time because no matter what I say, you still want more proof. On top of that you seem very aggressive about defending your claim that this isn't a joke but rather some elaborate ruse devised to defend myself from ridicule. As I said above, I'd like to do my best to alleviate any skepticism you might have which is why I might seem invested. I took a screenshot but I can't figure out how to upload it here. I'm stil relatively new to this place. If somebody could explain to me how to do that I'd gladly post the image. I also sent him another message but I don't know how quickly he'll respond. Here's what you said: Here's what I think you're talking about: Where I'm very clearly saying. Something that is just a stupid request cannot be so easily picked apart and analyzed. I wrote the post to be intentionally stupid that way you can analyze it. Perhaps in the hopes that someone would find the idea of a talking mime charming or even comedic. It's not like there are commercials that even portray talking mimes for comedic effect. I can understand why this bit might confuse you (hence the confused posts that I mentioned) but I'd like to take responsibility for that. I could have easily written that statement that I just quoted more clearly. This is exactly why I thought you were playing along with the joke. It seemed fitting that someone would try to give real assets to speed up the production of the mod for something that they don't want. I don't actually want another mute companion (unless someone decides to take the route that you suggested by playing off of their inablitiy to talk and if said modder makes it believable) so I assumed that you knew I was joking, implying that the assets you provided were simply there to play along with it. For that matter, why would you even question whether or not I thought you were playing along if you don't believe that I was joking in the first place? If you believed that I was serious the whole time, then the logical conclusion is that I can't have thought that you were playing along with a joke that doesn't exist and you shouldn't have even addressed that. Another thing I'd like to note: From post #7 From post #9 That you continually tell me to "let it go" implies that you are already firm in your belief that my post was not satire and that I've already lost. If you really believe that then there's no point in listening to anything I say because in your mind you're already right.That is one of the most basic forms of bad argumentation; you drew a conclusion before finding evidence and questioning the author as to why these pieces are inconguous. If you're going to argue using logic, then don't use flawed reasoning to establish your arguments. Furthermore, don't use twists of logic like the one I pointed out above wherein you made an argument based off of an incorrect reading of my post. I never wrote that a stupid request is harder to pick apart, as I detailed earlier. Next time, read more carefully before calling me out on my supposed BS. That's all for today, unfortunately. I'll check back tomorrow if you have more to say.

Oh and I thought we'd moved beyond this silly thread. The reason why I say JoKelly understood the joke is because I sent him a private message in which he confirmed that the did. If JoKelly is reading this right now, I'm sorry that I didn't ask for your permission before quoting a pm. To which I responded: Basically, I'm not sticking words in anybody's mouth but my own. I don't have a lot of time to write this answer but I'd just like to say that I honestly thought that you were just playing along with the intentionally stupid idea. That is, until you wrote your very confused post where it became clear to me that you genuinely didn't understand. And to defend one of my points, I'm saying that the original post was intentionally stupid, (satire tends to be, go look at The Onion's old work or anybody similar [Multiple Stab Wounds May Be Harmful To Monkeys is one of my favorite titles for their videos]) and thus was easy to pick apart because I created it for the purpose of picking it apart. That's all I have time for. If you'd like to continue arguing about this thing that I'm getting bored of, then feel free. I'll probably check back once every few days and maybe take the time to write an answer.

If it were just a stupid request I wouldn't have been able to pick it apart in so many ways because I wouldn't have written it to be that way. Point is, it was satirical; you didn't get it; JoKelly did; most people won't, like you. It's not your fault, it was mine. I didn't give people enough to go off of and that I've been asking for some unusual companions over the months doesn't help. Edit: As a tangent, I'll say that insulting me or make passive agressive remarks implying that my post was just stupid and has no value doesn't add to the argument. I'm happy to admit that I made a mistake in my assumtions regarding my audience but nothing more needs to be said about this.

It was a joke but clearly it didn't resonate with readers too well. JoKelly here brought my hopes up because he/she understood it but obviously there wasn't enough context for everyone to understand what the joke was. There are a ton of mods out there without voice acting. There are so many installed on my game that it feels like I'm surrounded by either mutes or mimes. That doesn't detract from the quality of the mod but it eventually it starts to break immersion. It's a fetch quest. It's the most basic type of quest a modder can make. Go here, grab this item that I need and give it to me. It's a nice introduction for someone who's new to modding but that doesn't stop it from being overdone or, as it often is, out of place in a story. Why would he have dropped it there? Why is it suddenly surrounded by people who are so unreasonable that they'll shoot you on sight? Why does he need invisible rope so badly? I've intentionally butchered the lore here. Why on Earth would Enclave soldiers be protecting a piece of invisible rope or even a factory in the first place? Arizona is Legion territory, the NCR wouldn't be there. There are way too many mods that have a great concept but don't pay enough attention to the lore of Fallout, which is sad because Fallout's lore is so very fun to play with. It's really bothersome when you're going to some supposedly untouched city full of riches and technology only to find some irradiated pile of rubble crawling with hostile Brotherhood of Steel Outcasts. It's immersion breaking, lore breaking, and practically nonsensical. The worst part is that this applies to so many mods out here on the Nexus. I was really hoping that I wouldn't have to explain the joke but I suppose it's my fault. You can't blame your audience if they don't share your sense of humor. Anyway, this thread was satirical. For anyone reading after I post this, don't take it too seriously.

Ehh, transferring a 2d character to a 3d space always ends up kinda weird from an aesthetic perspective. I'm not sure how well that would turn out but, hey, if someone can manage to make it an interesting and believable quest I guess I'd play it.

Of course not! After all, it's New Vegas! Anything can happen. Besides, we already have dozens of mute npcs from mods, what's the worst that could happen if you add a talking mime?

Wait, I'm confused. What exactly is the mini game?

What New Vegas really needs to make it feel complete is more mimes. Can someone make a mime companion, preferably with voice acting? Maybe add a quest to go with him where you have to find some invisible rope that he lost in a factory that is conveniently guarded by lots of enemies. Definitely not fiends though, because that would be stupid. They should be something tougher, like enclave soldiers. He should have a really cool backstory too. Like maybe he came from some tribe out in Arizona of mimes and he's also the last of his kind because the NCR pacified all the tribes in Arizona already.

This sounds awesome. I'd endorse a mod like this.

That's a pretty good point actually. I guess I never thought of it that way. I think I can accept the mispronunciations for pretty much the same reasons. ...but the way he says, "You're a sav- an outsider." Eh, it's fine. That doesn't bother me too much.

I don't know why this issue out of all of New Vegas's flaws is bugging me but I'd really like somebody to fix this. You might have noticed that the voice acting for Pete (the historian of the Boomers) is pretty stiff. There are a few times when I felt like Sam Cohen (the voice actor) was just reading the script and it's just bothering me really badly! Can somebody make a mod that replaces the sound files for Pete with some more believable voice acting? It's a lot to ask since voice actors for the role of little boys are hard to come by but I'd really appreciate it if someone made this.

What would the plot of the game be then? Someone could definitely do it but I'm just trying to figure out how the game's story would work without them. The entire plot would be gone.

This seems like a great solution to sneak in New Vegas. I used sneak quite a bit in Skyrim (great for getting rich, leveling up quickly, and giving my archer easier kills) but I never really used sneak in Fallout because it seemed much harder, probably because of the explanation you gave. If someone managed to implement a sneak system similar to this I'd love to give it a spin. On another note, you should keep writing about these scenarios where characters do normal things (or, in the case of Doctor Norman, try to do things and die horribly) in the game. They are quite entertaining and really help support the points you're making.

You make a great point; killing him on sight should definitely be an option. What else can be included to give this quest more choices? I guess I generalized a little too much by assuming that the player would be the "good guy" so including a completely different path to bring him back to his buddies and join him might be fun. Maybe set his whole gang as a faction and let the player roleplay as a raider for a bit since that's not really an option in the base game. There's something similar with the NCRCF powder gangers but I felt like it was way too short. Anyway, I'm just throwing out ideas. Feel free to give some input for more quest choices and if anybody reading this decides that he/she would like to make a raider companion (not necessarily even related to this idea) that'd be cool.

One thing I haven't seen is a raider companion in New Vegas. By that I mean someone like Jericho from Fallout 3. It might go something like this: Imagine walking through a road when you see an injured and dehydrated man by the side of the highway. After giving him some food, water, and something for the pain he asks to join you on your way to the nearest town. On your way there you encounter signs of raiders with attacked caravans and bodies occasionally littering the road but, as this is commonplace in the Mojave, you pay no special attention to it and when you drop him off at the town's saloon, he stops you and asks if instead he can join you in your travels. When pressed as to why he wants to join you, the man declares that he wants to make a difference in the Mojave, and a positive one at that. Confessing that he is actually a member of the raiders that you saw strewn across the roadside, he says that he can't go on living if it's going to be in regret and obscurity. When asked about the circumstances of your meeting him, he explains that he was the only survivor in a raid gone awry. After the battle he was heavily wounded and used the supplies on the caravan to heal himself to the best of his ability but without proper medical training he was unable to get back to a safehouse before dehydration began to set in. A couple of days later, he met you. Being the well-intentioned person that you are, you allow him to travel with you and ask what he meant by making a difference. He informs you of a series hideouts he and his gang used as a base for their shakedown operations. He tells you that he would like to wipe his slate clean by eliminating his fellow gang members but first he would like to retrieve the gear he left at the safehouse he was originally going to. After retrieving his equipment, the two of you go from hideout to hideout, killing everyone in the process. At the very last one, you encounter a sturdy metal door to some sleeping quarters that the remaining raiders have barricaded themselves behind and decide that the best course of action is to blow the door open using some explosives. Searching the area, you find some explosive ordinance strong enough to break the door down and after you detonate the charges, you find that all but one of the raiders died from the explosion. Your companion is noticably disturbed by the carnage but only wishes to eliminate his gang once and for all. He finds himself unable to execute the last, heavily injured raider as the scenario reminds him of his own situation several days prior. From there you must convince him to either spare the life of the defenseless raider or to execute them. So.... This is the idea that I had in mind. Reading over it the plot seems almost cliched with the whole killing his own gang members but if this mini-story at least inspires someone to make a raider companion with a quest like the vanilla companions (as in branching ending with a different reward at the end for each one) I'll be happy.

While I'm even less capable of fixing this problem than you, I have to commend how thorough your testing was. I haven't tried to reproduce your results but someone should definitely get on that so we can confirm your observations. As a side note that hypothetical about the egg timer was pretty funny.

It sounds a little weird, I know, but it's a fairly simple request. I actually had a quest in mind for the companion and some dialogue ideas for players who have the Wild Wasteland trait. There's already one bloatfly companion out there but the mod author hasn't answered my request to expand it yet. Backstory: A bloatlfy named (To Be Determined, Andrei Heidisen?) has come a long way from (To Be Determined) with his loving friend, (To Be Determined, Jack Silverblossom?), hoping to strike it rich in the (To Be Determined) New Vegas Strip. While walking along the I-95, the two are attacked by a gang of Vipers, separating the bloatfly from his friend. You find the little bloatlfy at (To Be Determined, Novac?), hungry, wounded, and unable to fly. Quest 1: Nurse (Whatever his name is) back to health by providing some food/chems. Reward: Bloatfly will now follow you as a companion. (Perk from having him as a companion, possibly?) Quest 2: Discover the fate of (insert bloatfly's name)'s friend. Quest Trigger: Go to where the two of them were separated, at (To Be Determined.) Reward: (Conditional) Buffed bloatfly companion. (Conditional) Perk, lose bloatlfy as companion. The idea behind this quest is that after you get the bloatfly as a companion you are asked to track down his friend. You go to certain areas to find clues and if you pass enough skill/SPECIAL checks you find his friend alive. Otherwise you find his body. If you find him alive you get the option of reuniting the pair or convincing the bloatfly to follow the player character instead. How hard would this be to do? I don't think it'd be too difficult if you set a counter that increases every time you pass a skill check. I also have some Wild Wasteland ideas but someone should let me know if they can help me with this project before I write a book. Edit: Yes, I'm making lots of The Fly references in my naming.