Fallout 3 Ending - Your Choice

[Monolithic0117]

The end does not justify the means, the means justify the end. In this case, the Enclave's means would be too agressive to gain popularity anyway, and they would gain many enemies within the other factions. History would forever judge them by their eliminating the majority of the population of the Wasteland. Having the Enclave as a major power would not help the restoration of the Wasteland. After decimating the population of the Wasteland, they would move on to conquer other areas. They don't seem like the type to stay and aid the surviving inhabitants of the Wasteland for any long period of time. There's the possibility that the USA could have on their hands tyrant rulers.

 

starbug9 & Thrafe do strike a point, however. All the factions in the Fo3 world can be seen as prejudiced, selfish, and villainous. It is a choice of choosing the lesser evil. Which would be the lesser evil in this case, I would say the BoS. They are (or have become) more diplomatic, reasonable, and would serve better as a major power than the Enclave, who are brutal and ruthless. Destroying the Enclave, while placing the BoS in a position of great power, would eliminate a great threat to humanity. With the threat of the Enclave erased, the BoS would be able to concentrate more on restoring the Wasteland, with the aid of purified water. The long-term implications of aiding the BoS would be much more positive than aiding the Enclave.

 

The mutants, however, would slowly die off after a while. Since they are sterile, their populations will continue to decrease, eventually becoming extinct. The BoS, however, could eliminate them quickly, with their technology, as a mercy killing. Even if they were left to their own devices, after one or two centuries, the impact of fallout on the world would be much less perceptible.

[starbug9]

Thats probably what Hitler and the Nazi said about the non-worthy.

 

True, but they were referring to life forms genetically the same as them, ghouls are a bit different. With ghouls, as long as they can't find a cure, they'll always be different. Even if everyone else accepts them for who they are and all that c**p, they still need to accept themselves for who and what they are. I think it would be better to say that, if you want an analogy, this is the same as the Nazis eventually accepting the non-worthy while the non-worthy continue to be somewhat removed out of fear and being different. It will change in time, most will probably get over it, some might even enjoy being different, but there will always be some who hate it, and they won't be able to do anything about it. It isn't a case of segregation by choice.

[starbug9]

I know what you mean, Monolithic0117, and I think you're right, the BoS are, fairly unanimously, better than the Enclave, but my main point was that as evil as the Enclave are and as good and shiny as the BoS are, in the long, long run it makes no difference. Tyrants get overthrown, it's just a matter of time, and tyrants will come out of the best leadership. Okay, it's not that simple and there's always the chance that things could go horribly wrong repeatedly, but, in this context at least, we're talking about rebuilding the world, or at least America. Yes the Enclave will probably do a lot of damage in making things better but they probably will rebuild as quickly as they can, it's in their best interests to do so and develop a stronger power base. The sooner the world is back on its feet the sooner it can patch itself up.

 

That's not to say the BoS aren't going to help the world, they probably will, and they would go about it much better than the Enclave would. I agree that the means justify the end but what end are we justifying? Does the BoS have enough power to make enough of a difference? Would siding with them effectively be giving them a license to be heroic and chivalrous to change the lives of the people in the Capitol Wasteland, say? Do those means really justify that end? An end that leaves the vast, vast majority of the world in fear, in the dark, and in the sh**, to put it lightly. Okay, the BoS probably would get further than that, probably considerably further, but it's the fact that their means aren't aggressive enough and they just don't have the resources to make a huge difference in a short space of time. So, in the long, long run, would anything be any different? One way is faster to rebuild, longer to work out the kinks, and the other is slower but with a much nicer ending.

 

I'm not saying you're wrong, if anything I actually agree with your idea more than my own :P . I'm just saying that there will always be the temptation of power to make way for tyrants and there will always be people to bring them down. It's a gamble, but I honestly think it's plausible that, in this case, the tyrannical empire may be the world's salvation, or at least, just as much the world's salvation as the knights in shining armor.

 

And, Witcher ftw.

[UncleRoe]

for a family member i'd walk into the chamber and punch the damn numbers,but for anyone else i'd play rock paper scissors lol

[Monolithic0117]

Yes, starbug9, if you think in terms of time lengths such as many centuries, the differences wouldn't be all that great. However, the Enclave doesn't seem to still be as powerful as before. In Fallout 2, one of the major Enclave facilities were destroyed, and Richardson is presumed to be dead. If the East Coast outposts of Enclave were to be eliminated, and by destroying President Eden, the Enclave's power would be greatly reduced. If the Broken Steel DLC would have you exterminating the remaining Enclave, afterwards the Enclave presence on the East Coast would be almost non-existent. If the Enclave had no other stations in the USA, it would cease to function as a major faction.

 

However, the West Coast houses the primary facilities of the BoS, and even if the BoS's presence in the East Coast were to diminish, it's power would still be great. So the BoS very probably does have enough power to efficiently aid the Wasteland.

[starbug9]

Yes, starbug9, if you think in terms of time lengths such as many centuries, the differences wouldn't be all that great. However, the Enclave doesn't seem to still be as powerful as before. In Fallout 2, one of the major Enclave facilities were destroyed, and Richardson is presumed to be dead. If the East Coast outposts of Enclave were to be eliminated, and by destroying President Eden, the Enclave's power would be greatly reduced. If the Broken Steel DLC would have you exterminating the remaining Enclave, afterwards the Enclave presence on the East Coast would be almost non-existent. If the Enclave had no other stations in the USA, it would cease to function as a major faction.

 

However, the West Coast houses the primary facilities of the BoS, and even if the BoS's presence in the East Coast were to diminish, it's power would still be great. So the BoS very probably does have enough power to efficiently aid the Wasteland.

 

True, though I would like to see how powerful the Enclave actually is after two major defeats. They're probably either nearly destroyed, from which they will then recover and reappear again in the next or a later Fallout game, or they have some other base somewhere and will continue to do what they're doing - I doubt they will throw away such a useful plot element. After Broken Steel they would probably have little influence left in the DC area, but now that you bring that point up I'm not sure what they've got left, or where it could be. I guess it depends on how they spin the lore for the next game and there's still a lot of places left unexplored by any of the Fallout games.

[Missingsoul2009]

Let me start off by saying I really liked the Fallout 3 ending. The main reason for that was the difficulty of the choice at the end (regarding the FEV virus). Releasing the virus may well be the only chance for civilisation to return to something like it was (as the main problem, the overwhelming hordes of mutants, is no more). On the other hand, the cleansing would involve the deaths of millions of sentient, innocent people as well.

 

When I played through, I found that choice hard enough even though I had no idea that most humans were considered "mutants". I assumed the only non-evil creatures to die were Ghouls. I'm not a bigot, so the thought of killing every single Ghoul was not a pleasant one. Nevertheless, I released the virus, and was unpleasantly shocked when I discovered my otherwise virtuous character was responsible for the deaths of almost everything in the Capital Wasteland.

 

If you (you as you are now, in front of your keyboard, not your character) were faced with that kind of choice, what would you do?

 

See, I liked the ending but i cant help but feel it was kind of a rushed job,

 

It's a very sudden conclusion not to mention there's a few ways you could be able to do it without being killed

 

1. You could take Rad-X and wear the Adv. Rad Suit go in and Trigger it, Then ask Sarah Lyons to open it straight after you activate it.

 

2. Get your companion Fawkes to go in and press the switch (However the reason you cannot do this really annoyed me.. He mentions something like "Everyone has their destiny" - Is this character high or something? GO IN AND PRESS THE GODDAMN SWITCH YOU RADIATION IMMUNE FREAK)

 

This being said, I think the ending was a rush job if you ask me, I felt a big sense it could of been much better but i guess twitchy cliffhangers are the phase these days

 

All of this being said, Looking forward to a continuation of this game :thumbsup:

[infinifighter]

for a family member i'd walk into the chamber and punch the damn numbers,but for anyone else i'd play rock paper scissors lol

 

I've thought about these sorts of situations alot in my life. and what it all boils down to for me is would I be remembered as a hero, even in the face of my sins? I would punch 21:6 in if it meant the world remembered me for my accomplishments and turned a blind eye to my failures.

 

I would never sacrifice all of the meta-humans out there just so the pure would remain, ghouls seem to be more appreciative of the little things, and they are the wisest of the remaining species, killing them would be like burning the library at Alexandria yourself.

 

"It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment."

[ManOfGah]

Meh, I'd go with the BoS

simply for the reasons already stated, as well as it killing the only source of actual trees in the wasteland ("Harold"), and Morgan Freeman made it sound like the better choice, which makes it a no brainer.

[duckdude]

I thought of using the virus, until President Eden told me that it aws so extreme that not even Col Autumn would do it.

And when the coolest person in hte game thinks it extreme, then it is time not to do it.