If you were the Wanderer IRL, who would you have sided with?

[LordElfa]

 

It's always fun or easy to pick certain sides for story or character purposes because its all fiction, but what if you were the Wanderer?

 

publicly denounce the Brotherhood for being slavers ( do the side quests for the quartermaster )

 

Execute Elder Maxim for being a hypocrite for allowing this kind of activity

 

 

Recycle "Father" for not understanding the first tenet of "Artificial Intelligence"

 

 

Rally the wasteland to exterminate the anti-social Gunners

 

 

Convince the Minutemen to support Synth Human Rights

 

 

Then Retire to Sanctuary and play fetch the (toy) grenade with my favorite dog.

 

Holy crap, you're my freaking hero.

[oldspice2625]

The institute. It's clean, safe, has ample resources, and has a long term goal that's actually viable.

 

Everything else is a fool's errand.

 

The Brotherhood is too greedy with helping people and extending themselves far too thin, as evidenced by the Prydwen and it's situation in hover mode, clearly demonstrates that they are taking stabs in the dark, hoping that things go their way like a certain NPC to turn back from "the dark side"...

 

They also have genocidal tendencies regarding Ghouls and Mutants, and anyone who gets in their way :P. At least the Institute is honest about what they really want.

 

The Rail Road are just some guerilla fighters, like other rebel groups. It makes them "likable" because they are the "resistance". But they are just as selfish and dogmatic as the rest.

 

So, no radiation, clean food, clean water, no garbage everywhere, long term goals, advanced science... yep... I'll go with the Institute, seeing as I don't owe a damn thing to a bunch of dirty wastelanders anyways.

[TheOriginalEvilD]

Can I answer this knowing what I know after playing through the story, or do I have to pretend I don't already know?

[mkkm1234]

Probably get killed by the raiders. But assuming that I'd become dethclaw chewing, napalm spitting, soul eating lizard king like any protagonist I'd join the institute, once becoming the director I'd get the old guard (including all synth retention bureau, since it's never good to have secret police that you are not sure is loyal to you) executed and "convince" the rest that it would be in their best interest to do what I tell them to do. Then I'd use the technology from institute to turn the Boston area into industrial powerhouse instead of doing some illuminati bullshit.

Or I'd join the minutemen, but instead of nuking the institute I'd occupy it and have some show trial for most important/troublesome scientists to boost morale and remove possible future troubles. The rest would start doing something useful instead of already mentioned illuminati stuff. Basically some wasteland edition of operation paperclip. Really, blowing facility which could let Boston thrive, if led by someone sensible, is huge waste. End effect would be the same. Also no more synth production to use them as slaves. That doesn't mean no more robots for military/industry uses, just not ones with true AI.

Also I'd convince capitan Zao that Prydwen is full of capitalists planing to bomb China again and would be great for target practice for those tactical nukes he still has.

[jcdenton2012]

OK. Here is my elaborate explanation for going pro-raider, pro-gunner. Either faction attacks you on sight, but in real life if you walked up to a bunch of raiders or gunners while wearing power armor they would either A) try and kill you to take it, or B) let you join up.

 

In the event of trying to kill you, you just gotta murder enough people until they let you in out of fear. In the event of joining up they might try and kill you in your sleep, or actually let you do work for the gang off the bat. In either case this pretty much becomes a case of you proving how much a billy-badass you are in that armor until you become a raider chief or a gunners commander.

 

Now, as a 'top-dog' in either faction you pretty much 'Mad Max' the rest of your life away as a War Lord. Since we are doing real life as opposed to game plot... essentially this would be an exercise of nation building as, 'The Overlord.' In short, you would be playing as Ashur from DLC The Pitt.

[Boombro]

Or you can kill all chemists and run a drug empire.

[Jeesmies]

I would side with steel

[Warmaker01]

I would still have gone with the Brotherhood.

 

The Minutemen are very much a joke with the exception of Preston and Ronnie Shaw. When I see a Minutemen Patrol, those are Dead Men Walking and would not make it past the first encounter they have. The idea of the Minutemen has merit. They genuinely want stability for the Commonwealth. But it completely hinges on one person still, you, and that was a cause for its colossal fall. There is something about the organization, how it runs, that has no core theme to keep everyone together if that 1 key figure goes down. Not only that, it does not have the pure muscle and tech of the Brotherhood of Steel. Speaking of the Brotherhood...

 

With FO4's ingame canon, they have rebounded after the costly events of FO3. The Capital Wasteland had gotten better due to the player character's and Brotherhood's efforts. The Enclave was utterly crushed. The Brotherhood is stronger than even before FO3. Elder Maxson has persuaded the Outcasts to come back into the fold. Project Purity is up and running. They go into the Commonwealth to deal with the Institute and Synth threat. Not only that, they are the only power player in the region that actively patrols the Commonwealth dealing with the dangers the everyday survivor fears:

 

Super Mutants, Raiders, Gunners, Synths, Deathclaws and whatever nasty monsters are out there.

 

The Railroad has their own little agenda. The Institute *IS* a threat, even before your character came out of Vault 111. They have wiped out settlements as well as the ongoing infiltrator terror campaign. They also have kidnapped people to use for their experiments. And hey, check those Synth Spy threads LOL! Diamond City only keeps to Diamond City and even then, they do a half-assed job.

 

It's only the Minutemen that try to do what the Brotherhood does: Patrols to try to keep the area safe. But they simply don't have the training and equipment to do it right and just end up dead.

[LordElfa]

Can I answer this knowing what I know after playing through the story, or do I have to pretend I don't already know?

You absolutely can.

[tomomi1922]

Realistically ... I do hope I survive all the way to Diamond City on my own (or with Costhworth help). He would be my best guide + protection since, as a city girl, I would not be as capable with all these fitness/endurance demanding activities of running around in a ruble filled wasteland. My odd gets better if I get there and meet up with Piper, at least I got a human guide who really knows what's going on. But initial encounters with Raiders would be super dangerous. Probably a lot of running away to fight another day instead of spamming stim-pack like in the game. Stealth and sneak are my best bet to scope out an area before hand. It will take a long time to get anything done, but that is the way it is.

If I had a choice, I would remain Minute Man leader. But that means I have to stay on BoS' good side at all cost. Minute Man folks with a few muskets stand zero chance against BoS assault with modern weaponry and training. A vertibird alone would wipe us clean. Instead of doing their own things, I would have to whip the organization in shape with rigid military training and weapon productions. Yes this sounds like BoS, but there is simply no choice. "It's better to be a warrior in peace time, than a gardener in war time" a quote I read somewhere. And probably claim Vault 111 is our stronghold, in case things get hairy outside, at least there is a retreat that can withstand up to a nuclear assault all over again, if need be. Beside, Vault 111 would have a lot of high tech stuff remained.

But if push comes to shove, I guess I go wherever the wind takes me, not like I really have a choice anyway.