Listen to Ulysses tapes

[Dan3345]

In big Mt, I found a cave called Ulysses hideaway or something like that. Inside was a bunch of randoms stuff but what I found most interesting were two holotapes that were conversations between Christine from dead-money and Ulysses. They were having a discussion about the state of the world and how NCR and the Legion and all the other factions are exactly the same. Christine was trying to point out the differences from the brotherhood, and Ulysses shot her down by reminding her of Elijah the very man she was hunting down. It was at this point I realized Christine was after Elijah to kill him because some higher ups in the brotherhood thought his ideas were too dangerous. That said, you are the courier who throughout his whole quest of petty vengeance and greed, is trying to raise up a nation, be it your own, or someone elses. And Ulysses want to teach you that they are all exactly the same, they all want power. They all will trample over any and all who get in their way no matter how righteous they may appear.

 

At the end of I think holotape 2 Christine points out to him that he is a hypocrite for wearing the flag of the old world on his back and that they were the biggest example of this. That as nations become to large for themselves they will inevitably fall. Ulysses comes back saying that the old world hasn't fallen yet, and that he will continue to wear the flag until either he dies, or America dies. He then says before the holotape cuts out that, this is why he wants to speak with this other courier and this is the message he has to bring to him.. He will deliver the message where the old world is still barely alive.

 

So what did you guys get out of this? I found it quite interesting. It seems the writers of this story are presenting Ulysses as a protagonist while presenting for once you the courier as the antagonist. He is the voice of reason and you are the stubborn one who won't listen. An interesting direction, adds more mystery to his role seeing as how he apparently wanted you dead. I am still wondering how he seems able to predict all of the events in New Vegas. He wanted you to take the package knowing it would be a setup and hoping you would die, thus averting all these conflicts. Maybe he had hoped with you dead, NCR and the Legion would be evenly matched, and destroy each other. Then with those two out of the way the brotherhood would come out of their hole, and began exploring inevitably getting in disputes over technology with Mr. House, leading to a war between those two factions where again they would destroy each other.. That makes me wonder though. What would have become of Benny? He would have had the chip.. Perhaps in desperation House would have just killed him and taken it. After-all the brotherhood may be small but they are very advanced in terms of their technology and the training of their soldiers.

 

So yeah, it seems to me his motives may have been to have all the factions destroy each other, leading to a truly free mojave. A mojave which would have been full of anarchy and death. But I suppose left unchecked even the raiders, and the great kahns would have gone to war.

 

Thoughts? Did anyone else find those tapes as interesting as I did? Linear story be damned I want to play Lonesome Road now and finish this story. It desperately needs closure.

[ccronin]

Well, I will say that Ulysses is turning into the Burned Man-- a character who has a towering presence, who is already fascinating even though we haven't met him yet. I just hope that, unlike Joshua Graham, Obsidian are able to match Ulysses's image with a real flesh-and-blood character. It is clear that meeting Ulysses is the end of the saga-- I was hoping for a fifth DLC but that doesn't seem likely, unless it's completely disconnected from this overarching plotline, and it would have to come out before November when the SkyrimPocalypse happens. Having the DLC's intersect like this was a great idea, and I look forward to the final battle. But I also know that it's very unlikely that it can measure up to my expectations.

 

Still, on to the Lonesome Road. I think that all of these disparate elements-- the Old World still alive, the question of which side is really good, whether some things about the Old World should be resurrected or left buried-- will come together. If Chris Avellone writes it, it stands a very good chance of being excellent, if not quite up to my (towering) expectations. This is even more important because of its linear nature-- it can't lean on exploration of many little plotlines, like OWB or HH did to great success. It's all about one plotline-- or the conclusion of one-- so let's hope that the New Vegas DLC saga gets the ending it so readily deserves.

 

And on a side note, can I just say that Veronica Belmont is terrible as Christine? She has not one hint of the steel will and determination that the character showed in Dead Money. The script was good but the delivery was horrible. I'm not saying that Belmont is a bad voice actor, she was fine in comedic roles, it's just that she's totally miscast playing a po-faced, serious role like Christine.

 

Ok, no more rambling. Hopefully you can get a sense of what I'm trying to say. Back to homework...

[Dan3345]

Yeah i totally agree with you, it was a very poor choice for her to be cast as the voice of Christine.. And this may be the same voice actor but I don't really like hearing her talk to my through my nifty stealth suit either.. I just don't like her voice.

 

I think as you do, that the plot for lonesome road must be spectacular in order for it to be a success. Lets face it with no exploration, and probably no returns to the divide it will have to be great... I expect Chris will be the lead writer, seeing as how he is their best and they would only be smart to finish off strong. I am looking forward to it though still.. Good or bad, I don't mind shelling out ten dollars for it just because I want to know how it all wraps up.. What I did mind shelling out money for was dead money..... Self explanatory I think.

[ccronin]

Well Dead Money was... alright. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I wasted my money, but it could've been a LOT better. It had some genuinely creepy moments for me though that were missing from the other DLC. And seeing as it was Obsidian's first, I'm inclined to let them off the hook.

 

But I do recall seeing that we will be able to return to the divide after Lonesome Road.

 

Yeah, turns out that we can. Sauce

 

Speaking of which, I know it's a bit much to ask, but I would love if there were a couple bonus quests thrown in after the completion of the main quest, even simple item collection or kill X enemies quests, to make OWB and HH a little less lonely after we go back to them...

 

For instance, at the end of OWB, if

 

 

you convince Klein to continue his research peacefully, with you bringing him samples from the Mojave, you could actually bring him samples from the Mojave...

 

 

 

P.S. what type of loot do you think we'll get in the Divide? HH had a very WWII, American Classics-theme going on with its guns, OWB had sci-fi b-movie rayguns, DM had... well no more talking about DM. What do you think the "theme" for Lonesome Road will be?

 

I would love if they went for a more survivalist-style armory, and less of a Sci Fi one...

[Dan3345]

I think it will be a bit of everything minus the sci-fi.. Seeing as how obsessed Ulysses is with Old America it will probably feature many old american guns like the M1 Garand, and the M1A1 carbine. Perhaps more variations of the M1911.. I don't think new gear and weapons though will be the focus..

 

What do you think the creatures will be? If its more tribals or retextured trogs I will be mad... I am hoping for the final dlc it will be more focused solely on the person and not the creatures/locals. What creatures could survive in that environment anyways? Isn't it supposed to be non-stop hurricane, and massive earthquakes? I wonder if the hurricane will be artificial like the defense system of hidden valley.

[ccronin]

I don't foresee there being human enemies, although mutated pseudo-humans who can survive in the divide would be awesome. IMO the ghost people were the best thing about Dead Money-- they were well designed, creepy, and required new strategies to deal with. Hopefully something like that. I'd love to see a new pressure suit or hazard suit. The T-17 Trauma Harnesses were creepy as hell, I'd love to see something like that.

 

But we'll see what Obsidian can throw at us. As long as it's not Fiends (boring) or radscorpions (!%#!@) or cazadores (!@%^!%^@!%!) or F***ING NIGHT STALKERS I will be happy. Although considering the perks they threw our way in OWB it may very well end up being those last two. I'd love to see some new enemies, something truly evocative and creepy.

 

Obsidian, if you're watching, give us something like this! If the Old World is still alive, it's going to be pretty messed up. Let us hear those screams. Let us see those lost souls. Give us enemies that will keep us up for hours after we go to bed, just thinking about the possibilities. Hundreds of millions of people died in a single day-- show us their pain.

 

As for weapons, I think you're on the mark. Some more WWII-inspired weapons would not out of place. The M1A1 Carbine or some sort of new small-caliber, high capacity semi-auto rifle would be nice. How about a high-caliber, bolt action rifle with a mag? Like a lighter version of the anti-material rifle with a scope, a lower weight and strength requirement, and a more readily available round. Some new, more realistic-style armor would be nice. How about a flak jacket and helmet? How about a leather jacket over a kevlar vest, with jeans or something. Like the Desert Ranger Combat Armor except with less of a sci-fi feel and a jacket instead of a duster?

 

I dunno. Surprise us. New power armor is always appreciated but evidently they're not allowed to make any new power armor (on Jason's twitter I think). I'm betting that Bethesda is going to drop FO4 next year and the BoS, or some other power-armor-wearing faction is going to be a big part of it, so they're saving up their assets for that.

 

Anyway, enough speculation for now. All I know is that I hope it drops soon!

[eLucifer]

Ulysses got the Old World Blues, and I'm going to put him out of his misery.

[Dan3345]

Ulysses got the Old World Blues, and I'm going to put him out of his misery.

Cool story bro, I on the other hand am going to try and hear him out. I'm not trying to ruin the legitimacy of anyones gaming style but I go into a room and ask questions first then shoot.

[ccronin]

Ulysses got the Old World Blues, and I'm going to put him out of his misery.

Cool story bro, I on the other hand am going to try and hear him out. I'm not trying to ruin the legitimacy of anyones gaming style but I go into a room and ask questions first then shoot.

 

So do I. On the first few playthroughs :-)

[kevkiev]

I thought those tapes were really cool. I liked how OWB fleshed out Ulysses a bit and I'm now jonesin' even more for Lonesome Road. I wonder if a peaceful resolution between Ulysses and the PC will be possible. In the closing scenes of DM, Christine referred specifically to a battle between the couriers. If it is an unavoidable fight, I bet there'll be a compelling reason. But, what I really want to know is, what specifically is the connection between the PC courier and Ulysses? Why is he so interested in (obsessed with?) the PC courier?

 

There's also

 

a computer terminal with some notes by Elijah which are interesting. He wrote about his initial plans for the Sierra Madre and there's a cool part about having noticed briefly what looked like the reflection off a scope. He didn't think it was Ulysses because he figured U. would come right up to him, but didn't know who it could be so it seemed he didn't, at first at least, know Christine was after him.

 

 

And, not about Elijah or Ulysses, but

 

 

There's a half-buried terminal with notes on it explaining Frederik Sinclair's deal with the people running the Big MT to allow them to use the Sierra Madre as an experiment. And there was a reference somewhere (can't recall if it was on that same terminal) about the DM Ghost People - Hazmat suits controlling the wearers in some way. Maybe a predecessor or at least related technology to the ultra-creepy T-17 harnesses? Man, those things were eerie.

 

though I recall that Klien or one of his robo-pals alluded to the former of those DM tie-ins at the beginning too.

 

I completed OWB but haven't thoroughly scoured the whole Big MT, so it would be awesome to find some more stuff like that. I really liked how OWB ties a lot of the various bits and pieces of the FONV story together.

 

I'm regretting not taking the "bring the Mojave to Klein" end-option, but am hoping there might be a dialogue option for that when I return. (Kinda doubt it tho)