The lack of faction currency in Fallout 4

[SignorNessuno]

Maybe I made some oversight, but I want to open this discussion, to talk about a little lack lore friendly.

I'm talking about the currency. Although the main currency are the caps, I am surprised that the main factions in Fallout 4 do not have their own currency. In Fallout New Vegas we have only the legion's coin, NCR dollars and the Sierra Madre fiches from Dead Money, But no single faction in Fallout 4 has his personal currency.

But talking about their currency, let's talk about our mani factions:

Vault-Tec & Vault 81: Although the "supply management" is handled through rationing or tokens or credit cards, or at least, with what remains of the pre war money, I have never seen some Vault Tec credits inside Vaults.

Brotherhood of Steel: for how fascinating its economy in the "looting" of high-tech weapons, there was in the video game Fallout Tactics can trade within the brotherhood with special coins for exclusive use,

Why not then impose their presence imposing their money / currency, so try to control the economy, or at least have more contacts to find high-tech weaponry without bloodshed, and at the right price, so they hold the monopoly of their currency.

Institute: being a brilliant scientific research center would mean a lot to its own members, so why should they actually paid on caps, when they could very well pay in special plastic credit cards?

Considering their working environment, a completely clean and sterile place, scientists should not have in their hands a few filthy and dirty caps from the Wasteland, but precisely these credit cards. Easy to carry and less bulky than previous caps.

Or a good way for making business with the institute if the merchants of the Commonwealth choose to make business accords with the institute.

Minutemen: it is true that previously controlled the commonwealth as a military force, and subsequently went out of favor, losing all people, the resources and the various settlements and fortresses. And if they, too, such as NCR, have tried to print dollars, or better: the Commonwealth Dollars. In order to have a control of the territory. Certainly before our arrival dollars not they would find anywhere, except only to the Castle or Libertalia, but if we decide to join in the Minutemen will find them in every colonist or merchant of our settlements.

Of course, we should create a mint to coin / print all this money.

The railroad: The railroad: They are more a secret society that works in the shadows, but considering their existence, they would vanish after destroying the institute, the only thing certain is that it would use any type of currency in order to achieve their purpose.

Surely they "might" create coins but only for internal use, a bit like the Brotherhood in tactics, or as a mark to recognize when they were looking for fugitives synth, or between them in case they need to deliver orders or secret documents via courier / secret agents.

Although I admit that it would have little value in the game, maybe it would be only a bottle cap painted in black with the mark of the Railroad. And that is only 5 or 10 caps compared to a normal cap.

Church of the Atom: although these fanatics (a big nonsense, since everyone they should die, for tumors, or be transformed everyone in crazy ghoul), and considering their "influence" as a post apocalyptic religion, should also have their its currency, but tied the purpose of religious propaganda, which for economic reasons.

What's even more "insane" of this coin, in my opinion, it would be painted with fluorescent green paint and with the atom symbol molded on it.

So i just wonder, why Bethesda forget this? So why not made a lore friendly mod?

 

[AnvilOfWar]

The major factor you seem to have missed is for New Vegas you are dealing with competing "Nations" in the NCR and Legion, thus currency differences.

 

The Sierra Madre and all of the strips casino's have unique "currency" simply because they where originally pre-war establishments with their own casino chips.

 

Bottlecaps are the wastelands currency, thus the commonwealth's many small factions need some form of common exchange. Honestly none of the commonwealth factions need their own currency mostly because they are either self sufficient (In the case of the Brotherhood and Institute) or so small and of limited influence that I doubt anyone would take anything other then caps for fear it would become valueless.

[CiderMuffin]

The major factor you seem to have missed is for New Vegas you are dealing with competing "Nations" in the NCR and Legion, thus currency differences.

 

The Sierra Madre and all of the strips casino's have unique "currency" simply because they where originally pre-war establishments with their own casino chips.

 

Bottlecaps are the wastelands currency, thus the commonwealth's many small factions need some form of common exchange. Honestly none of the commonwealth factions need their own currency mostly because they are either self sufficient (In the case of the Brotherhood and Institute) or so small and of limited influence that I doubt anyone would take anything other then caps for fear it would become valueless.

Er, BoS aren't self sufficient as they regularly trade with the caravans.

[Raycheetah]

Very good points.

 

Vault-Tec clearly allowed for the potential post-war use of pre-war money, given its prevalence within vaults after the war. However, once a vault has been exposed to trade with the outside world, pre-war money would stabilize at the value it has in the Commonwealth, where it can be found in substantial quantities, but is more commonly used as a crafting resource.

 

I don't see the BoS having much reason to trouble themselves establishing a separate economy, since they trade all across the continent, and having a ready-made economic system simplifies their own mission, while their explorations would net them substantial financial resources in caps they collected or looted from fallen enemies.

 

Regarding the Institute having its own currency system, that should have been a given. I could see there being an exchange rate for caps, even within the insular and isolated Institute, which would need currency for its infiltrators to use within the Commonwealth.

 

The Minutemen, if truly inspired by the US Constitution, might wish to re-establish a system of exchange based on Gold and Silver coin. However, given the scarcity of both (and yet the potential for an explosively HUGE find to turn up), it would be neither practical nor stable in an economy the size of the Commonwealth. Caps work, and no need to deviate from that.

 

The Railroad, being a clandestine organization, wouldn't want to draw attention to their agents (or to expend limited resources) attempting to manage a separate currency, though I could see them engaging in counterfeiting, if they could find a way.

 

The CoA could use small units of nuclear material; not enough, individually, to constitute a crafting component, but useful as such in higher quantities. That would make them at least semi-convertible in the larger Commonwealth economy, even if not interchangeable with caps.

 

But I think that the immersion factor simply wasn't enough reason for Bethesda to bother. Mods, anyone? =^[.]^=

[CiderMuffin]

I always figured Vault-Tec would focus more on a credit system that was designed around how much the person works rather then an actual currency. Like rations.

 

As for Institute I kinda feel like having a merchant was a gameplay effect as everyone in the Institute seems to have equal sized quarters and possessions. I would've preferred the Institute to work on a more communist or socialist system.

[AnvilOfWar]

Er, BoS aren't self sufficient as they regularly trade with the caravans.

 

 

I'm well aware that the Brotherhood trades with caravans, which only furthers the point that they don't have their own currency since they don't need one. They are self sufficient to the point that, they rarely "lack" for any particular resource. In terms of their situation in the commonwealth the only thing they truly are lacking, is food for their troops which is precisely the mission that Proctor Teagan assigns the player character with.

[SignorNessuno]

The major factor you seem to have missed is for New Vegas you are dealing with competing "Nations" in the NCR and Legion, thus currency differences.

 

The Sierra Madre and all of the strips casino's have unique "currency" simply because they where originally pre-war establishments with their own casino chips.

 

Bottlecaps are the wastelands currency, thus the commonwealth's many small factions need some form of common exchange. Honestly none of the commonwealth factions need their own currency mostly because they are either self sufficient (In the case of the Brotherhood and Institute) or so small and of limited influence that I doubt anyone would take anything other then caps for fear it would become valueless.

that's true but, not true at all. Is still possible could have a type of currency

 

 

CiderMuffin, on 08 Jul 2016 - 9:20 PM, said:

I always figured Vault-Tec would focus more on a credit system that was designed around how much the person works rather then an actual currency. Like rations.

 

As for Institute I kinda feel like having a merchant was a gameplay effect as everyone in the Institute seems to have equal sized quarters and possessions. I would've preferred the Institute to work on a more communist or socialist system.

Comunist Institute? I don't think that would work, after all they are created on the ruins of the former MIT in a capitalist nation. Of course credit cards can be part of their profile.

 

I always figured Vault-Tec would focus more on a credit system that was designed around how much the person works rather then an actual currency. Like rations.

 

As for Institute I kinda feel like having a merchant was a gameplay effect as everyone in the Institute seems to have equal sized quarters and possessions. I would've preferred the Institute to work on a more communist or socialist system.

Edited July 9, 2016 by SignorNessuno

[padraigsh]

I always thought it a bit odd how early Fallouts like NV had functioning states with currencies, like the NCR and the Legion supported by an economy of moderate sophistication. The Commonwealth/Far Harbour, despite a limited degree of damage from nuclear attack (much of the damage outside the Glowing Sea seems more like post war chaos like the sort that saw the mayor and family killed by a mob of citizen in his swanky shelter, and decay), has only bottle caps and very few settlements that go beyond farms including Diamond City, Goodneighbor, Covenant, and Far/Bar Harbor. There is nothing at the NCR level. It seems little for two hundreds after the Great War. I might be the only one who hesitates a little before throwing away bottlecaps. I must have got it in my mind that it is money of sort. :ninja:

[AnvilOfWar]

I always thought it a bit odd how early Fallouts like NV had functioning states with currencies, like the NCR and the Legion supported by an economy of moderate sophistication. The Commonwealth/Far Harbour, despite a limited degree of damage from nuclear attack (much of the damage outside the Glowing Sea seems more like post war chaos like the sort that saw the mayor and family killed by a mob of citizen in his s*censored*y shelter, and decay)

 

I'd have to say that's mostly due to the development teams in question, Interplay's Fallout 1 and 2 (84 and 164 years after), and Obsidian's New Vegas (204 years after) seem more fully realized. The question seems posed of "what would humanity look like/recover from a Nuclear war some 150~200 years later?" Both Interplay and Obsidian seem to understand that progress will be made in that time. Bethesda seems to have only really cared for "the day the bombs dropped" and look at all the rubble/ruins now. I feel Bethesda's offerings in their present state, (and Fallout 3 most specifically) would have been better had they been MUCH closer to the great wars date, and not 200+ years after. It would make more sense in the "barely picking though the ashes" type of experience they are going for.

[PoliteRaider]

In the earlier games, caps were much less of an issue as I recall (although I could be wrong). I had the impression that it was much more of a barter economy with caps as a minor little way of making change or evening out the value in an exchange. Now it's much more like a gold piece from skyrim.