The lack of faction currency in Fallout 4

[Veliwine]

The thing to remember about Bottle Caps is it's supose to be a water-backed currency. It's entire purpose was that instead of carrying around bottles and barrels of water you carried caps and each was to represent a bottle of water of course. That is one of my biggest issues with Fallout 4 and people farming Purified Water, by all rights.. one Purified Water should literally be 1 cap if it equals a single bottle like survival mode implies. Bottle Caps are literally a faction currency in themselves, started by the water traders of the hub for ease of trading who then spread it as their caravans spread across the continental US wasteland likely at the same time as Jet.

 

And While I definately agree there should be so much more advancement in rekindling civilization since the war, the big thing seems to be the implication that raiders would rather keep the world in chaos for their own benefit after developing a culture of pilaging and slaughter after 200 years.

 

Far Harbor as we know it is practically a recent warzone, given the resurgence of the fog and the mutants within it. As Longfellow mentions when you talk with him or via ambient talk from him (I can't recall) the people in Far Harbor don't remember that the Fog has done that before, they got so used to a more peaceful lifestyle when the fog had dispersed that the sudden flood of it back across the island has left them paniced and unsure of what to do beyond be angry and paranoid.

 

And of course the thing Bethesda seems to keep forgetting between Fallout 1/2 and 3/4... 1 and 2 were significantly closer to the days the bombs fell than 3 and 4 were.

Edited July 9, 2016 by Veliwine

[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 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.

 

The Commonwealth and its state of development, well backwardness, would certainly be more fitting if it were fifty to eighty years after. 200 years doesn't make sense given the limited impact of nuclear strikes on the Commonwealth. Obsidian's NV world of the NCR and the Strip should have guided Bethesda.

 

Personally I mostly barter using stuff I strip off raiders and other foes, purified water directly rather than just bottlecaps (but I have some carry weight mod).

[CiderMuffin]

 

 

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.

 

The Commonwealth and its state of development, well backwardness, would certainly be more fitting if it were fifty to eighty years after. 200 years doesn't make sense given the limited impact of nuclear strikes on the Commonwealth. Obsidian's NV world of the NCR and the Strip should have guided Bethesda.

 

Personally I mostly barter using stuff I strip off raiders and other foes, purified water directly rather than just bottlecaps (but I have some carry weight mod).

 

Except not everywhere would be like the West Coast and even New Vegas makes that point. The NCR managed to form a country by unifying through diplomacy and the fortune of two protags heavily changing the landscape. Caesar's Legion was only really possible due to a follower of the apocalypse learning roman tactics and warfare from the follower's archives, even the Brotherhood of Steel originate from the west coast. For all that we've seen the rest of America is in a more chaotic state then the west coast was in.

[AnvilOfWar]

 

For all that we've seen the rest of America is in a more chaotic state then the west coast was in.

 

Right but there are still several points that make the state of the east being in such disrepair -still- quite questionable. The first of which is that canonically the west coast was hit with nukes first, giving a slight bit of advantage to east coasters to get to their vault and find shelter. Now even considering we know that Vault-Tec are the mustache twirling villains they are, that still would mean the east coast vaults that where actual safe havens and not just experiments, should have had better total starting populations. Power abhors a vacuum, in 200~210 years time Bethesda expects the player to believe that -no one- carved out a decent territory on the east coast? But that the West/Midwest not only was hit harder but has recovered more in -less time-? That full on raiding and tribalism is the "norm" for the east coast for 200+ years? That's why I feel that Bethesda's entry's into Fallout would have made far better sense if they where placed much closer to the 2077 bomb date. Given some of the locations in their games, Little Lamplight being a primary offender to point out, it would have played much better if it was far closer too the Great wars date, would have been a little more believable in the sub 50~ year time frame after, and not 200. Let's just say that post apoc life expectancy is now in the sub 50~ year range, you are still looking at 5-6 generations of people, in all that time, Bethesda expects little/no progress from society, all the while previous games not only showed progress, but quite a bit of advancement over "raid, rape and pillage the countryside".

[Zaklex55]

Consider this, even though it appears that the East Coast(i.e. Commonwealth) wasn't as devastated by Atomic Blasts, in truth it would be more devastated than the West Coast due to several factors(and it would actually be hit first, even if missiles came from China, as the ones directed towards the EC would be fired first). Reasoning, New York(center of banking), Washington D.C.,(center of govt), New England(military, population), etc.. As for society advancing, you only have to look at real history to see how long it took people to organize and become "civilized" to realize that 200 years is nothing, even if those people come from an organized society. Consider being locked underground in basically a dictatorial state and/or some kind of controlled experiment you don't even know about...you'll get a lot of people with skewed visions of what life is supposed to be like, then add in the complete devastation(would me much worse than the game world presents[see Nagasaki, Hiroshima]). As for the first two games taking place closer to the time after the bombs fell/missiles hit, no one should even have survived living outside the Vaults...so there's that little issue right there.

[SignorNessuno]

Oh well, at the least, mods please can we have some faction coins as i describe in the OP?

After all mods are not even canon, just a fan made work for improving a little (or very heavy) better the game