Which ending do you usually go for and why?

[blaze1514]

The single indecent that you are citing is the only time that I have seen them do that (in NV and in other works). That incident is out of character and not reflective of the NCR's treatment in other areas. I remember reading in multiple places that the NCR lets super mutants (smart ones) in its army. And its obvious that thy are fine with ghouls as you see them as rangers all over the place.

[SayinNuthin]

I haven't seen anyone here considering something that changes the whole balance of post-game power; That is with the Brotherhood behind you and the pulse gun in your hand - YOU know where to find Mr House's off switch!... :wink:

 

That's to say leading a team of paladins armed with pulse guns you could walk right into the Lucky 38. And that, I thought was the real reason why House was down so on them (the Yes-Man says it). But just because he's mad doesn't mean he's stupid and while you might want to watch your back, I'd think you and he can do business.

 

Good business.. Good for everyone...

 

[Edit] This is the Paathanax dilemma all over again isn't it, someone useful to the players long term ambitions has to be killed because of a prejudice on the part of one of the fractions. So terminating the person because he has made some regrettable decisions in the past is failing to understand that the fact that the play CAN kill him at any time changes everything. That Mr House (or Paarthanax) has become a threat nullified.

Edited June 22, 2014 by SayinNuthin

[Pygmyowl]

I always go with House, because I just can't bring myself to kill someone who's awesome enough to build a private missile defense grid instead of hiding in an underground shelter like a coward. The BoS part is kind of heartrending, but I've come to view it as a mercy kill of sorts, even (or especially) after doing their questline. Their goal is obsolete, yet they (as a whole) refuse to find a new one.

Also, like some previous posters, I don't think that House being a chessmaster rather than a ruler is a bad thing. And, somehow, it seems to me that the ending slide (with things about "cold", and "pre-War glory", and status quo) doesn't attempt to extrapolate the player's actions, like they suddenly cease to exist. Yes, if left to his own devices, House would probably concentrate on taking humanity to the stars (which, by the way, I'm sure he can) and keep New Vegas as a money siphon. But the Courier is now his trusted lieutenant, and he can make everyone's lives better in the meantime.

 

Other endings? Legion's disgusting, NCR's a bunch of bureaucrats (and don't forget what Cass said), and Independency has no future.

 

(oh, and I like House's hairdo)

[AlexandruRadu]

In the end nothing changes the Courier is so powerful that he can Kill most of the leaders of the factions with the help of people like Ulysses. While having the trump Card of Yes Man and the Divide Nukes. He is so powerfull in fact that he can if you make certain choices simply call in Orbital Strikes and Robot/tanks to help him out. So unless the NCR, Legion and House send in everything they've got they've got problems fighting the Courier. And for me that's the Beauty of New Vegas the fact that all the endings are Moral Grey Areas.

[blaze1514]

In the end nothing changes the Courier is so powerful that he can Kill most of the leaders of the factions with the help of people like Ulysses. While having the trump Card of Yes Man and the Divide Nukes. He is so powerfull in fact that he can if you make certain choices simply call in Orbital Strikes and Robot/tanks to help him out. So unless the NCR, Legion and House send in everything they've got they've got problems fighting the Courier. And for me that's the Beauty of New Vegas the fact that all the endings are Moral Grey Areas.

Exactly thats why I say that going with house is my favorite. He wants to rebuild humanity that is fine, You however can dictate its fate with him (in theory as the stupid slide system does not give a very "complete" description of what happens further down the line.

[greenknightfury]

I have always gone either House or stopped playing at the point when Independent Vegas locks up on me (for some reason just before the Battle for Hoover Dam the convo with Yes Man freezes at the ending and nothing makes it work properly), however I am doing a playthrough right now where it is a tough call between NCR or House.

[SayinNuthin]

I have always gone either House or stopped playing at the point when Independent Vegas locks up on me (for some reason just before the Battle for Hoover Dam the convo with Yes Man freezes at the ending and nothing makes it work properly), however I am doing a playthrough right now where it is a tough call between NCR or House.

 

Which points out something missing from the poll choices (and why I declined to vote) How many people like me, just skip the ending and stop that playthrough before and go to an earlier save or begin a new character?

 

The battle of Hoover Dam isn't anything to write home about unless antique aeroplanes are your thing. There are lots of mods that offer much 'better' big battles. All your interesting choices have been made by that point and like the Battle Of Whiterun, it's not as if you can actually loose - and I haven't found a continue-play mod that does anything with the story (I live in hope there). Once you've seen all the slides (except Legion, I won't countenance slavery) what's the point.

 

What I love the game for is making choices and exploring. Precious little of the last after the umpteenth playthrough and by Hoover Dam not much of the former. In fact your choices are pretty much over if you've declined to finish off the Brotherhood, no?

[Pylonicus]

I'd have to ultimately go with NCR, although I do have a bit of a leaning towards Mr. House as well. I don't have much faith in the independent option, and I think it's painfully obvious that the Legion is a terrible, terrible idea.

 

I'll start with Mr. House. The major upside to House is that he promises security and ultimately has the best wishes for mankind. He wants everything to work, and he wants society to advance the best it can. Best of all, he has a plan. He's a genius that was able to cheat death itself, and save thousands of lives along with his own from a destruction of a nuclear holocaust. He may not really care for individual lives, and he may not care about the smaller picture, but he is the absolute most efficient and safe shot for the bigger picture to flourish. He is, simply put, humanity's best shot for prosperity.

 

The problem is that he's all the eggs in one basket. You are giving ludicrous power all to one man; well, half man, half computer. An immortal genius, granted, but not foolproof. We know that he's failed once already, sent into a comma for a century. If anything --anything at all-- were to go wrong, everything would fall into ruins. The primary ruler of the Mojave would be gone in an instant, leaving a huge amount of power up for grabs. It could lead to someone much worse and much more chaotic having massive power, or it could lead to a loss of the monopoly on power entirely, which would basically put the Mojave back at square one.

 

In short, Mr. House would be a fantastic dictator, and is the absolute best man for the job of controlling the Mojave. There is no one else as stable and collected and able to lead than him. But he's still a single dictator, and if anything were to happen to him, everything would fall apart. And when I saw if anything would happen to him, I include the possibility of him deciding to turn against humanity's best interest in favor of his own, which he would undoubtedly due if that was ever the case. Keep in mind that the Courier would really have no power to object, and would certainly be destroyed without a second's hesitation if s/he became more of a liability than an asset to Mr. House. Scary to think of.

 

An independent New Vegas is very similar to the house ending, except that the Courier is not an immortal super genius. I personally do not like this ending, because I do not think that a random, murderous, brain-damaged courier that muscles his/her way into extreme power, whether or not they carry a heart of gold, would be a good leader. I do not trust the Courier, no matter how I role play them, to rule the Mojave and to hold the massive power that it grants. The Courier is a foreigner, only recently developing new memories, and is incredibly unstable. Even if the Courier has completed countless humanitarian efforts across the wasteland, the Courier is simply inexperienced and unfit to lead. It's like giving nukes to a toddler, like handing the mayor's office to a newcomer to the city. Not to mention that the Courier is leaving a devastatingly dangerous loose-end, the Yes Man. Even if the Yes man never turns on the Courier and is completely complacent to all of his/her desires and orders, there is the terrifying possibility that the Courier is killed, or just dies without destroying Yes Man. If the Courier, for whatever reason, looses complete control of Yes Man, which would be pretty easy to do considering how easy he was transferred out of Benny's hands into the Courier's, it'd be just like House dying, everything would devolve into chaos. An independent Vegas is just like the House ending, except instead of leaving an immortal genius in change, you're leaving a brain-damaged wanderer who stumbled into town with plots of revenge in charge. Not a good choice.

 

There's always the issue of putting all your eggs into one basket. This is exactly why I prefer the NCR ending. You're leaving the fate of the Mojave in the hands of a relatively honest democracy. A democracy with all its kinks. The NCR is stretched too far, the NCR has been forced to favor special interest over the common citizen given its struggling situation, and the NCR has been noted to have internal squabbling and conflicts, but the NCR is still a functioning democracy. They are the long term solution, they are the only solution where something can go wrong, and still work. No one has a true monopoly, and the separation of powers is strong. They're weak, but with this new extended power, they can become stronger. They would be less reliant on special interest, and would have more forces to carry out order and humanitarian aid. More doctors to help refugees, more patrols to stave off gangs, raiders, and wildlife. They are, ultimately, the safest choice, they have a relatively fail-safe plan. You're dividing your eggs across a plethora of baskets. It is much, much harder for a democracy to implode than a dictatorship, and that's what the Mojave needs. Not a get-rich-quick scheme, but a slow, long-term solution, one that watches its own back. As much as some hate to believe it, bureaucracy is what the Wasteland needs most. It's far too unstable and chaotic for anything else. They're interested in building up society in safe, mostly honest ways, and are willing to lend an ear to everyone. They aren't going to kill peaceful dissenters, and --I can't stress this enough-- they aren't going to put all the money on one hand. House wants to put all his money on a damn good hand, but not an unbeatable one, while Yes Man and the Courier want to put all their money on their hand, but they don't even know how to play the game. I want the the multiple people to govern, not just one person. So, NCR.

 

Although, the NCR has some worrisome implications. Most notable is their disregard for smaller fringe towns like Goodsprings. However, it's not like they're any worse off than before NCR control. Also, I dislike the NCR's clashes with the Followers of the Apocalypse, which I think are the only other real hope for the Wasteland, as they seem to be the only other faction even vaguely concerned with sustainability and indiscriminate aid. The NCR kicking them out of the Fort of Mormon is a big step backwards. I really wish there was just a way to side with the FoA.

 

Frankly, I don't get all the love for the Brotherhood of Steel. Yeah, it feels bad to wipe them of the face of the Wasteland, but it's not like anyone will miss them. They're hostile, intolerant, dogmatic, pretentious, and are only really concern about the preservation of technology if they're the ones preserving it. The quasi-religious element is creepy as well. They could all rot in their bunker for all I care.

 

As for the Legion, I don't see how anyone could honestly support them. Rampart misogyny, slavery, and brutal violence. They're completely self-serving, and their entire organization is built on following one crazy guy flirting with death. Oh, and the second-in-command is a sadistic psychopath. I honestly can't find any benefit from the Legion being in charge to literally anyone, including the Legion itself.

[greenknightfury]

Excellent points on the Legion there, Pylonicus, even with leaving out the fact that most of Caesar's elite and inner circle are the worst of the worst raiders and tribal psychos he could find.

 

I always see the Courier as the foil and humanity, as well as the stated "chosen successor" in the ending, of House in his ending. Especially with the Think Tank giving him secret backup in the form of tech, though it always disappointed me that you don't start seeing some of the fruits of their non-evil experiments (and unintended good fruits of the evil research) spreading to the Mojave. Much the same holds true for me in the Independent ending, though if I had my way, Independent would mean your muscle backing the new council formed of the leaders of each faction still in the Mojave and myself as we work together to make something out of it. (which is my roleplay ending for that)

[jonas66]

Excellent points on the Legion there, Pylonicus, even with leaving out the fact that most of Caesar's elite and inner circle are the worst of the worst raiders and tribal psychos he could find.

 

I always see the Courier as the foil and humanity, as well as the stated "chosen successor" in the ending, of House in his ending. Especially with the Think Tank giving him secret backup in the form of tech, though it always disappointed me that you don't start seeing some of the fruits of their non-evil experiments (and unintended good fruits of the evil research) spreading to the Mojave. Much the same holds true for me in the Independent ending, though if I had my way, Independent would mean your muscle backing the new council formed of the leaders of each faction still in the Mojave and myself as we work together to make something out of it. (which is my roleplay ending for that)

 

I went, in heart, with the Independent ending, but not following the slides or canon, because I don't think it makes all that much sense given the available resources you should have by that time, but I agree that the Courier, a foreigner with uncertain mental stability, might not be the best fit. I envisioned the Courier leading the Battle of the Dam, overthrowing House, NCR, Legion, and then handing the reins over to her friends and the people of the Mojave to rule, using House's resources. Sending the Bunker Securitrons to help bolster the defense of the various communities and protecting the most vital trade routes. The people you meet forming a council with this roster:

 

First Mojave Council

Arcade Gannon -- Presiding

Emily Ortel -- Vice President

Veronica Santangelo -- BoS Ambassador to Elder McNamara

Cass -- Crimson Cassidy's Caravan (obviously she takes over Crimson after McLafferty's arrested)

Pearl -- Boomers

Sunny Smiles -- Goodsprings

Doc Henry -- Jamestown

Marcus -- The Jamestown mutants

Manny Ramirez -- Novac

Sw-ank (ha, filter) -- The Families

Judah Krieger -- Westside

Julie Farkas -- Freeside

Meyers -- Primm

Crocker -- NCR Ambassador

 

The Courier, meanwhile, purses other adventures (DLC), eventually settling in Big Mountain, which allies with the Mojave and further bolsters their strength.

 

It bugged me that with all of the tech and power you could have available by the end, nothing in the slides suggested that it was every utilized to its full extent, and everybody just kind of gave up on any sort of unity.

Edited August 5, 2014 by jonas66