Which ending do you usually go for and why?

[johnnychuttz]

Don't care for any of the endings as none allow the courier to utilize any real difference making assets aquired throuought the game(Archimedes II, The Securitron Army at the Fort, etc). The Legion should be completely wiped out for good, not merely defeted in battle.

[peadar1987]

Personally, I didn't like ANY ending in this fallout. Every significant choice is filled with a stupid amount of moral ambiguity. I wish there was a western chapter of Lyon's Pride.

 

That's kind of the whole point of the Fallout Series. There are plenty of games where you're the white knight, fighting to save the world from the forces of darkness, but Fallout tries to be darker, and more realistic in some respects, and many people prefer that, and certainly find it makes for more interesting factions and characters.

[DeathMachineMiyagi1942]

I'm surprised anyone actually dislikes the Yes Man ending, if you take J.E. Sawyer at his word that Yes Man's 'assertiveness upgrade' just means he only answers to you from now on. It basically means that the future of the Mojave is in your hands rather than in the hands of the other powers, who will all end up misusing it in some major way. Whether you misuse your power is ultimately up to how you played your courier.

 

For the entire game, I had been doing the heavy lifting in the Mojave, solving every problem and being the key element in any given faction's victory. By the end, my 'good' courier knew the Mojave inside and out, was on good terms with almost everyone who wasn't a raider or other predatory sort, including bastions of high-tech such as the Boomers, the Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave Remnants. Everywhere from the Strip to Primm to Nipton considered me a savior. I had Big MT on my side, ready (under my supervision) to use its scientific knowledge to slowly and responsibly bring old world tech into the wasteland. I had helped forge the Khans into a new nation in Wyoming, and was on very good terms with the NCR itself until General Oliver's little surprise at Hoover Dam. The only major faction that absolutely loathed me was the Legion (which left the Mojave with all of its major leaders dead and a crushingly one-sided loss at Hoover Dam, which to me implies imminent collapse), setting aside the deceased Mr. House.

 

To me, that means that despite General Oliver's derisive assessment of my ability to forge a nation, I felt I was actually in quite a good position to do so, mainly because I wouldn't be doing it alone. All the communities I had helped and had strong ties with would be there to help. As for outside threats, with General Oliver and President Kimball around to take the heat for the humiliating loss of the Mojave, and my long record of service to the NCR and major attempts to minimize NCR casualties at Hoover Dam, I like to imagine that (so long as power from Hoover Dam continued to flow west) the backlash against the newly independent New Vegas would be short-lived from that direction. As House says, Kimball would be too busy being impeached to seek vengeance, and with Hanlon returning to NCR to lambast his militarism and handling of the war I think the NCR itself actually benefits from their apparent 'loss', with a good solid lesson in the dangers of imperial overreach for future generations.

 

The Legion, as mentioned, would be too busy falling to pieces to seek retribution. The Khans in Wyoming are now friends and allies, as are whatever is left of New Canaan and the Sorrows/Dead Horses in Utah. With all known potential threats mitigated and a securitron army at my command, all military effort could be put towards pacifying the territory and keeping the roads safe for travellers and caravans, allowing the same kind of enforced peace seen in Legion-controlled Arizona without all the rape and slavery.

 

All the above, to me, implies the Mojave would flourish under an appropriately benevolent courier. It wouldn't be 100% smooth sailing, of course, but what ever is? The will is still there to make the Mojave a new, free nation, without being ruled by the corrupt imperialists in Shady Sands or vicious Legion misogynists or a cold-hearted, detached wannabe-Randian ubermensch figure like House.

[bruse]

While normally NCR would offer more stability, there is however one thing to consider. It's not stability which is the issue for independent Vegas, it's economy.

 

The Courier during the course of the game becomes something like a Terminator meets the Man with No Name crossover. Raiders? The new upstart nation gets ruled by a man which singlehandedly went into Vault 3, armed with a machinegun, combat armour, five doses of Psycho, a bottle of Whiskey and just flipped out and killed everyone inside.

 

By the end of the game it's immersion-breaking that enemies run to you. They should be either in overwhelming numbers and with some serious firepower or flat out running away, given the Courier up to that point is a man-machine hybrid which has killed thousands of armed people, because he didn't like them or was flat out tripping on Psycho.

 

Whether it's overall better for everyone that NCR takes over? Yes and no. Almost definitely for NCR back home, because NCR has ultimately the aim of becoming the USA and Vegas would be a huge step towards rebuilding civilization. However, chaos, raiders ensue?

 

Not during the Courier's lifetime. The long term prospects are something else - what after the Courier dies? Does he manage to, and that's a big deal, forge the entire territory in one nation? Without independent (Courier ruled) Vegas becoming a new "NCR" of the east, which is a lot of work, there's not much future in it.

 

Murderous robots armies and tripping on Psycho killing everyone is one thing, building anything, not to mention a nation, is something entirely different even for the ubermensch the Courier becomes. Vegas has little means to support itself. It needs food production and industry and rules and police and reconstruction, diplomacy... things which the NCR has but Vegas doesn't, and needs to play a game of "catch up" and fast, or die out. The cash-cow of NCR spending and importing things when they're played and evicted at the end means no money and not a lot of resources for Vegas.

Edited October 10, 2013 by bruse

[Cathlem]

I have to agree with bruse about how difficult it would be to forge a nation. General Wait 'n See, despite being a moron, was right about that. The amount of effort it would take would be huge, more than any one man/woman could hope to accomplish alone. The reason I don't like Independent is because, to me, it just seems like a power grab on the Courier's part. No matter how benevolent the Courier is, he/she's got ALL of Vegas. That's a lot of power, and as I recall, an old saying says that "Aboslute power corrupts absolutely". I'd never trust myself with that kind of power, despite practically being the Messiah of the Mojave.

 

I usually go NCR because they seem to do right by the most people. If you play your cards right, you have the Brotherhood helping to patrol the Long 15, freeing up NCR troops to secure the rest of the territory, and ensuring that the supplies they need will reach them. Speaking of supplies, with the Boomers trading with the Gun Runners, a lot of their ordnance is ending up in the hands of NCR's military, giving their soldiers better firepower, so this coupled with the Brotherhood patrolling the Highways esentially ensures that the supply problems, at least for now, are a thing of the past. The Kings in Freeside will ally with the NCR, and eventually NCR institutes a full blown relief effort for the people, while Freeside still gets to maintain its independence from the government back west. If they helped during the battle, the Followers get to keep Old Mormon Fort, and eventually are able to give help to everyone that comes to them because their supply issues get solved. Getting Vegas and The Strip should also give the economy a boost, and smaller towns like Goodsprings and Primm (if Primm is given to the NCR) also prosper from seeing increased trade, despite the Republic's taxes.

 

Of course, there's still the issue of Kimball and Oliver's practices becoming vindicated due to the NCR victory. I see no reason why, word goes out over the radio to the whole West about what the Courier did, that the Courier can't change that. Being the Hero of the Mojave, or "Savior of the NCR" as Moore puts it, means that now I could return to California and denounce Oliver, Kimball, and the war-hawks. As I let Kimball die on my last playthrough, the war-hawks would likely lose support from the people since their leader had been killed while in the area they had wanted to annex. With the massive loss of life to the war with the Legion and battles against raiders in the past decade or so the NCR has been in the Mojave, including their own President, the leadership won't likely get enough support from the people for another campaign like that in the near future. And as for Oliver, I would have my Courier travel back West and denounce him and his leadership abilities. Being the Savior of the NCR, taking back Nelson, wiping out Cottonwood Cove and the Fiends, and singlehandedly killing Caesar while General Moron sat at the Dam with his thumbs up his ass would show, I hope, the REAL reason NCR won. If that wasn't enough, I think a bit of an extra push from Chief Hanlon, the hero of the First Bttle of Hoover Dam, would be what I needed. With Kimball and Oliver out of the way, hopefully some REAL leaders would take over. Like Hsu. He would have been general anyway, but for Oliver's friendship with Kimball.

 

Helping them take the Dam and the Strip gives the Courier a goodposition to go back West and help the people change the government for the better, as well as giving the Mojave a great deal of stability and relief, provided you went the extra mile to get the best outcomes for your alliances. There's no reason why an NCR alinged Courier has to agree with Kimball's imperialism and Oliver's stupidity.

[Deleted4666244User]

I usually go for NCR or Indy depending on my courier.

[bruse]

In a way both the Yes Man and the NCR are "good" endings, with their share of the bad, of course.

 

One one hand, the defeat of the NCR is a dick move. They are rebuilding civilization as we know it, and doing a decent job at it too; they're a few hundred years short of "modern" times. Vegas would've been a major help along the way; lots of resources, tech, and, well, space to grow, which you rob them of.

 

On the other hand, you're teaching them a lesson; because what should have been a fairly straighforward campaign became a damn mess for no reason except incompetence at the highest echelons of power. To help them to win is to vindicate them, in this or that way. Besides, we see in the game the NCR has become a corrupt and warlike entity, and the best catalyst for change is always a military defeat. And you're setting up the stage for a future incorporation of Vegas in the NCR, but when Vegas is ready for it, and not on NCR's terms.

 

Or, you're setting up the stage for a future war and a more radical NCR (because sometimes, change can be for the worse). Things can be unpredictable like that.

 

However, I don't play the "goody two-shoes" benevolent and nice courier. Running around like some armed Ghandi trying to solve everything with your improbable negotiation skills and do every quest and subquest (by the way, I wish there was a mod to remove the "mission failed" popup when you kill mission-important characters, it feels like such a cheat) in an optimal way isn't as appealing as taking the "more bullets" approach. For such and such a courier, NCR is just no option at all.

Edited October 11, 2013 by bruse

[KittenFromRussia]

legion, cause i the NCR only helps people if they are soldiers, mister house wants everything his way, and independent vegas is really the developers views of an independent vegas, and Caesar's Legion is actually the best ending, cause they actually know how to read a history book...

[kingwilfre16]

I have yet to decide (or rather my Courier has yet to decide). Me personally, I would go for NCR hands down. Kimball and co have deep problems: too many fronts, to many fields, and those Brahmin Barons need to take a dirt nap. Also, America did not nuke the world: China did. America of 2077 was villainous only in the 'He Who Fights Monsters' way. Cheng and his cohorts were so horrible the US STILL looked good by comparison (and were good by comparison). But Kimball understands NCR is a restoratationist movement: NCR's destiny is to crumble and fall or become the United States of America. And you can see this unsure and untested battle of mantle very clearly all over the Hoover Dam complex. It's important they win the the Mohave because if they don't and regionalism wins in California, then Orion and the whole damn Enclave will be right when they say "[if we lose] kiss America goodbye boys!" and besides being an American patriot and fangirl, I won't give the Enclave the vindication. The Yes Man ending is OK with me and really OK with my Courier if it's 'You will get Nevada, but only on Nevada's terms. That is, after all, what America is all about.'

 

Now, I admire Caesar for burning away the tribes and creating a nation. But he's despicable i n how he does it and what for. Fundamentally, the Legion is not America, it is in fact a rejection of America and that is unacceptable. More than that. they are monsters, and just as prewar America made a mockery of the 1950s by imitation, so Caesar does with Rome. Caesar enslaves, the Romans gave citizenship, even under the empire. The Romans let those who surrendered remain free, Caesar enslaves all. Rome was fair for its day, hell it was liberal. The Legion is a reactionary fantasy, a sick one that must be put down.

 

House, whatever his relation to a restored America, represents not what was wrong with America, but what was wrong with America of 2077. America is a good and just ideal, House is the avatar of its corruption. There is no room in America for House either. America wins, and that means the House must lose.

America wins, and that means the House must lose. Somebody give this guy a cookie!

[Danny159]

I would go with Yesman and handing most of the rebuilding and such over to the followers. Making the Boomers part of the Securitron army who will help protect the Followers. (mostly through sheer intimidation) You don't wanna mess with a giant robot army with air support... XD

 

Putting Veronica in charge of the brotherhood with the Followers as advisor's and negotiate a truce with the NCR, to secure the region from raiders and such.

Get the Khans to eliminate any hostile wild life instead of making chems or at least only make useful chems for the followers.

Eliminate any fiends not wanting Follower treatment.

Ask the Enclave remnants how they were able to control the Deathclaws and if possible use the Deathclaws to supplement the Securitron army. ^^

With criminal evidence against Cassidy caravans and other trading companies making the crimson caravan company and the van Graffs good suppliers.

 

See if the super mutants are willing to help rebuilding the world before they die out.

 

Send out expeditions to Sierra Madre, Big Mountain and the divide for useful tech, possibly with the super mutants help as they are immune to the radiation in the divide.

 

Maybe even using big MT tech to actually communicate with Deathclaws and work out an arrangement. Deathclaws are highly intelligent if I read the fallout wiki correctly...