Why was the PC near Goodsprings?

[LordPariah]

It could be possible that the platinum chip was looted, sold, looted, sold, and made its way to the south of Vegas. Then House found out where it was, and moved it north - past goodsprings.

[RJLbwb]

One way to look at it - Maybe Mojave Express/Couriers are not the kind of people one messes with-

 

2) Ancient Tradition/Real Life History Lesson - Once read that in ancient Greece, the Greeks would be fighting an enemy. Then during a battle a Messenger(Courier) would be seen running near the battlefield on a job. Both sides would STOP FIGHTING until the Messenger was safely and far enough away from the battlefield. When the Messenger was safely away, the battle would resume. Yeah, a Courier's route can run through a Legion Camp with no problem as long as Point Number 1 is in affect. This is the same Legion who has no problem razing a town to the ground while forcing a hellish lottery on people. So the Legion for the most part keeps the ancient tradition of 'Do not interfere with a Messenger(Courier)'.

 

3) The expressions on the faces of the two Khans in the intro movie show that what Benny was going to do and did do(shoot the Courier) was a really, REALLY bad idea. These are the same two Khans(one of them anyway) who had no problem kidnapping a couple of NCR soldiers which pissed off other NCR soldiers just to force a stalemate. Yet when the Courier shows up, the Khan in question freaks out that the Courier did in fact survive a bullet to the head and is actually more scared of the Courier than the NCR.

I like this argument. It would explain a lot, like why would the Courier dare approach the Legion in Nipton and not just bug out when the Courier saw the massacre, why the armies are letting Courier into their camps and why the Khans and the NCR are using the Courier as a mediator.

[tnu]

 

One way to look at it - Maybe Mojave Express/Couriers are not the kind of people one messes with-

 

2) Ancient Tradition/Real Life History Lesson - Once read that in ancient Greece, the Greeks would be fighting an enemy. Then during a battle a Messenger(Courier) would be seen running near the battlefield on a job. Both sides would STOP FIGHTING until the Messenger was safely and far enough away from the battlefield. When the Messenger was safely away, the battle would resume. Yeah, a Courier's route can run through a Legion Camp with no problem as long as Point Number 1 is in affect. This is the same Legion who has no problem razing a town to the ground while forcing a hellish lottery on people. So the Legion for the most part keeps the ancient tradition of 'Do not interfere with a Messenger(Courier)'.

 

3) The expressions on the faces of the two Khans in the intro movie show that what Benny was going to do and did do(shoot the Courier) was a really, REALLY bad idea. These are the same two Khans(one of them anyway) who had no problem kidnapping a couple of NCR soldiers which pissed off other NCR soldiers just to force a stalemate. Yet when the Courier shows up, the Khan in question freaks out that the Courier did in fact survive a bullet to the head and is actually more scared of the Courier than the NCR.

I like this argument. It would explain a lot, like why would the Courier dare approach the Legion in Nipton and not just bug out when the Courier saw the massacre, why the armies are letting Courier into their camps and why the Khans and the NCR are using the Courier as a mediator.

 

 

 

I would say this has a rather simple answer. Rule of the caravan wastes. Never $%^# with the man who delivers your mail.

Edited July 24, 2013 by tnu

[bruse]

You all make some really good points. I do agree that it’s plausible for an amnesiac person to forget the skills he/she has learned. I don’t know much about brains only that if you get shot in the head you die, and with there being energy weapons perhaps that had an effect, like a sort of electro-shock therapy which forces the amnesia, and makes him/her forget what he or she had learned.

 

Real life is a bit more complicated then "if you get shot in the head, you die". It's not always the case, not even when shot in the brain.

Edited October 15, 2013 by bruse

[Ninja2dan]

One good thing about not clearly defining the back-story is that they can add in details at a later point, such as they did in the various DLC. So many games just throw the player some place with little or no back-story on who they are, where they come from, etc. This game at least throws in some of that, but leaves it open enough that the player can come up with their opinions. Due to the fact that you can hop around between factions, be a "good" or "bad" person, etc means you're able to form your own back-story, at least what's not clearly disclosed through the various DLC.

 

As for why Benny and his group hit the Courier in the Goodsprings area, you can look at the dialogue between the player and Yes Man when they first meet up. Through that dialogue, Yes Man points out that he was aware of all the items House was tracking, and where each of those items was located. He knew exactly where the Courier (player) was at, what his intended/likely route was, and where Benny should ambush him.

 

And I really don't recall them stating exactly where the player was ambushed either. We know it's in the general Goodsprings area, but that's a fairly general area. He could have been ambushed south of town, but oddly enough that would have brought the player through Primm.

 

We did see a dead body outside the Primm Mojave Express office, which appeared to be another courier carrying one of the other items for House. Yes Man and Benny knew where each item was, so I doubt Benny and his group took that courier out as a mistake. I'm also going to assume that Primm being taken over and that other courier being killed happened while the player was still incapacitated in Goodsprings (at Doc Mitchel's place). But the fact that the player speaks to the Nash's like he was unaware of the ME office there, means he never actually stopped in Primm before.

 

Yet if the player had been taking the route north, wouldn't Primm have been a more likely supply and rest stop than Goodsprings?

 

 

But I do see how it can be difficult to nail down a solid back-story on why the Courier (player) was actually in Goodsprings. It never bothered me too much, but for those mods that give alternate starting locations, I wonder how they deal with creating some sort of plausible writing to explain the variances.

[Danny159]

Maybe the Courier had to make a delivery in Goodsprings as well? XD

[grandpauj1]

The player picked up the chip in Primm which would have given him/her pleanty of time to stock up on supply's such as fresh water and stuff, but we need to keep in mind he/she is not driving a 2277 f-150 4X4 so walking you would not be taking the long way to vegas, you would be taking the LOOONG way. An earlier post said cut off like half a day, Maybe in a car or truck, But on foot you are talking alot walking.

The theory about just letting the courier "Walk thru the battle field" would be good with groups/gangs that would honor it, leagon and GK most likely yes, Raiders and powder gangers..... not so much.

The courier was told by old man Nash (I think thats his name) that the first courier for the job quit and said let courier 6 take it, So I'm (WTF happened to my font?) thinking that the courier/player must be a real bad A$$, hence be able to take the more dangerous route. Also he/she might have had a modified Some wicked weapons like a "Light machinegun" You know ext. clip, carbon fiber parts, A $#!t load of ammo and a get er dun attitude. Also keep in mind that he/she is getting paid by the job, not by the hour. So the faster it get's there the better .

Maybe they put the player there so someone would start a topic in the Forums and it would give us all a chance to post our thoughts about it (:

[OnHolyServiceBound]

Like others have said, you get the chip at primm, the deathclaws are a recent development, and the distance is significantly greater than it is in game. How much of what was living where may or may not be known by the courier.

As far as I see it, it depends on the character. If they're a badass then they knew they could handle themselves, if they were sneaky they knew they could get by unseen, if they were a non combatant they likely weren't aware of the dangers and were just taking the fastest route. If they were stupid, they knew there were dangers, but were too stupid to avoid them, lol.

[Fistandilius]

Sunny Smiles gets lonely. Need I say more. :smile:

 

Honestly, that irritated the heck out of me that you can go through and meet those people and defend the town early in the game and then there's literally no reason to go back there ever. I use Victor's Shack to store my things, but if it wasn't for that...

 

 

One way to look at it - Maybe Mojave Express/Couriers are not the kind of people one messes with-

 

1) The various factions talk about wiping out their rivals/taking over the Wasteland. . .yet the Express/Couriers, while can be considered a Faction of sorts isn't in anybody's equations about revenge or conquest. Maybe there is a bit of a 'Leave us alone(Couriers/Express) and we'll leave you alone(everyone else)'. Between Benny and couple of other character who 'forces' the Courier to do one thing or another gets the Courier involved in major events he/she would normally not bother with.

 

2) Ancient Tradition/Real Life History Lesson - Once read that in ancient Greece, the Greeks would be fighting an enemy. Then during a battle a Messenger(Courier) would be seen running near the battlefield on a job. Both sides would STOP FIGHTING until the Messenger was safely and far enough away from the battlefield. When the Messenger was safely away, the battle would resume. Yeah, a Courier's route can run through a Legion Camp with no problem as long as Point Number 1 is in affect. This is the same Legion who has no problem razing a town to the ground while forcing a hellish lottery on people. So the Legion for the most part keeps the ancient tradition of 'Do not interfere with a Messenger(Courier)'.

 

3) The expressions on the faces of the two Khans in the intro movie show that what Benny was going to do and did do(shoot the Courier) was a really, REALLY bad idea. These are the same two Khans(one of them anyway) who had no problem kidnapping a couple of NCR soldiers which pissed off other NCR soldiers just to force a stalemate. Yet when the Courier shows up, the Khan in question freaks out that the Courier did in fact survive a bullet to the head and is actually more scared of the Courier than the NCR.

 

4) The Samus Aran Effect. Ever play a game where your character starts out uber-strong only to have something happen to lose all that power and you have to start from scratch and regain it all? The same thing can be said of the Courier by means of getting a bullet in the brain. That kind of damage has to play havoc on what makes up the SPECIAL including Charisma(which in part is the ability to properly speak) on top of the other physical and mental(Intelligence) stuff. I don't think one of the Great Khans simply ran up to the Courier from behind and knocked him/her out that fast. I think there was a small fierce battle beforehand and someone eventually go the knockout blow in.

 

So what does this have to do with the Courier's original route that no other sane person would take? Simply put the Deathclaws in the area were about as much as a threat to the Courier as some idiot mugger hopped up on Jet flinging his/her arms around without even Hand Bandages to use as a weapon would be. However getting a bullet to the brain took all those abilities and skills away forcing the Courier to take the longer route to Vegas.(Number 4)

 

Now all that does seem like a giant exaggeration and it may well be but here are some other possibilities -

1) The Courier needed to stock up on fresh supplies and that meant fresh water. The Courier went to the Goodsprings Water Supply(where Sunny takes the Courier to kill Geckos) to get some fresh water.(1) Benny and the Khans tracked the Courier there and when the Courier began drawing water, that's when the ambush happened. Then Benny and Khans dragged the Courier to the Graveyard where events were set in motion.

2) The Courier's original plan was to evade the Deathclaws but also that town the Legion razed to the ground near Primm(forgot its name). That town was considered a cesspool by everyone who mentions it and the majority of people wanted nothing to do with it. Its probably so bad that Couriers don't go there unless they have no choice like a job. There are other possible routes, although longer, that evade both Deathclaws and that town. One of the possible routes took the Courier to Goodsprings at night where the ambush happened.

 

(1) Always felt the Courier suffered partial amnesia from the bullet to the head. Granted things have to be spelled out for the players(especially new players) so they'll know what is going on, but story wise, the Courier oddly didn't know the kind of things one would expect him/her to know. In this case not knowing Goodsprings getting its name from having a radiation free water supply which an experience traveler like a Courier should know.

 

There's a bit of dialogue with Cass where she talks about the caravan code and you don't f with mail carriers, so that would suggest that he'd have less to worry about the powder gang than he would deathclaws, but your theory isn't any less plausible.

[nemocdt]

Mohave couriers would have to be badass as hell, intellegent, ruthless survivalistist diplomatic hunter killers. (imagine Delta force meets manny puig meets Chuck fk'n Norris type's) i have no doubt that six would have takin the shortest most direct route even if he had known about the deathclaws or cazador infestation it would be all in a days work for Courier six (dealing with raiders, Ghouls, vipers, fiends, radscorp's etc ) Benny and the Khan's took the long way round because they are lightweights compared to a fully functioning and equipped C6. Benny was nothing more than a casino worker. this does however raise the Question of how C6 let Benny and the methheads trap him and steal his cargo. I found it most strange that nobody recognised C6 at all! anywhere! even though he would have come into contact with Ncr and the various settlement's on many occasions on his travels surely C6 would have developed conections all over the domain yet noone seems to have met him before. i'm going off track here sorry.