think there is something to be said about fallout focusing more on how and why prewar society led to the destruction of the world than trying to make new societies and stuff.
I mean, New Vegas does this in that its factions all represent prewar societies or ideologies. It’s one of the ways NV is truest to the original Fallout imo.
I like the idea of a Followers ending too, but having an objective correct and good ending might be a bit on the nose for NV?
New Vegas does this in that its factions all represent prewar societies or ideologies.
I understand that, but there feels like some kind of disconnect with this idea when it’s presented to the player as “you will be making a big decision that will affect how the world works”. I think that’s why I don’t like the idea that you are progressing the history of new Vegas when in reality the stagnation is the point. In fo3 the main story has its own problems from a narrative standpoint, but it feels more like a survival game in that everything you go through is just to get access to clean water whereas new Vegas puts too much emphasis on “the fate of the Mojave”. The good karma ending of fo3 is closer to a FOA ending than anything presented in NV and I don’t think the game was worse for it. It’s worse for a bunch of other reasons, but not that one really.
Nah, it’s just working with the material conditions in the Mojave imo. You can’t just start building communism, so the No Gods No Masters quest is the closest you can come to setting the Mojave on a better path. On reflection I think that’s why I like Wild Card, because it splits the difference of still allowing the game to analyse sad dead old-world ideologies, while allowing the player to do something about em.
Fallout games aren’t really about the stagnation of history, Fallout 2 features lots of societal progression since Fallout. Bethesda definitely wants to wallow in a stagnant world, but Interplay-related staff try to explore the follies of our current (western) world through the stumbling steps of the new one.
But that’s my point exactly, these people are not only nowhere near building communism, they’ve had every bit of left wing thought exorcised from them before the bombs fell. The only idea about communism they could possibly have is Chinese commando field manuals if they can even read at all. This isn’t just a lack of material conditions, the wasteland itself is supposed to represent the ideological landscape of America itself. A barren land not only of resources, but of alternative ideas. Even the different AIs present in the wasteland which would theoretically make the central planning of what resources are left very easy only want to horde wealth or commit genocide. The stagnation of history is imho a central theme of fallout as a medium although maybe one not intended by Interplay.
I mean, New Vegas does this in that its factions all represent prewar societies or ideologies. It’s one of the ways NV is truest to the original Fallout imo.
I like the idea of a Followers ending too, but having an objective correct and good ending might be a bit on the nose for NV?
I understand that, but there feels like some kind of disconnect with this idea when it’s presented to the player as “you will be making a big decision that will affect how the world works”. I think that’s why I don’t like the idea that you are progressing the history of new Vegas when in reality the stagnation is the point. In fo3 the main story has its own problems from a narrative standpoint, but it feels more like a survival game in that everything you go through is just to get access to clean water whereas new Vegas puts too much emphasis on “the fate of the Mojave”. The good karma ending of fo3 is closer to a FOA ending than anything presented in NV and I don’t think the game was worse for it. It’s worse for a bunch of other reasons, but not that one really.
Nah, it’s just working with the material conditions in the Mojave imo. You can’t just start building communism, so the No Gods No Masters quest is the closest you can come to setting the Mojave on a better path. On reflection I think that’s why I like Wild Card, because it splits the difference of still allowing the game to analyse sad dead old-world ideologies, while allowing the player to do something about em.
Fallout games aren’t really about the stagnation of history, Fallout 2 features lots of societal progression since Fallout. Bethesda definitely wants to wallow in a stagnant world, but Interplay-related staff try to explore the follies of our current (western) world through the stumbling steps of the new one.
But that’s my point exactly, these people are not only nowhere near building communism, they’ve had every bit of left wing thought exorcised from them before the bombs fell. The only idea about communism they could possibly have is Chinese commando field manuals if they can even read at all. This isn’t just a lack of material conditions, the wasteland itself is supposed to represent the ideological landscape of America itself. A barren land not only of resources, but of alternative ideas. Even the different AIs present in the wasteland which would theoretically make the central planning of what resources are left very easy only want to horde wealth or commit genocide. The stagnation of history is imho a central theme of fallout as a medium although maybe one not intended by Interplay.