5 Easy Ways To Fix The Institute In Fallout 4

[@EmporerDragon]

When you think of it, Shaun and the Institute's biggest problem is they didn't have a Dr. Mobius to keep them in check and not affecting the outside world. Imagine what unholy experiments would've been unleashed on the wasteland if Shaun found the Think Tank.

[@Descriptor413]

This is certainly an aspect that FO4 could have leaned on more. The Institute is culturally a continuation of the pre-war science tradition. The same tradition which brought us things like Vault Tec and the Think Tank. In other words, amoral sociopaths who will stop at nothing to do scientific research for "advancing" mankind, not really stopping to think what they're advancing towards. In a lot of ways, this explains the Institute's behaviors, but this aspect isn't explored quite well enough in game, and could have used stronger acknowledgment by the characters. Some grand speech about continuing the advances of the pre-war world and overwriting the horrors of the post-war world (which is to say, killing off those filthy surface dwellers), in a very Enclave-y kinda way.

[@highlordlaughterofcanada8685]

Yeah but the Institute is less mad science than the Think Tank. Plus the Think Tank did shit just because they could, consequences be damned and because they're all insane, whereas the Institute genuinely think they're doing the right thing. One is insane, the other is just misguided and out of touch.

[@concept5631]

Who knows what kind of hell the west coast would be like if Mobius wasn't there.

[@casualgamers3369]

Now that I think about it. It makes a lot of sense Bethesda intended the institute to be a copy of the Think Tank.

[@highlordlaughterofcanada8685]

@@casualgamers3369 It's because Fallout 4 in general tried to copy FNV but without the nuance and depth

[@Eli_In_The_Void]

I think the biggest opportunity Fallout 4 missed was the ability to actually influence and change a faction with your influence. Allowing the player to actually make real decisions about a factions morals, goals, and structure would make for such a unique experience.

[@alr.3137]

Spot on 🎯 💯

[@samcnut]

I'm a sucker for "could-have-been" story settings. I would actually love to see a series where you narrate through a 'normal' Fallout 4 playthrough but with all your changes to the factions, so we could see the bigger picture. Plus it would be really cool!

[@Solace_In_Sorrow]

damn I'd love to see something like this too

[@windwalker5765]

I think tracing the problems with the Institute to Shaun ignores the fact that _the Institute raised Shaun._ They chose isolationism and infiltration before he was in charge: the Institute pulled out of the CPG around 2187, before Kellogg took Shaun from Vault 111, and the Broken Mask incident occurred in 2229, when he was two years old. (It's not canon how long the FEV research was ongoing, but if they started replacing people with humanlike synths at the same time as Broken Mask, it follows that they were experimenting on those people at least that long.) The Institute culture dehumanizes surface dwellers, prioritizes the needs of the Institute above all else, and largely prevents their members from seeing or learning anything that would make them think differently. A few do, but not many, and obviously if Shaun didn't agree with the party line, he wouldn't have been put in charge by the previous Director.

[@AlekTrev006]

Good points, indeed. I’d forgotten (till my most recent Playthrough), but X6 even says (while your companion) something like, “It will be a much better World, once All the Surface-dwellers have died out” ! Yeesh ? 😮

[@NorseGraphic]

In my head-canon, the Institute provides medical supplies, weapons, ammo and armor to the Minutemen. The Minutemen stabilizes the Commonwealth and acts as an outer protection for the Institute in a symbiotic relationship. With Gen 1 and Gen 2-synths mingled with the patrols on the surface, most people of the Commonwealth would be a lot more safe, and wouldn't have to worry about super-mutants (capture, cured and released), the gunners/raiders (captured and imprisoned in camps). The Institute would develop a genetically modified whale and build an outpost at Nahant Sociological Society, where these synth-whales would sift through sea-water to capture radioactive materials. They would return and deposit the results at the outpost for further processing. A similar project would be done in the glowing sea, using Gen 1 and Gen 2-synths to build a processing-facility, and gather the radioactive surface-material to this facility. It would take years, of course, but the amount of radioactive materials in the air, soil and inland waters would begin to decrease and ultimately be gone. Of course Dr.Virgil would return, as head of the FEV-project, to find a generalized cure, and expand the knowledge about the virus in the first place.

[@arandomcommenter412]

@@W0KeIzEvilThat’s why he said “head-canon”

[@Gabriel-uy4eh]

Thats good, I think they have the potential to be the most radical force for change and wish they would had some gameplay mechanic that would really change the outside world after joining. But it seems it only is another quest hub and even after becoming leader theres really no relevance in world to your titles over this factions your just the errand boy :/

[@slothgaming9688]

Yes

[@SCAR16L]

Too bad the Institute is evil AF and would never go for anything that actually helps the people of the surface.

[@CursedPR]

​@@SCAR16LHe means as his own Sole Survivor as the director.

[@DJ_Bonebraker]

While I was never in the instructor side of acadaemia, my experiences as a "non-traditional student" by way of being a veteran returning to college after an almost 10-year hiatus thanks to my GI bill largely align with your own observations: When I went back to State Penn, er I mean Penn State, half the professors treated me as if I was some clueless kid straight out of high school, rather than someone who had almost 10 years of practical experience in the field my major covered (electronics), including doing said work under some of the worst possible conditions (like the time I had to go aloft to repair a radar antenna while my ship was in the middle of a category 4 typhoon near Guam in 2003), so yeah, I totally get how stuck up and insular senior academics can be. That said, I largely agree with your ideas: Like if there was an option as director (or senior advisor) to emancipate the Gen 3 synths & thus negotiate a cease-fire with the Railroad (maybe even have a member of the railroad on the Gen 3 Societal Integration Board). Also, instead of just stopping production of Gen 3 synths, they could do like I did with the Minutemen & their synth production facility (via Kentington's Workshop Synth Production mod), and basically treat them as augmented humans with full rights, hell, and I'm saying this as a proud member of the NFFE-IAM, establish a Gen 3 Union with shop stewards & the whole nine yards to make sure that their rights as workers (i.e. fair compensation, 8-hour work days, time off etc) are not violated. Also totally agree about Virgil: HUGE wasted opportunity, and it would have been cool to have a follow-up quest line where you do a couple missions to gather (or craft) mats needed for Virgil to improve/mass produce his FEV cure, followed by a series of quests where you take a syringer loaded with special FEV cure ammo, and tag all the super mutants at a particular location with the cure, then wait a few days, go back and the former super mutant lair is now populated by human settlers that you can then either recruit or make the former super mutant base into a regular settlement. But yeah, all your points stand, especially concerning Shaun! As for potential 5 easy ways to fix videos, I have one: 5 easy ways to improve the Atom Cats, because I can think of at LEAST 5 right off the top of my head, and similar videos could be made for like Vault 81, Diamond City, Goodneighbor, the Far Harbor factions and possibly even the Nuka World raider gangs or Hubologists in Nuka World, hell, 5 ways to fix the Gunners would be a good one too.

[@thebreacher3219]

Imagine being able to bring Virgil back to the Institute after Father's death to synthesize his cure for all mutants to clean up the Commonweath completely of the mess they created. It would've made becoming leader have an actual impact and somewhat make ammends with the surface

[@treyeaves1576]

I like the idea of trying to overhaul the main story. Another idea I had was also 5 easy ways to overhaul the DLC stories. Mainly Nuka World and Automatron. If you want to continue the overhauling the factions. Maybe you can try to do videos on the other smaller factions in Fallout 4? Like Diamond City, Goodneighbor, Gunners, and possibly even the Atom Cats (I really liked them, it sucked they didn’t have a bigger role).

[@blueeyeswhitemoron4488]

I think it would have been cool if the atom cats were an alternative option for those who want to use PA but not side with the BoS. You could bring found pieces of broken down PA and they would assemble your first suit for you, teaching you how to manage PA in the process.

[@countesskekula8467]

I like them too! Great idea! Like, make them an actual faction instead of a blip in the road to somewhere else lol👍

[@Meop79]

This...

[@CursedPR]

Fr. Automatron needed to be involved in the main. And if you soare The Mechanist, convince her to join any o the four factions. If you cinvince her to join the MM, you'd see her tinkering with robots in the Castle, and see MM patrols with some robots. If you convince her to join the RR, she would be based on Mercer safehouse, and you'd see a Sentry Bot in HQ, and robors in the other safehouses, and runners would always be with an asaultron or mr gutsy. And in the battle of bunker hill, the heavys would also be supported by robots. If you convince her to join the BoS, she'd be accepted as a scribe, focused on robotics. Like with the MM, BoS patrols would be with robots, but the robots will always be modified with either voltaic or hydraulic armor mods. And if you convince her to join The Institute, she would be working on Robotics on an advanced workbench, making robots for the institute, and also modifications on Gen2s. And with this option, you could build your very own Gen2 companion, if you sided with The Institute.

[@jimericsun]

I suggest trying 5 ways to fix the companions system, affinity, conversation, personal quest, etc. I feel like a genuine relationship between the companion and the sole survivor can push the story to the next level.

[@PeterKennedy-b1h]

And settlements

[@CursedPR]

So much yes. Also, make a return of multiple companions, and have all those companions interact with each other. As well as someimes interact in conversations with other NPCs, like how Deacon is invokved with Glory or Strong is involved with Virgil, etc. The companions should always be involved in key conversarions, like i.e. when talking to Kellogg, they should intervene.

[@TheCephalon]

Personal quests would be huge. I really liked those in the outer worlds, made my obsidian who made fallout new Vegas

[@tacticalmanatee]

I like the idea of appointing a interim director who is already familiar with the Institute. The worst part of the canon Institute plotline, to me, is that the only decision you get to make as director is a binary choice where you are railroaded into choosing between two options that are both pretty stupid. More weapons or more synths? How about fixing the rest of the Commonwealth, increased study of better food production, or establishing more aboveground influence? The only explanation for this stupid choice is that the Institute department heads know the player is not fit to actually make decisions and are basically just humoring him while actually making the real decisions about Institute priorities themselves. I'd make Virgil the new interim director. He already owes the player, he is one of the few in the Institute who has made personal sacrifices for the sake of humanity, and he knows the horrors that the Institute is capable (and in the recent past has) inflicted on the Commonwealth.

[@jcohasset23]

Yeah post-game with the Institute is pretty forgettable and disappointing as there isn't much to do afterwards. One could argue that one of the few reasons to go with the Institute ending is to continue to have access to the teleporter for fast-travel for those players that don't use the standard fast-travel or are playing on Survival (it would also be nice if there was an ending with one of the other factions that doesn't leave a massive radioactive crater in Cambridge). The Institute could be extremely beneficial to the Commonwealth but it's given an almost mustache twirling evil story that makes one wonder if the Institute storyline and ending were late additions to development- certainly it's the faction with the biggest argument for multiple endings depending on the direction the Sole Survivor wants to take it after Shaun's passing. Giving the player the option to do more with Virgil would be nice as currently aside from getting his unique weapon there isn't much reason to cure him or go back there after the main quest forces the player to visit him twice. I'm somewhat impressed they gave Virgil post-game dialogue reacting to the destruction of the Institute because of how slapdash a lot of areas of the game feel put together.

[@brokenwings7802]

I would like to see 5 easy ways to fix the enemy factions, each one getting their own video. Like gunners, raiders, children of atom

[@Theegreygaming]

interesting. I actually have had a deep dive into the gunners for quite a while, it just requires a lot of additional gameplay footage, and Radking's video sort of took some of the wind out of my sails and I just backburnered it, I might have to dust it off and get working on it again.

[@Biodebatable]

​@@Theegreygamingbuilding on this I could see fixing the factions in the DLCs.

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

@@Theegreygaming My problem with the Gunners is that they are way too advanced, widespread, ambitious and brutal to just be a simple Mercenary faction. The game constantly hints that there is more to them, but nothing is done with them. For example, who hired the Gunners to massacer the entire Town of Quincy? There are holding pens in front of piles of ash with bones poking out, showing that they killed absolutely everyone. This is even stranger when a group of Gunners tell Macready that they "respect others boundaries" which obviously isnt true with their brutal attack on Quincy. I dont actually want these larger, imperialistic elements of the Gunners to be removed, rather i want them to be more apparent and have a purpose. What if the Mercenary gig is just a side-gig and a means to an end next to a larger, more permanent goal? There is this Vault in Fallout 4 that talks about Children Vault Tek raised to basically be perfect soldiers. They even collected their DNA so they can clone them. The test subject Vault Tek soldiers eventually escaped and where never heard from again....heres my proposed fix: These Vault Soldiers were a special soldier technique set up by the Enclave, and after escaping, the Vault Soldiers were picked up by the Enclave. With the Enclaves collapse, the Vault Soldiers broke off with a group of supporters and built a new empire from their remains, with only acting as mercenaries as an easy way to grow resources and support until the direct campaign for the area begins.

[@LeoDeC-bk9km]

I know it’s gonna be a good day when grey gaming uploads a fallout 4 vid

[@stephenlasala3150]

On God

[@johneverson3754]

I love it my dude "hush now the grown ups are talking" priceless.

[@60sSam]

Yes, and by every metric they agree that Fallout: New Vegas is a better game.

[@CursedPR]

​@@60sSamSure buddy, now dont interrupt grown ups again. That isnt good behviour okay? Its meanie.

[@johannjimenez2850]

​@@60sSamlol Fallout: New Vegas is a 2010 Video Game and it's set in Year 2281., while Fallout: 4 is 2015 Video Game and it's set in Year 2287., overall Fallout: 4 is the best because even Liberty Prime in this Game., already Upgraded by the Brotherhood of Steel., also there are 4 Factions that You can choose where You Side in the end 😊

[@johannjimenez2850]

​@@60sSameven the T-60 Power Armor of the Brotherhood of Steel., already Upgrade., only Fallout: 4 Your Character become an Immortal because of the Mysterious Serum (Serum of Immortality supplied by a 400 Year Old Man Lorenzo)

[@VicDScott]

Is that a The Strokes reference

[@ShirakiAkarin]

How to fix the institute in my eyes: Just make them more evil. Why do you sell me another "good" faction when their actions are evil? If you're going to make a evil action, sell them as one, it would give more options to roleplay as evil without having to join just the raiders of nukaworld. Or give the option to lead the faction in a way or the other, since as Grey says in the first point, the Institute doesn't have a real objective.

[@Descriptor413]

Really, the only problem here is that they still lack a good goal, even if it is an evil one. I think if they make it clear that they're building a synth army to basically take over the Commonwealth in order to fully neutralize it would make the synth plot seem more relevant. Or even frame it as them trying to save the Commonwealth from themselves by assuming direct control with their synth army. Like Grey said with the Tarkin doctrine. And then also having the option to steer the Institute to more cooperation through a coup would be the more gooder option. Especially if you implement it as a hard to achieve golden ending that involves the other factions as well. Maybe use the Railroad's intel to help organize the coup through their inside man, bring back the ability to perform a coup within the Brotherhood via Danse to get them more cooperative. And have the Institute and Minutemen be the final sticking point in regards to their historical trust issues by simultaneously gaining the trust of both sides. Could make for some really fun political maneuvering.

[@capadociaash8003]

Maybe take some more inspiration from Vault Tech and Big MT in portrayal

[@bryanthall2247]

Settlement building is what brings me back to Fallout 4 again and again but I wish they had been better thought out and integrated into the main game. 5 ways to improve settlements would be interesting- besides just downloading SIm Settlements 2.

[@2Potates]

5 easy ways to solve the main quest sounds good, maybe even some sidequests. I would also like to see a 5 easy ways to fix the settlement system.

[@Tiberium10332]

-Smarter settlers, so they can use the first floor and above. -Unique characters with sidequests that can spawn in certain settlements or once certain requirements are meet. Like build a medic store and a doctor shows up a few days later. They have a bit of a backstory and ask you do visit a clinic to bring them a macguffin. -Let the world react to the state of your settlements. Settlers in happy settlements reflect that and don't just lament their existence. Guards could mention Sanctuary Hills as a new community and make statements influenced by it's size. "Did you hear about Sanctuary Hills up north? A new rising Settlement. Sounds promising." at the beginning and later "Have you heard of Sanctuary Hills up north? Some people say that upstart settlement could rival Diamond City in a few years." -Better settlement options. Sometimes it doesn't makes sense that people would want to settle there. Like the Murkwater construction site in the south. It's in a swamp, which is infested by bugs and mirelurks and it's hard for traders to reach the place. The place doesn't offer anything besides two ruins, one never finished and it's swamp water. -Let the settlers clean the places. I don't want to see leaves in the houses and skeletons on the barely living lawn. Sim Settlement fixes most of it.

[@frankfuller975]

settlers being able to use upper floors better would be nice, I see them on 2nd floor in my settlements sometimes, but pretty much have to use cheats if I want them to work on 3rd floor food production in planters.

[@harmsway2914]

One thing that always bugged me about Shaun. When the Sole Survivor first meets him, he says that he is the "Acting Director". So if we're going off of the same logic as to why Ayo is the Acting Head of the SRB, then that means that the person who really is in charge is somewhere on the surface. It's either a forgotten mistake on Bethesda's part. Or something that was never built on. And if this mysterious actual Director returns after the Sole Survivor has assumed control of the Institute, what would happen? Would they accept the Sole Survivor and become an adviser? Or would they demand their control back? Which would create an interesting scenario. A proper "House Divided" quest line instead of just Higgs and Loken barricading themselves in Bioscience.

[@hanzzel6086]

That... That would actually explain why the SS only gets to make one decision as Director, and why it's stupid asf

[@DashingSteel]

It would be incredibly in character for Shaun to actually become The Director through killing the previous one and writing him off as "Still on the surface". From what we can see, The Institute is so isolationist and stagnant as a society that they will never know about that previous director actually being dead as well as refuse to aknowledge that him being missing for so long means quite clearly that it's time to move on. So, kinda like North Korea still being ruled by their founder who's been dead for decades. A necrocracy.

[@thearisen7301]

I love the idea of reinstating Virgil. I'd like to put him in charge of mass producing the cure for FEV & using Coursers to capture Super Mutants so they can be cured.

[@woodrobin]

There are mods that address these issues. One in a way very close to your proposed ideas (Subversion) and another in a potentially *very* weird way (Project Valkyrie). Subversion allows using various elements in the game to persuade the department heads to support the Sole Survivor (although the SRB head is a no-sell), or allow the Minutemen to teleport in an occupying group to suppress any potential coup, or (as the author says) "go full Red Wedding" and eliminate most of the heads (except Allie, who is sympathetic) or even all of them (though that will make X6-88 go hostile). Virgil can be reinstated, and his infection can be used to turn Madison Li into an ally. The Sole Survivor, as Director, can issue a proclamation declaring the enslavement of any sentient being (synth or human) a crime punishable by expulsion to the surface. The Railroad and Minutemen can be told the Institute is under new leadership, although the Brotherhood either stays hostile and has to be fought, or the morally questionable tactic of replacing Maxson with a synth is an option. If Project Valkyrie is installed, Subversion can allow a rival Brotherhood faction to replace Maxson with their own leadership, instead. Project Valkyrie has some weird options, including something unofficially called the "Sinstitute," where a raider gang modeled on pre-war pimps and disco culture can be enlisted to help overthrow the Institute leadership, with the Institute being partially converted into a secretive party destination, synths being custom ordered as . . . companions, and other things that make it a Nuka-World like evil twist, rather than a reforming one. There are other options, though, where Project Valkyrie can be used to help reform the Institute as well as allowing the Brotherhood and Railroad to survive. It adds multiple new factions and is a much broader and more complex mod that doesn't just touch on the Institute.

[@chriseads2860]

They could have just had Justin Ayo as the SRB head with mentions of Zimmer as his predecessor who went missing in the wasteland without being specific.

[@kadindarklord]

The worst part about Zimmer, is that Zimmer's Voice Actor IS in Fallout 4. It's not like he's unavailable. They could have done something with him. On top of all that, there is a cut NPC Voice file listed for Zimmer in the FO4 files. Edit: He voices both Arlen Glass and the Vault-Tec Rep.

[@tsarfox3462]

1. Give an explanation for their actions beyond, we gonna science. You can sorta work out their motives from in game actions. Also a loading screen says they originally tried to work with the surface but mutual distrust ruined it. However, it would be nice to actually get a straight answer from Father. 2. Make Institute lasers at least on par with Gen Atomics ones. Why would they manufacture a worse weapon instead of the GA one? Also, a little more variety wouldn't hurt. They don't all have to use the same weapons platform. 3. Give the player more autonomy to change how the Institute operates. You basically get a speech broadcast where you're nice or evil and that's it. Let us go full evil overlord or start using the Institute's tech to help rebuild the surface instead of "The surface is ruined, let's ignore it and science in a hole forever" 4. Make the coursers more threatening. They're supposed to be like the terminator but, they're really easy to kill. Hell you could at least give some of them power armor.

[@duncanharrell5009]

Ya know… by the time you get to The Institute, you start picking up and buying Plasma Rifles, Pistols, and Cartridges, right? Have Institute weapon platform of choice be a specialized Institute Plasma rifle and pistol. Weaker than Pre-War version but makes up for it with WAY faster fire rate.

[@dwglr]

I think a 5 ways to fix some of the other major settlements in the Commonwealth could be interesting. Places like Diamond City, Goodneighbor, Bunker Hill, and Covenant. With Diamond City, a lot of its issues stem from the fact that it was infiltrated by an Institute spy that is now acting as the mayor of the biggest settlement in the Commonwealth with his main campaign to get rid of the pre war ghouls of Diamond City heavily insinuating that the Institute was trying to alienate/exterminate pre war ghouls since the abduction is implied to have happened before he ran for mayor. The only resolution we get is him being found out if we don't side with the Institute and nothing really comes from it other than him no longer being there and people maybe making a comment here and there that they couldn't believe he was a synth. You'd think there'd be more uproar, maybe another mayoral election that could decide the direction Diamond City went from then on out. What about an opportunity to let pre war ghouls return to Diamond City? You'd think they'd also highlight more disconnect between the upper stand citizens and the lower stand citizens, but that feels like an interesting after thought more than anything else. Covenant has its issues mainly because of how buggy it can be. The settlers there if you side with Doc Chambers do join the minutemen, but if they ever get chosen for a settlement radiant quest, Jacob Orden bugs out trying to give you the quest. If you don't side with them, their corpses and exploded turrets are just eternally there. Some locks remain marked as owned even if they're all dead. Old Man Stockton doesn't acknowledge his missing daughter, she never returns to him after being saved even though you'd think she'd return to her father, and he can never be told she's dead either. Then there's Bunker Hill. Other than the irony of everyone saying its heavily defended and fortified yet it has a defense score of 0 when you are able to unlock it as a settlement after the Battle of Bunker Hill, I think it has other issues, too. We learn that Kessler pays off the raiders to not attack them to make trade routes easier (and because they're still being attacked, we have to take care of the raiders in question), but its never admitted why they have to pay off the raiders and how it ties into the Minutemen lore. Sure, she'll mention a massive distrust for the Minutemen and not go into it if you ask her about them, but you learn from Libertalia that the raider gang there (before Gabriel took over presumably) were former Minutemen that Bunker Hill and their caravans fucked over by refusing to pay them for the work they were providing protecting them which angered the Minutemen and they attacked after that happened one too many times and eventually descended into Raiders because it rewarded them more than Bunker Hill not fairly compensating them. Not even mentioning that all of the trade caravans run by Stockton are Institute informants, it feels like they may need some kind of fixes to their trade network as a whole. Goodneighbor does feel the most put together out of all the major settlements in my opinion, but it could still use a little bit of work. They're pretty good at knowing how to keep the Institute out without giving in to massive paranoia, are a tight knit community of interesting characters, and are integral to the Railroad's work of freeing synths. You'd think there'd be more focus on that, but we only have the one quest that brings us to Dr. Amari and it's never brought up again other than Deacon saying Hancock turns a blind eye to their operations. Also, the assumption that Magnolia the singer was one of the synths the Railroad built memories for since she is a synth. Everything else is focused more on back street crimes when I think they could've taken a more interesting approach to how Goodneighbor functions as a major settlement, especially considering Mayor Hancock and Mayor Mcdonough are brothers and the parallels that could be made between their towns.

[@maguszeal5818]

These are good seeds to be worked into more fleshed out more interesting locations.

[@toakongu1]

Would have loved to see an Institute where the choice you make at the end about focusing on Synth production or weapons development actually matters

[@toakongu1]

Each of the 4 factions have aspects of a good society, its a shame we can't get them to come together and unify the whole Commonwealth. The Institute could use their scientific research to help with crop yields, medical procedures, clean water, better power, etc. They could manufacture improved armor and weapons for the Minutemen and BoS (something similar to Cambridge Polymer Labs). The SRB and their Watchers could work in conjunction with the Railroad. Basically they would be supporting the other 3 factions. The Minutemen would be the militia/police force much like they were back in the day, except with a much stronger presence. Outposts at all the larger settlements and some of the smaller more remote ones as well as patrolling the roads and/or guarding caravans. They could clear out locations of interest; such as manufacturing facilities like Cambridge Polymer, Saugus Ironworks, and Corvega Assembly and even food processing/packaging locations like Four Leaf and Longneck Lukowski's The BoS would continue much as it has, except it would become a standing military force. Their main job would be protecting the borders of the Commonwealth, but they also work in conjuction with the Minutemen to clear out nests of ferals, mutants, raiders etc. They could probably work with the Minutemen and Institute to get the random scattered APCs/ Vertibirds up and running. Give the APCs to the Minutemen and a few Vertibirds then take the rest to replenish their forces. The Railroad in conjuction with the SRB could function as an intelligence arm of a new government, specifically external threats but also keeping an eye on internal ones like the Gunners or larger raider gangs. Maybe they send agents down south to establish a base with the BoS division in the Capital Wastes and from there gather intel on places like the Pitt or Point Lookout to make sure hostile forces aren't rising back to power/prominence. Even keep tabs on the Enclave remnants.

[@raymondcarter1137]

The institute is a glass house…one of the techs said behind the walls everything is being held together by wires and gum. They will collapse in 20 years and then what? The infrastructure is closer to a vault that is actually working instead of waiting. But the machines have a limited life and the institute should have focused on making infrastructure available on the surface and an industry they can use for repairs. If you choose the institute because it has blinking lights and elevators then you are basically trapped underground in a vault that slowly becomes inoperable.

[@cirelancaster]

Personally I think Father chose the LS to be the next Director was a form of revenge for what they did to him. On the surface Father supports the Institute but deep down he wants a little payback and handing the reigns to someone else who has beef is his way of doing it. I do also think that the LS is the most qualified for the position though, I also work at a university and sometimes people who have been laser focused in a field of study need an outside perspective on more practical matters. The Institute is also evolving into more of a regional government and someone with military, survival, and relational experience is key; also someone who has touched non-synthetic grass in the last decade. There will absolutely be push back but being in charge of and coordinating between some of the most brilliant people left on the planet will require butting heads and determined authority.

[@georgeblair3894]

While walking around the Bioscience (My major was Biochemistry. MANY years ago), you overhear the scientists talking about a strand of food that can grow up top. There's your answer. You FEED people. They Synths are the labor. (Food as a weapon). Instead the Institute is (imo) overly focused on REPLACING humanity. Well, humans don't like or want to be replaced. (See the perpetual battle between the two 'Arts' (iinm).

[@Ariaelyne]

A pretty minor note, but Fallout: New Vegas does canonize a number of player decisions, not of Fallout 3 the game it uses the engine of but of Fallout 2 the game that it is essentially acting as a sequel of. The very history of the NCR in that game requires fairly specific actions in Fallout 2 to get.

[@gabrielsturdevant9700]

i would love to see virgil leading a super mutant cure division, with FEV cure syringer armed soldiers

[@wruxiz6104]

I love fallout 4s approach to having cannon decisions made by the vault dweller and courier. I dont like "leaving it ambiguous" to an obnoxious extent to where they cant follow up on anything. Also lets not forget that in NV they give your character a whole ass backstory in both the main story and in the Lonesome Road DLC.

[@LordRunolfrUlfsson]

(15:05) I just realized that Brian Virgil, a research in the BioScience division, is wearing an Advanced Systems lab coat after taking his FEV cure. Maybe that was the only lab coat he was able to bring with him, but it seems that a BioScience lab coat would make more sense.

[@duckymomo6472]

If you become the leader of the Institute, you can make a legit difference in the wasteland. Any other group will result in nothing long term.

[@Biodebatable]

True to a degree, but it's important to remember that the institute is not a military or militia, these are scientists not soldiers, they're not going to just follow orders from on high, especially if these directives complete clash with the status quo they've had for decades. As Grey stated, academics trade on prestige and accomplishment over authority, they're not going to listen to an uneducated wastelander just because their previous boss said so.

[@Death2all546]

A lot of people say that, but it’s all just head canon. In actual game canon, the Institute has never shown any regard for the lives of the people in the wasteland (except as disposable test subjects). By that same logic, anybody could say their preferred faction is what’s best for the wasteland. Somebody could decide their head canon is that they bring the Minutemen back to it’s former glory and successfully unite the settlements under a new commonwealth government without the Institute around to interfere. Somebody could also say they take Maxson’s place and turn the BoS back to what it was in FO3 when they cared more about helping humanity than themselves. But this is just writing the endings we want because Bethesda didn’t bother to put an ending in the game. And if you say those two examples will only last as long as the Sole Survivor is around to lead them, I will point out any head canons of the Institute being good rely solely on the Sole Survivor being their leader and ordering them to help people instead of kidnapping and experimenting on them. There’s no guarantee they won’t instantly revert (or worse, replace him with a synth they can control) as soon as they get the chance.

[@duckymomo6472]

@@Death2all546 yep

[@Tamamo-no-Bae]

@@Death2all546 Well the game's story ends with you taking over. So how you rule or what happens next is entirely up to you.

[@capadociaash8003]

@@Tamamo-no-Baebut would it last

[@Nekavandre]

I'm a pro Institute player as I don't see them as entirely evil due to the people inside and that they aren't unified at all much like The Enclave my other favorite faction. I should emphasize I'm not blind to all the war crimes and crimes against humanity they've done and do but both factions those actions aren't done by all or endorsed by all members of their respective faction like The Brotherhood of Steel where 99% of the members are 100% on board with and everything they do. But The Enclave and The Institute the bad is done by certain bad parts of said faction. Anyway I appreciate this video as I've had many of the same thoughts and look for mods to fix the story across all 4 factions and to help my own lil head canon.

[@CasuallyShadow]

Your videos are incredible! You are stupidly underrated, I'm so glad I found your channel! You deserve way more subscribers, these are the quality of videos from 900k sub channels!

[@zerourtaga1129]

I saw somebody else make the same point from another video on The institute and I'm going to pretty much say what he said Caesar the legion warlord and slave advocate treated us with more respect and dignity than Shaun ever did

[@vissenekku]

The only reason why the Institute is this bad must be because it would be too easy to make them too good. In theory you could indeed fulfil the Railroad's whole life purpose with a single memo as the Director. Which would completely negate any reason the player would join the Railroad. Bethesda wrote themselves into a corner by making the Institute too easily fixed.

[@arrons4485]

100% this. Even an institute as evil as the base game version they are still the best choice for humanity's survival Fallout has ever given us (even if it is just for 100 people in a bunker). House in New Vegas had a better "support an evil genius for the future of mankind" storyline because you really didn't know if house could (he only really had an army of robots) or would help humanity when you supported him. The institute could fix boston overnight and the US in a few years. Easy choice to support them.

[@SenyiKimmo]

Yeah I really dislike the fact that for most endings, the Institute is destroyed with no other option except joining the Institute. I've been entertaining the idea of a special ending where you get all three factions to work together to take on the Institute, and it's done in such a way that no nukes are used (aside from the ones Liberty Prime hail marys everywhere). The Minutemen and Railroad have no reason _not_ to form an alliance, as they both want to better the Commonwealth through their respective actions, and working together they'd be a force to be reckoned with. Hell, the Minutemen engineer Sturges is a synth, it's very likely he was freed by the Railroad. The Brotherhood of Steel would be a fair bit more problematic, but I imagine that actions could be taken to make them much less conservative in their mindset by influencing Maxson throughout the course of the Brotherhood questline. Ideally, Maxson could be convinced to empathize with synths enough to pity them. Not enough to fully respect them, but to acknowledge that these "monsters" were ones that never wanted to be created in the first place; this would drastically change his outlook on Danse during Blind Betrayal. All of this, of course, leading up to a joint assault on the CIT ruins by all three factions against a veritable army of synths: the Institute mobilized after seeing this alliance grow in power, and knew they would be targeted sooner or later. The force works together, with the Minutemen/Railroad working with the Brotherhood via an agreement: they would work together to take on the Institute, and the Brotherhood would be allowed access to the Institute's technology in exchange for sparing any synths they come across for the sake of the Railroad. A hard bargain, but, again, Maxson could be convinced to soften up enough to agree with it. As for if the rest of the Brotherhood would agree... well... The Institute is cleared out and evacuated. Institute scientists are captured and interrogated, but ultimately most are spared. The Railroad and Brotherhood agree on one thing: Synth production _needs to be shut down_ and that is the first thing they do once they have control of the Institute. While some Institute scientists choose to stay behind and work together with the new guys, the majority (alongside the coursers) flee from the Commonwealth, their lives forever destroyed. Many do not make it out alive, the wasteland claiming them.

[@hanzzel6086]

Ooh! You could even have them each want to assault The Institute the same way they normally would and let the SS decide which route(s) is taken!

[@chrisdupuis2523]

"mankind redefined" should have focused on cybernetic implants and perfection of FEV, that should have been the true goal of the institute. Actually improving upon mankind. The synths should have been an afterthought, literally just highly advanced machines built specifically to perform specific tasks. Go ahead and still use the synths as a catalyst but find out that it's not the institutes end goal, it's not even a high priority, they're literally just servants. Instead you find out that the institute has a real plan that will tangibly help the wasteland. That way you have both a real plan and an actual moral quandary. Do you save the synths at the expense of humanity or do you accept their role as machines in favor of humanity?

[@bagser1]

How about an internal conflict/civil war within The Institute? With a faction of Institute scientists who have been to the surface incognito and understand the good reasons the surface dwellers have to distrust/fear The Institute, or perhaps a group who are ideologically opposed to some of the research ordered by Father as it is completely divorced from the ethical standards that should guide scientific inquiry?

[@jenniferanderson7010]

Five easy ways to fix Far Harbor. Whilst I loved, loved, LOVED the setting, I actually wasn't a fan of the Church of Atom angle. I was expecting something more Stephen King, but all I got was John Saul. It was a little bit....childish. I actually liked the Synths and Far Harbor settlement(s) and all that, and Longfellow was pretty awesome. I would like to have seen an actual expansion of Dunwich, here. More on the cult they were trying to revive. That would have fit the Far Harbor setting WAY better.

[@MajinMattPlays]

For me, the first idea that comes to mind with the Institute would require a total rewrite of Shaun, but I feel like that's a given. I think a far more interesting idea for him would be that, in light of his advanced age and inevitable death, he wants to in some way reconcile for what he's done, and wants to give some of the technology and knowledge the Institute has obtained to those above ground, which is where we would come in, someone who hasn't become fully jaded to the post-apocalypse, someone who remembers how things once were, and is more importantly someone with a history of being determined to fight and die to protect their homeland, or some other alternative for Nora that isn't coming to mind immediately. This would result in the player becoming the Institute's replacement for Kellogg, but in a far better light, dealing with things like Super Mutants and The Gunners, helping to establish supply lines and set up higher tech greenhouses to grow food for the commonwealth, etc. This leads into the main conflict of The Institute, that Father would still view Synths as merely machines, the main moral quandary of the quest line is still present. This could lead into an awesome scene with whoever Father's successor is able to be convinced (or more likely threatened) by the player into allowing them more freedoms and rights, potentially through the death of Justin Ayo being used to send a signal of the player wanted to go this route. This still wouldn't make people like the Railroad happy, but it would make the Institute a bit more redeemable if nothing else.

[@Ricardo_Rick]

i always felt bad that a place wish so mcuh potential as the isntitute always gets destroyed if you choose any said that isn't them, it feels stupid for factions other than the brotherhood to destroy them. imagine if the Minuteman instead used them as a base, all that tech would do wonders for the people in the right hands

[@NobodyDungeons]

One of my biggest issues is that if you don’t side with the institute you have to blow up the institute instead of being able to convince other factions to not blow up the institute. Imagine minute men teleporting in wearing refurnished T-60 power. On that note the same thing applies to the pridwin.

[@AquariumGravelEater]

I wonder if Madison Li could be convinced to say, work on something like project purity with the river that is directly next to the institute, the institute is directly connected to the old sewer network in the river. I feel like Institute helping agriculture and environmental restoration is an oddly passed over idea in fallout four.

[@elogic7368]

Institute "scientists" : he/she's not even a scientist ! Meanwhile the sole survivor : *can craft, from junk, sentry bots, assaultrons, gauss rifle mods, fusion reactors...

[@madmaster0015]

My biggest issue with the Institute is their culture and how they do science. They just do things because "Why not?" The Institute doesn't actively solve problems. There doesn't seem to be an end goal or a hypothesis they are trying to prove between any of departments. I never understood why they needed to make synths when they already have automatons in-universe more capable for defense or as a labor force. There is the aspect of control over the populous, but they don't really do anything with that and they have no interest with the surface anyway. Why do they need synth gorillas? It comes across as sloppy.

[@duncanharrell5009]

An easy fix for why Synths over, say, Mr Handy’s and Assaultrons: 1) The Synths have VASTLY superior computing and cheaper bodies while all other bots we know of are inverse meaning they’re cheap but capable labor, test subjects, and soldiers. 2) They simply don’t have the facilities or resources to make those kinds of bots and found Synths easier to produce 3) If we go by rumors of institute’s original design and goals (Mankind Redefined was literal as they’d make a portion of the commonwealth an artificial Garden of Eden and upload their minds into the Gen 3 Synths) then, simply put, the Synths were always the end goal and the bots are distractions and not needed

[@mrbarit529]

So grey you are both a veteran and a professor. Wow, you’re very accomplished. Well done.

[@JesusKreist]

One gripe with point #2. A minor but at the same time major one. Shaun *SAID* it was his decision to set the sole survivor free and he left a trail that lead to the SS kill kellogg and enter the institute. There are terminal entries that logged an outside connection. Coupled with the dishonesty Shaun has shown it is casting doubts on that story the size of a cyclone. From first hearing that explanation it spawned the opinion that this sounded more like a soviet cover up.

[@jesternario]

5 easy ways to make fallout closer to the previous two games, because Bethesda really seems to have forgotten how they used to make games. Now it all seems to be settlement building and radiant quests. Even in freaking Starfield.

[@TurKlack]

Everyone has different issues with the Institute and different solutions. When it comes to me than my version of their mantra: "Mankind Redefined" means nothing more than a new and improved Human, that no longer has any Human weaknesses which caused the Apocalypse. To that end the Gen 3 Androids/Synths are absolutely crucial to figure out exactly what weaknesses the original Human species have and how to remove/fix them. So when it comes to the Synths and their role in the Story I wouldn't change anything. They are treated as tools. Which they are. Furthermore as part of a quest I would make it so that the Institute imprints the Gen 3 Synths mind with an unquestioning loyalty to the Institute. In laymen terms: no matter what the Institute does to them, the Synths themselves will find a reason why it is ok for it to happen. I used the excessive Brand loyalty of Fans and the original Star Wars Clones as inspiration for this idea. In short no Brainchip that can be removed. One big issue of the Institute is their chaotic nature. Fans like to tell me that the Institute is evil because they kidnap people. Both to create Super Mutants and to replace people with a Synth. The reason why I think they are completely wrong in that assessment is explained like this: In case of the Super Mutants the answer is simple. They don't exist. There's no FEV in my version of F4 and there are no Super Mutants, none at all. Ever since Fallout 76 did I truly realize just how little bethesda cares about proper worldbuilding. They could make a Fallout game in the 1800s India and you'd still somehow find Brotherhood of Steel soldiers and Super Mutants walking around doing shit. And about the Synth Kidnappings, the idea that the Institute aims to infiltrate a settlement by replacing a grunt with a synth is retarded to the core. It would be much safer and more efficient to simply place a Synth Infiltrator somewhere on the Map and simply greet a settlement as a Traveler from far away. Replacing the Leader of a faction however makes a lot more sense. So for that reason the Kidnappings of Mayor McDonough or replacement of Mr. Warwick will still happen. There's a lot more to talk about, but honestly it would better to make my own video in that case. But basically I would just completely remove the Idiotic parts of the Institute.

[@duncanharrell5009]

Have you made this video or Google doc? I like your ideas (and hard agree on removing Super Mutants. Bethesda now has given me a massive hatred of BOS and Super Mutants thanks to their overuse of them…)

[@CursedPR]

All they needed to do with Zimmer was say he never appeared or was heard from again. No details. Maybe that means he got killed by Harkness, or on his way back with A3-21, or.without. whatever the case, to say they are still "waiting" for his return is silly.

[@IndoorSunset]

"Just in case I need to say it. Spoilers." Bro if they haven't played fo4 after this long then I think that they are never gonna play it.

[@neptun2810]

About the whole "Academic Leadership" Part: The Institute isn't really a University anymore. It's basically a small nation with a high level of technology and a huge R&D Budget.

[@elrondorio]

Your assessment is spot-on - it is always a joy to hear what you have to say about this great game.

[@ninjaattack3000]

The Institute being under Lee's command sounds like a promising future for the Commonwealth tbh

[@SaidNoGaming]

An idea for a settlement series: Turn every settlement into a crappy cobbled together town To be specific, mostly use pre-existing structures to build settlements to make them look like something someone would actually build in real life (when I say that I mean that I believe people would more use pre-existing structures and objects than building their own) You could use all sorts of mods (including extending settlement bound, build limits, and what you can scrap) because it wouldn’t be about being easy to replicate

[@danielmaloney6461]

One easy thing to add for the institute is to cannonize the use of tech to help the Commonwealth. You can already teleport to each settlement and build them up. You just need the ability to set up supply lines.

[@Sbomb16]

I love all these reasons, there's so much missed potential when it comes to the institute, its honestly pretty sad. Though ill be honest, i dont think bethesda wanted the institute to be a morally grey faction with a chance of redemption. I think they simply wanted the Bad Guy faction, aka the Wrong Choice in their eyes, the Caesar's Legion of fo4. The difference is that the legion actually had goals and a reason to be doing the things they did, the institute just does stuff bc shaun says so. Also, speaking of, if shaun has this incurable cancer, why doesnt he use the cryo pod the ss was frozen in and wait until they're able to make a cure? Maybe you could use this as a way to gain trust with the others, or, simply get shaun out of the way to pave the new path forward under the guise of good intentions In terms of moving forward, i think bethesda should focus less on having more factions, and more on good storytelling and dialogue. The speech system isnt bad in theory, like, imagine if they made it dynamic to where it could have 5-7 options, making more of a star pattern. Ngl i like the settlement system, and i hope it comes back in some way or form, just, make it better. Add a search function, give us a sprint button while settlementing, let there be more settler interactions, etc. Idk, its difficult, bc i want more, but i also dont want half-assed factions and storytelling, a bit of a dilemma

[@Theegreygaming]

the problem with the star pattern speech options is it's patented by Bioware, which is why it really only pops up in Mass Effect and Dragon Age. it's actually kindof sad how there are many gameplay systems that work really well, but because their developers patent them, other developers aren't allowed to use them.

[@Sbomb16]

@Theegreygaming That's beyond annoying :/ cause i think fo4 would have benefitted massively by having that in place. Though i suppose they could've tried a different method, or just freshen the old one from fo3/nv. Regardless, patenting a game mechanic is ridiculous, and I can see it being a major issue moving forward

[@highlordlaughterofcanada8685]

@@Sbomb16 The old system was fine. They copied BioWare because of Mass Effect's success. It was during 4's development when more and more companies starting copying other successful franchises rather than sticking with what made their own IP's good.

[@noodles24601]

The Institute honestly is just too cartoonishly evil. Like you said there isn't even really a coherent ideology there. One thing I think about all the time is the Warwick Homestead. How the Warwick family comments on how much better a husband and father Roger has been lately (since being replaced by a synth to do crop tests). While it was entirely incidental to their real goals, the Institute arguably did something good by replacing someone. It's an ethical question we don't really get the chance to dig into until Far Harbor's main questline either, because they plan on killing the entire settlement when their research is done for no conceivable reason! Personally I would have loved for them to represent a sort of technocratic paternalism (their leader is literally called Father). The attitude that "we already know what's best for everyone because we've done the research, so why waste time debating? Just replace someone influential and do the change." Like this is still pretty evil tbh, but it at least gives some sort of vision for the Commonwealth and a kind we haven't really gotten before. As they stand, the Institute is almost just a mix of the Enclave and the old "wait out in a bunker until the rest of humanity dies off and we're the sole heirs" Brotherhood we got in New Vegas.

[@duncanharrell5009]

This! So much this! The Institute still stays ambiguously evil and we dig into the Freedom vs Security debate F:NG tragically never could tell with the war between NCR and CL due to time constraints causing a lot of Legion content to be cut.

[@alecbuxton5515]

The problem is that synths aren't human and therefore have to refured to as something else to satisfy the human need to identify the difference between synths and humans to make the humans around them more comfortable and since they started as machine's but the type 3 are are now almost completely organic making them a different type of machine keeping the reference sort of true because they are organic they are still somehow programmed which humans aren't plus the synths have to be controlled because if not they could wipe out the institute and eventually the commonwealth because they could see the themselves as some sort of superior being like the supermutants

[@zaydengestures7275]

6:20 "believe it or not, I'm a former professor" -- We believe you, the way you go about explaining these changes is extremely logical.

[@Pepper462]

The fact shaun terminated the successful cybernetic program for no reason in the lore shows how half baked/unfinished the institute is, so much cut content

[@bluegem8582]

And depending on if the reasoning he did so was because he holds quiet vendetta against Kellogg despite what he says, then that also doesnt help his case with being a GOOD director, if it was shuttered due to grudge and association in his mind

[@TheBasedTyrant]

I feel like you should do a video comparing all of the factions based on their appeal points. I know that you already did a similar video based on who was best for the Commonwealth but I mean from a development standpoint. I feel like they tried to balance the appeal of the factions and in so doing made the Brotherhood feel like a missed opportunity I'm sure I don't have to tell about how blind betrayal originally had an option for Danse to become Elder but that was removed. I feel like they had to not let the Brotherhood essentially resolve the leadership issue the same way the Institute does, but without the same moral baggage the institute has. It's the same reason the Minutemen don't grow militarily beyond pipe weapons, and the same reason the Railroad doesn't take over the Institute base. They couldn't do it all so instead they kept cutting content until they felt everyone was on equal footing. That's what I think happened at least.

[@smarks6779]

One of the biggest things about that bothered me is the waste of life in 111 An untapped potential of uncorrupted DNA and pre war knowledge. What little it may be it's just evil and stupid just to be evil and stupid.

[@duncanharrell5009]

Easy fix: The Vault was already failing and falling apart. Institute dude at terminal had to fight hard to keep the cryo pods going and could only pick one to save. Kellogg took Shaun so Sole Survivor was the only choice to spare.

[@bluegem8582]

@@duncanharrell5009 Hell, you already have the terminal entry in 111 talking about how one of the pods was already on fritz, dethawing one of the test subjects far beforeeven the rations being all used up, so there's already something to work with there, that the cryogenics were already malfunctioning, and trying to keep so many pods functioning when they're half breaking down is impossible, and they needed to reroute powers to guarantee at least one pod kept stable

[@lucasgruber8509]

Do 5 ways the franchise can progress forward narratively. I feel like everybody bemoans the use of the enclave and BoS as beating a dead horse. So, where can Bethesda realistically take the franchise if it basically means transitioning out of the post apocalypse after so many years have passed

[@reygunz3059]

Something additional that could have improved the Institute is to give them a political ideology. They could be a technocracy. With some dialogue, they could explain that the disaster of global nuclear war was the result of demagogues. Whether it was a democracy or communist, the leaders had little care for the greater good or at least weren't qualified to lead humanity toward a greater future. Scientists understand structure and can engineer humanity toward the greater good. (To be clear, I don't agree with this. I'm just supplying a justification that anyone could look at and say, "There's at least some merit to it" or at least, "I can see where they're coming from.") Also, leaning into transhumanism would really improve the slogan, "Mankind-Redefined."

[@optiTHOMAS]

Good stuff! Well said! There's honestly so much potential for the institute and the other factions and I feel it was just squandered. There's so much the institute could do, but they just make them at like toddlers throwing tantrums and make them just a lazy evil faction. There could have been so much more! More with Dr. Li too! 😅👍🏻

[@shadowbonnie105]

Don't even need to watch the whole thing before liking the video that grey made

[@maxfieldjoyner5244]

Team up with the Templin Institute and pitch this to them as a "Fallout Reimagined" series. They do a lot of good stuff like this.

[@ice111110]

I really look forward to when you post a video, your channel is one of my favorites

[@jamieeven1866]

One thing i always thought that never been really considered with the gen3 synths that could justify the institute pumping as many as they do is their ability to create doctors all over the commonwealth to improve the basic health of people then if you wanna say why would they do that maybe you could say the institute is doing to collect samples or trial medication like a win win situation that still makes them shady but helpful

[@jayphil2563]

Shots fired at the SW sequel...take my like good sir.

[@calvinunderwood5751]

Five easy way to fix the gunners would be awesome. Wish there was a way to join/contract them or interact with them instead of just power-scaled raiders. I would have loved a DLC about them and learn more about their chain of command, other business dealings, origins, maybe even business liaisons. I have heard some cool potential head canons of them being the descendants of the super soldier program in Malden for example.

[@Edmonton-of2ec]

I’m glad your easy fixes are simple in their explanation but would require significant and sustained effort on the part of the Sole Survivor to enact. It fixes the story but also doesn’t whitewash the Institute since the Sole Survivor will have to expend a lot of effort beating it into semi-moral, *semi-functional* shape

[@Youraveragecultist]

New grey lore just dropped

[@thehippie3610]

my head canon was this--- he uses nuka world and turns them into his persnal hired army. Using Robots to keep them in line. Uses the surviors of the institute to "rebuild" something similar to it, but less evil. Commonwealth becomes a city state

[@superswagturbo8183]

"Five eazy ways to get your boomer parents to listen to you".

[@fireforgegamming1095]

Imagine you are watching this video and this man was your professor at one point

[@hermos3602]

I've had ideas how how to fix radiant quests and make them worthwhile to replay them. Usually you just get rewarded caps and xp. I've been thinking that instead, for each number of radiant quests you complete, you should get better rewards. For example, the MILA quests from Tinker Tom. After completing all of his quests, you should get rewarded with his gun, Tinker Tom's Special. Instead of making it a weapon that you can buy from him, make it a quest reward instead. I know the gun doesn't have a great legendary effect, but it's an example. Another example, Cleansing The Commonwealth. For every 5 radiants you complete for Rys, he could give you a Fusion Core. I've been also thinking about how items like The Last Minute and The Minutemen General's outfit could be implemented as rewards when completing a certain amount of settlement quests.

[@AMD64EVER]

For having the series go forward, I'll say that there are two things that stop me from wanting to play this game and surprisingly one of them is NOT having to build dozens of settlements (something I know a lot of people detest). #1 5 easy ways to give a sense of purpose to the Sole Survivor. I've only played Fallout 1 and 2 (yes, yes, I haven't played 3 or New Vegas and I'm not going to a this point), but those two games made me feel A LOT of purpose when playing. Not only was I trying to save my vault or village, but I was shaping the entire world around me. I was deal with some very black and white / good vs evil decisions, but also a lot of grey ones that when decided really had an impact on the world I left behind. Fallout 4 REALLY lacks in that for me. Say I side with the Brotherhood and build up the Minutemen settlements at the same time. What exactly happens after I exit the game? Are the Minutemen running things? Is the Brotherhood? Is it maybe inevitable that the two attack each other? And what of the Atom Cats? Did the Brotherhood just leave them alone despite the fact that they are a group of power suit wearing hipsters living right on their doorstep? And what of the dozens and dozens of other things that I did during the game that SHOULD have impacted local and wider communities? How did those turn out? At the end of Fallout 1 and 2, you get a really good breakdown of how your decisions actually made a difference. It is so, so sad to do the final exit in Fallout 4 because you feel like there is still a lot to do because nothing is actually definitively resolved other than the BOS/Railroad/Institute/Minutemen question. It leaves me feeling empty even though I just invested maybe a hundred ours into a game. #2 5 easy ways to fix companions. This goes along with the game sometimes making me feel empty. Like say you make Preston your friend. Ok, everyone hates Preston alright, right? But that is because he is INCAPABLE! He's always begging for help and can do nothing to assist you. Its just a lot more obvious with him than with your other companions, but they are equally incapable. How freaking epic would it be if you could tell Preston once you are at the max relationship level with him that you want him to become the mayor of a settlement or go collect junk around the wasteland and then occasionally you can bump into him doing that or have him scout out new areas of the map. Also, I know it would be hard to fix, but companions tend to suck to even have with you. They bug out all the time and just disappear sometimes requiring console commands to even make them come back to your side, they seem to have severe vision issues where they can be within feet of an enemy but will just wonder around looking for someone to shoot, and even having them manage some of your inventory is painful! Another annoyance is just trying to get the perk from each of them. They are often extremely hard to get and many times the perks are garbage. Still, I'd say that the worst part is that once you get their worthless perk, you send them back to Sanctuary or whatever and you basically never deal with them again. There HAS to be a better solution to this.

[@chicopjota]

The way the Institute is in game reminded me of the Republic of Dave from Fo3. Also I wish the game could have another good ending, siding the CIT with the surface and kicking the BoS out of Boston. Synths would be free coexisting with the surface and the provisional government (CPG), would make its back, working in plebiscite of ghouls, settlers and synths. the minuteman together with the Railroad would protect Boston against anything. This way the RR train the minuteman pre-war tech and tactics. P.a.m. would be the bridge of CIT and the CPG too it would be awesome, because the more data she have the more accurate she can be, mass fusion would bring power to the city too

[@jameskennedy5641]

To add to the "5 easy ways to fix the.." series; maybe fixing some of the DLCs (Automatron, Nuka-world, Far Harbor), and Vault-Tec. I do like your idea of fixing the Sole Survivor. I think a good fix to Vault-Tec would be since you are doing experiments maybe after clearing the other vaults in the commonwealth you can start doing the same with them in turn making them settlements too.

[@gentlemansdream404]

I think an interesting video to make would be “how to fix the fallout 4 map design.” There was some big promise at the beginning of the game when you’re sent to Corvega plant: an obvious factory for metal products protected by raiders. It would be really nice if the other dungeons were like this. In addition to the loot the raiders or other problematic minor factions/creatures bring in that is a reward for the sole survivor, wouldn’t it be nice if there was some kind of dungeon for electronics and basic building materials that feeds back into the settlement resource system? A lot of dungeons are a one and done deal with the exception of radiant quests. You explore it, find the kinky thing at the bottom of it, and then forget it. It puts a concrete wall at the end of the game that just kills the playthrough.

[@zarcomack5414]

5 easy way to fix the settlement system so we can rebuild the commonwealth. 1. upgrade quests that change a locations features (like holes in walls finally being boarded up in sanctuary) 2 Make Settlements unique like the slog. Each should've had a resource to exploit (why do they all need farms). Further improving the offerings of different shopkeepers in fallout 4. 3. Trade routes should make sense and matter. Seriously I've seen my caravan go through some stupid dangerous areas. 4 recruit npcs not random nobodies. Like some of the hidden shops amongst the commonwealth.

[@Т1000-м1и]

This guy probably has a better life story then the video game character

[@victorolsson23]

Five easy ways to fix far harbour

[@flewseason1471]

Another great video. I can't wait to see where you take this next. If you're looking for ideas, i would love to see your take of fallout 76 or even the DLC to fallout 4

[@MrAracag]

Virgil being able to make fev cure ammo for the injector could be funny...

[@twilliamspro]

The institute isn't evil... shaun is

[@Thoron_of_Neto]

The institute raised Shaun... he's a product of being raised by Shaun, and many of the evil things Shaun allowed to continue, were happening long before he was defrosted.

[@MaesterAelix]

Two things. 5 easy ways to tie in other Fallout games. (Are you seriously saying that with all the Posiden stuff and that one Child of Atom guy theres 0 Enclave stuff around?!) And 5 easy ways to make more Factions/Endings in Fallout 4. Kinda like how Raiders becane a playable faction in Nuka-Work, this would be building up small groups or possibly enhance current ones. Let the Children if Atom help the Railroad or Minutenen. Have the Atom Cats help the Brotherhood or maybe even the Institute (after Kellogg is put down). Perhaps get the wandering traders to help the Minutenen and bridge Sanctuary, Diamond City and Bunker Hill. The "subfactions" could have been so much... More.

[@highlordlaughterofcanada8685]

To be honest I'm sick of the Enclave being everywhere. Each time they appear they get watered down. Plus they've had their asses kicked time and time again. They're not scary and tough anymore, they've become a punching bag for whatever the writers want to tough instead.

[@jimmythedudeman]

5 easy ways to fix settlement building. 1) everything in settlement territory is scrappable, including old buildings and pavement 2) additional unlockable build sets after you complete aspects of the main storyline that culminates in being able to build proper houses again after completing main storyline 3) the ability to expand settlement borders into surrounding areas as the population grows (perhaps an extra 10% in every direction for every 10 settlers), and higher base population of settlements as they grow, too (+10 increases to +30 in increments of 5) 4) Just as your shops can level up from 1-4 (and maybe at a 5th tier), your settlement can grow from tier 1-5 as well, with corresponding bonuses and unlockables at each level 5) not sure of a 5th and I realize you will make this your own video and might disagree with my suggestions, anyway, but I’d love to see your take on it. Maybe greater freedom to build without glitches?

[@shaynecarter-murray3127]

IMHO even simpler fixes to at least make the Institute feel like a legit faction: 1. They're supposed to be high tech. Institute lasers and armor should be *better* than standard. Their lasers should have more damage or at least higher ROF, range, and accuracy at thebsame dmg level. The armor should be ballistically equal to combat armor and have ever higher energy resist or have built in rad res. 2. Shaun should turn out to just be a figurehead, an experiment within an experiment, with a Mr. House type being actually running things from a hidden bunker nearby. 3. Have "upgrade yourself" as an advertisement. Have the Institute make offers to people who are sick and dying or frail or even ghouled, offering to "heal" them...by taking them, willingly, into their lab, recording as much of their memory and personality as possible, build a healthy version of their body, upload the memory, and dispose of the original.This way, when the person reappears people are like "another medical miracle!" Rather than "oh noes they returned from being missing, must be a synth"

[@oatlegOnYt]

Long time ago I wrote a (Spanish) fanfic that, in fact, was an idea for a big mod to create a peace ending. "Buscando el camino correcto" (finding the right path) The story behind that was that the evilness of the Institute was no so great. Some explanations. FEV experiments were done only on previous infected people (but they develop the traits inside the lab through radiation) or enemies. Same for replacements. Already dead people or bad guys, or just not a replacement. The plan, later explained by father is to redefine the behavior of mankind, not replace us with synths. The synths are the tool for the social change, not our replacement. Later is explained than some crimes were framed to the Institute, but it was the Railroad. We'll, not the Railroad as a whole but a corrupt member that he was tampering the new personalities assigned on Memory Den. That fix a lot of the evilness. Adding a Quest to convince them that the synths are really aware, turns into their freedom without violence, later the disclose of the railroad traitor, and finally, a semi-failed attempt of peace agreement with the BoS with breaks apart between Maxon followers (enemies) and the rest of the brotherhood.

[@aeternusthegoat]

watching these videos while i work on a fallout 4 story rewrite.

[@SwearMY]

5 Easy Ways to Fix Settlements: 1. Let settlers take out the trash. People have brooms, buckets, mops and shovels. There is no reason to leave the piles of trash in places that block building settlements. 2. Adjust settlement boundaries to be more realistic. Why do we have weird ass boundaries at places like Jamaica Plains and Hangman's Alley? 3. Fix snapping. It drives me nuts when I know I should be able to snap pieces together, but the edges just can't seem to find themselves. Finally got those wall pieces with doorways in.. What a pain. 4. Fix collision boundaries. Nothing like seeing all your settlers bunched up trying to enter a building through a wall, missing the door. 5. Fix the zero resources glitch. Your settlement happiness is tanking because the system says there are no bed, there is no water, etc. But when you go to the settlement, all those things are there in the right amounts.

[@highlordlaughterofcanada8685]

My personal favourite Quirk is in Sanctuary Hills where settlers will randomly be on the rooftops when you fast travel there.

[@TheWingus]

I understand that it would take up way too much time and resources in development but I hate it when factions put me in charge but I can’t make any decisions on how the faction works

[@ZeonicFenrir]

The goal of the Institute is to become self sufficient (for which they need their reactor functional) to properly isolate themselves underground, where they will remain until the surface world "dies out", at which point they will reemerge and it will be up to them to rebuild the world (this is what Shaun refers to in his speech regarding the future of mankind being safe with the Institute. Originally, they intended to cooperate with the surface world, but due to the infighting at the CPG, they gave up on the surface dwellers and changed to the aforementioned goal. Lastly, once the Sole Survivor takes over, the Institute apparently switches goals, since the SS sends gen 1 synths to the Commonwealth so surface dwellers become more familiar with the Institute and they send synths to guard the checkpoints, which actually works for your point on "giving back" to the Commonwealth. In fact, it makes even more sense for the Institute when you consider the director's recording where a former division head proposed to the then director to deploy synths is large numbers to the surface to help maintain order, instead of going into hiding and sever all contact with the surface dwellers. For me, sending the synths to the checkpoints seems like someone took note of the aforementioned recommendation and proposed it when the SS decided not to follow Father's plan. Regarding Dr. Zimmer, EpicNate made a video on the topic, and among other things he discovered, it seems that Dr. Zimmer was meant to have a larger role on Fallout 4 during early development, but this was eventually cut. On a similar note we know that Covenant was going to have some strong ties with Vault 101 (something which EpicNate also and e avid about), but this also ended u cut despite the extra mile the devs went for the assets to make this relationship more apparent. I should also point out that the intended canon ending for the Replicated Man seemed to be the one where through dialogue you convinced Harkness to go back to the Commonwealth with Zimmer which allows you to peacefully get both rewards (Harkness rifle and Zimmer's implant). Plus, it's the most difficult speech check of the quest. On the other hand... Dr. Zimmer is a synth. If killed, you will find an android component (FO3's synth component) in his inventory, which isn't there when he is still alive, and which you can find in his corpse even if you didn't give him the one from Victoria Watts (lots of people falsely claim that this is the one you find, but you can actually get both). Perhaps irrelevant, but Pinkerton is also a synth, though you can only kill him if you finish BOTH quests associated with him, the second one being the Wasteland Survival Guide, namely the part about Rivet City's true history. This brings a lot more questions to the table, since it means that one of the 4 division heads is a synth. Sadly, this is about all we know for certain. My pet theory is that Zimmer hasn't been declared dead in the Institute due to Father likely being behind his creation and eventual appointment to the position, thus he knows that even after 10 years in the surface world, his odds of coming back are actually quite good as a 3rd gen synth, something which would be far less likely for an elderly man that lived his entire life in the safety of the Institute and who would now need to be able to survive 10 years on the wasteland. I also wanted to mention that you "Fallout 4 canonize X" examples are... quite terrible. If you played Fallout 3 from start to finish, Adams Air Base and Liberty Prime are destroyed any way (maybe the mobile crawler isn't destroyed but the base do is taken by the BoS and the remaining Enclave forces are defeated). During the game you can't to anything to reconcile the Outcasts with the BoS, and in fact you are told it only happened because Sarah died and Arthur Maxson succeeded her later on. You can't kill McCready or Lucy, nor get them killed (like the kids on Megaton) or enslaved (which you can do to a few kids). Madison Li left between the main game and Broken Steel, and you can even find BoS NPCs talking about this during Broken Steel, and again, you have no option to alter that. Actual examples of optional things that FO4 did canonize one way or another are Project Purity not blowing up nor being contaminated with modified FEV, nor the Citadel being blown up at the end of Broken Steel. In cases like Covenant's connection with Vault 101, which would likely have depended on Vault 101 remaining open, contrary to closing up forever or being destroyed, they do would have had to canonize one of these player choices, and perhaps that's why the decided to drop the connection. Dr. Zimmer's case could have been a bit more interesting, since with confirmation of him being a synth, hypothetically speaking's second synth with the same appearance could have been made, thus allowing players to either think that the one you meet in FO4 is the same Zimmer from FO3, or a replacement after Zimmer's demise 10 years earlier. Still, how to deliver that explanation without breaking the 4th wall may have been the concern. By the way, gen 2 synths are already obsolete and already operating long past their projected lifespans, indicated so during the scene where you first meet Allie Filmore upon entering the Institute, where they are repairing a gen 2 and indicating that its the 3rd gen 2 synth whose primary servo has broken during the month. They also hope for the gen 3 models to be fully rolled out so the gen 1 & 2 can finally be phased out. Similarly, you also find Enrico giving instructions about recharging to a group of gen 1 synths, before asking them to patch their navigation software since gen 1 synths have been walking into walls. Point being, gen 1 & gen 2 synth are already pretty outdated, which is why the created the gen 3 as a replacement. Also, the giant gourd ONLY works in Warwick Homestead: the foul smell of the place, also referred in the Atom Cats quest, is result of the place previously being the Nut Wastewater Treatment, meaning that in exchange for your sense of smell, you get what's probably the most fertile ground in the Commonwealth. Reminds me of the film "The Martian": martian soil itself isn't very fertile, but add human waste and you can grow potatoes on it! Moving on, I want to point out that while the BoS ending in the released game basically put you in a position similar to what you suggest as an advisor to an actual director, the original intent was for you to kill Maxson and replace him as BoS Elder, but this was cut (to the dismay of lots of BoS fans) for yet unclear reasons. However, this ending would have fit with the other 3 where you become the leader of the faction. In that regard, I think the Institute ending is simply following suite. And quite frankly, I think your explanation on why they wouldn't accept an outsider kind of falls apart when you consider that the world came to an end and they have to deal with wastelanders of all sort, which they aren't familiar with, but you are. And we have also precedents of the Institute accepting outsiders, and more importantly, when Father name's you his successor, some people in the Institute would say that they expected Dr. Li to succeed him instead, the same Dr. Li that was an outsider that arrived to the Institute less than 10 years ago. Also, let's not forget that you can actually increase your intelligence and learn some perks that should actually put you on a more similar level Institute scientists. Being fair, I don't think we get many chances to prove our character is smart, contrary to games like Fallout 3 where you can use intelligence checks to show Dr. Lesko that you do understand his experiments, while also having some other dialogue choices that seemed worth of a low intelligence character as in previous games. Lastly, I already explained why the CPG massacre doesn't seem to be the Institute's doing in a comment on another of your videos, but I also saw a video from "The Black Rose" called "The Truth Behind The CPG Massacre" in which he goes through some alternate theories about what happened, but I ironically found the one about the Minutemen doing it, covering it up and putting the blame on the Institute more believable than I expected, specially in light of the info from the FO4 official guide (the CPG massacre took place at the Castle) and the suggested order of events as per the director recording's numbers which point towards the CPG Massacre happening first and the Broken Mask Incident (involving the first gen 3 synth on the surface in 2227) decades later.

[@dracodarastrix4175]

How about 5 easy ways to fix the gunners. Because they are now just Raiders with better equipment. While the few bit of lore that we do get from them suggest they should more like mercenaries for hire. They are kinda like the Talon Company from FF3. But in that game you really had not much way of faction but rather was fixed on the Karma section.

[@harryshriver6223]

Honestly I would like to see Fallout maybe being set in another country like the UK, Japan or Australia. Can you imagine if the road warrior came to real life with Fallout 5? Instead of Vaults perhaps the survivors of the nuclear holocaust in Australia used different means such as fleeing to the Outback to survive? I was just thinking of maybe giving a new direction to fall out, kind of breaking the mold to try something new. 🎉