This is why everyone switches their allegiance to the brotherhood in Fallout 4

I mean, come on Shaun. You expect me to just happily go along with your "better future" plans, when you have just basically told me you see everything as a experiment? screw you Shaun.

[@hansofaxalia]

“The outside world is such an evil place” Says the man who released his own father to the wasteland, expecting him to die

[@HanaTheSloth]

And although he eventually shut it down, he allowed the horrific FEV program to continue. The very program that led to Super Mutants being in the Commonwealth and doing Super Mutant things. And it wasn't like they were only turning marauders and scum into mutants and killing them, no they were grabbing anyone they could and then unleashing them topside. Utterly evil practices.

[@uni4rm]

I dont think you paid attention to the dialogue if thats what you got out of it.

[@hansofaxalia]

@@uni4rm ok

[@Makarosc]

It's not like they knew them

[@VaernSul]

@@uni4rm he literally says that in the first ten seconds of the video, stop trying to pass off Bestheda's shit writing as deep and nuanced.

[@Miko28323]

Institute: *release super mutants, kidnap people, have synths wipe out towns, destroy the commonwealths attempt at a government* Father: "this just confirms the truth I've always known, the commonwealth is dead, there's no future here"

[@daemonium3278]

It's funny that when he's dying he asks you what your moral justification is for destroying the institute.

[@LeftvsReich]

Can't help but notice that's literally what the GOP does. They'll sabotage the government, then claim "government doesn't work, vote for me to fix it". And people are dumb enough to keep voting for them.

[@patrick.53]

Fallout 4 story is so bad... In the first place, what were the Institute objectives by releasing supermutants in the Commonwealth?? I think none of this makes sense, because they could simply just live their safe underground life without doing any bad things for other people...

[@masonlaw7628]

​@@patrick.53yeah you got me, the institute did so much stupid ass shady shit for no good reason at all. Like they literally seem like a cartoon villain. I like taking the institute route not cause I like them but I think their technology being placed im my hands is a lot more competent than whatever the fuck they were doing prior. And thats not a personal brag, thats just how incompetent the institute is. Theyre like monkeys with a bunch of bombs. Idiotic as all hell.

[@songsthatarecatchy]

There are good synths though like the ones who were trying to escape the institute. Let's not forget they were the institute's slaves. So yeah they were also practicing slavery as well.

[@jetabyss13]

Even Caesar shows more respect for the player than Shaun does.

[@birdjericho]

And has the decency to base his principles on some kind of philosophical grounds. Shaun's (and the Institute's) whole moral foundation seems to be similar to Aperture Science, sans any comedic depth or irony: "We do what we must because we can."

[@blucolife]

@@birdjericho Well, sort off. The real Julius Caesar wanted reforms, he wanted land for his soldiers, grain dole, and for the populares (the plebes) to run the government, instead of the optimate (the best and brightest, the aristocracy). The Caesar in Fallout New Vegas is only interested in conquering land and acquiring slaves. There's more to the Roman Republic and Empire than that.

[@sonicmastersword8080]

@@birdjerichoEven Aperture had better moral principles. Aperture at least attempted to restrain their creations when they strayed too far from the practical and pragmatic relative to their objectives, but ultimately failed when GLADOS gassed everyone.

[@tarunmenon7056]

I feel like he was sort of getting there, and real Julius Caesar likely did those things because they were politically expedient, the fact that they were also good things to do was incidental. (the soldiers of the republic were perpetually rebelling, the grain dole was a staple following the Punic wars)@@blucolife

[@blucolife]

@@tarunmenon7056 I think it was Gaius Gracchus who pushed for the grain dole, was rejected, then was murdered, and sometimes later his reforms were enacted. Still, you could be right.

[@GeneThundersnow]

“Here’s 500 bottle caps for your troubles. Hope that covers the trauma I’ve inflicted on you, dad.”

[@AmandaFessler]

Right? Doesn't even give you X-01 to go with that Institute paint smh

[@MinMax-kc8uj]

Inflicting trauma is kind of what kids do best.

[@fuzymunk]

Use my perks to convince him to at least double that! 😉

[@Pog3817]

@@fuzymunkare….You going to have sex with him?

[@pokemongo-up3rq]

"Why did you attack your father?" "He tried to make me pay taxes."

[@orangypteco8858]

"Understandable"

[@CaueJulio]

Its the fucking ncr all over again

[@justmytwocentsdontgetmad]

Shouldn't it be "Why did you attack your son?"

[@ПавелУшкин-п7р]

Hey, at least patrolling the mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter

[@BrokenCartridge.]

@@CaueJulio legion fans with their mandatory "tribute" : 👀💦

[@AMD7027]

The only way this was ever going to end. Especially after he gave me 500 Caps like a common mercenary.

[@jackfarnum97]

Think of what they payed Kellogg in comparison lol

[@JDLT14]

a man with the ability to give you just about anything and he gives you an amount of caps that a single settlement could outproduce lmao

[@keithdavid5206]

500 caps…. wow, thanks son. This game actually made me feel like a disappointed father.

[@chaserseven2886]

@@keithdavid5206it’s almost like that’s the point

[@keithdavid5206]

@@chaserseven2886 Then why aren’t there more dialogue options instead of oh well son, it’s okay that you killed your mother, countless people, destroyed settlements from the inside out. etc etc

[@jackp.richardson6415]

He only released his own father from a stasis prison for a personal pet-project on what he'd do to find his missing child, and completely disregards the murder of his own mother as "collateral damage". Shaun died a long time before the Sole Survivor was dethawed.

[@AdhvaithSane]

Father: Aohh..uhh.. No

[@Rich7714]

Very well said mate!

[@prismaticbeetle3194]

Man Shaun's interactions pissed me off to no end.. The institute was made to be PURE evil... 0 redeming quallites.. ZERO the BOS were not far behind.. N***i bastards the whole lot of them they were nice.. Until u say no then they exterminate u. The rail road were idealistic morons... Synths are not alive.. They never were.. Never will be but they had morals i guess. The minutemen are the only worthy faction

[@TheAzuregreen]

To be fair that's what happens when you are raised by ruthless scientists, everything becomes a science experiment for you to observe. Doesn't make it better but I understand.

[@kappingkappa]

@@TheAzuregreen did you grow up as a science experiment?

[@jamalwhitaeger]

It's ironic that the first time he steps out into the wasteland, he gets killed, stripped to his underwear, and thrown off a building.

[@pitbullnamedcupcake8485]

Maybe he was right after all 😂 (Kidding)

[@MiGujack3]

The Brazilian way.

[@DonaldMcLemore-n6d]

Well at least he got put in a compromising position with another dead body first and a few screenshots taken.

[@KermitOfWar]

​@@MiGujack3 The Brazilian way, eh? I once saw a video on Liveleak of a Brazilian drug dealer who got his head smashed in with a brick, by like 5 underage assailants all wearing sandals. They made him dug his grave first, then they went Brazilian Brickjitsu on him. They then shot him twice in the head. Just an fyi, they did leave his pants on...😮

[@ers555666]

😂 Just a little experiment to see if he survived

[@dannymunch4633]

Nate: "I was just another experiment to you?" Shaun: "No. More than that. Entertainment." Nate: "Listen here you little shit."

[@zubbworks]

Lol would have been more interesting.

[@g52879]

That's the real father response right there 😂

[@dysfunctionalthor4719]

The courier: “listen here you little shit [Attack]”

[@shedrackjenkins1941]

😂😂

[@krystofsvoboda5989]

🤣😆

[@UltimateWaifuXD]

I joined the brotherhood for the power armor and the giant amazon prime robot.

[@amg4436]

Next day delivery of nuclear payloads

[@Glue_Eater06]

Same day destruction

[@torenowatchingyourass]

The commie propoganga its good enough to me join BoS

[@mashedtomatoes1180]

I was just in it for the spiffy uniforms!

[@terrypennington2519]

I joined because I like boats.

[@TheSuedeUzi]

The thing I can't get over is that throughout the entire time that you were frozen in Vault 111, Shawn was working hand in hand with Kellogg, the man who literally killed his mother/father in cold blood.

[@LandofBrickForests]

And then he tries to turn them into kellog 2.0 by using them in the same exact way kellog was used.

[@EddieSlabb]

Not Kellogg 2.0, rather you become General Mills

[@grandtheftautolabs3439]

It was all he knew. He also had Kellogg cloned and made into a synth, so it wasn't the real Kellogg. Just a scary creation to send on missions.

[@nabber2002]

@@grandtheftautolabs3439Kellogg wasn’t a synth. He was a cyborg.

[@aleNoyz91]

​@@grandtheftautolabs3439kellog wasnt a synth!! Is the original kellog that u kill in the bunker

[@weegee42069]

Adding up to the institute being bad There was once a janitor that stole a pack of ciggarets and got trown into a FEV tank and eventually turned into a monster *his name was Edgar Swan*

[@evareider2484]

OMG SWAN NO WAY

[@uberreaktor4836]

@@evareider2484 Yup. Read his notes scattered around Swans Pond/Boston Commons.

[@JayK47a]

No wayy dude , i killed him whike searching for Railroad. His power fist is good tho

[@JonathonDixon-bn7xe]

If you want more story, read his notes or the wiki. It is seriously messed up. After turning him into a super mutant, they just threw him into the wasteland, where he hid in a shed, until he literally grew so big that the only place he could live is the pond you find him in. He doesn't attack because he wants to, he attacks because he just wants to be left alone. He is a broken man left in a broken world.

[@cryptic_shirmp1895]

⁠shiii now I feel a bit bad killing him 6 times now

[@Thaddeus2007]

It's so crooked considering how Shaun was an experiment to the Institute, and he does the same thing they did, but to you.

[@xiki1506]

Tiene sentido en realidad, solemos repetir lo que vimos / sufrimos en la infancia con los demás cuando somos adultos. Como los tipos de apego xd

[@nash3364]

they robbed Nora/Nate of any parental experience, killed their beloved in front of their eyes and turned their son into a simp for the very organisation that did all this, Shaun hasn't even stepped outside and thinks he knows shit about the outside world, the institute needed to go

[@Thaddeus2007]

@@xiki1506 You do have a point.

[@ibtaba]

Are we even sure father is actually Shawn? No proof given.

[@atchmon902]

I forget what it's called, but in psychology, children raised on a certain path will rarely stray from it. Shaun believes it's right, because it's what he's been raised to believe.

[@navitgator16]

I felt more sympathy for the think tank in big MT then i had for father

[@ouid1133]

💀💀

[@salmon_wine]

Big MT had sentient personality disorders, Father wishes he had enough personality to be the same

[@danieltobin4498]

The brains at Big MT make the Institute look like a high school science fair

[@williamyoung5801]

Exactly!

[@Klongu_Da_Bongu]

@@danieltobin4498 For real, if you imagine all the places in big empty without the destruction, monsters and radiation, it would be a science utopia, way ahead of anything the institute was cooking up.

[@ODST_Parker]

It's ironic, how he considers the outside world such a corrupting influence on others, and how it's basically not worth saving, when he's part of the Institute, a group which closed itself off from the outside to such a degree that people are essentially nothing more than experiments to be tested, results to be analyzed, failures to be discarded. He's been under the worst influence imaginable, and can't see it because it's all he knows.

[@sloppyoyster5779]

The super mutants

[@incredibleflameboy]

In a way he's the ultimate overseer. He's following his parameters and has a fear of the outside world. Even with all of his big words about dealing with the other factions he's still a scared child.

[@jamesonfl7723]

i agree; i always felt shaun never meant a whole lot to the sole survivor after realizing what he’s done. yeah sure, u gave birth to him, but you never really knew him. he’s a monster.

[@Tony73727]

Which means there's no way to save him, inevitably breaking his promise to Nora that you will get Shaun back but he's too far old and gone.

[@Tony73727]

@@jamesonfl7723 For me, my mindset on Shaun was he may be blood, but he's not my son. He is the Institute's son.

[@owenlastname.3500]

"no thats not all" refuses to elaborate. It REALLY seems like that was all.

[@systemofadown945]

" no thats not all...... anyways, im glad it turned out this way"

[@zacharysheetz3701]

"You are not my son! Shaun died with his mother. I see that now."

[@alexd4310]

Proceeds to rescue real baby Shaun from institute base. There a mod for that called HR baby rescue or something. Simple shoot Director find baby in medical thing near the elevator and get out. I was roleplaying as an ENclave operative in America Rising 2 where I infiltrated instuite . during the director notion to make his sucessor I gunned down the leadership and rescued shawn after wards. Oh yeah I then console spawn a bunch of glowing one ghouls and they Train to Busan'ed the the crap out of everyone they could find. I then proceeded to hunt down every single Institute person i could find Then I left

[@perropelaoreal]

Si tilin fuese campana: tilin tilin

[@thisreplysection1050]

Is that an actual dialogue option?! Damn i wish i would’ve talked to Shaun before nuking his shit, just so i could tell him that.

[@zacharysheetz3701]

@@thisreplysection1050 I don't think it is. This is just what I would've said. Unfortunately, Fallout 4's dialogue was lacking.

[@thename2138]

in his defense, you were never there for him, you were nothing but just a biological father, he never grew up receiving your love or his mother's, you are no one but just a stranger

[@mysticdn2595]

I love how Father is the only Essential NPC that is killable at anytime

[@Gameslord-yk7ss]

Actually you can murder Desdemona at any time. Even before they open the lights in the darkness lmao. Just use Fatman or 2 or 4 bartel Missile Launcher depending on the difficulty in case you miss the first time 😁

[@NaruSanavai]

That means he's not essential. He's not even _protected._

[@mace5725]

Maxson and Desdemona are killable at any time as well

[@penedrador]

Killed him the moment I met him lol

[@Humangarbage_7]

I just killed him the first time I met him 😂

[@robbiewood68]

I still feel like the factions needed to be more... nuanced. Like, I can see that the Institute and the Railroad will never get along, but an alliance between the Minutemen and the Institute should be feasible. Or even Minutemen working with the Brotherhood to some degree.

[@logancopper3385]

While I see what you are saying, the factions are designed to be so different from the start that the only factions that could feasibly work together is the railroad and minutemen

[@cyak]

Could you imagine Fallout 4 with a true evil ending such as institute teaming with the gunners to have the best surveillance, technology, facilities and on the ground soldiers to have an iron cast rule over the commonwealth. I know, it sound morbid but it would have added some spice to the story and the choices you make. Hell, Minutemen and railroad team up for the opposite effect where everything is accounted for such as Lives whether People or synth. Settlements with synth protection, hunters, gathers and human farmers to start the rebuilding of the old world.

[@robbiewood68]

@@nash3364 yes, but they didn't *need* to. They extorted resources in order to simply maintain such a large military presence in the commonwealth, which simply isn't sustainable. Add to that the likely vulnerability that places on a less defended Citadel in the capital, the prydwyn and elder Maxson need to return to the capital. It would make sense for the player character as the head of the minutemen to negotiate with Maxson.

[@jamesonfl7723]

you can complete the game with all factions except the institute lmao

[@alfredospautzgranemannjuni5864]

BOS+Ethical Institute+Minuteman= Commonwealth being a technological heaven and a civilization in no time

[@teckdeck6480]

I love you, dad, but you were more like a pet to me

[@MAGICMUSHI3335]

A pet project really

[@srs6461]

Hahah is that an invincible reference

[@TheSuperSpud]

"Please take this token of appreciation for literally allowing us to conquer the entire commonwealth and permitting us to exist" *gives an inconsequential amount of money to either of them*

[@GeraltofRivia22]

The Institute could literally manufacture millions of bottle caps if they wanted to. And yet this cheap bastard gives you 500.

[@TheSuperSpud]

that'd be massive inflation tho, and some of the only to exist in the fallout universe now I think of it@@GeraltofRivia22

[@TiL_Deimos]

@@GeraltofRivia22Dont you love the government of corruption 😅

[@shadowpoet4398]

Honestly, if it were worth having, the Institute could give him a key to a safe-box where the institute would regularly fill it with something like 50,000 caps from their manufactorum or w/e they have in that underground Apple store. That's a lot like Bethesda's other FO games. There's always a chest regularly filled with some stuff a faction gives you access to. Sierra Madre did it with the wall safe. Brotherhood, Legion, NCR, and the Followers did it with the safe houses and drop boxes

[@Pumpkinpumpkinmann]

Bro the cheapest man in the commonwealth just look at how cheap the Synths look lmao

[@chefluck9146]

I always say. If the Institute is so good, then why are their synths actively trying to escape it

[@raw1465]

their like north korea. everythings fine if you dont actually see whats happening in it

[@HappyMSI1]

@@turtlemaster2957 Please come back when you'll pass your teenagers way of thinking.

[@REALMWS]

@@turtlemaster2957 the synths don’t do anything but exist in the game. The scientists are constantly working. Also white people were slaves to other white people, just like black people were slaves to other black people.

[@maxhaly1612]

@@turtlemaster2957 you do realize there were tribes in Africa who enslaved people from rival tribes, right? The bigger tribes would defeat smaller tribes and sell the survivors of those conquered tribes as slaves to Europeans who would transport them by boat to the New World (Aka the Americas). Saying that White people were the only people who practiced slavery is completely false.

[@napatora]

@@HappyMSI1 i mean they're not wrong. the railroad is named so after the underground railroad sooo i mean there's more than a little similarity

[@GhostOfSnuffles]

Lets not forget the fact that inside the FEV labs holding cells there's a bunch of children's toys meaning both Shaun and Virgil were complacent in kidnapping children, turning them into supermutants, then releasing them back into the common wealth to commit atrocities.

[@romanboi3115]

Virgil was only head of the program for one year before he smashed the labs up and escaped. Out of the hundreds of years of experiments that were done with FEV by the Instapoop.

[@TrevorPhilips-q5h]

Underrated comment, this is so true can't believe I didn't it when I saw a dead super mutant in the FEV labs with children toys and wooden blocks. But what about the dead cats?

[@GhostOfSnuffles]

@@TrevorPhilips-q5h They probably gave the cats to the children to keep them complacent. Or as food.

[@Random_Lurker]

OR that early super mutants are really dumb and can be pacified with toys

[@JoseRodriguez-eu5ez]

In the Fraternal Post, where Nate was supposed to give the speech he was reading off in the intro, we encounter a named Super Mutant who has been hoarding toys, baby rattles, and bottles. I always assumed you were supposed to link that they took Shaun to experiment on him with the FEV. That's the reason they needed a pure human. Maybe it was a dropped plot point.

[@baylenrethwisch2067]

When he called the death of his mom/dad collateral damage that’s when I swapped

[@walterkronkite4262]

Fr that really annoyed me “I wouldn’t call it murder”. That’s when I knew I didn’t like him

[@mmxxiii9503]

Oh that part made my blood boil, calling your parents death "collateral damage" is clear sign that your face needs a fist fixing

[@blackandwhiteful]

Player choices: 1) dieselpunk facists 2)futurepunk facists who experiment on all humanity 3)constant micromanagement 4)Harriet Tubman for robots

[@sksaddrakk5183]

You forgot: bunch of anarchists just out for a good time (raiders(

[@BouncingTribbles]

It's weird how if you complete Garvey's quests but never turn them in he forgets to give you new ones. Definitely worth giving up on the 150xp for not turning in 3 radiant quests. Also raids on settlements you never visited basically didn't do anything, so you only had defend your farms. My playthrough had militarized minutemen and brotherhood swat. Combined arms for the win

[@thornescapes7707]

@@BouncingTribbles ... That's an excellent point. I keep forgetting to take that route and just not turn in quests. Normally I just avoid the MM completely, but that is a wonderful workaround.

[@Alte.Kameraden]

Nope 1. BOS = National Socialism not Fascist. 2. Institute = Marxist/Utopian Socialist 3. RR = Revolutionary Anarchist 4. MM = Right Wing Libertarians

[@yokaivegaurd8707]

All wrong mm middle ground institute Marxist facists kidnappers RR hypocritical commies Eastern boss independent capitalist that is more open Western bos anti social

[@NCSTerbaru]

I love how out of touch Shaun is 😂 1 synth turn into Raider and he says "Look how dangerous he is to humanity above ground! he killed people!!" Meanwhile The institute kidnapped and killed and replace hundreds of people through out the commonwealth

[@Mr-Trox]

I think it's less out of touch and more he knows *exactly* what he is doing, but is deflecting.

[@nanotech1921]

Thats what happens when you believe your organization is for the betterment of humanity When the outsiders do it its Savagery, when the institute does it, its “collateral damage”

[@HappyDiggers]

The people working at the institute are a pretty brainy bunch. They are smart, intelligent people. Shaun is not out of touch. It's just bad writing on Bethesda's part.

[@ignore2466]

It makes sense though. Raised by scientists, as an experiment himself. Probably never had a parental figure in his life. He even cloned himself just to see how his dad responds when he meets him.

[@f.w.3823]

@@HappyDiggers Even smart people can be out of touch.

[@agentmaryland1239]

The entire main storyline is literally about a man/woman who watches their S/O be shot down right in front of them and their child taken, swear vengeance for their deceased beloved and to find their child. Only to find out that their child thinks so little of them, that he is the very reason your S/O is gunned down, doesn't even seem to accurately show remorse, and your existence means nothing unless he can gleam something from it. You fight your way through raiders, killers, psychopaths, mutants, monsters, etc, trying to find any clue...any trace of your child's whereabouts, and this mf'er turns around and slaps you in the face with 'you were but a statistic I wanted to push the limits of, for science'. Sure, you can't say it's *entirely* his fault, because he was raised by those in the Institute, but the fact of the matter is that his only goal was to see whether or not you were corruptible so he knew if he should have you assassinated, ignore you, or put you on his throne. A 60+ year old man who knew he had ONE parent still alive, and all he wanted was to see how much pressure he could put them under until they cracked, if they even would.

[@jaredlapierre1304]

how can he be the reason the S/O is gunned down if he's still a baby?

[@madarauchiha3921]

@@jaredlapierre1304 because they wanted him, but she wouldn’t let them have him therefor in a way it is his fault

[@abigails4088]

@@madarauchiha3921 he is the REASON yes, as Agent said in their post, but it is not "his fault" persay...

[@85Funkadelic]

Thats why I destroyed them all!!! Also killed the nazi brotherhood of steel goons and their little toy the pridwin.

[@themanwithnoname1839]

Well yea, he outright treats it like an experiment, he can say it wasent but come one, if someone read those lines they would be like so this dude straight up treated his parent like a guinea pig.......?

[@mertdinc5459]

It get funnier when the institue pays you with caps. They can have and produce their own nylon, cotton to imprint their own money they could have literally use pre-war money or reprint them all. But the father pays you with wastelands money, the wasteland which he hates.

[@10uRization]

My god that Shaun bitch really taunts you

[@Balajohn_]

Why would the institute even use money? They are a group isolated that provid residence, food, education and shelter to its inhapidants as long as they are productive. Hell for kellog they would probably use institute made bottlecaps (altho i think gold and silver would be more realistic)

[@mertdinc5459]

@@Balajohn_ Exactlyyy.. or some youth potions. Hell they can even bring Kellogs family back as synths.

[@zeta-o4z]

The dialogue options in this game can go crazy hard. When I was confronting Shaun, my ending line was something like: “…I waited my whole life to see you all grown up, yet here you are. And I’m so disappointed.” When I bombed the Institute, I didn’t kill him in his deathbed, no. I just left. I left, so he could hear the explosions, the scientists screaming for their lives, and above all, his life’s work crumbling. *The Commonwealth is not dead, Shaun. You are.*

[@pigFIVE]

Lol

[@rus0004]

That was after he called me stupid for not thinking of synths as appliances.

[@CaptainJZH]

"I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed"

[@Limes_Taste_Good]

Holy shit lmfao

[@danielpichardo7749]

Probably top 3 worst most painful things your Dad can say

[@Deyone_Jackson]

There are scenes where they should've let us make Nate pull out his belt and give Shaun some of the upbringing he was missing the last few decades.

[@johnmarks227]

Who's your daddy now father!

[@Pumpkinpumpkinmann]

Just like grandad from the boondocks fr

[@cocaine9357]

Pause

[@jayh5840]

I'd rather have more dialogue options than 4 that may possibly give some inclination of the words they will make come out of your mouth, but this would be satisfying too

[@madelinemcmillan4020]

this applies to nora as well. why wasn't there any option to hit this prick?

[@FatrickAteman]

The Vertibird hovering ominously in the background while the sole leader of the institute is standing around on a rooftop completely unprotected just adds so much to this.

[@saber2802]

And at the end the sole survivor killing shaun Really makes it sound love thos was all just an elaborate Assassination

[@silverblade357]

The Institute is literally the equivalent of mugging someone on the street and then complaining about how unfair the world is.

[@omgcandy16Kimicari0]

bethesda really loves the idea of fallout's setting "corrupting" people instead of just being a place where people have to live and adapt to survive in.

[@commentaccount7880]

Actually a super good point

[@ryanjones_rheios]

Its a strangely "enclave" point of view, tbh. Probably why they're obsessed with using them. I mean, the institute is pretty much just the Enclave from the opposite direction. Which also isn't shocking given Bethesda's very "looking back" view on the world.

[@hecc7906]

yeah it's almost like that's exactly what an apocalypse would do to people 🤦‍♂️

[@drippinwet774]

When you guys put "quotations" around words and phrases, do you think it changes the game?

[@TTVtsrgame]

I think it’s very feasible that all the laws being no longer enforced would definitely corrupt people and if it goes on longer for kids to grow up in the situation someone of them are gonna have skewed morals to say the least

[@jollyrot3145]

Shaun: “It was my decision, I let you out of the vault” Me: Immediately ceases hunt for son and becomes Nuka World Raider Boss “You made a great choice son”

[@billyshears2032]

I find the only fun way to play this game is going to nuka world right after exiting the vault joining the raiders and then joining the institute. Everything is so forced in this game and it feels kinda good to side with who the writers so obviously wanted to be the baddies

[@andrewaftontheandroidhedge2780]

@@billyshears2032 then you just let the raiders spread all over the place like butter on bread and feel preston rolling in sanctuary not being able to do a damn thing about it

[@zenixkiryu]

It's about drive! It's about power! All your family *I'LL DEVOUR*

[@Vanished584]

@@andrewaftontheandroidhedge2780 Hes still fighting for his life in concordia lol while I try to not kill Cito

[@Yes-Man1337]

@@billyshears2032F that America Rising 2 mod just came out, I destroyed the institute & brotherhood with the Enclave 😎😎. Also essentially used another mod to turn the Minutemen into the Enclave😂😂

[@garwynrosser8907]

Vault dweller: "oh my god... I killed my son, what have I done" Ron Pearlman: "The Value Dweller saved the future of the Commonwealth and lived happily ever after " Dweller: "Ohhhh, thanks Ron. When you put it that way. I feel so much better now"

[@grandtheftautolabs3439]

Absolutely damned it. The institute has the means of defending and providing for the commonwealth on a grand scale. Between that and your appointment as general of the minutemen, you have both a human and synth army, with the means to provide infinitely for both, AND control the resources for the entire citizenry, with the ability to rebuild. Institute/Minutemen ending is the only real good decision you can make. The Brotherhood is just being in another disorganized mercenary outfit, further dividing and killing off the people, and the railroad are disorganized, impoverished idiots aiding a new underground unfeeling inhumane synth army to murder and replace humanity because killing off a few gang leaders hurt their feelings. The institute was reigning in synths, and kills off the brotherhood as a means of guaranteeing the safety of potentially millions if not more when humans begin to repopulate. You end up (SPOILER) being given total control over the institute by your son, giving you the Institute AND the minutemen to provide security, clean water, infrastructure and food to everyone. You have the chance to a be a great American leader in that game, and that's why I absolutely love it and it's always been one of my favorites.

[@mister_wide]

I destroyed The Railroad with the help of The Institute I destroyed The Institute with the help of The Brotherhood of Steel I destroyed The Brotherhood of Steel with the help of The Minutemen At last, the Commonwealth gained peace

[@marilynlucero9363]

Preston Garvey: I am glad you've done so much for the Commonwealth General, making you our top dawg was the best decision we could ever make time to show the Commonwealth we are finally back as there's a settlement in need of your help, here I'll mark it on your map. {Help Sunshine Tidings} {Help Somerville Place} {Help King's port Light house} Note: OBERLAND STATION IS UNDER ATTACK! SAVE THEM BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!

[@mister_wide]

@@marilynlucero9363 *Allies with Nuka World raiders"

[@vigorouslethargy]

But how did you destroy the Minutemen?

[@mister_wide]

@@vigorouslethargy They’re immortal, although they kinda got annoyed when I accidentally shot a mini nuke at my own settlement

[@asherandai1000]

@@mister_wide I think everyone would get “annoyed” if you accidentally blew up their friends with a nuclear weapon.

[@OneBiasedOpinion]

It’s fascinating how in New Vegas, it’s the Brotherhood who’ve become too insular, isolated, and narrow-minded to realize that they’re fighting against a foregone conclusion and need to adapt. Here, they’re the ones directly opposing another faction who’s done essentially the same thing. Both the Brotherhood and the Institute are amazingly technologically advanced compared to most other factions, yet they both suffered from the same problem: narcissism and detachment from the world around them.

[@Dustin81]

The same could be said of the Enclave

[@baronstormhaven3893]

Perhaps it's the technology that helping cause the narcissim and detatchment

[@mitchjames9350]

East Coast BOS actively recruits and trains and protects citizens of Capital Wasteland, also the BOS wants to prevent humanity from wiping it self out and had helped the Vault Dweller defeat the Master and stop his planes as well as help establish the NCR and fought the Enclave. The West Coast BOS may be stuck in its ways of not actively recruiting and sharing some of its technology they at least do not tolerate threats to humanity there is at least the East Coast BOS who at least use there power to help humanity.

[@commietearsdrinker]

By the time we reach New Vegas, their narcissism from the first two games is catching up to them. And yet, Maxson, who grew up in a more selfless and detached Brotherhood, grew up to be another narcissist and a fascist.

[@mitchjames9350]

@@commietearsdrinker In what way is he a fascist? all he did is bring the BOS to Boston to stop the institute ending Humanity and replacing them with synths. Also last time I checked the East BOS fends off threats to the Commonwealth as well providing for citizens and rebuilding the wasteland.

[@TedTeddison99]

You joined the brotherhood because of your son. I joined the brotherhood because I looked into the sky and saw a blimp. We are not the same.

[@dragontamer2474]

Considering how vaults usually keep records of their dwellers. This conversation just never added up to me as you are a literal army veteran. Of course you would survive knowing adept survival practices and advanced firefight tactics.

[@joelcolegrove]

I thought of that too, but what if you run into an army of super mutants or a pack of deathclaws as soon as you left the vault? The world is just so different that it's like an alien world.

[@chesterstevens8870]

It really depends on his MOS and level of experience. If Nate was a Ranger, SF, or any sort of alum from SERE training? Yeah, he'd probably be alright. If he was some kind of lower enlisted with only basic competency, or some sort of non-combat role? It would be a different story.

[@madmanszalinski]

Makes it even crazier if you play as Nora - a freaking lawyer winds up running the Commonwealth

[@Ludovicus1769]

So first of all you could have chosen Nora, but even then it doesn’t matter. One man versus several group of raiders are not good odds. Nate was also most definitely not trained for the kind of sadistic and brutal fighting styles that you could find in the postwar Commonwealth.

[@raw1465]

@@chesterstevens8870 Nate was infantry according to the robot at the uss constitution ship.

[@mc-kq6yd]

It gets even worse "why is the institute doing all this stuff?" And the answer is "you wouldnt get it"

[@KamenRiderRaiden]

My Survivor, Rider: *Two. **_Hundred. Years_** In an ice box.. **_Try me._*

[@Edward-Not-Elric]

I love how when Bethesda's writing starts to approach anything more complicated than "good" or "bad" they wave it off with some vague nonsense. A father talking to his elderly son: "That's all this was? All I am to you? Some experiment?" Shawn: "No, that's not all.” **GenericDialogueQuestComplete**

[@memecliparchives2254]

Just like the Walking Dead.

[@danielharshman796]

bethesda needs to fire their entire writing dept.

[@danimal118]

Bethesda has no soul. Fallout New Vegas quest lines could bring a tear to your eye. Bethesda fallouts make me want to kill everything and burn it all down.

[@Jwlar]

@@danielharshman796 they barely have one, the game and quest designers write the dialogue alongside the gameplay elements. They clearly need to separate the two.

[@Youtube-swimmer]

Even after you kill kellogg, piper describes the plot to get into Kelloggs mind as crazy. Me and my friend rant about this games horrible plot all the time XD

[@EastofAll]

"We can't allow synths to be free." "Why?" "Because look at the one at Libertalia, he did bad things." "Shaun. My son. My beautiful, genius son. There are at least a dozen other raider leaders, all of whom are true humans, and have committed the same, if not worse acts. Humans were raiders before it was cool."

[@TheStephenation]

The main reason that this flaw is glaring is that the game does a poor job of working with the concept that synths really are supposed to be dangerous. Harkness in Fallout 3 managed to take over security in Rivet City. Danse excelled in the Brotherhood of Steel and climbed the ranks despite not even knowing that he was a synth. Glory believes that synths have inherent advantages in completing most tasks. Institute scientists believe that Gen-3 synths already outclass baseline humans pretty much across the board and that future generations of synths could go even further, with Alan Binet opining that synths should and will become the future of human evolution. The SRB are baffled that the player character was able to bring down a courser, something they didn't think a human could ordinarily accomplish. Unfortunately, the game doesn't really illustrate the potential danger of synths outside the one example of Gabriel at Libertalia. Synths are generally not imposing enemies in actual gameplay, so it all seems pretty overblown. But the concept could have worked if it had been executed differently. I can see why the Institute would be pretty upset that the beings they created and have come to rely on for their survival keep malfunctioning and getting lost, only for the Railroad to steal the synths, mind-wipe them, and set them loose. There's some number of synths out there that have false memories and pass for normal humans. They are not truly human and the changes to their personalities from the mind-wipe and implanted memories make them unpredictable. With his insular and xenophobic outlook, Shaun only emphasizes the "stolen property" aspect of what the Railroad is doing. But it's possible that others in the Institute view the SRB as an incomplete stopgap to mitigate the damage of rogue synths, and that they're horrified that someone is actively thwarting them from trying to clean up their own mess.

[@sarmatiancougar7556]

Shaun is right. The Railroad let a sadistic synth walk free just because he’s escaping the Institute. They are NOT the good guys. Running away from captivity is a totally natural impulse inherent to all living beings. Their desire to be free does not make the Railroad synths good people.

[@marcusofmenace3671]

It's the equivalent of saying "we can't let synths be human because they could end up doing what humans do"

[@airdusterenjoyer]

@@marcusofmenace3671 more like they would end up replacing or enslaving us. And the mimicry is a massive fucking threat in itself even if they stay in small numbers

[@RaxusXeronos]

@@TheStephenation Not only do they excel at things better than humans usually, but they're implied to not age from dialogue about Synth-Shaun. So you could have a synth in charge of something like a raider gang or brutal faction and if no one can kill them, they could be in charge for centuries possibly due to not aging out.

[@am-bush679]

I personally liked the minutemen. They didnt really have a problem with the institute outside of their attacks on the common wealth. Like they said after you blow up the institute "why couldnt they just leave us alone?".

[@JDLT14]

They operate under the Non-Aggression Principle for the most part. Kind of 50% Don't Tread On Me and 50% F*ck Around and Find Out. A solid motto to live by.

[@ScreamingManiac]

The minutemen is kind of a fitting name for their ideals. They operate on the founding american ideals which are really good ideals and also why most of the world throughout its history has choose to side with the US over countries like russia or China in geopolitics Is because of americas founding ideals are so objectively righteous and selfless. I wish i could say the same for modern day US is a shadow of what it use to be.

[@lahiruerangafile]

Same, minutemen weren't ego driven or paranoid like brotherhood either

[@f4lloutgaymer]

In my main playthrough, I side with the Minutemen and become The Bicen-General (a name I came up with for her. A fun play on words. 200 years, and a new General of the Minutemen). She spreads the ideals of the original Minutemen from 400 years earlier; as well as Truth, justice, prosperity for all. Regardless of pigmentation, ghoul, super mutant, synth, or robot. If you wish to help others succeed and prosper, if you are willing to help your neighbor against threats in order to live a safe, happy, prosperous life, you are welcome in the Minutemen Commonwealth. The BoS just invade the Commonwealth with the first thing they state on their loud speaker, "Do not interfere!" That is invasion speak for 'this is our land because we want it'. So I don't side with them or The Institute. In a couple of my playthroughs I do not side with any faction. I just help settlements, like the Eastwood 'Man with No Name' trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars, A few dollars more, The good, the bad, and the ugly). It helps to use the Alternate Start mod called 'Start Me Up redux'. Great mod. Lots of replayablity choices. Anyway, yes, I choose to help the Minutemen, or no faction at all. 👍 Be Excellent to each other and Party on. 🤘🎸😎

[@Yes-Man1337]

@@f4lloutgaymer​​⁠F that America Rising 2 mod just came out, I destroyed the institute & brotherhood with the Enclave 😎😎. Also essentially used another mod to turn the Minutemen into the Enclave😂😂

[@creamyanddreamy4017]

"Son, I brought you into this world. I think you know the rest." - James "Fallout" Neeson

[@Kryptnyt]

It's so weird to me that the Institute uses Caps as currency

[@Rafe758]

Lazy game design is all.

[@brandenhauser1635]

It's probably the best option they use caps. Imagine the Institute having its own currency, and that currency becomes useless after destroying the Institute. What are we supposed to do with it then?

[@Kryptnyt]

@@brandenhauser1635 Wouldn't you want a currency that works as a deterrence to the end of your existence?

[@cyber1ifeconnor]

they literally have informants around the comminwealth of course theyd have the main currecny especially selling meds or fusion cells.

[@cyber1ifeconnor]

@@Rafe758 nope, you and 13 people are dead wrong, they have informants around the commonwealth most of which are traders, of course theyd have the main currency selling meds or fusion cells... you know nothing

[@great2be1]

The minutemen somehow managed to be the only faction I didn't hate in fallout 4. They're the only ones who actually do anything without crying and bitching the entire time. The other three major factions are so busy crying about synths and they should be killed/reprogramed/saved and meanwhile the minutemen sit there like "you're a synth? Can you shoot a rifle? Welcome to the militia!"

[@Killer-wi1mr]

Honestly the BoS is probably the worst faction, alongside the Institute. They're a bunch of xenophobic douches who think they're gonna save the Commonweath. They take what they want (by force is necessary), they want to kill anythings who isn't human, even non-hostile ghouls and other friendly mutants, take all the technology they can recover for themself and consider mostly everyone inferior. They're not so different from raiders. They've done some good, but it doesn't cover what they trully are.

[@garrettcorbett3681]

As far as morals go the minutemen are the best. I liked the railroad the most because they aren't evil like the institute and brotherhood but they also have several of my favorite characters, they're cool with my favorite characters (Valentine and Hancock) and their missions are more entertaining than just saving a million settlements

[@Thecommander248]

True blue Americans.

[@leonrussell9607]

The brotherhood are the best faction

[@great2be1]

@@leonrussell9607 with how whiney they are throughout all of their quests and how terrible Maxson is as a leader I can't really agree with that. The brotherhood easily could of been the best faction, if they were more like the FO3 brotherhood. The only reason people like the FO4 brotherhood over all the others, as far as I can tell, is because Liberty Prime gets 24 seconds of screentime and bodies a SMB, which granted that was sick.

[@DeathMetalThrasher]

Your son Shaun did die. The Institute did kill him and ridded him of his humanity. By the time you meet him, he is too far gone to realize just how flawed the institute is and his morality (or lack thereof) is skewed.

[@abrahambobst4602]

Yep, they turned him into a Vault-Tec Overseer. lol

[@TheFreelancer87]

Darth Vader in a nutshell

[@EnclaveSgt]

he's also almost dead. so who cares

[@EnclaveSgt]

@@TheFreelancer87 But Vader was unironically a good guy. Father's just cringe

[@LaCokaNostra_]

What

[@lukemehalick370]

It's weird that he asks you so many times to shoot him in the face before the cancer even hits the forefront of the plot.

[@vukodlak3962]

For me it was the FEV lab, my first time through I played all the faction missions I could for The Minutemen, The Railroad, and the Brotherhood before going to the Institute. My plan was to do the Minutemen ending first then the others. But when I got to the Institute I thought maybe I will side with them... then I reached the FEV lab and went. "The Supermutants... they made them... okay they need to die."

[@six-fingeredjimmy6977]

Been a while, but if I recall correctly, Institute didn't create the commonwealth supers (though I'm not certain their origin, be it expansion of vault 84 mutes, or some other military/enclave site that was FEV testing), or at least not all of them, and were more looking for A: practical applications of FEV, and B: a cure for victims of FEV (like the supers) until things went wrong and they shut the lab down for being too dangerous.

[@vexili]

@@six-fingeredjimmy6977 You are remembering incorrectly

[@georgemurdock7670]

@@six-fingeredjimmy6977 virgil shut the lab down cuz he wasn’t fine with turning kidnapped people into super mutants.

[@Dustin81]

Which is what the BOS did at Mariposa.

[@nooneinparticular5273]

​@@six-fingeredjimmy6977 Nah, they were literally kidnapping people and turning them into super mutants. No other goal justifies that. And theu did make the majority of super mutants in the Commonwealth. While the game does address that some Vault 87 super mutants wandered to the Commonwealth I believe, the majority are Institute creations.

[@adrenjones9301]

"I dreamed of you as an Adult for so long. Here you are... and im so disappointed."

[@redstar6415]

Nate”:That’s what i am to you? An experiment?” Father:” no you’re more then that Kellogg.” Nate: What?! Father:What?

[@smokeyjoe291]

@El Cactuar wow I’ve never seen someone manage to be completely insufferable in such a short comment

[@gibbo7027]

Shaun died the same day that Sole Survivors spouse died. Whatever is standing in front of us after 60 years is not fit to be called human beeing.

[@jak2266]

Every faction in FO4 feels like its filled with lobotomites, and the worst part is that it's really not that hard to write them to have well defined motives.

[@Red-qk7hv]

except for the minutemen, they’re the only ones without any flaws.

[@Raganui]

Can't have a flaw if you don't really exist. Now, don't get me wrong, people say things about who they were, and various things do let you see the corruption that came before you get to Preston being the last one, but by then, they have basically stopped existing. And then when you rebuild them, they don't really do much beyond just 'another settlement needs your help' and you basically having to do the entire workload of the faction yourself.

[@JC_Denton_]

@@Red-qk7hv their only scorn is the infinite settlement quests, they're probably the closest thing we have to a wholey good fraction, trying to settle the wastes for the sake of peace and prosperity. Their recent history is dark but their future looks bright. I wish Bethesda had of fleshed out them and the gunners, the gunners could've been peace for profit mercs only maintaining law for a price, maybe a more authoritarian peace but not evil

[@memecliparchives2254]

@Jack Well to be honest, such image for the gunners won't fly with the Minutemen

[@steve4728]

@@Red-qk7hv Except being boring asf

[@zoltanbojan8035]

Man, they really had a potential with the whole Institute. Make it a group of hidden scientists with benelovent intents, but misunterstood or be a group of mad inventors who view everything as experiment with some members being fed up with it and starting a rebellion, or something between these 2. But no, they choose the cartoonish bland villains, who are evil for the sake of the plot. and it's not like you becoming the leader changes anything, the only choice you can get is "more robots or better weapons". And even that doesn't matter.

[@victorpleitez768]

Bethesda could’ve done “west world” but taking place in fallout Boston. The institute being this high society that had perfectly recreated a replica of pre war U.S with the help of synths to help bring back the American dream. It could’ve all been underground or some secluded walled off part of Boston like the casino strip in New Vegas. Seeing better tech and weapons than what Bethesda made would’ve been cool too.

[@i_am_squishy6230]

Father really did say “You wouldn’t understand” and then in the same day say “You’re the leader”

[@brandonashley5872]

Bethesda fallout games always have cartoonish evil villains, even fallout 3 did. Of course if you play Fallout New Vegas' main story and DLCs the closest you'll ever get to a cartoonish villain is Ulysses, but even he has something logical driving him. You may not agree with Caesar, but there is a ruthless logic to his ideals. Mobius in the big empty is doing everything because the knowledge and scientists in the big empty are too dangerous to let out into the world. The white legs are just trying to join Caesars legion to survive and even Father Elijah just wants to save the brotherhood. All of the villains have some sort of logic that made them come to the point their at, in the Bethesda games you just get people who are evil for the sake of evil. And that really doesn't work in a game like fallout, it's fine in the Elder Scrolls because it's a universe where good and evil exist with gods and demons

[@victorpleitez768]

@@brandonashley5872 Bethesda just doesn’t invest in their writing talent.

[@brandonashley5872]

@@victorpleitez768 yeah, I've honestly went from someone that would really stand behind Bethesda to not even looking forward to their new content. But it's not just them, the entire industry is doing the same thing. Bethesda went from a pretty top tier company with Skyrim (which didn't have genius writing but it was good enough to enjoy the story) to whatever we would even call fallout 4, granted all of the elder scrolls lore was written by one man. But from what I heard they've even decided to stop following his lore because it's not mainstream enough

[@sarinat3101]

Actually, I sided with the Brotherhood because I play on Survival and I needed the vertibird signal grenades :)

[@landotucker]

Just hope that a raider with a pipe pistol doesn't shoot at you mid-flight

[@KatieK-OnYt]

Best thing, just do the quest that unlocks the vertibird grenades, and never progress the story any further. Otherwise, you could always do the easiest thing (which I did in my first survival run) and just side with the institute and make Oberland Station your home. You still have to walk to target locations (find new things along the way) but you get to teleport back into safety from anywhere, no matter how many metal buckets and pipe pistols you are carrying around. Also, that sweet and sexy power armor paint for the X0-1...

[@TasukuMuncha]

The institute can teleport you anywhere like a fast travel

[@sarinat3101]

@@TasukuMuncha In survival, you can only teleport out of the Institute to the CIT ruins above.

[@TasukuMuncha]

@@sarinat3101 Oh really? I thought they could send you anywhere like their coursers do

[@CatfishConnor]

The institute’s technology is amazing and could do so much good, you becoming leader also means you can correct course and stop all the evil they do. And I think they have the cooler gear.

[@axios4702]

Yeah... Because the army of egomaniacal mad scientists will listen to whatever some old soldier says 'cause their boss said so before dying. The moment you say "Maybe we shouldn't make gen 3 synths work menial labour" they will begin plotting how to get you out of the picture. 200 years treating people like lab rats can't be undone by a single outsider appointed by a dead leader.

[@patches4170]

Its so sad to me how you cant correct their course even as the leader, and instead you basically just work for Justin Ayo.

[@PotatoPatatoVonSpudsworth]

If I was writing Fallout 4, I would've had Sean be a child instead of a baby, and had the tutorial/character creation involve choosing the sorts of life lessons and bonding experiences you have with your kid. Have him be like 8 when he's taken. Old enough to make the parental bond actually matter, but not old enough to stop his 70-ish years at the Institute from transforming him into someone barely recognizable. And it heartfelt moments he'd reference childhood memories based off what you chose at the game's start to really hammer you with the feels.

[@DforDeacon]

I feel the same, too! The tutorial could have mirrored the beginning of Fallout 3 to a degree except the player is the parent, both parents are alive, and it takes place prewar. Could have even had a birthday party for Shaun in which you get to converse with him, his friends, your neighbors, and your spouse. Maybe the player is even able to teach Shaun how to shoot a BB gun that they get him for his birthday! Really, an extended experience of prewar would have just been great in general. Could have visited different locations that are later in ruins while bonding with your family. The main thing to avoid with a longer prewar intro would be defining too much about the PC. In Fallout 3, the players are able to define themselves through plenty of choices before ever leaving the vault while also bonding with Liam Dadson. For a mirrored experience in Fallout 4, the player would then have to make plenty of choices that determine what kind of parent/spouse they are as well as their relationship with their spouse and son. The player will then be more invested in both their spouse and Shaun from the start. Naturally, Shaun will be hyped up about Halloween right before the bombs fall.

[@MMDDisciple]

The first witcher game does a good job of this. They have you tutor a child for awhile, until he slips through time for one reason or another, and then you meet his adult self later - he preaches the beliefs you taught him, albeit in an extreme form.

[@PotatoPatatoVonSpudsworth]

@@DforDeacon | EXACTLY! Let the player build out this crucial relationship in their head and through their actions before ripping it away. Of course, doing so would have required skilled writers and designers working to make the options remain entertaining and varied. I don't think the staff Bathesda hired would've been capable of pulling that off, considering how they handled other aspects of the game...

[@DivineLightPaladin]

I would've liked that and to have lived in the vault for a little bit at least before the cryogenics began

[@noriakikakyoin1423]

That's just gonna make me enjoy killing Shaun even more when I devour his corpse

[@jartotornroos4897]

Father always struck me, as a complete psychopath 😮 "Would you even survive" Who would say that to their mom or dad? If in similar circumstances, I mean...

[@jinx1987]

👀

[@wolfen210959]

It's important to realise, that at this point Shaun does not know what being a son means, he knows nothing of parenthood, he does not know and can have no feelings for his parents, as he never knew them. It is that realisation, which ultimately causes his mum/dad to lay some beat on that ass, the realisation that they fought their way through the commonwealth to reach their son, and realise that he is an asswipe.

[@rus0004]

Remember that Shaun is in his 70s, and already dying. Normally, his parents would have been long dead anyway. A couple of years ago he became aware of the fact that one of his parents was not only alive, but still in the prime of their life. However, he has doubts about whether he really wants to meet with this person - whether the person in the vault would live up to what he imagined a parent to be. Is it unrealistic to think he'd say "Let's just let them out, and just see what they do with themselves."

[@tiptoppervga]

My main concern (which is why I eventually joined with the Minutemen or the BOS) is because Shaun's mentality which is tainted by the Institute. Not only does he view Gen 3 synths as property despite being technically human clones, he views his mother's (or father's, if you chose Nora) DEATH as "collateral damage." I'm sorry Shaun, but even though I brought you into this world, I'm taking you out of it.

[@JDLT14]

who better? poetic justice

[@whowantsfreepizza4507]

it would've been great to have a subplot through the player's interactions with Father where the player's actions and morals begin to rub off on him a little. You *are* his parent after all, he probably looks up to you even just a little, despite being physically older than you. Slowly influencing his choices and making him a better person.

[@stryker1999]

@@whowantsfreepizza4507 Possibly. Of course Bethy was running out of time to make the release in time for lots of money. A lot of good ideas had to be cut. And then there's that Human nature thing. When you're raised in a certain environment, especially when you reach old age, you're pretty well set in your ways and your thinking. More than likely, Father would have softened slightly, thinking how quaint it was that our sentimentality might be rubbing off on him. But after all is said and done, the Institute is serious business...

[@TsukihiKaguya]

​@@whowantsfreepizza4507i wish that becoming leader of the institute allowed you to make some changes like stopping Mutant production, The replacement program and the taking back of synths. Could also use the existing synths coursers for clearing super mutant camps

[@LynetteTheMadScientist]

It’s such a deep betrayal. Devastating for the Sole Survivor. Can you imagine your own son telling you that he doesn’t care that the love of your life, his own father/mother is dead?

[@theophobia3267]

Fallout 4 was literally just the reverse of fallout 3

[@mikeferguson1833]

I still can’t believe that human race still hasn’t found out what happens in the railroad as no one has actually ever beaten that ending before

[@PorkFork]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that their ending is they all fuse into an actual train and ride across the land freeing all the electronics.

[@swordfish949]

@@PorkFork for fuck sake take your upovite and leave

[@TheBurningWarrior]

@@PorkFork They get more sympathetic when you realize modern synths aren't robots, but cyborg Frankenstein's grown cell by cell (into bodyparts which are fused together) into real people.

[@arifhossain9751]

@@TheBurningWarrior those are just the gen 3s tho. gen 1 and 2 are fully robotic with "human like" exteriors. Valentine is a gen 2. gen 3s are effectively human clones.

[@TheBurningWarrior]

​@@arifhossain9751 Yep, earlier synths are just advanced humanish robots. IIRC though, Valentine is closer to human than most gen 2's since he's a (prototype?) simulation of a pre-existing human brain. Still, not actually a human, but more a case of, "as a Photograph is to a person's image, Valentine is to someone's personality". A recording of a mind played back.

[@angelicseras552]

Usually just pop father in the face when first meeting him, because it feels thematically relevant and adds a bit of irony to the situation. My character will never know that it was his son and will die believing he single-handedly avenged his wife and son.

[@jblockman_59nunyabidnis68]

I killed him on his death bed at the very end of a brotherhood campaign "it didn't have to end this way" * Bang * "I still loved you."

[@ACEVENCHESSE29]

Um no cause the moment you shoot him somebody tells you that you killed your son when you are leaving over the intercom

[@evanboll4651]

That is pretty much what happened. Shaun was dead decades before you were defrosted. The Father is someone else possessing his corpse.

[@jefferycrouse4652]

Ah the TFS approach to dealing with Shaun

[@ninjaswordtothehead]

Exactly how my playthroughs went after the first one.

[@dwagin6315]

I honestly really like this idea cause it brings up the question, "What is family?" At the time your son was taken, he was only an infant incapable of understanding the world around him. So, when you finally meet Shaun, he's an old man who has already lived most of his life. He was raised by the institutes cold and calculated way of life. You weren't there for him during his most important years, and therefore left no impression on him. At that point, can you even call him your son? Sure, by blood, he's related, but you guys share no bond together. At that point, he's a completely different person. Honestly, I wish Bethesda did a bit more with this idea. They're capable of pretty good ideas, they just need better writers to realize them.

[@mikevids342]

That’s why parenting isn’t an AFK job

[@simple-commentator-not-rea7345]

No they're not fucking 'capable', the hell are you smoking?!

[@vex_13]

They need better writers that actually know how their game works! We need a story that encourage exploration and become all kind of character.

[@jesusrubiomaldonado27]

Do you know what family really is? It is all those settlements that need your help. Here, let me mark them on your map

[@sebastiann.8088]

​@@jesusrubiomaldonado27I almost forgot about that, thank you 🥰

[@MrJoeBlaze]

1:25 Meanwhile BOS Vertibird in the background.

[@golhandincmen]

elder maxson making sure that you're doing your job :)

[@robd9413]

For me, the bit that turns me away from the Institute isn't this "experiment" speech from Shaun, but the notes in the FEV lab you find while looking for the Serum. It says that, despite being told they weren't getting anywhere, the Bioscience department continued shoving people, including children, into the FEV to see what happened for years. That is not only ethical and morally evil, but it is also stupid from a scientific point of view - it is quite literally doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Somehow I know more about the FEV process from a quick chat with Fawkes in Fallout 3 than the Institute managed to figure out in years of experimenting on people. As an aside, I normally do a Minutemen playthrough although I have completed it previously with all 4 Factions. The main reason for Minutemen is I need loads of settlements for my Jet-Ammo strategy so I've done their quest on the way through, but having 3 out of 4 factions survive is a bonus.

[@keithsavagelives]

I feel the same- think of all the people brutally eaten alive by Super Mutants: this is all on Shaun's head. In my current playthrough, I'm thinking of popping him as soon as I meet him.

[@codyreed717]

Well to be blunt sciences is all about repetition and ensuring your statistics are correct

[@robd9413]

​@@codyreed717 According to the logs, they have already wasted countless trials (and lives) doing the same thing over and over with no progress. In this case dipping random kidnap victims into FEV to see what happens. If the repetition/iteration is getting you closer to the expected target, sure, keep going, but once it is clear it isn't working, you'd try something else. Otherwise it is bad scientific practice (in addition to being evil)

[@DJ_Bonebraker]

Yeah, between the CPG massacre, the University Point Massacre & what is revealed from investigating the FEV lab, I could never side with the Institute. I do play along with them long enough to steal plans for their synth production & other things (via a few mods I have) as well as all the unique weapons & items you can get from them, but ultimately end up siding with the Minutemen & using them to basically found a New Commonwealth Republic, with the BoS acting as airlift/heavy fire support and the Railroad more or less getting co-opted into being the Minutemen's Intelligence division. Hell, I even built up Vault 88 as an antithesis to not only the Institute, but Vault-Tec as well: I took all the most ethical options for all the experiments, then after the former overseer took her leave, built not only a synth production facility in the vault, but also a full-on automated manufacturing facility that produces clothes, armor, energy weapons & ammo, but unlike the Institute, which has completely sealed itself off from the surface, Vault 88 allows anyone to come & go as they please & is a fairly major trade hub in the southern commonwealth.

[@KunoichiPeri]

You act like it's surprising...have you forgotten how insane "The Master" was in Fallout 1, because spoilers...its the same people...The big reveal here...is "The Master" was part of the Institute before Fallout 1!

[@matthewlebo1841]

There really needs to be a dialogue option expressing just how fucked up this is. I just had a run where I fought for the Railroad at Bunker Hill and quit the Institute when I talk to Shaun on the roof. First thing he did was send in his synth hit squad to kill me at the Castle.

[@UteChewb]

I often trigger that scene deliberately. By that stage, the Castle is a fortified monster, maxed out with missile turrets and heavy laser turrets. The Institute forces don't stand a chance. And then, well, I just *have* to return the favour. Bwahaha.

[@Dennis-nc3vw]

You can definitely grill him more than this exchange seems to show. He'll end the conversation saying "Everything I've done has been for the future, you'll understand that soon enough."

[@errebusaether]

@@Dennis-nc3vw Shauns sounds like a hypocrite.

[@jayh5840]

There really should have been more than 4 options that vaguely elude to what you will actually say. It's so incredibly frustrating compared to the amount of freedom you're given in previous games, so many times I've looked at every response I can give and thought "why would I say any of this? Why can't I tell this person I'm about to blow his head off?"

[@soultakerte]

So I remember meeting your son for the first time. I thought they turned my son into a robot and turned him off. I blew his head off his shoulders before he could talk. My friend was dying laughing. Saying dude you didn't realize he looked like your character? I was like what.

[@seoulrosado4565]

That is so fucking funny 😭

[@nijadbahnam9859]

A theorie is that Adult Shaun isn't actually the real son of the protagonist but a clone . And if you know anything about clones in Fallout , they have trends of being psychotic.

[@Dante.-]

There’s more truth to the idea the player himself is a synth by the fact his memory only goes as far back as the bombing

[@general444444]

​@@Dante.- There’s more truth to the idea that this is just a game.

[@Dante.-]

@@general444444 yeah but the game itself pointed out this idea DIMA in the far harbor DLC has a whole conversation about the fact you lack memories before the bombing, he says it’s a sign of being a synth but also admits could just be trauma/radiation related

[@zaatas]

​@@Dante.-But that isn't true. The protagonist has more knowledge about the past than the events you experience in the game. Just off the top of my head, the interview he gives to Piper, his knowledge of baseball. They also know about famous people that were alive during the pre war era.

[@Rekaert]

0:40 BoS Vertibird just hanging out in the background. "Just say the word, sir."

[@musicalbiohazard3207]

I remember seeing a screnshot of someone putting Father's body in his old crib years ago and I wondered how they did it because of how you deal with the Institute, I guess this is how they got his body without cheesing game mechanics

[@VaultBoy1321]

Oh yeah that's right! I remember that meme. 😂

[@DutchGuyMike]

@@VaultBoy1321 aye :D

[@wouterkessel4852]

Also you can just, you know, summon NPC's to you using the commands, kill them than throw the body into the crib

[@DutchGuyMike]

@@wouterkessel4852 He said "I guess this is how they got his body without cheesing game mechanics" cheesing is including the console :P

[@bjornironside7941]

Type TLC and kill Shaun,then drag his body till you reach your base and put him where you like

[@MindofFallen]

i personally can’t stand any of the factions in this game

[@cyak]

Ave true to Caesar

[@cyber_stealth]

@@cyak Ave!

[@DarkNova50]

@@cyak I personally found the Legion to be one of the most despicable factions in the franchise. Would have been fun to fight them using the types of power armour and weapons you can cobble together in Fallout 4.

[@nathanwilliams3877]

@@cyak legion sucks bro, buncha skirt-wearing incels who are too retarded to know that they are being tricky trolled by a man who is only as smart as a modern-day philosophy student

[@karstenmadsen14]

@@DarkNova50 Factions don't need to be agreeable to be interesting. The Legion was coherent, well written, had goals, weaknesses and believable stories. The fact that this made them satisfying to hate is still proof of good faction design. None of the factions in F4 have much depth at all - the only ones that really seem fleshed out beyond the surface are the Brotherhood and the Institute and even then it's incredibly limited.

[@RoscoeCoyote]

"after all this time" Shaun, I've been frozen for 200 years, there hasn't been any time.

[@CorbinMusso88]

It’s hard to take the dramatic scene seriously with the giant rusty wings and nuka glasses. 😂😂

[@Heyhowareya97]

Them glasses hard bruh 😂🤣

[@saintsinningsword]

Way I see it, Baby Shaun was groomed and grew up to be as sociopathic as the institute scientists who raised him. He was a baby, not even old enough to feel attachment or loss of parents.

[@MrTod1984]

The brotherhood is the other extreme of the institute The railroad is a very specific faction The Minutemen is the only faction that won't screw over the commonwealth

[@northerner3861]

The Minutemen are the lame default. Literally all that's wrong with them from a storytelling POV. It's honestly pretty funny, since they're meant to be the "Yes Man" of FO4, but they really have the New Vegas "In Over Their Heads and Doomed Without Your Help" NCR vibe.

[@lahiruerangafile]

@@northerner3861 Minutemen questline was the only good one, others just overcomplicate simple things to make it look like that makes a good story, and we have to pretend like it's all smart, interesting and philosophical

[@Yes-Man1337]

@@lahiruerangafile​​⁠F that America Rising 2 mod just came out, I destroyed the institute & brotherhood with the Enclave 😎😎. Also essentially used another mod to turn the Minutemen into the Enclave😂😂

[@lahiruerangafile]

@@Yes-Man1337 Bruh

[@Yes-Man1337]

@@lahiruerangafile Mega Enclave W. Mod story spoilers: In this mod you can literally re-build the enclave & become a pretty high ranking officer😉 I won’t say more in case you decide to play it.

[@cythespaghetticat]

Bro releases us to possibly die when he could have gone down to the vault and got us himself

[@niemniej3441]

But why would he do that? He doesn't really know us, he was brought up by scientists and possibly he didn't even know about us until he became a head of the Institute, and by this time he probably didn't really care anymore.

[@SydneySighs]

The Institute attempt to be all knowing and essentially slave owners, Railroad only seems to have one goal from what I remember, Brotherhood are comically over militaristic, and the Minutemen has Preston Garvey. As you can see, all are almost unsustainable in long term.

[@UteChewb]

Railroad are commandos, Brotherhood are a religious order, Minutemen are the police, and the Institute is a centre of learning (but in effect Nazis underground). Each is a twisted form of what they say they are. Together, if they were wiser they could form a viable society and renew the world, but that isn't an option.

[@meloney]

@@Andrewbaysura1 You're right. They only last as long as someone helps that settlement over there that I marked on the map. But really, more militarized minuteman, like in the mod "militarized minuteman" together with the project Valkyrie mod, makes them so much better, as they now have special forces, better equiptment and so much more. It's great.

[@meloney]

@@Andrewbaysura1 New York could be great and I'm quite sure the next will be in NYC, they scrapped so much and even the whole nyc idea that it would be stupid to not do that. Even in annexed Canada maybe. I'd love another one on the west coast even more so we can get more of the NCR again. Kinda missed them. I'd guess it's pretty much set in the same timespan as the last fallouts except 76. Just a glimpse of a new civilisation based on people from the last Fallouts so the work there was not for nothing. Always going outside again into the wasteland. I'd generally love the idea of a fallout not directly in the US. So many possibilities. Maybe we get a leak soon. Just like they did with GTA 6.

[@johnnyboy3410]

the Brotherhood will never have a civil war, they’re experiencing their golden age right now and they don’t force anyone to stay, Railroad literally sacrifice humans to save synths, easily the worst faction in the game, Minutemen would go back to being shit when the SS eventually dies and the Minutemen aren’t government, just police force

[@jblockman_59nunyabidnis68]

Ah yes, the organization that's a US army remnant is overly militaristic... Galaxy brain moment

[@idiotidiot5821]

Killing him the exact second he teleported back in was the funniest choice I ever made in a game. The amount of quest fails and starts from it and every instute npc talking at once lol it teleported me in with all of them angry at me and synths shooting and fathers body in pieces in front of me and then it teleported me right back out. I couldnt stop laughing

[@skoomagohard2789]

Lmao nice

[@RedStar441]

Shaun becoming a sociopathic egomaniac from growing up fatherless is well, a little too accurate.

[@FortniteOG420]

Yeah after this point I stole every single cup, mug, and clipboard from the Institute and blew it up with Liberty Prime

[@RedDogForge]

its always been apparent to me that the sole survivor, based on their ability to thrive, was more than just a veteran, they were obviously special forces of some sort.

[@mikfhan]

I tend to go with the Synth theory :) why else would you survive so well but drift off into side missions instead of straight for the Institute, also explains some of the strange dialogue. Perhaps you are a testbed for the next generation synth without even a brain implant. Loading a previous save is just the synth discarding a simulation run where they died or failed some important criteria for a better one. The pre-war and murdered spouse just memories planted before you were started up. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnS9mJSnZbJgl8k

[@quantumsword296]

Or like every other main character the pip boy carried him

[@crazemase5788]

Canonically Nate was infantry, which is why he knows how to use power armor

[@MadGlad-Dummy]

@@crazemase5788 you mean heavy infantry? Power armor seems like that or did I miss something?

[@destinypunch1097]

@@crazemase5788 yeah but in the intro he war wearing combat amour im not saying he doesn't know how but the game took power amour training out

[@Firewalk368]

“I brought you into this world, I can take you out of it.”

[@pyro8696]

Most excellent application of that phrase! Well done

[@mikeyf7039]

Turns out the courser *can* handle it on his own. I couldn’t commit to a side so I used a stealth boy for that mission, didn’t fire once, thinking if I didn’t engage with the railroad I could stay on good relations with them. It worked. They behave as though I wasn’t there.

[@LynetteTheMadScientist]

Because it’s more an initiation ritual than an actual mission. Shaun wants to see who’s side you’re truly on

[@wolfen210959]

Same goes for the Brotherhood, they do actually know that you are there, plenty of them see you, but so long as you don't take part in the combat, there are no consequences for either faction. It even makes no difference to the institute if you release the synths, so long as you don't admit to doing so, and yes, you have to kill one courser to play it this way.

[@AwesomeDude799]

I'm lmao at the way you just blasted him immediately. 🤣

[@theravenlordmasterofthevib8991]

The thing that bothers me the most about how the Institute is portrayed is that according to them, synths aren’t people, just tools, but they also talk like synths are the next evolution of humanity and meant to inherit the world. One of the scientists in the Institute points out how absolutely backwards this logic is, which means Bethesda was aware of how little sense it made, yet never tried to justify it

[@reduande]

It's not. They want creative human mind in the body of robot or android. But were not quite there yet. So current synths are just a tool. But in the future they replace humanity. The institut just started replacing humans sooner. To "smooth" the process.

[@theravenlordmasterofthevib8991]

@@reduande what do you mean they weren’t there yet? Every Gen 3 Synth you encounter in the game is every bit as mentally advanced as a human or at least has the capacity to be

[@reduande]

@@theravenlordmasterofthevib8991 do you know diff between AI and VI? You can program VI to simulate a personality. And enabled selflearning. It would display emotions, but didn't feel them.

[@reduande]

@@theravenlordmasterofthevib8991 synth 3 can extrapolate and display emotions of their interests. But the Institut wants android who has creative mind of human artists. To create on whim, have dreams instead of goals and missions. Many robots in the game display this behaviour. Starting with the ones running from the Institut. But they, acc to lore, don't feel it. It's conclusions of their VI. In the game you see VI becoming AI. But the Institut wants to create new race.

[@stryker1999]

@@reduande Actually, you don't know either. It's actually more Human to give a being the benefit of the doubt. If you meet an android from another civilization, are you going to treat it like a toaster? That would be terribly short sighted, and both alien androids and Synth androids would be fashioned beings. Humanocencricity might be part of the reason that aliens haven't made direct contact with us yet, among other reasons. Assuming space aliens are real.

[@cstains5543]

Should be named "Fallout 4, good core gameplay loop, factions too dumb to tie their own shoes, and a main plot so filled with holes you'll fall all the way to China if you examine it too deeply""

[@SpliffyHusk]

The major plot hole for me is Kellogg memory, he says old man, but has Shaun the synth.

[@RPGTKingpin]

@@SpliffyHusk I was under the impression that Kellog was never told that Father was Shaun. His interactions have always been with middlemen. The real plothole though, is when in his timeline he was given Shaun the synth, and how much information he was given about said synth. If he was given the synth after the real Shaun was already an old man, then you're faced with the reality that he knew that couldn't've been the kid that he took from the vault. If he was given the synth when the real Shaun was the same age, then the question becomes, who authorised that decision, and for what purpose? That being said, it's been a while since I played through the game, so some details are fuzzy.

[@SpliffyHusk]

@@RPGTKingpin somehow I believe more than Shaun is dead, they never go into detail as to how Shaun forwarded the synths, but I don’t feel like he could’ve been kept alive

[@Jacob-vh8bf]

-And also Companions that are somehow much more engaging and enjoyable than a multitude of mainline quests

[@masterthomas7872]

I am starting to believe that Father wasn't Nate's child. I am starting to theorize this was a social experiment of sorts to see how far a man is willing to find his lost child. It's the type of stuff of experiments that scientist will do.

[@JohnniDaFreakk]

Honestly this is a good theory, but it gets debunked when you realize that certain things about Sean's model change depending on your characters appearance

[@justgavin_]

@@JohnniDaFreakki know skin color changes depending on how light/dark you make your character but if i give my character fucked up looking eyes and whatnot will that reflect on Sean?

[@WolfHeathen]

It's the type of thing I see Vault-Tec doing.

[@Gsus2Retardado]

​​@@justgavin_ i did it and it does, but it's a lot less extreme than yours (i didn't change the female character though, so maybe it mixes traits from both the male and female parents or something) i made a fucked up face with wide blue eyes that were too far apart and Shaun had a similar face

[@ZoofyZoof]

​@@justgavin_Yes it will. He's programmed to adapt your facial features even if they're really messed up. The game attempts to copy it as best it can, but it won't ever look nearly as messed up as you really are. There's a good example of the mechanic on his wiki page

[@SilverStrumer]

I had this same feeling when I saw the Fallout TV series finale when Lucy finds out the truth.

[@danielbob2628]

To be honest, this is the one part of Shaun that I understand the most. When you've been isolated all your life, you start to get the urge to put loved ones through "tests." Considering the environment of the Institute, it's no surprise that these urges came to a psychopathic crescendo. It's the same reason why romantic partners sometimes isolate themselves after a big fight and wait for their partner to find a way to contact them. They want answers about how loved they are and what the relationship is really like, especially after the fight put everything into doubt. Neither is a good thing, of course. I'm just trying to explain. I know that Shaun's narrative position makes it seem like he's supposed to be an invincible genius who represents a fundamental way to see the world. And I know that things like this make it seem like the writers are failing to let him live up to that obligation. But that's not who he is. He's just a kid, even after all these years.

[@i_am_squishy6230]

So we can save Caesar, the leader of a group of people against tech reliance, but we can’t save father without making him a mutant.

[@FlyfishermanMike]

Psychopaths often have a "I just wanted to see what would happen" compulsion.

[@yuin3320]

That was definitely the impression I got from this too, but also it doesn't sound like they actually opted for that, and instead just force people to fill in the blanks without letting you dig deeper into his personality.

[@Yuni-is-Schrodingers-Fox]

​@@FlyfishermanMike...I mean yeah but by that logic every single scientist throughout all of history who has used the scientific method would be a psychopath because the first step is literally 'want to see if what I think is going to happen will happen'

[@cptvalkyr4132]

The fact that they kidnapped my son and killed my wife and raised him as his own, just made me go Soldier Boy mode.

[@osmaine2755]

Why soldier boy mode

[@harleyx7332]

It speaks volumes about the other factions that the MINUTEMENT were the ones that seemed the least selfish and most helpful. By the time i had gotten to know all the other factions i wanted nothing more than a nuclear winter.

[@themarlboromandalorian]

Yeah but were they actually helpful? I was the only one who actually did anything. Sometimes I'd have Preston in tow but I usually left him behind because he's annoying. I was the one doing missions. I was the one with dirt and blood on my hands. Those jerks just stood around where I left them, and only did perimeter defense at my instruction. Outfitted by my scavving efforts. Tending crops I planted because I told them to do it. Living in buildings I built. Nobody in that game is worth a damn without instructions. Brotherhood at least sends patrols. Runs under their own steam. Raiders do the same, just more underhanded and less tech and manners. Institute is independent villains. Railroad does it's best to actually assimilate themselves into the local culture... But they kill every single synth they rescue so they're actually the most evil... But you get any of them away from their factions and they become brainless purposeless peasants. They're all shit options.

[@AKUJIVALDO]

​@@themarlboromandalorianthat is because you are supposed to take over the Boston, be the King and rule it as you see fit LOL

[@jordoruiz0001]

Shaun is not a bad man, just emotionally stunted by being raised by scientists. Here he is saying he wanted to see what kind of man his father was, and have the few days he could with him. You guys are showing the same level of stuntment by not recognizing it.

[@sindurwavesismaturf]

This dialogue is what made me believe the Institute plotline was cut short. I mean we never get an explanation for exactly why they were replacing random wastelanders with Synth versions of themselves. I think they were experimenting with Synths to learn the extent they would develop a personality all on their own. The idea was if an infiltrator could fully assimilate with its new life in a manner the rest of the close friends and family never suspect anything, the Synth had successfully adapted its personality. I think the player character was meant to be a prototype courser that was never told it's a Synth, given one memory that provides a singular goal and let loose on the commonwealth so the institute could monitor the personality you develop all on you own

[@xXscreamingkoalaXx]

Agreed, that is the best version of the story.

[@redacted9694]

I think Far Harbour would back you up on this theory

[@Reaver1223]

We know why they were replacing wastelanders with synths. Either research of the above ground environment (ex: Roger Warwick) or political control of important settlements (McDonough)

[@ПавелУшкин-п7р]

@@Reaver1223 but why did they replaced so many? All of the supermutants in the commonwealth r made by the institute, that means institute have kidnapped hundreds of people! And not all of the kidnapped people were turned into mutants, so its even more then!

[@duloth5518]

Each Synth infiltrator had its own specific purpose. The Institute needed to prevent civilization from recovering on the surface, and needed to conduct research in real-world conditions. As such they used selectively placed Synths to interfere with multi-settlement cooperation or any attempt at a larger organization, not-quite-randomly placed supermutants to sow chaos and death, preventing settlements from getting organized and driving normal people into hiding, alongside mercenaries and robot death squads to just make absolutely certain nothing arose in the Commonwealth that could be competition or interfere with their plans. Just systematically ruthlessly evil.

[@Shorty_Lickens]

the only time I let him live is if I plan on joining and running the Institute. Every other playthru I kill him immediately. Fun Fact: if you do all that stuff before meeting Preston in Concorde you get some very special dialog from him.

[@CdrChaos]

I picked the Minutemen because they weren’t a lesser of two evils like the Brotherhood versus the Institute, the Minutemen just wanted to make the Commonwealth a safer place for everyone.

[@DudeTheMighty]

Agreed. Even if they're kinda naive, and really idealistic, the Minutemen were at least trying to do something unambiguously good.

[@cakrabayubudireksa4609]

Ay Minutemen

[@ACEVENCHESSE29]

Same I'm with the minutemen all the way because they actually care about uniting everyone together to rebuild

[@CdrChaos]

@@ACEVENCHESSE29 I went overboard with the cosplay, I tracked down the NPC who made their uniforms, farmed the sturdy combat armor from the mercenaries in the city down south, and gave each new recruit an upgraded Laser Musket to serve as settlement guards across the Commonwealth. Those Laser Muskets work wonders with V.A.T.S. targeting.

[@cynicat74]

Pretty much. Give the Minutemen the same training as the Sole Survivor had from back when he was a pre-war soldier, and they'd be the best option for the Commonwealth, easily. The only issue the Minutemen ever had was relying on the kindness of strangers willing to put their lives at risk for people they've never met, instead of salaries.

[@John_Conner222]

"I brought you into this world I can take you out of it" -Liam Nelson Fallout 3

[@yihadistxdl951]

this is the moment when the player finally realizes that his son is already dead

[@SrChr778]

Looking at "You are SPECIAL" book in intro level: "I wonder what Shaun will grow up to be?" 200+ years later: Mommy's Little Monster

[@The_House_Always_Wins]

If you could make the institute less comically evil when you become director I would side with them in a heartbeat

[@brodypullishy932]

Well to side with them you have to do comically evil things

[@cirrusupdraft]

Well, there’s always the Project Valkyrie mod, which lets you take over the institute and make it actually good, and if you’re on Xbox there’s always Subversion, same idea, different execution

[@cynicat74]

Tbf if you tried to reform the Institute, you'd get assassination attempts, coups, attempted revolutions, and probably downright civil war.

[@JDLT14]

The Minutemen taking the Institute by force would be humanity's best hope

[@adrenjones9301]

@@JDLT14 Minutemen taking the Institute with Brotherhood still alive. Leaving the Brotherhood to kill Raiders, Mutants and Ghouls, with the Minutemen keeping the Commonwealth safe and keeping the Brotherhood in check. Best of both Worlds.

[@eddie3716]

In my head canon, I overlook all the asshattery of the Institute, join them, and use my new authority as Director of the Institute to make the world a better place, rebuild, get along with everyone, and make peace.