• captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    They’re all bad guys. That’s the point of the game. The Legion are the worst bad guys, and the NCR are probably the least bad, but they’re all bad

    • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.net
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      7 months ago

      The NCR seems to represent the real world government and what is normal in reality. They have made missteps that have led to tragedy but overall, are still good and probably the best chance that world has to returning to how things were before the bombs fell.

      The BOS are technofascists and the Legion are Luddite fascists. They have practically the same ideas for how they want to control the world, but have opposite ideals about technology.

      The only faction worse than the previous two is the Enclave, which represent the fear of government; they embody every aspect of every anti-government conspiracy featured in pop culture. The shadow government; the illuminati; the men in black.

      I want to mention the Institution, but they’re just so poorly written and can swing from Enclave-like evil to not being evil at all after the Sole Survivor takes over that I honestly just hope the show never bothers to mention them because they don’t fit as neatly into the world as the rest, which were created by better writers.

      • DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe
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        7 months ago

        The NCR is a direct metaphor for Westward Expansion era America, complete with democratic ideals and a reality of rampant corruption, conquest of territory and the genocide of the natives, and a brewing slavery/“sharecropping” crisis. They even have a belief equivalent to Manifest Destiny, as they consider themselves the rightful inheritors of America, sea to shining sea.

        The only question is whether that means the Legion is their metaphorical Confederacy, if their Slaveholder Rebellion is coming, or if maybe it’s silly to take the metaphor any deeper.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I agree. And with the institute I find it particularly frustrating because of what they could be: scientists and engineers unconstrained by obligations or laws. They shouldn’t be the enclave, they should be defending themselves by talking about the calculation of the risks, and how they produced these good things as well. They should be mostly kept in check by internal conflicts and a lack of desire to rule. When they’re enclave level boogeymen they aren’t as interesting.

      • OrnateLuna@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        7 months ago

        Kinda makes sense that emulating prewar government will have the best chance of returning life to how it was before, but then again same thing lead to the war so probably not the best option eother5

    • dalekcaan@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      I wouldn’t say the NCR is bad per se. They seem misguided, and there are definitely bad people in it, but most of them do seem to be trying to make the Mojave a better place.

      I don’t buy the game trying to tell me Caesar’s justified, though. Traders saying “they keep the raiders at bay,” as if they’re not doing just as much raping and murdering as the raiders.

      The only faction I actually like is the Followers of the Apocalypse. They seem like the only ones trying to make things better without serving their own agenda. It’s too bad you can’t do more for them.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I felt like the game wasn’t trying to say that Caesar was justified. He kept the raiders at bay but was generally worse to live under

        • DragonTypeWyvern@literature.cafe
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          7 months ago

          The Legion are raiders. They are just what happens when a raider gang gets big enough, they become a state/kingdom/empire, and the smaller tribal identities are devoured and before you know you it you’re on the path to a larger national identity.

        • dalekcaan@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          Yeah, sorry, I didn’t word that well. The game makes it clear that the legion is the bad guy, I just mean the NPCs who defend the legion don’t make a very good case

          • Cowbee [he/him]@lemmy.ml
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            7 months ago

            How could they? The Legion is a fascist slave army, and Caesar misunderstands Hegel and misues the Dialectic. The entire nation is built on a sham, which is obvious to the player, but systemically reinforced upon the NPCs. Thus, it is believable while being undoubtedly wrong.