Honest Dan

[ElGordo]

I was planning to go with a bit of irony/poetic justice and make it a synth relocation settlement for the RR.

 

[Muddball]

I always think 'I should do evil playthroughs' on games for the RP experience, and ... I just can't do it.

Try playing with the difficulty cranked up, even loading up mods that make the game deliberately harder. (horizon is excellent) Then be ruthlessly pragmatic. Leave the drug dealer alive at Drumlin Diner because you need another person to sell junk to for caps. Yes of course you deserve that praise, and its ok if they didn't give you the shirts off their back, but they will give you something to replace the cost of the ammo you used. Don't charge them extra just because you can, charge them extra because Combat Stimpacks are 400 caps EACH and show up as often as mini-nukes. Do not clear out the nest of mutants unless someone else is taking the brunt of the fighting. Use flares, better minutemen die then you. You are their general anyways.

 

[tankthing]

I'm not so sure Warwick is a valid reason to be afraid of the institute. By all accounts the patriarch of that settlement was a mean drunk up until replacement.

 

[Jonnan]

I'm not so sure Warwick is a valid reason to be afraid of the institute. By all accounts the patriarch of that settlement was a mean drunk up until replacement.

Stage 1:
Using genetic manipulation, we will develop a unique breed of Cucurbitaceae with similar characteristics to those commonly farmed in the Commonwealth.

Stage 2:
Acquire Roger Warwick, patriarch of Warwick Homestead, and conduct a series of intensive interrogation sessions to learn all we can about his life and family.

Stage 3:
With the intelligence gathered in Stage 2, create a synth replica of Roger Warwick and embed the unit on-site at Warwick Homestead to oversee the operation directly. SRB will handle logistics of this aspect of the initiative.

Stage 4:
Begin covert deliveries of prototype seed batches for planting.

Stage 5:
Collect observational data from embedded unit.

Stage 6:
When sufficient data has been collected, retrieve synth unit and specimens for lab study. Purge all surface evidence of the initiative.

Two problems.
A - there's no way to read Stage 2's 'Intensive Interrogation' as anything but torture the man for information. I haven't seen any evidence of cells where they keep someone before reinserting them into their lives, so in point of fact it means 'Torture him for information, then kill him and dispose of the body.'
B - Given the obviousness of that euphemism and the institute track record of cleaning up loose ends by, say, murdering all but two people in Vault 111, I don't think there's any legit way to read 'Purge All surface evidence of the initiative' as anything but 'kill everyone there'.
I know a lot of Institute apologists that insist 'Purge all surface evidence ...' is in no way euphemistic. Bluntly, I don't buy it. As I read it the plan explicitly includes two children dying not knowing why Dad turned on them. Even Vault-tec is not as bad as that.

 

[Muddball]

.... Even Vault-tec is not as bad as that.

Yes they were.

 

[tankthing]

Two problems.
A - there's no way to read Stage 2's 'Intensive Interrogation' as anything but torture the man for information. I haven't seen any evidence of cells where they keep someone before reinserting them into their lives, so in point of fact it means 'Torture him for information, then kill him and dispose of the body.'
B - Given the obviousness of that euphemism and the institute track record of cleaning up loose ends by, say, murdering all but two people in Vault 111, I don't think there's any legit way to read 'Purge All surface evidence of the initiative' as anything but 'kill everyone there'.
I know a lot of Institute apologists that insist 'Purge all surface evidence ...' is in no way euphemistic. Bluntly, I don't buy it. As I read it the plan explicitly includes two children dying not knowing why Dad turned on them. Even Vault-tec is not as bad as that.

Both good points also given that this game was meant to be a post apocalyptic horror story.

Besides, the player either destroys the institute or owns them and can absolutely cancel the program as they see fit. So in the end, are Wally and his sister and mom better off in an objective sense by the swapout?

There's really no right answer, only shades of wrong.

Is it implied that a man was tortured and killed? Totally.
Just another day in the wasteland. Life is cheap there. You save what you can, where you can.

Would killing Roger make things any better for his wife and kids? He's a synth that legit thinks he's Roger.

 

[Jonnan]

Both good points also given that this game was meant to be a post apocalyptic horror story.

Besides, the player either destroys the institute or owns them and can absolutely cancel the program as they see fit. So in the end, are Wally and his sister and mom better off in an objective sense by the swapout?

There's really no right answer, only shades of wrong.

Is it implied that a man was tortured and killed? Totally.
Just another day in the wasteland. Life is cheap there. You save what you can, where you can.

Would killing Roger make things any better for his wife and kids? He's a synth that legit thinks he's Roger.

I'm not quite sure where the personality edge goes in on synths. Diamond cities mayor to all appearances knows he's a synth masquerading as mayor.

But more on point, the director doesn't seem to have that much actual power as opposed to political influence. And the Institute's callous disregard for the surface seems very culturally baked in. I'm not at all sure the director can actually change that.

 

[Muddball]

There is alot to unpackage when it comes to the Director and how much the Institute has tried in the past to work together with others. Oxhorn is great about that kind of stuff tho, if you haven't already watched him