Fallout New Vegas: Story inconsistency?

[Stanislao Moulinsky]

The simple fact is that you've been shot twice in the head and lived, and are now standing and moving under your own power and have traveled to New Vegas from Goodsprings. That's good enough for House.

So he is special because he is a lucky bastard

You forget you still have a standing invitation from Victor to go inside the Lucky 38 and speak with House. He meets you on the Strip, within earshot of NCR personnel and probably one of the frumentarius. Even if you shot Victor on the Strip as he approached, the invitation and clearance to enter still stand. That alone would prove you don't worry about House or his Securitrons.

What I meant is that House apparently is interested in the Courier because, despite what happened to him, he was trying to find his shooter to have some answers and to complete his task, whihc isn't something that a common person would do in that situation, right? Except that in the scenario I described he simply drops his search for the truth and the Chip which means that the interest House had in the Courier was misplaced.

 

[DevilTakeMe]

So he is special because he is a lucky bastard

Sometimes all it boils down to is luck. All House could do in his position is have Victor dig you out of the grave and get you to Doc Mitchell ASAP. The rest was up to Mole-butt and your own healing ability.

If the Courier had died then and there, the story would have turned out a lot differently.

What I meant is that House apparently is interested in the Courier because, despite what happened to him, he was trying to find his shooter to have some answers and to complete his task, whihc isn't something that a common person would do in that situation, right? Except that in the scenario I described he simply drops his search for the truth and the Chip which means that the interest House had in the Courier was misplaced.

House only predicts with a high probability that you would chase after Benny, but he's not omniscient and he's not always right. If you skip meeting House at the Lucky 38 and speak with him at the underground bunker at the Fort after meeting Caesar, House tells you that he didn't expect you to go there ahead of schedule.

He also doesn't expect you to turn on him in any non-House route.

That's free will and non-linearity for you. A 10 Luck Stat like House's (which also reflects ones ability to calculate odds, as per the Luck implant) will only get you so far. Afterall, he was also off by a day when the Bombs started falling in 2077.

Thematically, it wouldn't be Vegas if you weren't taking a gamble. What everyone in the Mojave is doing is trying to stack the deck in their favor. They're all trying to get the other tribes and factions in the area on their side or take them out of play so that they can't be used against them.

That's why they all want to talk to the Courier. The Courier is a wild card (pun intended) and can switch the momentum in someone's favor.

The simple fact is, that the Courier confronts Benny, the chief of one of the most powerful tribes in New Vegas, and sends that guy either running scared or to his grave. That's a pretty public message to anyone around. If he happens to walk into the front doors of the Lucky 38, where no one else has been in two centuries, bonus points.

 

[Geech]

That's free will and non-linearity for you. A 10 Luck Stat like House's (which also reflects ones ability to calculate odds, as per the Luck implant) will only get you so far. Afterall, he was also off by a day when the Bombs started falling in 2077.

Thematically, it wouldn't be Vegas if you weren't taking a gamble.

This is a great point, that segues nicely into another.

In a practical sense, in an open, non-linear game like New Vegas, there's always a risk that the story line can be "broken" by the player. To guard against that you either have to make the story much simpler, and thus harder to break due to it's inherent nature, or much more complex, with extensive alternative scenarios taken into account. Whichever course of action you take, you reach a point at which you just have to accept that the risk of being broken in this fashion is acceptably small, for at least the first time through the game.

With New Vegas specifically, they created a pretty complex story with several different faction combinations possible. The fact that Caeser and the NCR will display an illogical level of interest in some paths doesn't really seem like all that big of a problem in comparison. Most players won't ever experience that, and those that do will most likely only see it in repeated plays. That's not a big deal.

 

[Tagaziel]

The point is that the Courier is special enough to have gained House's attention

Which, due to the non-linear nature of the game, isn't a great explanation. Since you can go directly to New Vegas after leaving Doc Mitchell's house what makes the Courier so special is, apparently, just his desire to have some answers from the man that shot him.
But even there there's a problem, because if you face Benny without talking to House, let Benny escape and then side with the NCR the whole "revenge" and "retrieve the Platinum Chip" things that brought you to New vegas are simply dropped. So much for that being the only thing that makes the Courier special.

Given the generally hostile nature of the area north of Goodsprings, passing through there and surviving is also a mark of excellence, enough to get House interested in the Courier.

 

[Stanislao Moulinsky]

Given the generally hostile nature of the area north of Goodsprings, passing through there and surviving is also a mark of excellence, enough to get House interested in the Courier.

Going directly to New Vegas doesn't necessarily mean taking the short route, though.

 

[Josan]

One of my 'favourite' inconsistencies is the NCR being completely unaware of Archimedes at Helios.

The information is right there on the computer in the bloody lobby. At the very least, they could have had those comps password protected and requiring a hack or had the info contained on only one or two comps in the tower itself.

Another related nitpick is that when you activate the solar array and leave, the Lt. out front, that gave you the quest to talk to Mr. Fantastic, doesn't say shit, not even an "Oh, yeah, you made it work. Thanks". Simple little things that shouldn't have been missed.

 

[Oppen]

One of my 'favourite' inconsistencies is the NCR being completely unaware of Archimedes at Helios.

The information is right there on the computer in the bloody lobby. At the very least, they could have had those comps password protected and requiring a hack or had the info contained on only one or two comps in the tower itself.

Another related nitpick is that when you activate the solar array and leave, the Lt. out front, that gave you the quest to talk to Mr. Fantastic, doesn't say shit, not even an "Oh, yeah, you made it work. Thanks". Simple little things that shouldn't have been missed.

About the first point, I reeeeeeally can't understand how did I missed it.
But like that, there must be a ton.

About the last point, it always bugged me a lot. I left people on Freeside and Westside (IIRC, but might be wrong) without light, lost the possibility to use the C-finder, and that motherfucker doesn't even thank me? Not talking about risking my life (depending on level and player ability and else, but come on, if it were real life, I wouldn't do that :p) fighting the security system over there.

 

[DevilTakeMe]

One of my 'favourite' inconsistencies is the NCR being completely unaware of Archimedes at Helios.

The information is right there on the computer in the bloody lobby. At the very least, they could have had those comps password protected and requiring a hack or had the info contained on only one or two comps in the tower itself.

I really wouldn't call it an inconsistency.

None of the entries in the terminals in the building make a note of what exactly is there, it's just a cryptic reference that there was testing going on there. Only the Mainframe terminal in the tower references anything specific.

The NCR would at best, know a name "ARCHIMEDES" but not have anything more about it without ascending the tower (which they can't, since the security systems are still on).

Furthermore, the reason why the NCR doesn't know more is because they placed an imbecile in charge who refuses to listen to anyone smarter. After all, as Ignacio points out, Mr. Fantastic spent months trying to get the wrong console to work and get it to make the plant's solar reflectors track the sun. The console in question controlled the plant's intercom system.

Another related nitpick is that when you activate the solar array and leave, the Lt. out front, that gave you the quest to talk to Mr. Fantastic, doesn't say shit, not even an "Oh, yeah, you made it work. Thanks". Simple little things that shouldn't have been missed.

It's not a particular nitpick when you consider that Haggerty really doesn't care about Helios-One. She's there under orders and is much more concerned about being on the frontline to fight the Legion.

It's an attitude relevant throughout the rest of the NCR in the Mojave - why bother with secondary facilities when their priority is Hoover Dam and its defense against the Legion?

Dr. Hildern, all the way over in Camp McCarran, however, will note that Helios-One is active, and he thinks that Fantastic is responsible (you can correct him on this).

About the last point, it always bugged me a lot. I left people on Freeside and Westside (IIRC, but might be wrong) without light, lost the possibility to use the C-finder, and that motherfucker doesn't even thank me? Not talking about risking my life (depending on level and player ability and else, but come on, if it were real life, I wouldn't do that :p) fighting the security system over there.

Fantastic is too dumb to know that the power is even on. Ignacio standing in the next room, knows you did something.

 

[Josan]

Inconsistency, idiocy, semantics, schemantics. Call it what you will.

Point is it's daft. Fantastic may be an idiot. Haggerty may not care but the NCR have been pissing around at Helios for quite sometime and it's simply silly that not one single person aside from Ignacio ever wondered what it was or entered the tower. Especially considering that Helios was worth fighting the Brotherhood over.

Point being it's one of those simple things that should have been addressed and wasn't: Characters saying things that make little sense or not acknowledging actions. Whether or not Haggerty cares that big shiny light should earn some reaction. And since Fantastic is loathed by so many, something along the lines of "You fixed it? Good. We can get rid of that clown." would have fit. And of course there's Colonel Hsu with his saying something like "I don't believe we've had the pleasure..." after you've already met him and done some quests for him.

Yes, they're nitpicks. Simple little things that shouldn't have been missed that are quite silly and negate a degree of immersion.

 

[TorontoReign]

Inconsistency, idiocy, semantics, schemantics. Call it what you will.

Point is it's daft. Fantastic may be an idiot. Haggerty may not care but the NCR have been pissing around at Helios for quite sometime and it's simply silly that not one single person aside from Ignacio ever wondered what it was or entered the tower. Especially considering that Helios was worth fighting the Brotherhood over.

Point being it's one of those simple things that should have been addressed and wasn't: Characters saying things that make little sense or not acknowledging actions. Whether or not Haggerty cares that big shiny light should earn some reaction. And since Fantastic is loathed by so many, something along the lines of "You fixed it? Good. We can get rid of that clown." would have fit. And of course there's Colonel Hsu with his saying something like "I don't believe we've had the pleasure..." after you've already met him and done some quests for him.

Yes, they're nitpicks. Simple little things that shouldn't have been missed that are quite silly and negate a degree of immersion.

In my experience, all of the games in the series have had such inconsistencies. It is annoying at times, but I try to ignore it. Soldiers aren't the best people to send to figure out tech like in Helios, so they probably wouldn't know what the hell they were looking at. Of course they could get their scientists to look at it for them, but their job is getting the power to work, and guarding Helios, not searching for super-weapons. I thought it was hilarious that Mr. Fantastic was such a dumbass. I laughed out loud the first time I heard his dialog. It just shows how incompetent NCR can be really.

 

[DevilTakeMe]

It's not inconsistent if it's consistent with the characterization - that's kind of the meaning of those words.

The NCR troops there aren't under orders to clear out the tower. They're there to keep Helios One under lock and key while their "chief researcher", Fantastic, works on getting the power plant running.

Haggerty even notes that she thinks its a pointless waste of time because the Brotherhood turned on the security systems when they retreated from the facility.

The NCR doesn't care enough about Helios One to throw their troops at it - they just wanted to kill the Brotherhood who had been there and prevent anyone else from taking it while the Legion is bearing down on them.

Fantastic and Ignacio are just a token research team - Fantastic doesn't have a credible background - he just happened to volunteer because he thought it was a cushy job. Haggerty and her men are just a token security team.