You’ve been playing checkers, but Caesar has been playing chess this whole time.
There's a lot I'd change looking back. The Enclave is a big one; its handling in Fo2 was less than stellar. But another one that comes to mind is the Brotherhood of Steel. In the first two games, the Brotherhood were isolationists that nonetheless provided technology and military support first to settlements like the Hub, and then the NCR. I just dislike the change from givers of aid to greedy technological. I feel like it made them less interesting, and more of an ideological example to skewer rather than a fully realised faction.
While I can understand that, I disagree. This is not blind eyed idealism of the Eastern Brotherhood, but a desire to rebuild the Wasteland coupled with practical considerations; they have to buy their food somehow. Their change in New Vegas made them into a meme "Hurr durr gotta stockpile tech cuz wastelanders STOOPID". Even Mr House tears them a new one. Its a reversal of early lore, where they were a faction you'd want to join and work with.I'd say altruism makes them less interesting than making them a cautionary tale of ideology
While I can understand that, I disagree. This is not blind eyed idealism of the Eastern Brotherhood, but a desire to rebuild the Wasteland coupled with practical considerations; they have to buy their food somehow. Their change in New Vegas made them into a meme "Hurr durr gotta stockpile tech cuz wastelanders STOOPID". Even Mr House tears them a new one. Its a reversal of early lore, where they were a faction you'd want to join and work with.
There's the rub. The stockpiling of tech, more so the reclaiming of tech from Wastelanders isn't a core belief or Brotherhood dogma. That's what makes it so jarring. They just suddenly decided that the NCR was problematic and that stealing technology from others for inexplicable reasons was the way to go.It sounds slightly like you're conflating practicality and raw logic with a what makes them compelling. The BoS being a distributor and tech research house would make sense for them and people like Veronica see that. Their beliefs are constrictive and becoming rapidly outdated to the point it's killing them. It's dogmatic and impractical as House and others point out but IMO that's what makes them interesting.
The war only began because the Brotherhood of Steel started getting antsy about the NCR and then started stealing technology, which included energy weapons. According to the Van Buren snippet on the wiki, it was to restore the Brotherhood's privileged position. Which makes no sense since its privileged position was to develop and sell advanced tech to the Wastelanders. At some point down the line, Jeremy Maxson took on the mentality of a dragon. However, I understand why the Brotherhood is the way it is in New Vegas.You have to remember that BoS by the time of New Vegas were at war with the NCR and just had lost a big battle at Helios One. They aren't interested in providing technology to outside people because that's literally giving away equipment that can help them against the NCR.
The fact you can convince BoS and NCR to actually stop fighting and join forces shows that BoS is not beyond reason, it's just they are desperate to stay alive and not in any disposition to start giving out technology.
That's exactly the sort of thing I would have liked to see. A Brotherhood that's past its prime, dwindling in numbers because of its insular nature. Its purpose flying out of its hands as the NCR continues to develop. There is a sort of irony here, the Brotherhood of Steel has achieved no little amount of its prime directive, but in doing so has essentially taken away its own use. Perhaps the Mojave is considered a fresh start. You could have resentment against the NCR ("the Brotherhood hasn't received enough recognition" that sort of thing). But ultimately it should be still a faction that can be sympathised with, a faction you'd want to work with.Personally I don't think their hoarding is that retarded in basic principle. Dated to the century after the war, sure, but the idea of US military descendants securing and studying "lost technology" with the belief that they were the only responsible hands is very solid, and personally I think them persevering with that attitude into antiquity and conflict with a Wasteland which no longer required paramilitary custodians is far more interesting than them being nebulous "well equipped and advanced technology faction". It serves nicely to give them an identity and morals unique to themselves and also allows similar core factions like the Followers to then branch off into their own unique versions of that premise.
The war only began because the Brotherhood of Steel started getting antsy about the NCR and then started stealing technology, which included energy weapons.
Because as stated in Fallout 2 by Matthew, one of the main goals of BoS was to hoard all technology and only give out to the ones they saw worthy. Of course if a faction that is rising in power at the rate NCR is and also have an interest in old technology, BoS is not just gonna sit down and do nothing. Specially when they were stagnant at the time of Fallout 2, so them attempting to be the sole users of old technology would get them out of that stagnation.At one time we were the sole bastions of technology left on the planet. We set ourselves up as what could best be called 'technology police.' We hoarded the old knowledge and only doled it out in small parcels. Of course, it was only to those who we felt deserved it and had the wisdom to properly use it.
That just contradicts Fallout 1. Selling weapons to the Hub for food, water and other supplies doesn't seem like the Brotherhood was "doling out tech in small parcels to those who deserved it and had the wisdom to properly use it". The Brotherhood were arms manufacturers in a similar way to the gunrunners. Your second point is relevant here, and probably true. But there are reasonable explanations that don't involve pseudo-religious hoarding of tech: there isn't that much of it in the first place, or more likely, they simply didn't want the higher-tech stuff getting into the wrong hands (bandits, and the like). The Water merchants tried to steal weapons from the Brotherhood before Fallout 1. Imagine if they were armed to the teeth with power armour and rocket launchers?Because as stated in Fallout 2 by Matthew, one of the main goals of BoS was to hoard all technology and only give out to the ones they saw worthy. Of course if a faction that is rising in power at the rate NCR is and also have an interest in old technology, BoS is not just gonna sit down and do nothing. Specially when they were stagnant at the time of Fallout 2, so them attempting to be the sole users of old technology would get them out of that stagnation.
They also only traded technology that they deemed not very important for food and other resources, any high tech stuff would be hoarded by them.
Everything was done dirty; cherry picked for sake of brand recognition, and re-imagined for market trends. If I could make one change to the lore, it would be the removal of Bethesda's influence upon it.I felt like the Brotherhood was done dirty.
I definitely agree with this sentiment, but I gotta be clear here, I'm not fond of the depiction in New Vegas (or even Fallout 2 come to think of it, the little there was) either. But the blame has to fall on Bethesda for deciding that the Brotherhood, Super Mutants and 50s kitsch would forever define Fallout.Everything was done dirty; cherry picked for sake of brand recognition, and re-imagined for market trends. If I could make one change to the lore, it would be the removal of Bethesda's influence upon it.