Hey man, why don't you participate in this
http://nma-fallout.com/threads/why-...t-hope-for-the-wasteland-and-humanity.205464/ thread instead? Anyway, since I'm a pro-House, I'll answer from that perspective.
but winning the game through his route causes the ending slides to essentially label him a tyrant ("...a despotic vision of Pre-War glory...").
The thing about the ending slide is that they specifically said that
New Vegas is the only place ruled by House with his despotic vision of pre-War glory. Does it affect anywhere other than New Vegas? Does it affect some places like Goodsprings, Primm, Novac, the Boomers, and even for people who lived in Freeside and Outer Vegas? The ending slides for the other places doesn't specify, but if you happen to let factions like Primm and the Kings establish a relationship, House will view it as a 'betrayal' to the concept of Independent Vegas (and Mojave) and took direct control of the area. Goodsprings view Victor's presence as a 'mixed blessing', but other than that I think we can assume with certainty that there's really not that much difference between a House-ruled Vegas and truly Independent Vegas, other than House being in the bigger picture or not.
Hence why, for me, losing karma for killing House could've been because mankind's best chance at betterment, rebuilding, and not repeating the mistakes that lead to the Great War is lost with his death. However, we also need to take the fact that the concept of karma and its implementation were far from perfect even in New Vegas.
Long term though? I think a House/Indie ending would eventually lead to a war with the NCR. Strength in numbers. NCR was able to defeat Brotherhood at Helios, they'll do the same to House. At one point Securitrons will run out of ammo and have shelf lives themselves.
Nah, House actually already did calculations and re-calculations on how to fulfill his plans, why he needs the NCR, and how he would deal with them in the long run. When the Courier asked him why he cares whether Kimball lives or die, why he
doesn't want him to die, and what will happen should he die, House said this:
The Courier: "Why do you care whether Kimball lives or dies?"
House: "I care because he is a known quantity - not the man so much as the political context he inhabits. Kimball rose to prominence as the "Hero of the Mojave" when he led a campaign of reprisals against tribals who dared to attack NCR citizens. Ordering the occupation of Hoover Dam was his first act of office. As water and electricity flowed to NCR cities, his popularity soared. Conversely, his failure to annex the Mojave these seven years, and the immense costs of occupying a foreign land, have eroded his popular support.
The Courier: "So why don't you want the NCR President to die?"
House: "Kimball's entire political career is inextricably bound up with the NCR's occupation of the Mojave. It's his war. If I compell the NCR to retreat, Kimball will be the sacrifice offered to the gods, so decent NCR citizens can get on with their lives. n retrospect, the Mojave and Hoover Dam will seem like one man's misadventure. Kimball will be blamed, not me. Not New Vegas.
The Courier: "And if Kimball were to be assassinated?"
House: "Then the Hero of the Mojave would become the Martyr of Hoover Dam. And when, subsequently, I force the NCR to retreat... They lick their wounds, and dream of righteous vengeance against New Vegas. Hello, embargo, farewell, tourist economy. I've calculated and re-calculated these probabilities. Kimball must live.
And upon completing his run, you can see that his plan worked. In one of the ending slide, should you let Hanlon live at the conclusion of Return to Sender (or maybe just leave him alone at all), he called out Kimball and Oliver's hawkish imperialistic way, forcing them to step down, and he himself gets elected as Senator of Redding. You also need to consider that, like House mentioned, the Mojave Campaign has become badly unpopular with folks back at the NCR territory AND even with the soldiers in the Mojave, that some of them deserted and as you can see from doing Return to Sender, even a veteran like Hanlon worked to undermine the campaign. Another war is just highly unlikely, and from doing the quest for Dr. Hildern we know that famine is going to be a problem for the NCR in the long run; they will badly need those clean water from Colorado River and Lake Mead, and also the good soil spread across the Mojave since there's an NCR Sharecropper Farm already. Electricity could also be a factor, especially since Broken Hills's uranium mines died not long after the events of Fallout 2.... although, there's also Poseidon Oil NPP #5 but we don't have the data on whether or not the NPP was enough to distribute energy across the vast territory of NCR as of 2281.
And even if war happened, anyway? Well, House already had enough Securitrons (mark II, no less) to patrol the entirety of the Mojave, keeping law and order where his presence is necessary, that it was enough to kick NCR's ENTIRE military presence, so I doubt even NCR would be foolish enough to do it. I'm also vaguely remembering there were some NPCs commentary on how a single Mark II Securitron is on par or even surpass one platoon of NCR soldier, so....
