Fallout New Vegas: The Post-Benny Syndrome

[Demongeneral109]

going to throw my 2 cents on the end game factions, my fav is mr house, he wants to turn Vegas in to a economical power house, using the caps from his casinos to reinvest in industries which will lead to his ultimate goal restarting the space program.

my next choice for 'best choice' is legion, sure they do some horrid things, but this is not the modern world, we got reset to the stone age society went back to 0. ceasar wants to take his massive army to the 'civilized' lands and form a empire. civilize his legion in the west and fix the corruption of the west at the same time.

my least favorite is ncr. there a corrupt republic who serve the interest of the rich land barons.

chemistry of the ncr and legion is very much like the old ceasar and the old republic of rome.

despite the methods of ceasar i believe hes long term goals are good, and he would make a better leader of the west than the ncr.

I disagree, while I feel that House might be the best short-term for NV, he isn't advancing the development of society, in freeside can see that; what with the chaos and mass poverty that we see. The Legion, on the other hand, has only recently formed and is already on the verge of collapse; its a Cult of personality, without Ceasar, the organiation of the Legion will fall apart. This is stated repeatedly in game-and if Ceasar dies; the Legion structure is even more cruel under the Legate.. its a system that stands no chance of long-term growth. The NCR or the courior are the best bet(depending on the personality of the curior) The NCR are slowly spreading a orderly society across the west, while the curior might instil the order and vision needed to let Vegas grow, while maintaining its identity...thats my 2-cents

 

[MacGuges]

I'm sure a lot of you who have played Fallout New Vegas have noticed this problem and some of you who are playing right now might even be feeling the effects of it. FNV Post-Benny Syndrome is a real problem.

FNV Post-Benny Syndrome, as some of you have probably already guessed, is the feeling of boredom and "why bother?" that sets in right after you've finally caught up with Benny and ended him. As soon as you see Benny's broken ragdoll plummet to the floor, your brain feels the rush of finally having caught up with the smug bastard and showed him how to really execute someone!

But then what? After that initial ecstatic boost, the game seems to drag.

I didn't really encounter this problem because in my game. When I caught up with Benny I forgave him, and we fought our way out of Caesar's camp. So you could call that a problem with vengeance, not the game. You made chose to make revenge your goal, and once you've finally killed the target of your vengeance, you felt empty. That's life - and the game presented that to you accurately.

 

[Slayer_2]

I suppose you must have missed the parts where the purifier was over-run by enclave troops, you get captured, fight your way out of their stronghold, destroy it, and take back the purifier in a giant assault backed up by the BoS and a giant robot. With some mods, it's really quite the hardcore and deadly battle. If you know what you're doing, (read, if you've beat the game once), you can find your dad in less than 30 minutes. Just walk up to Vault 112 and save him, done. Even as a new player, it's easy enough to get clues, maybe an hour or two of quests, if you don't dawdle.

The point isn't how fun the quests are, it's whether the motivation for your character makes any sense. You actually admit to having missed the part where you stumble, forced, bleary eyed out of what was essentially the universe, without direction, and resolve, for some ill explored reason, to find a man who ran out on you with nary a farewell, leaving you to be a arrested for a crime you didn't know about, and stumble around the world asking strangers if they know where the hell this man has gone.

You then decide that you, who could be anything from a saviour and hero of the people, to some nihilistic sadist who manages to blow up an entire city within hours of finding out civilizations still exist, will help daddy turn on some arbitrarily large scale water purifying device.

You then briefly do something that makes sense, stopping a plot to kill thousands of people, a group which happens to contain you, albeit only because you happened to be in the area at the time.

Since you've already foiled this plot and destroyed the only thing planning to perpetrate it, you then spend the finale of the game fighting a war between two reclusive techno-hoarding military organisations over who gets to flip a switch. Literally. That's it. Since the Jefferson Memorial will provide water to everything, there's little benefit to being the one sitting in the control room.

That game was STOOPID.

Yes and in NV you survive a shot to the head (from a .45 caliber handgun at point blank), wander around a desert for hours fighting morons dressed up like ancient roman soldiers carrying spears... Then you get to engage in politics over some casinos that you don't give a crap about. The only semblance of fun you MIGHT have is murdering every NPC you can lay eyes on. And that's not a quest. The only slightly moving part in the whole game was Nipton. That's it. Oh and you have a huge battle over hoover dam, that was great fun, I loved the intense combat.

 

[Blaster395]

I mostly got confused after I finally got rid of Benny. Talking to people just seemed to cause random progression in either 4 of the available choices and I had a hard time actually working out how to go with the side I wanted.

 

[Crazycat690]

Could be just you, I did want to get him alot until I found his robot, then I was more interested in taking over the Mojave.

 

[DarkRyter]

Correction, they are under Yes Man's control. Once he undergoes a personality change the game implies that he will not be controlled by the Courier anymore.

All Yes Man ever said, was that he's going to become "more assertive". It's purposely left ambiguous, so it doesn't automatically mean "Yes Man's gonna try to oust you".

That's one possibility, definitely. And if he does, it would make for a very neat parallel, considering that the Courier (as the leader of Vegas) would have to deal with the very same problem House had.

One of the more interesting interpretations I've heard, is that Yes Man, being an AI, learns from the Courier, and upon "becoming assertive" acts the way the Courier would. A Good Karma Courier will result in Yes Man becoming a benevolent caretaker of Vegas, whereas a Bad Karma Yes Man being just as much a bad guy.

Maybe even after becoming more assertive, he remains a faithful servant to the Courier, and when the Courier dies or wanders off into the wastes, as Fallout Protagonist do, manages Vegas in his/her stead.

Or, you know, Yes Man's a Rob Co computer. A courier with high enough science is likely able to hack him.

And even if Yes Man's gonna be more assertive, he said himself that it's gonna take awhile. And that means the Courier's in charge, at the very least, for the conceivable future of the ending slideshow.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

I got a real sense of accomplishment killing Caesar/Kaiser and walking over and giving Chandler from Friends a .44 round in the mushki while Boone stood there knee-deep in legionares.

After that the game felt......done.

 

[debossman21]

i killed benny then when on to murder everything else. i agree with you on PBS

 

[Frost27]

The problem lies in how the overall story and character motivation is presented. They never explain that you are transporting one of several packages in the employ of Mr. House. Nor do they tell you who House is ( if you were a professional courier who traveled the Nevada desert, you would know who house was) or even that he is involved.

Instead of laying all of that out for you as part of a "this is what was going on until Benny interrupted you, now you have background AND another reason to hate Benny", they forced a new character down your throat three hours into the game and expected you to re focus your experience and not only accept how things are but follow a new master.

 

[Alphakirby]

Could be just you, I did want to get him alot until I found his robot, then I was more interested in taking over the Mojave.

Yeah it always seems to redirect your attention when you find Yes Man,after I commited genocide at The Tops (Because I wouldn't let them have my guns.) I went into Benny's room,met Yes Man,and said "Fuck those guys,I'm taking Vegas for myself." Benny had a nice suit and gun that I scavenged from his green,glowing,gooey remains. That still didn't stop me from playing Old World Blues so that Rex would be back in the game by the time I returned (Luckily he appeared next to me when I entered the strip after going to Jacobstown,talking to the doctor,going to Freeside,talking to the king then proceding into The Strip.
But yeah,when you first find Yes Man,usually the first thought you get is to take Vegas for yourself.

 

[Alphakirby]

The problem lies in how the overall story and character motivation is presented. They never explain that you are transporting one of several packages in the employ of Mr. House. Nor do they tell you who House is ( if you were a professional courier who traveled the Nevada desert, you would know who house was) or even that he is involved.

Instead of laying all of that out for you as part of a "this is what was going on until Benny interrupted you, now you have background AND another reason to hate Benny", they forced a new character down your throat three hours into the game and expected you to re focus your experience and not only accept how things are but follow a new master.

Or you could do what I did and set his ancient old body on fire.
That was the big turning point in my game,when I decided that any other way will just lead to Vegas going to hell,so I fought under my own flag,because I don't like rules (NCR) or slavery (Legion) or even robots (House).

 

[BRex21]

I found this to be a problem too, although for me it may have been that the story just seemed less compelling, and my Brotherhood of Steel arc had already glitched all to hell. I just found that my motivations weren't clear and they didn't really give me the option to do what it was I actually wanted to do. To elaborate:
I hated The Legion, had no problem with them all being dead, actually went so far as to gather up all my bullets and stimpacs and shoot my way from Cottonwood cove all the way to Caesars face, but I didn't LIKE the NCR enough to actually want to put them in any position of power. Ideally this would have been best accomplished by an alliance between me, someone who owns a well fortified city and an army of deadly robots, and them people who need a base of operations. However once I got to the end I, someone regarded as an NCR hero, had the opportunity to surrender everything, or turn on my allies. The whole second half of the game suffered from particularly shoddy writing and choice systems. I know they couldn't put EVERY choice in the game, the reason for that is obvious, but they just didn't take the time to explain your motivations in the slightest. I found the story just became unrepeatable and shallow and in a RPG that really kills any sense of immersion.
I suppose my biggest problems however came up after I started the dicking around process. I found certain parts of the story were confusing and difficult to accomplish and went on to kill people, with relative ease, who were supposed to still be a threat. Knowing that your big scary adversary was left lying on the floor with all new flow through ventilation systems more than 10 levels and a few favourite guns ago really kills any and all sense of anxiety in how the plot will unfold and gives you too much time to think.

 

[Burck]

Hmm...

In retrospect, I guess the way the story transitions from getting revenge to a struggle between factions wasn't quite as smooth as it could be.

However, while the OP claims that it was the intensely personal story of hunting down Benny that was more engaging than the fight for power between the three factions, perhaps some people were more engaged by that premise.

The thing is, these two parts don't really seam together that well. It seems like whoever designed the plot for New Vegas took two interesting ideas- one political, one personal- and tried to weave them together into a single plot.

However, the intrinsic difference between the two halves makes the entire story feel divided- There is no constant motif. Or at least, it's strongly diluted.

 

[kyoodle]

One clear example is the NCR, supposedly 'good guys' only because they wish to restore a pre-apocalypse American society.

Did you pay any attention at all? The NCR are shown as pretty corrupt and weak e.g. they can't defend the roads, their soldiers get wasted on the Strip, the use of chems, manipulating smaller communities etc.

Personally I think Mr. House is the closest thing to a good guy as he wants to improve living conditions and medicine, even if it is for his own vain reasons.

 

[Canadian Fodder]

Mods. That's all that really keeps me going in bethesta games.

 

[Alphakirby]

One clear example is the NCR, supposedly 'good guys' only because they wish to restore a pre-apocalypse American society.

Did you pay any attention at all? The NCR are shown as pretty corrupt and weak e.g. they can't defend the roads, their soldiers get wasted on the Strip, the use of chems, manipulating smaller communities etc.

Personally I think Mr. House is the closest thing to a good guy as he wants to improve living conditions and medicine, even if it is for his own vain reasons.

Well it's all grey,nobody is doing anything for the best except The Courier (If you are good when you take Vegas for yourself) The best example I can find of moral greyness is in the wacky as hell Old World Blues

Spoiler: Old World Blues Endgame Spoilers Here

Basically,if you talk to Dr.Mobius instead of killing him outright,you'll find out that he actually is mostly a senile old man who is merely trying to keep the Think Tank from getting free from Big MT and that they were planning to use your brain to do it. But at the same time,the Think Tank have been brainwashed for years to think that the Big Empty is their entire world,despite them being idiots or insane,you have to feel bad for them when you put it in their perspective. Overall though,I saw it was the best action to stop the Think Tank anyway because they would just derail all the progress the Wasteland has made up until this point.

If Fallout 3 was grey in color,New Vegas is grey in morality.

 

[Sebenko]

I found all of the story more interesting than F3.

"Oh hey, go find someone you don't really care about."
Sure, that was a bit meh.
But the worst part was that I really did not give one single fuck about DC. What has anyone managed? Building a couple of shacks? Sure, there are some scientists, but that's still just about five people. Doesn't really scream "humanity overcoming it's ills" as much as it does "five people do shit because fucking no-one else will".

And then the most organised factions were the Enclave and the FUCKING PITT RAIDERS. Really?
All the BoS had managed was getting killed.

While in NV, the end of the world wasn't five minutes ago. It was OVER TWO CENTURIES. Of course it doesn't feel post-apocalyptic. It's about humanity finally rebuilding, reorganising, getting the world back to a livable state. Humanity overcomes problems, doesn't just go "oh well. At least I still have my shed I built next to an active nuke"

Also, what the fuck was with the "50s50s50s50s50s50s50s50s50s50sIT'S THE 50S" shit F3 constantly rammed down my throat? Yes, I know that's what the background always was, but it was just that: Background. Not "LOOK A 50S CAR LOOK 50S BUILDINGS LOOK AT THE 50S STUFF".
I always got a more wild west feel from the first two Fallout games.

 

[easternflame]

When I found him at the tops, I thought, "That's it?" but he escaped me so I was like, "Ha, ha! This is getting interesting as more parties join(yes man)" then I saw him at Caesar's camp and I was like, oh, well that's uncool. So I freed him. The game got a bit boring for a bit but then I

Spoiler: Just in case MR HOUSE RELATED Spoiler

Killed Mr. House so it got interesting again

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Yeah, I just blasted Benny, amusingly (I guess it's not too spoilery in a 'what did you do after you killed Benny' thread), with the Black Widow perk, you can convince him you're so mental that you find being shot in the head sexy and want him to come upstairs with you, which I found funny.

I also failed the White Gloves quest chain, killed Phillipe and then turned the whole place against me, thinking back maybe I shouldn't have called the head waiter down to collect my created meal, with Phillipe still jetting arterial fountains up the kitchen wall at my feet.

Planning, next time

The weirdest part was I brought that guy the ...thing back from the kitchen freezer, and I was instantly 'LOVED' by the white glove society, despite having dismembered its leaders and half its people.