I'm a sophomore in high-school getting my brain raped in biology every week.CM156 said:
.....But hey, at least I know I can get good grades in Philosophy/Psychology/Human behavior.
Let's Play Fallout: New Vegas [The Servant]
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.....But hey, at least I know I can get good grades in Philosophy/Psychology/Human behavior.
I have a bit of trouble with Psych because I was taught the Freudian method, and it's taken me a long time to get that view out of my mind.Viking Incognito said:
[HEADING=1]Lessons with High Scribe CM156[/HEADING]
Economics in the waste: Bottle Caps as money? It?s more likely than you think
Class, whenever one person has something another wants, there are two likely outcomes. The first is violence, to take what is desired. The second is of course, trade. Trade is the exchange of goods and services for compensation. There are also two ways of doing this. The first is called barter. In the barter system, one person gives up an item or agrees to perform a task in exchange for another item or task. You might swap your pistol for a week?s supply of food, or give someone your boots in exchange for medical attention. Obviously, this system has a major flaw: it only works if both parties have something the other wants, and are willing to exchange what the other has. The doctor may state that he has enough boots, and what he really needs are gloves. You don?t have gloves, so no trade is made. Perhaps he demands two sets of boots, which you don?t think is worth his time. Thus, reaching a deal can be problematic. What is the remedy? Create an item that everyone can agree on a set value. This is the birth of money. Centuries before the war, civilizations used golden coins as money. This is rather odd. Gold, in these times, has little intrinsic value. It?s the most malleable metal, and thus, nearly worthless for tools. It conducts heat and electricity well, but that was not of much use. This is several centuries before electricity was discovered. However, when it was minted into coins, people gave it value as a standard of trade. Other metals, such as silver and copper, were also used. One such civilization, they ran into a problem with their money. The minted silver coins called Denarius.
Like all governments, they wanted to be able to control the money supply, and inflate when needed. They had, however, run low on silver. Thus, they decided to start ?clipping coins?. They would trim off the sides of a coin and use it to print more.
However, this lead to a problem. Because silver was valued on its own merit, clipped coins were considered less valued. Merchants would refuse to accept clipped coins. Obviously, a solution was needed to this idea. It came during the Tang Dynasty in China during the 7th century. They decided to use paper notes as money. Paper is much, much lighter than metal, and the government could print as much was needed. However, it?s obvious that they shouldn?t. The Germans tried this with their currency, and money became cheaper than firewood.
Paper money works when the government backs it. When government does not, money becomes worthless.
Most major civilizations before the Great War used paper money. After the war, when the survivors emerged from the caves, crannies, and vaults, a new system of exchange was created. This system based its money around bottle caps.
At face value, bottle caps don?t seem like something that would make good money. However, let?s look at what the properties of good money are. The first is that it must have an agreed set of values and numbers. That?s clear. Five bottle caps are more than three bottle caps, and thus, are considered worth more. Bottle caps are also accepted, regardless of condition. Another is that it must be a store of value. As it is widely used, it is a store of value. Other, lesser properties are that it be easy to transport and identify, it should be durable, easily divisible, hard to counterfeit and easy to store. Caps are easy to carry, as they seemingly have no weight. They have managed to survive nuclear war, so they are durable. Because one cap isn?t worth much, giving change is easy. Caps aren?t easy to counterfeit. Many machines that made them have fallen into disrepair, and it?s easy for trained professionals to identify counterfeit caps. They also seem not to take up space either. One of the biggest advantages is that caps are accepted all across the former United States. Should you go visit the Mojave chapter, you will find caps from here are just as good in New Vegas.
However, using bottle caps carries with it some major problems. Firstly is that it?s difficult to regulate. There is also the risk of a stash that survived the war being uncovered, hyper inflating the local economy. Finally, Caps aren?t very liquid. Getting value can be somewhat difficult. The biggest problem is that caps carry little worth on their own. They only can be used for explosives, if need be.
However, in the absence of a strong government with the power to mint money and regulate it, caps will continue to be the primary source of income. However, the New California Republic (NCR) is making a move to return to paper money. As it stands, most government workers prefer to be paid in caps, but the practice is growing. The NCR, if it can keep control, will likely be the ones to re-institute the paper money system into the world.
Paper money works when the government backs it. When government does not, money becomes worthless.
Most major civilizations before the Great War used paper money. After the war, when the survivors emerged from the caves, crannies, and vaults, a new system of exchange was created. This system based its money around bottle caps.
At face value, bottle caps don?t seem like something that would make good money. However, let?s look at what the properties of good money are. The first is that it must have an agreed set of values and numbers. That?s clear. Five bottle caps are more than three bottle caps, and thus, are considered worth more. Bottle caps are also accepted, regardless of condition. Another is that it must be a store of value. As it is widely used, it is a store of value. Other, lesser properties are that it be easy to transport and identify, it should be durable, easily divisible, hard to counterfeit and easy to store. Caps are easy to carry, as they seemingly have no weight. They have managed to survive nuclear war, so they are durable. Because one cap isn?t worth much, giving change is easy. Caps aren?t easy to counterfeit. Many machines that made them have fallen into disrepair, and it?s easy for trained professionals to identify counterfeit caps. They also seem not to take up space either. One of the biggest advantages is that caps are accepted all across the former United States. Should you go visit the Mojave chapter, you will find caps from here are just as good in New Vegas.
However, using bottle caps carries with it some major problems. Firstly is that it?s difficult to regulate. There is also the risk of a stash that survived the war being uncovered, hyper inflating the local economy. Finally, Caps aren?t very liquid. Getting value can be somewhat difficult. The biggest problem is that caps carry little worth on their own. They only can be used for explosives, if need be.
However, in the absence of a strong government with the power to mint money and regulate it, caps will continue to be the primary source of income. However, the New California Republic (NCR) is making a move to return to paper money. As it stands, most government workers prefer to be paid in caps, but the practice is growing. The NCR, if it can keep control, will likely be the ones to re-institute the paper money system into the world.
As always, C&C is welcome
The NCR initially backed its currency with gold, but the gold reserves were destroyed by the Brotherhood of Steel so the Republic was forced to back it with water instead. This caused much of the inflation, and is part of why Hoover Dam is so important.
Wait, they destroyed gold reserves? Why?Aidinthel said:
Hunh. That did not show up in my research.
Good job student! Extra credit!
Also Caesar's Legion are returning to using the denarius and aureus as they have access to mints.CM156 said:
Also, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but Fallout 2 did not use caps, instead it used NCR coins as the main currency and barter everywhere else if you didn't have the coins.
Well, I didn't know that. Thanks for telling me. Extra credit for you too!ChupathingyX said:
Sounds like fun though. I also mentioned the Denarius coin clipping because it seemed relevant .
Sorry about no update yesterday, internet was down all day. I'll make sure to get an update out later today.
Quite alright. Quite alright.AlternatePFG said:
Keep this in mind to keep you motivated: The sooner you update, the sooner we never have to talk about MZ again!
Hey guys, sorry about having not posted anything in forever, lots of life happened all at once.
Anyways, as a returning gift to you all, a few episodes:
Off-topic: My Fallout 3 collector's edition arrived today! I picked it up on sale for the little extras: Lunchbox, Bobblehead, artbook, and making-of DVD.
Anyways, as a returning gift to you all, a few episodes:
The Doctor plays: Fallout 3 - episode 19, "Raiders, Mutants, and Stims"
The return of our Fallout 3 Let's Play
The Doctor plays: Fallout 3 - episode 20, "I'm on a boat!"
Wherein we find a halfway-functional city.
The Doctor plays: Fallout 3 - episode 21 (part 1)
Part one of two
The Doctor plays: Fallout 3 - episode 21 (part 2)
Part 2 of 2
Off-topic: My Fallout 3 collector's edition arrived today! I picked it up on sale for the little extras: Lunchbox, Bobblehead, artbook, and making-of DVD.
No problem, quality takes time.AlternatePFG said:
Altough, that makes me wonder why Mothership Zeta was the last DLC...
So I'm wondering if no one would mind me writing stories set in the Fallout universe and posting them here. They would be set in either the Mojave or the Capital Wasteland or possibly both. The protagonist would be unlikely to be either the Courier or the Lone Wanderer and instead, be more of a made up character.
I think it's a bang-up idea. Everyone is putting something forward.MinimanZombie said:
Just make sure that it's interesting.
Oh I shall. It will be very interesting! MWAHAHHAHA-*Cough*-Dammit.CM156 said:
So anyway is anyone else interested in my idea?
[HEADING=1]Chapter LVIII - Meet the Crew[/HEADING]
This is going to be an extremly dialogue heavy update. Sorry bout that.
So now we go even further into the ship.
I haven't had much of a chance to show off the Heavy Incinerator, unfortunately. It's a cool weapon, but these aliens just take too much damage for it to be really effective.
The laser rifle is much more effective than the actual alien weapons here actually.
I'm skipping through here, mostly because the ship is just so repetitive. The DLC is rather short, despite that it's still padded as hell.
Sally leaves the pipes from time to time, and you have to clear the way for her.
They have turrets from time to time, they're actually weaker than the aliens.
Behold, the least believable space skybox ever created!
It's rather hard to tell from the screenshot, but space looks like a cardboard cutout that's about a foot away from the window.
"Aw, nuts. They turned it off!"
It's almost like they don't want us running around their ship or something.
"Last time I was here, I used to get to the top of the ship. It's kind of like an elevator, only it doesn't just go up and down. Feels sort of tingly, too."
So, teleporter?
"They must be pretty angry that we're exploring..."
Did the dozen armed guards they sent after us tip you off?
"Oh, I know! Come on, I know another way up!"
Some of the areas of the ship are pretty cool looking, but that's mostly because they aren't reused over and over.
Now we enter the room with the cryo chambers. The aliens captured people from different eras and held them for... study, I guess?
"I never had the courage to wake them up, but I think you're going to need to. The spaceman has a suit, and we need him to use it."
"Why do we need a 'spaceman' to help us?"
"Well, because he's got a spacesuit! Can't go out in space without one. And if we're going to escape, we need to go outside."
Wait, what if the space suit is broken, or doesn't work anymore?
"If they turned off the elevator things, that's the only other way to go. So we need a suit. See? Simple!"
"What are these things?"
"I've seen these all over. They put people in them, and the people go to sleep. They stay asleep for a really long time, too."
Okay, I'll give the DLC credit here, this is a rather cool idea.
"Be careful if you touch them, though. They're really cold."
"Who are these people?"
"I don't know. I've never talked to them. Sometimes I'd come and look at them, and wonder why they're dressed like that. You see that one guy? He has this really neat suit on... like armor or something! And that other guy? He looks just like a cowboy! I saw pictures of cowboys in books. I never saw a real one, though."
"Okay, let's talk to the astronaut."
"This is going to be so neat!"
We thaw out all the people who are frozen.
They all pretty much have the same reaction.
The astronaut was dead when we turned off the cryo pod.
"The aliens? They're all over the place. That's why I woke you."
Well, we only meant to wake one of those guys up.
"Aliens? That what you call 'em? So you woke me, huh? Who the hell are you?""
"I'm a human, like you."
"Human like me, huh? And just how do I know you aren't workin' with the little green bastards that stuck me in that thing?"
Paulson isn't the brightest one around.
"If I were working with the aliens, why would I set you free?"
"You got a point there, kid. Lettin' me out of that... thing does count for something."
We earn his trust just as easily though.
"Tell you what... I usually ride solo, but I'll stick with you for now. You try and pull anythin' stupid and I'll bury you."
"I guess you'd better take his suit. You're going to have to go if he can't. But first you have to get to the door to the outside. They'll be waiting for you, but you can suck out all the air in part of the ship so they won't get in your way."
That seems incredibly ill-advised, but okay...
"They have these generator things that power parts of the ship and make sure it has air. You'll have to turn some of them off. There's one in the Cryo Lab, one in the Hangar Bay and one where they make the robots... the Robot Assembly area."
So basically backtrack your way through these areas and blow crap up. Doesn't sound very fun.
"Once they're all broken, you can get through that door to the outside. And then once you get to the top of the ship, you can turn the teleporter thing back on, and I can catch up to you! I guess it's time for me to get those doors unlocked for you now. This is fun!"
Maybe for you it is...
"Your uniform... it looks familiar, but I can't place it."
I'm not sure whether or not this dialogue option appears whether you played Anchorage or not. I assume it's just because it somewhat resembles the combat armor in the wasteland.
"My what? Who the hell are you... oh my god... wait a minute! Aliens! I was taken by aliens! You! You must be the aliens trying to get into my mind... well that's not gonna work! Private Elliott Tercorien, U.S. Army Medic, Serial Number 3477809. That's all I'm telling you."
"I can promise you I am not an alien. In fact, I was abducted like you."
Why do we even need to bother with these guys again?
"I dunno, I dunno... maybe you assumed human form. I heard they could do that... or you are a human but they took over your mind! We have no idea how limitless their powers are!"
"I promise you, all I want to do is get off this ship and get back home."
Couldn't agree more. It's almost like they could tell the players didn't want to play this DLC.
"You do? Then you're telling me the truth. Those... aliens took you too. Look, I just want to get out of here and get back to things the way they were. Back with my guys... Wait a minute! My men... my unit! Have you seen them?"
"I'm afraid not. All I've found are these people."
"Oh my god, I'm responsible for them and now they're lost... or dead. Please, if you mean what you say... that we're all in this together... then you've got to help me find out what happened to them!"
"Don't worry, we ARE in this together, and I will help you."
"Thank you. Thanks so much. Sorry about all this... I just can't believe this is happening."
I don't think anyone is really blaming you.
"Can you tell me more about where you're from?"
"Me? Well, I was a medic with the 108th Infantry Battalion stationed at Anchorage, Alaska."
Your character never gets to mention the fact that the world was nuked during the war. I get that that might be an asshole thing to say, but no option for even evil characters. Somah mentions it off-hand to him during an incidental conversation.
"I was with a squad of five other medics... our job was to patch everyone up after the commie gunned them down."
Didn't they have magical, full heal tanks in Anchorage?
"It was pretty bloody... nothing at all like I expected when I gave up my hospital job to enlist in the Army."
Yup, Toshiro doesn't speak a lick of English, considering he's a samurai and everything.
"Sessha no ken! Sessha no ken wa dokoda?"
"Oh, great. You don't speak English? This is going to be a waste of time."
"Onushi, ittai nanimono? Sessha wa naze koko ni iru? Sessha no ken wa do natta. Eei, hayaku kaesanu ka!"
"I'm sorry, but I can't understand you."
"Nani wo itteorunoda. Sappari wakaran. Nantoka shite kure."
Oh yeah, Somah is here now too. For some reason. *shrug* She makes you pay for her to fix your weapons, despite the whole being held captive by aliens thing.
She breaks the news about the Great War to Eliott. Why we don't bother to do so in our conversation, I'unno.
So, I guess it's time to continue with Mothership Zeta.
This can't end soon enough.
So now we go even further into the ship.
I haven't had much of a chance to show off the Heavy Incinerator, unfortunately. It's a cool weapon, but these aliens just take too much damage for it to be really effective.
The laser rifle is much more effective than the actual alien weapons here actually.
I'm skipping through here, mostly because the ship is just so repetitive. The DLC is rather short, despite that it's still padded as hell.
Sally leaves the pipes from time to time, and you have to clear the way for her.
They have turrets from time to time, they're actually weaker than the aliens.
Behold, the least believable space skybox ever created!
It's rather hard to tell from the screenshot, but space looks like a cardboard cutout that's about a foot away from the window.
"Aw, nuts. They turned it off!"
It's almost like they don't want us running around their ship or something.
"Last time I was here, I used to get to the top of the ship. It's kind of like an elevator, only it doesn't just go up and down. Feels sort of tingly, too."
So, teleporter?
"They must be pretty angry that we're exploring..."
Did the dozen armed guards they sent after us tip you off?
"Oh, I know! Come on, I know another way up!"
Some of the areas of the ship are pretty cool looking, but that's mostly because they aren't reused over and over.
Now we enter the room with the cryo chambers. The aliens captured people from different eras and held them for... study, I guess?
"I never had the courage to wake them up, but I think you're going to need to. The spaceman has a suit, and we need him to use it."
"Why do we need a 'spaceman' to help us?"
"Well, because he's got a spacesuit! Can't go out in space without one. And if we're going to escape, we need to go outside."
Wait, what if the space suit is broken, or doesn't work anymore?
"If they turned off the elevator things, that's the only other way to go. So we need a suit. See? Simple!"
"What are these things?"
"I've seen these all over. They put people in them, and the people go to sleep. They stay asleep for a really long time, too."
Okay, I'll give the DLC credit here, this is a rather cool idea.
"Be careful if you touch them, though. They're really cold."
"Who are these people?"
"I don't know. I've never talked to them. Sometimes I'd come and look at them, and wonder why they're dressed like that. You see that one guy? He has this really neat suit on... like armor or something! And that other guy? He looks just like a cowboy! I saw pictures of cowboys in books. I never saw a real one, though."
"Okay, let's talk to the astronaut."
"This is going to be so neat!"
We thaw out all the people who are frozen.
They all pretty much have the same reaction.
The astronaut was dead when we turned off the cryo pod.
"The aliens? They're all over the place. That's why I woke you."
Well, we only meant to wake one of those guys up.
"Aliens? That what you call 'em? So you woke me, huh? Who the hell are you?""
"I'm a human, like you."
"Human like me, huh? And just how do I know you aren't workin' with the little green bastards that stuck me in that thing?"
Paulson isn't the brightest one around.
"If I were working with the aliens, why would I set you free?"
"You got a point there, kid. Lettin' me out of that... thing does count for something."
We earn his trust just as easily though.
"Tell you what... I usually ride solo, but I'll stick with you for now. You try and pull anythin' stupid and I'll bury you."
"I guess you'd better take his suit. You're going to have to go if he can't. But first you have to get to the door to the outside. They'll be waiting for you, but you can suck out all the air in part of the ship so they won't get in your way."
That seems incredibly ill-advised, but okay...
"They have these generator things that power parts of the ship and make sure it has air. You'll have to turn some of them off. There's one in the Cryo Lab, one in the Hangar Bay and one where they make the robots... the Robot Assembly area."
So basically backtrack your way through these areas and blow crap up. Doesn't sound very fun.
"Once they're all broken, you can get through that door to the outside. And then once you get to the top of the ship, you can turn the teleporter thing back on, and I can catch up to you! I guess it's time for me to get those doors unlocked for you now. This is fun!"
Maybe for you it is...
"Your uniform... it looks familiar, but I can't place it."
I'm not sure whether or not this dialogue option appears whether you played Anchorage or not. I assume it's just because it somewhat resembles the combat armor in the wasteland.
"My what? Who the hell are you... oh my god... wait a minute! Aliens! I was taken by aliens! You! You must be the aliens trying to get into my mind... well that's not gonna work! Private Elliott Tercorien, U.S. Army Medic, Serial Number 3477809. That's all I'm telling you."
"I can promise you I am not an alien. In fact, I was abducted like you."
Why do we even need to bother with these guys again?
"I dunno, I dunno... maybe you assumed human form. I heard they could do that... or you are a human but they took over your mind! We have no idea how limitless their powers are!"
"I promise you, all I want to do is get off this ship and get back home."
Couldn't agree more. It's almost like they could tell the players didn't want to play this DLC.
"You do? Then you're telling me the truth. Those... aliens took you too. Look, I just want to get out of here and get back to things the way they were. Back with my guys... Wait a minute! My men... my unit! Have you seen them?"
"I'm afraid not. All I've found are these people."
"Oh my god, I'm responsible for them and now they're lost... or dead. Please, if you mean what you say... that we're all in this together... then you've got to help me find out what happened to them!"
"Don't worry, we ARE in this together, and I will help you."
"Thank you. Thanks so much. Sorry about all this... I just can't believe this is happening."
I don't think anyone is really blaming you.
"Can you tell me more about where you're from?"
"Me? Well, I was a medic with the 108th Infantry Battalion stationed at Anchorage, Alaska."
Your character never gets to mention the fact that the world was nuked during the war. I get that that might be an asshole thing to say, but no option for even evil characters. Somah mentions it off-hand to him during an incidental conversation.
"I was with a squad of five other medics... our job was to patch everyone up after the commie gunned them down."
Didn't they have magical, full heal tanks in Anchorage?
"It was pretty bloody... nothing at all like I expected when I gave up my hospital job to enlist in the Army."
Yup, Toshiro doesn't speak a lick of English, considering he's a samurai and everything.
"Sessha no ken! Sessha no ken wa dokoda?"
"Oh, great. You don't speak English? This is going to be a waste of time."
"Onushi, ittai nanimono? Sessha wa naze koko ni iru? Sessha no ken wa do natta. Eei, hayaku kaesanu ka!"
"I'm sorry, but I can't understand you."
"Nani wo itteorunoda. Sappari wakaran. Nantoka shite kure."
Oh yeah, Somah is here now too. For some reason. *shrug* She makes you pay for her to fix your weapons, despite the whole being held captive by aliens thing.
She breaks the news about the Great War to Eliott. Why we don't bother to do so in our conversation, I'unno.
So, I guess it's time to continue with Mothership Zeta.
This can't end soon enough.
You know what is never explained; how come you can understand what Chinese soldiers say in both OA and in vanilla F3 and you can somehow read the Chinese training book, yet for some reason you can't understand Japanese?AlternatePFG said:
Well, to be fair, Japanese and Chinese are different languages. Who knows? Perhaps you learned it in the Vault?ChupathingyX said:
That's not what I was getting at, it just seems strange that all Chinese in the game is translated.CM156 said:
As for learning it, that's a possiblity, but it is just an assumption.