User:GarouxBloodline/Garoux's Critiques


 * 1) Shadowrunner56 - Especially when it comes to retro-futurism, I am always such a huge fan of pseudo-science and real-life scientific correlation. Ghouls are still such a mystery in the Fallout universe, and will only become more confusing if certain Van Buren lore around born ghouls turns out to be canon. I am really enjoying the educated deductions being backed up by your sources, and this is a particular subject that I hope gets expanded upon more in the future titles/bibles.
 * 2) BaronVonChateau - As wacky as Fallout typically has been, even in the olden days, a lot of the content that the games have really tests my suspension of belief. Your entry is in stark opposite to that, as it really tackles a lot of the realities that would be seen in this specific scenario, and makes a lot of points that I agree with, especially since our PCs have the tendency to immediately enter the wastes as badasses that can jump over any obstacle thrown their way. This is one of the reasons why I enjoyed Dead Money so much, because it finally makes the Courier feel hopeless at times (especially on Hardcore mode). All in all, I found myself very impressed with this entry. A lot of thought was put into it, and it really shows.
 * 3) Murder-Mountain - I remember when Mothership Zeta came out, and the popular notion was born, that the aliens manipulated the world beneath them into firing off their nukes. And then, I remember even further back, when Van Buren lore dictated that Vault-Tec were even more rub-their-hands-together evil, and purposefully caused the war in cahoots with the president and his shadow-organization that eventually became the Enclave. Both of those were pretty far-fetched, and really put the Chinese forces onto the backburner as some minor and largely irrelevant point in pre-War history, and really delved into some tiresome tropes that I am glad have never been canonized. So, as you might imagine after dismissing the lore in those two cases, I really appreciate something more based in reality, which is seen with your entry when bringing China into the mix. It is especially nice to see educated deductions as to their level of power and influence among the world, and how they had in depth knowledge of the United State's shadow organizations and their experiments (wonder how the Chinese were able to deal with the mole-rat initiative?). All in all, a very powerful theory.
 * 4) SgtKraigo - The Legion future is a tricky concept to tackle, especially in regards to their leadership structure, because there is so much that is going on behind the curtains. Caesar is obviously the glue that is holding the big picture in place, and I can only imagine the infighting and policy changes once he bites the dust. But security is found in numbers, and the Legion knows well enough as to the level of stability they have brought to their claimed sections of the wastes. With that aside, your entry really made me think about what would happen after Caesar is dead, for the the newest generation of absorbed tribes, that have still not entirely forgotten their history and origins. And with their failure in the Great Canyon, even though they needed to get their numbers up after the first defeat at Hoover Dam, it really makes me wonder if their regime is all that sustainable when faced against threats.
 * 5) Psycho-Tic - While I enjoyed this read, I cannot really say that it is all that original, and it made a lot of inaccurate comparisons to explain personal bias.
 * 6) Kastera1000 - This is one of those aspects of the games that make the Fallout universe so wacky, and at the same time, it really makes one think. In the games, raiders are a prominent force all across the wastes, and it really does seem as if they have an advantage over every other faction in the game (Caesar became a power just getting a bunch of weak tribes together... imagine raiders banding together!). I had always assumed that their firepower is a result of the early survivors of the Great War, raiding military bunkers or being ex-military themselves, with the largest of the groups passing down their firepower and reinvigorating the raider factions as each new generation came to be. But out in the NCR, we had some particularly nasty groups of raiders, and it makes sense that people such as the VanGraffs had a rather shady hand in their growth. Let us just be glad that most of the raider groups are not psychic like the Beastlords! The only thing that I am not sure about, is as to the Legion's part in supplying energy weapons, especially with their staunch policy against most ballistic weapons, even. Maybe the hypocrisy seen within their leadership can explain this, but I do have my reservations.
 * 7) NittyKitty - When I first played Honest Hearts, that was the first that I had ever heard of the 80s. As I played the DLC again and again, my curiosity grew, as they were a truly unique band of raiders that had a rather huge sphere of influence across the wastes - yet, even with that known, very little information was divulged about their faction and their culture. There are a lot of these interesting groups and places with so very little information on them, and so I have a particular affinity for theories such as this one that seeks to expand upon such limited knowledge. My only complaint is that you did not expand upon the 80s even further. :)
 * 8) The Dutch Ghost - A conspiracy within a conspiracy? Why the hell not! Sarcasm aside, I really enjoyed this entry, as it goes to show that even the manipulative are regularly being manipulated themselves. Since their arrival in Fallout 2, the Enclave has been shown as just about an omniscient organization, so it does my black heart good, seeing theories revolve around their arrogance.
 * 9) Jokerine - I really like this theory - in a reality where food and clean water is sparce, imagination and ingenuity is what will keep the human remnants alive out in the wastes. Just a shame that you were not a part of the Bethesda team when they were working on Fallout 3, as the lack of farms, local creatures and fauna, and inexplicable fresh pre-War fruit at Rivet City really tested my suspension of belief.
 * 10) ZergInfestor - Deathclaws will replace all of us flesh bags one day. ;D I really like that you went into their biology, which has evolved greatly since the Enclave's original conception of them, as the species has been shown to grow stronger and stronger with each new game, with many unique variants even being spawned within single generations... not centuries. Stupid name, but what an amazingly diverse and adaptative species... I only wish the hairy deathclaws and talking deathclaws were still around.
 * 11) Revolverpookie - A very simple theory, but one that I enjoyed quite a bit. Since this theory is mostly rehashing on already established lore, I do not have much more to say than that, but I will say that the Legion is always an interesting topic to delve into.
 * 12) Ant2242 - I really enjoyed this theory - simple as that. As arrogant as the Enclave were in Fallout 2, and as delusional as Eden was in the Fallout 3, the Enclave are still clearly the faction that can help restore normalcy to the wastes. That is, if they ever learn any tact, and can properly rally wastelanders to their cause. And, you know, that is why I consider the Lone Wanderer as a partial antagonist, because as seen with the canon ending, the BoS could hardly handle water distribution, and the opportunities involved with their newfound clean water, basically went to waste. The Enclave, on the other hand, under the leadership of Autumn, were going to use that water to rally the Capital Wasteland into rebuilding what they could of pre-War America... and, I genuinely believed that Autumn could have largely accomplished such a goal in his lifetime, even though, realistically, his goal will never fully come to fruition.
 * 13) FireBurn21 - I get this theory - at least, I believe that I do. But I heavily disagree with it, as I consider Mr. House a visionary; not a terrorist or someone who craves any form of power.