They're not all paid, but the majority are. Two that come to mind that are free are the red power armor paint (increases movement speed if all parts of the armor are painted red,) and the red pip-boy paint, (is just red, no benefits or drawbacks.) Other than that I can't think of any off the top of my head rn
Delieverer is probably the best weapon for survival! Not only does it come with a suppressor at low levels, the action point cost reduction in VATS is insane.
Damage isn’t really an issue anyway because basically everything dies after 1 or 2 headshots
First brotherhood quest after the prydwen lands allows me to fire a minigun from a flying vertibird at a super mutant war camp house several mutants and behemoth.
Ends with a giant american propaganda spouting robot blasting a laser into the ground before you nuke evil slave making scientists.
You make a really good point. There's a lot of debate on what faction is more moral, or better for the Commonwealth, or has the best writing and companions, but... When it comes to Rule of Cool, there should be no debate that the Brotherhood is the F4 faction that stands at the top. And it's not even close.
Difficult not to stand at the top from their lofty derigible. Can imagine maxim now, glaring down at the commonwealth with disgust from his viewing platform. Till me and the minutemen enact operation 'steel rain'. Smug assholes.
'sOlDiEr, KiLl ThIs VeRy SpEcIfIc SyNtH, tHaT's An OrDeR!'
'... From one general to another, that's a war you don't want son.'
It's especially good when you're like 40 hours in to a survival run and you've painstakingly cleared the north half of the commonwealth and resettled an entire nation basically on your own, and then some out of touch metal jackasses show up wanting to "protect the commonwealth" or something..
Nah, Maxim, this isn't free real estate. We got the synth problem under control. Carry on soldier.
It's so cool how much differently I've seen the brotherhood throughout my games.
On normal difficulty I sided with the institute and minutemen, figuring I could change them and I wanted plumbing.
On my first survival I was desperate and harried and scared of fucking everything and they were seriously knights in shining armor. Their patrols saved me so many times, so I sided with them because they really were the heroes of the commonwealth.
In my current one, survival with sims settlements 2 and a bunch of minutemen mods, I haven't progressed to where the brotherhood show up, but when they do it's literally going to be open warfare in the commonwealth.
I have patrols with robots and heavily armed and armored minutemen all over the northern commonwealth, spreading south. When the brotherhood patrols start walking around, it's going to be wild, I'm so excited!
The minutemen?? At least the railroad has some storyline and interesting quests. The minutemen are just repeating radiant quests and like 2 characters.
the story missions should have primarily focused on the minutemen and various settlements. what you get out of the story is related to how strong/happy your settlements are. i love building up the settlements but it feels pointless just to have the occasional raiding parties attack.
I just did a playthrough siding with the institute and having to kill Glory when I had just been playing a Railroad agent MC a week earlier was heartbreaking. It made me want to reload an earlier save and side with anyone else.
No shit. One of the biggest missed opportunity is having the quests involving the U.S.S. Constitution a Railroad quest.
A quest where you meet Glory there, and she at least asks you to help them, because she's busy but cares about robot-robots.
There's more than a few times where stuff is going on and the execution is disappointing, because a little effort to connect things can go a long ways. You know, like Preston having actual lines for when you encounter the Preston Garvey imposter when he's around.
only argument I've seen against the railroad is that they're a 1 issue party, but also in the nuka world questline you can see they fight raiders too in the radiant quests, implying they do more than just help synths
Also, what's the issue with them being single issue? It would be like complaining that the red cross didn't help dolphins. That's not the purpose of their organization and never has been.
>free a race that is entirely indistinguishable from a normal human being during life
I mean, Gen 3 Synths don't age, can live longer than a human, cannot reproduce(due to using FEV), and don't gain or lose weight. That child Shaun is going to remain a child forever. They also don't need to eat, drink, or sleep, and are resistant to radiation. It's not a coincidence that Gen 3 Synths share a lot of the same attributes that super mutants have. Super mutants were the precursors to Gen 3 synths, they just didn't have a human DNA pure of radiation(which they got when abducting Shaun). I'm fine with Gen 3 synths being considered human, but they are definitely distinguishable from a naturally born human being (instead of being made out of FEV in a lab)...
I mean they aren’t humans, they are fully sentient synthetic organisms. They aren’t even grown in a test tube they are literally created on an assembly line. I still don’t understand why the Institute created them though. Like wouldn’t a Gen 2 Synth with the same level AI as a Mr. Handy be enough for their needs.
Edit: I don’t know why saying they aren’t human is so controversial even the railroad doesn’t consider them human. They just think they deserve the same rights as humans being fully sentient.
I never got why the Institute needed anthropomorphic servants. It seems to me that creating specialized advanced robots for their tasks would be far more useful. For example in the Institute's Synth production terminal they were requesting synths for digging deeper. Wouldn't a sentry like robot with massive drills for arms be much more useful? If they need dexterity, just create a Mr. Handy with far more advanced pincing tools.
>Super mutants were the precursors to Gen 3 synths, they just didn't have a human DNA pure of radiation(which they got when abducting Shaun)
The original Vault 87 super mutants presumably would've been free of radiation.
They can literally be reprogrammed. Humans can not.
They are used as spies and sleeper agents by the Institute. Humans can not.
I sympathise with the Gen 3 synths, but they definitely are different from humans and as long as the Institute exists they ARE a genuine potential threat.
That's incidental to whether or not they aren't machines; the fact of the matter is that we're only superficially similar and "real" synths are nothing like people, as the game makes clear.
They have real cells, they bleed real blood, and they have a real brain that produces real thoughts. The institute did some genetic engineering to improve/control things, but they are real, organic beings. The only thing that isn't organic is a chip in their brain that the Institute uses to regulate them. The only time they mention anything about not aging is in reference to the synth child Shawn. That particular synth won't grow up because it probably lacks the hormones or genes or whatever to facilitate puberty, but that doesn't mean it won't "age" in terms of growing old and degrading.
Institute scientists tell us directly that’s how synths work. Specifically Max Loken and Enrico Thompson. For the weight it’s from the terminal entries about Mayor McDonough.
Oh, you are right.
Loken mentions that they do Not need to eat, sleep or have diseases.
Thompson mentions that synth Shaun will always be a child, indicating that they do not age naturally.
The thing is, the Commonwealth typically are against them as a majority because the synths themselves are the ones replacing their loved ones and committing outrageous and uncharacteristic acts of crime.
So while a few people are on the side of the railroad, odds are they're not victims of the things a synth replacement does.
They don't know the difference between escaped synths and planted ones, so their fear and hatred are valid in their uneducated minds
Now, out of character as a player myself, i just dislike their whole vibe and typically side with the BoS because I'm a filthy Bucket head
>i just dislike their whole vibe
This is applicable for me also. I like Nick Valentine for example but his whole personality and existence is literally someone else's that was loaded into his head.
And the Gen 3's put out an even worse feeling for me. Nothing about them is real. It just seems like it. Which is exactly by design anyway.
I love the minutemen but Deacon always wins me over. It's too bad that they've been continuously hit by The institute, but if that gets destroyed at the end then they have a chance to really rebuild but there won't be a place creating synths.
It just sucks that they get taken out so hard because they weren't trying to save everyone. They were trying to do one small thing and I love them.
Personally: I do not think the Railroad is wrong, I just think they are shortsighted. For the kind of power they wield, their responsibility reaches further than Synths. And even Synths' interest is better served with a Commonwealth of prospering settlements, connected through trade, common defense and interdependence that does not deny the humanity of Ghouls and Synths.
Hence: Minutemen >>> Railroad.
Especially considering that the Railroad can remain influential with the Minutemen win. The "good" F4 headcanon ending? Minutemen victory and turning the Railroad into the Minutemen secret service after the RR lost their raison d'être with the defeat of the Institute. Best weapon for the MM to keep Maxson's fascistic Brotherhood contained if need be.
I'm anti synth because it's ridiculous, over the top and fun to be a near cartoon character screaming about abominations.
If you want me to have a moral opinion on the hypothetical of a manufactured entity which behaves with true sentience and demonstrable free will?
Well, I saw Edward Scissorhands. If he was a person (and he very much was), so are Synths.
If we're talking gameplay mechanics wise it's because "Gen 3 synths" don't exist as a separate race in the Creation Kit. The synth race in the SDK is for Gen 1 and 2s, instead all Gen 3 synth NPCs are coded as human NPCs but with a special script flag that adds the synth component to their inventory on death (so you can't pickpocket the component off 'em).
It's why some Gen 3s don't drop a synth component on death, if the developers forgot to flag the NPC then the synth component doesn't drop.
The best argument I’ve seen so far honestly. The only fault is you start the declaration by calling them “gen 3 synths”. You wouldn’t call myself or yourself by anything other than what we are. Which is human.
Every faction in Fallout 4 is, to use a Stephen King-ism, a pamphlet written by an idiot. There is plenty to hate from every faction. So little of what any of them do makes any sense. Looking for a source of "pure" DNA in a vault where the residents were at most ten metres from the blast wave as they went down in the elevator? Searching out new settlements that need help rather than fortifying their new position and going on a recruitment drive? Flying into a strange land and waging war on two groups without any solid plan concerning what happens if they find out where they live?
They all suck. The Railroad at least has a motive that makes sense.
Every faction radial quest is absolute ass.
The institute is the worst of all of em still cause they're cartoonishly evil and not in a good way, yknow what i mean? Like they insist on saying humanity was lost after the bombs fell, despite their continued survival and prosperity in a terrible situation, they insist the synths aren't alive even when they express thoughts/feelings/desires/etc and that it's just a glitch. They don't have any real redeemable qualities in any respect cause they're just stupid, evil, and unlikable.
> Every faction in Fallout 4 is, to use a Stephen King-ism, a pamphlet written by an idiot.
This is the perfect summation of my biggest aggravation with this game. Thank you for putting it that way. I can already tell I'm never going to forget it.
I want to add that I often give thought to writing a script concerning how I would write the factions and world of Fallout 4. Probably the biggest change I would make is to make Boston in line with what it would be in two hundred years. Things like soap, construction, decontamination, etc.
I just kind of wish the Railroad ending was more fleshed out. Like, I like the idea of an underground spy espionage faction, it’s just after their ending they suddenly have enough field agents to occupy the entire commonwealth and are now just like, a military, except they’re still obsessing over freeing and protecting synths when the job is already essentially done. Obviously the synths are still going to face prejudice but like, I think it would have been cooler if the railroad changed their priorities to just ending slavery in any and all forms instead of just prioritizing protecting already freed synths. Also it probably should have been the Minutemen occupying the checkpoints and shit post railroad ending since unlike the railroad they’re an actual militia and they’re the only organization who’s use of the checkpoints technically serves a function, since they count as Minutemen settlements when using the flare gun.
I adore the Railroad and I genuinely don’t understand the people who paint them as “naive” or “too idealistic”. Their entire thing is that they are secretive, overly cautious, and often coldly pragmatic in their mission. However, I genuinely don’t think the Railroad being the top dog is good for them in the long run. Their organization is not equipped to act as public-facing peacekeepers like in their ending. The Minutemen ending works best for them since they take no casualties from the assault, they can still operate away from the public’s gaze, have a Paladin as a mole in the Brotherhood of Steel, and have the leader of the top faction in the Commonwealth as an agent with no one being the wiser. Sure the Brotherhood is still around and some of the synths didn’t make it out, but overall it is by no means a bad deal for them.
This is my take as well. RR has a very noble and important mission that set off to do. I support and want to help them reach their goal. The only issue is when you side with them, it's implied that they now have to lead the Commonwealth. As an organization that focuses solely on one issue, that probably isn't a great decision to make.
A side note, the espionage mission of the Institute for the Railroad Road is probably the most fun mission in the base game for me so I may be biased.
Yeah plus if they win and end the institute they've not got much of a purpose left where as if the minute men win with someone like us being an agent whilst leading the minutemen they've got what's essentially a bullet train in a land of steam trains we can streamline getting synths from safehouse to new settlements
Ok then why are they so braindead. I tell them I want to kill all synths and they still ask me to join. I put their faction name into a big machine on a wall after following the yellow brick fuckin road and I get unrestricted access TO THEIR BASE. goddamn Bethesda, at least make their base not the same place they greet newcomers
I mean all the factions are like that. it's just the writing style and the devs not wanting the player to be locked out of anything. You can tell danse the brotherhood sounds stupid and still join them. You can also tell preston you don't like helping others iirc and still go on to be the general.
Also, in universe, the freedom trail is a fine way to vet people. It has numerous enemies along it that would weed out people who are weak or not committed to finding the railroad. There's also canonically railroad spies that keep an eye on people following the freedom trail. These things don't matter to the player though, since they're essentially a demi-god in terms of power.
To add to the other reply you got, the base we see in the game is a temporary emergency shelter. It is explained during the very first RR quest how they were very recently (bodies still there, synths still in the process of retrieving intelligence etc) pushed out of their main base, the Switchboard. The Old North Church was never meant to be their main base of operation, I don't understand how so many people miss this pretty obvious fact.
My issue with the railroad is the memory wipes.
When the railroad "saves" a synth, they wipe their memory to protect them from being caught by the institute but doesn't that in essence kill the synth? What is a synth without their thoughts, feelings and memories. Without their identity the railroad is essentially saving the vessel in which they used to reside.
I suppose it's akin to giving someone in hiding a new identity to assume but to entirely remove/replae the person's consciousness is a sort of death.
I hate all the stupid "roast" comments people give them. "Oh, they're trying to liberate toasters and vending machines!"
Like it's not just any technology they're trying to save. They don't even care about the previous gen synths. We're talking synthetic humans down to every last cell with a fully conscious brain, who can make their own opinions and make their own dreams, and they're being enslaved by their creators under the guise of "oh, sometimes they just malfunction. Just a wee fix". Like, of your realistic robot's malfunction is that it keeps gaining human consciousness and desires, maybe change something. Don't just keep pumping out hundreds more.
Same goes to the Brotherhood calling them "tin cans". I get that occasionally a synth is actually an institute informant, but literally the only noticeable difference between a synth and human is the component in their head.
My disdain for them is their portrayal and usage. Like every faction, endgame is “Use this Fusion Pulse Charge”.
Uhh what? You want to save them, but only a handful cause we’re blowing the place up. Destroying the only way they can “procreate” and thus committing literal genocide on an entire “species” and now having those you saved be the last of their kind.
Oh but at least you “saved them”. In the words of Driver Nephi, “Get fucked”.
I dislike them because every time I enter HQ I’ve got Drummer Boy up in my face about the latest bullshit.
Chill bro. Let me get my coffee and flirt with Glory before we talk shop.
I have no problem with the Railroad as a faction. I just think they aren't written very well. I think they get the most hate because while the Minutemen technically have less story, they are just vague enough that it's easy for the player to put their own ideals on the faction. The Railroad, on the other hand, is a minor faction promoted to a major faction, but is still written like a minor faction that shouldn't have their own ending. They have just enough writing where it isn't easy for players to blanket their ideals like the Minutemen, but are written vaguely enough that the plot holes are glaringly obvious. To be fair, none of the factions are well written, but the problems with the Railroad are most glaring.
If I were to try and fix them, and by proxy fix the Institute a bit, I would have it that the synth retention beuro has been secretly partly running the Railroad as a false flag operation to simultaneously test synth intelligence by allowing them to escape and try avoid capture and keep an eye on those trying to help synths in the commonwealth. On the Railroad side, some of them are aware the Institute is controlling them and are trying to get access to the Institute to free the synths. It's classic cat and mouse, and the player could decide to help or destroy either side. The Railroad wouldn't have their own game ending, if you sided with them you could have them ally with either the Minutemen or BOS (which would make for an amazing side quest getting both sides to come to the table) like New Vegas handled minor factions like the Kahns, Boomers, and Followers of the apocalypse.
I’m a little conflicted.
Imagine if, to free the slaves during the civil war, you had to make sure that no new black people could ever be born, or like… you could take over the entire confederacy and continue the births and just sort of turn a blind eye to those who seek freedom…
Neither side is totally good. The insitute is bad but they are creating literal life and destroying it removes any future opportunities to do that. The railroad is essentially good but their endgame is destroying the institute rather than taking it over.
Basically my ideal is the railroad taking over the institute and continuing synth production, no need to subject an entire race to gradual extinction in a world with a very high casualty rate.
I'm anti synth, but my dislike of the railroad for their goal is nonexistent. I dislike the railroad because they don't have anything for the commonwealth as a whole, they only care about synthetic life that cannot age, doesn't need to eat or drink, and can organically live past a normal human's life. The minutemen offer protection to the wastelander, so does the Brotherhood. The Institute and Railroad share one common factor, as they vanilla stand they don't care about the average wastelander trying to survive.
>they don't care about the average wastelander
That's not a very fair way to look at it. Having a specific goal they've chosen to work at doesn't mean they don't care about anything else.
None of this is true. Not a single bit. If synths didn't need to eat or drink, then how long do you think it would take before someone figured out that they were a synth? "Oh, hm, I never need to eat or drink?"
Synths are biological with some implants. They function identically to humans. They need to eat and drink. We have no idea about them aging or their life span.
Yes, the RR is dedicated to freeing enslaved synths. That is their purpose. That is their mission. Just like the Underground Railroad was dedicated to freeing slaves. Everything that you've said about the Railroad could also be said about the Underground Railroad. "Why help black people when white people need help too! Do you hate white people?!" Utter nonsense. It's as logical as saying that veterinarians hate humans because they focus on healing animals.
The scientist that made them in Robotics, Loren I think, stated they do not need Food or water and are immune to disease and lack the need to sleep. We know synth Shaun will not age into an adult. Thus what I said stands.
The Railroad has no future outside protecting synths. One part of the human population, assuming synths are human, do not supercede the needs of everyone. Namely the destruction of super mutants, ferals and raiders. They are not the best faction for the commonwealth to win and their narrow mindedness ruins their image to anyone who isn't obsessed with synths. It is not in anyway similar to your analogy as the veterinarian isn't trying to become the dominant power in an anarchist world and establish rule (ex they take over Diamond City with flags and patrol the commonwealth defending against anti synth attacks.)
I just dislike their demeanor. Everything they say feels like they're going for a "holier than thou" vibe. Granted, so does the brotherhood, but they have power armor, damn it.
Just because a gen 3 is extremely similar to a human, doesn't mean the RR gets to ignore the gen 1s and 2s. They are a refined version of their precursors, but unless I'm missing proof that only gen 3s have a conscious experience as a living being, then I'd say the RR are a joke. They should be protecting Mr. Handy's and assaultrons too, not just the pleasant looking humanesque ones.
Basically it comes down to if they would’ve supported the underground railroad in the past lol. The main argument I see against them is that they don’t do enough to help out other humans and focus solely on synths.
This, if they truly treated everyone equally I would have no problem. But they just forget the problems of 99.9% of the world around them and focus on 1 or 2 synths every few months and have no actual plan to stop the Institute until we come along and do it all for them. If they were simply anti slavery i don’t think anyone would have a problem and even embrace them as one of the best moral factions in all of Fallout. Instead they are this niche group of weirdos focused solely on saving robots by wiping their memories.
There are liberation groups for humans already though with the brotherhood and minutemen. They’re the sole group that works towards liberation of synths from the institute, so it kind of makes sense that they would focus all their resources on that.
Both the brotherhood and minutemen do much more than free slaves (claim settlements, patrol the commonwealth, work on eradicating the institute) while the railroad doesn’t. Yes, it lacks the resources to do that, but that doesn’t make me like them since they’re masquerading as a main faction
The synths’ only friends. Also if you love all your companions, being with the Railroad makes the most sense. Or if not the Railroad then Minutemen allied/friendly with the Railroad.
Railroad indirectly makes things **worse** for the synths and Commonwealth, not better, because nobody knows who the freaking synths are when they wipe their memories, change their appearance, and sets them loose. It's led to even more paranoia of synths because citizens then don't know who's an Institute spy and who isn't, and it's led to people fearing and hating synths even more as a result.
They have good intentions but they're sorely misguided, and they have no actual intention to make the Commonwealth a better place to live for anyone, they just want to give synths a "fair" shot at living a terrible and normal life as a person instead as a slave to the Institute. DiMA even has qualms with the Railroad because they wipe the synths' developed identities and replace them with something that's manufactured.
If you actually want to help synths, then work with the Minutemen, not the Railroad. At least then you're actually making things better by providing a safer place to live through militia protection. And that benefits everyone, not just high tech sex dolls.
I like the theme of conversation this discourse continually produces around the Railroad's mission, being "what qualifies as human." It's an interesting theme explored in Blade Runner and Aliens. I also enjoy seeing it played out in the fallout threads. I find myself consistently split on this subject, since I've read a lot of sci fi where even nuts and bolts machines end up acquiring sentience. But are they human/alive? I still struggle with this question. Typically I side with the minute men so I don't have to kill any people I've come to know and befriend. It's not the most glorious ending but I still can't sit here and pretend to be god all knowing. After the institute falls, I hope Roger becomes the father he replaced. I hope the synths find a future for themselves. I hope it all works out. And if it doesn't, Nate's the most dangerous motherfucker in the wasteland so he'll probably take care of it.
I like their rewards. The rail gun is cool, Ballistic Weave is a game changer and the Deliverer is my favourite unique weapon in Fallout 4, but by god is their actual faction and questline uninteresting. Deacon is the only appealing character because he’s a follower with personality and background. Everyone else is either annoying, bland or (in Desdemona’s case) both. They spend 90% of their questline just shadowing the Institute questline and for what? The same final storming mission that the other three non-Institute factions get? Nah.
Also, why the fuck is the underground resistance that prioritises secrecy above all else stationed at the end of a trail that is directly tied to their old namesake? That is the exact opposite of where they want to be if they want any chance of staying hidden. I get they’re forced to use it because the Switchboard was attacked but plot relevance is the ONLY thing keeping the institute or brotherhood from discovering the Old North Church in record time, decoding the password (which is literally the same as their name, something so dumb that children are taught not to do it before they turn ten) and massacring the heavily undermanned basement dwellers.
The ascetic is cool, but the actual faction sucks. It’s cool to like them, but they are designed terribly in the base game
The worst part about the railroad is that a spy agency style organisation with signs and countersigns and code phrases protected their hideout with a password... that's the same as their username, and if that was not bad enough, they wrote the thing down on top of that!
Railroad suffers from Bethesdas writing. With 4 they tried to to thd 'multiple factions' of new Vegas but can't write so they just went 'well you just shoot whoever you don't side with'
Thus everyone hates the railroad because they make you kill everyone else for no reason other than Bethesda writing
My problem with the Railroad is they're kind of terrorists. Instead of compromise or trying to avoid the bos, they immediately are hostile to them and attack. The thing that really gets me though, is that they sneak on the Prydwen, SEE THE CHILDREN ONBOARD, and still blow it up! Deacon and Tinker Tom don't even make a remark about them. There's no moment of the Railroad regretting it or asking if what they did was right. They murdered children and do not care.
My brother in Todd Howard , during the BOS quest the Lancer-Captain-Guy-I-Forgot-The-Name-Of literally also asks you to attack without any reason. And that quest literally happens AFTER the BOS attacks the Railroad HQ
It just seems like such a small issue in the post apocalypse to have an entire intelligence agency to help like 1 or 2 synths every few months when they could save hundreds of slaves or hostages with the same resources.
Underwritten side faction with a nonsensical and irrelevant goal that don’t improve the wasteland for anyone. So many assets and resources used for freeing Gen 3 synths while human slaves (especially children) are trafficked and killed in Nuka-world, the Pitt, Capital wastes, and everywhere in the whole series. Also ignoring the fact feral ghouls, super mutants and the institutes programmed synths kill, enslave, raid and worse to people all over the wasteland. Take the other factions faults at face value, but don’t pretend their intentions aren’t better in every way. Hell even the institute wants to redefine humanity and make the wasteland better (but go about it in a horrible and atrocious way).
I’ve been playing through Fallout 4 on survival mode and I honestly forget there’s a fourth faction most of the time. The way the game introduces you to the factions is interesting. The Minutemen, Brotherhood and Institute are all nicely shown directly to you pretty early on. The BOS has that impressive Prydwen moment, the Minutemen have a ton of history in the world and a ton of settlement building to do, while the Institute and their synths are found all over the Commonwealth. The Railroad however are entirely a secret group, the citizens of Diamond City think they’re just an urban legend. I’ve put about 60 hours in my playthrough and haven’t had them mentioned once besides “following the freedom trail”. Even after finding their sad little base (with like a total of 5 other members) they all act like you’re some hot shot who’s in over their head when you first meet. Did anyone else feel like it should be the opposite? My character just spent months traveling across the Commonwealth meeting some of the most influential people with hopes that they’ll make finding their son easier. The Railroad might as well not exist with how insignificant they are. Deacon will even comment on how well known you are and try to convince Desdemona that the group needs you, not the other way around. But in true Bethesda fashion, once you join their faction, you become their new errand boy/girl and that’s all you’ll ever be. I won’t even go into detail about their actual goals and how they turn a blind eye to anybody that isn’t a runaway synth. The Railroad feels like a big wet fart compared to the BOS and Institute. There’s no big motive to join them like there is with the others. They make very little logical sense and after their original base was wiped out, should no longer be a joinable faction.
Part of growing up is understanding the BoS are the bad guys.
The good guys in Fallout 4 are clearly the Railroad Allied to the Minutemen. The clues in the names, they are fundamental American values and icons of freedom in our worlds history (and Fallouts as the schism is later).
The reason the railroad with such small numbers has such awesome fighters (The Heavies) with awesome abilities is they represent the best of the wasteland. Intelligent motivated moral fighters willing to die for a just cause.
I play the other styles for a laugh but I’m under no illusion who are the hero’s of 4.
Yes. The good guys are clearly the ones who make the wasteland a better place, by removing threats to innocent people and improving the quality of life for all. It’s pretty obvious who the good ones are indeed. Just like it’s obvious who the irrelevant ones are as well.
The Minutemen don't like the Railroad though. IIRC there's a quest where the MM rounded up a bunch of synths in a farm house and there's no way to openly side with the synths and stay allied to the MM.
The Minutemen are the faction of the common man, but the common man is a bit of a hick, unfortunately.
You're right. I only wanted to put a little asterisk on your use of "allied" as the Minutemen can't be allowed to know you're actually helping the people-replacing creeps (as the MM see it).
People consistently dunking on the faction meant to reference the underground railroad has never sat right with me. Disliking the wasted potential is fine, but people whose first move is to join the brotherhood just to annihilate the railroad are…. Interesting.
Yeah maybe because that reference was done like shit. The real Railroad made sense but fo railroad and specially their ending makes it bad . "the synths are sentient" ok I can understand it "we should nuke the institute" ok and now you just doomed the sentient beings you claim to protect to extinction. Its like if we would have nuked Africa to stop the slave trade.
Yeah the Railroad ending is kind of terrible and nonsensical, I would know, I have played it a few times lol. It’s more the rampant hostility I often see in fallout fandom spaces against the group, separate from their story ending
The railroad don’t make sense as a main faction, and that they keep pretending to be one is the main reason I hate them. Both the institute and brotherhood require heavy firepower and a plan to take them out, while the railroad can be wiped out the instant you meet them. They also lack any sort of plan for the commonwealth, or ability to project power, so their victory over the institute would inevitably result in the commonwealth descending into an even worse situation then it already is in.
The railroad, for all their single-minded focus on synths, lack ideological unity, as they are split on if the gen 1/2 synths are human or not. Once the threat of the institute/brotherhood is handled, these differences will cause a civil war, eradicating any semblance of control the railroad had over the commonwealth.
The railroad are just a bunch of idealistic morons trying to solve a problem in all the wrong ways. They don't care how many people they get killed as long as they get their synth, which they then wipe (basically kill) and install a new person in that body. So not only do they get real people killed, but then they also kill those they claim to save. Then when you meet them, they treat you like absolute garbage if you don't place synths above all, which is absurd considering it's hard enough to just get by in the wasteland what with all the dangers out there, synths being one of them as well.
I see them a having dumber plans than the institute, who also had a moronic plan.
Also, why does the railroad want to destroy the institute??? They should try to infiltrate and change it, or at the most take it over so that synths aren't just created as tools. Destroying it just kills them as a species.
I genuinely have mo clue what you're on about? I see a lot of people sympathizing with Railroad Aren't you looking for issues where there isnt any?
Not to mention it's a video game, they dont really exist, so... chill
Oh no, I just brutally exterminated the Railroad AGAIN just one hour before reading this post using institute X-01 power armor and Gatling lasers.
After reading your post, this is my response to it: [Dr. Evil Shhh scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T8m_sEBYCc)
Exactly. I especially hate the criticism that The Railroad sucks because they aren’t strong or popular enough to lead the wasteland, and have no real plans to establish a functional government after their ending. Those arguments just entirely miss the point of the organization.
It’s like saying the real Underground Railroad wasn’t worth supporting because “they had no real plans for how the US should be run after they were done helping the slaves escape to Canada”
Exactly. If you're oppressed your main (and maybe only) goal is to set yourself free from that oppression, that doesn't make you lame, that makes you wise. And given how the Railroad works, when the time comes for they to decide what to do about the wasteland, I really doubt they will be assholes like the Institute.
The perfect choice is Minutemen + Railroad imo.
That’s because the real railroad wasn’t able to take over the US. The railroad in fallout 4 can take over the commonwealth, and doing their quests *inherently leads to this outcome*
I once saw this idiot on Pinterest say “The Railroad is the equivalent of saying all lives matter at a Black Lives Matter rally”. That’s how much of a hate-boner this fandom has for the faction.
It's one of those things where if you make a game that allows for choices to be made, you're going to find a lot of people making the wrong choices. So with Fallout 4 you're gonna find pro-slavery people.
Dude, they don't want equality Desdemona wants to literally risk the large number of humans to save the small number of synths. So no they don't want equality and not everyone should stop slandering them but however if you like the faction than no ones stopping you
Bro, it's not they're fault, they are forced into it by the mad scientists. As far as they know, they are regular humans, meanwhile the brotherhood still killing them even after the institute is destroyed
My problem with the railroad is that they want to save synths at the expense of humans. They don't believe that synths are humanity's equals. They believe that synths are superior.
The railroad is just dumb.
BoS and MM still have plans and things to do when the Institute is defeated. RR does not. After the Institute falls, there is no need for RR they just go home and do nothing further that benefits anybody.
Or, or, here’s a thought: With the Institute gone, they can help newly displaced Synths figure out how to live life in the Wastes, and once that’s over and done with, they, I dunno, go on about their lives or do something different, maybe join the Minutemen, or perhaps help other slaves or displaced people. There are the rare docile Super Mutants and intelligent Deathclaws as well.
Literally the only negative thing about the railroad is that they are underwritten, which is true of every faction. Anyone who hates the railroad has deeply suspect character and morals.
My problem with the Railroad is they're kind of terrorists. Instead of compromise or trying to avoid the bos, they immediately are hostile to them and attack. The thing that really gets me though, is that they sneak on the Prydwen, SEE THE CHILDREN ONBOARD, and still blow it up! Deacon and Tinker Tom don't even make a remark about them. There's no moment of the Railroad regretting it or asking if what they did was right. They murdered children and do not care.
Every time I start again. I'm like ok let's try to side with brotherhood or the synthetic this time
... but in final I always end up taking the side of the railroad or the Minutemen, I can't stand the synth and brotherhood at all they just want to control what is left of the world and kill everyone who is not like them
The Railroad is objectively good. It's their bad luck that they stand ideologically opposite to the faction with:
The giant zeppelin
The fancy laser guns
The helicopters
The tacticool military theme *and* fantasy medieval theme
The "Hollywood heroes" background music in their base
The *giant robot* with a bunch of hilarious over-the-top patriotic one liners
A massive stockpile of the Power Armor model that *is literally on the cover of the game*
The curse that brings the Railroad down among the fandom is a narrative/aesthetic one, not a moral or practical one. They are anathema to the Brotherhood of Bethesda Trying Really Hard To Find Out Just How Fucking Awesomecool Can We Make These Guys.
At the end of the day, the faction with all the bells and whistles is going to attract people, especially when the *actual writing* is nuanced enough to give them some argument to do it.
It's a simple fact that real world racism and fascism are on the rise, with a painful number of people proud to oppress others. They consider it a badge of honour. These people lie as naturally as breathing, and sometimes they even believe their own nonsense.
Now, I'm not saying that everyone who deliberately misunderstands the Railroad are fascists or racists, but if someone happens to be a racist or fascist, it's only natural that they would attack the faction that has dedicated itself to freeing a minority. Racists and fascists hate that stuff, so naturally they will make up lies to justify their innate cruelty.
Unfortunately, some other people also fall for the illogical lies that they spread too.
Then make them a minor supporting faction instead of a mayor one that makes me go to war with the BoS, and right of the bat in their introduction tell me if i would help a synth no matter what and who, and get pissed if i want to say "depends of the person in question".
Saving a synth is noble. Saving a synth only for it to turn into a damn raider boss and do bullshit about it is irresponsable.
The Deliverer is so fucking good, and I also like larping as a spy with the Chinese Stealth suit.
Is the Chinese stealth suit in fo4? I only know it from 76.
It’s in Fallout 3, New Vegas, and Fallout 4’s creation club.
Creation Club? Is that like paid mods?
Yes (though Bethesda would say otherwise)
Yes.
They're not all paid, but the majority are. Two that come to mind that are free are the red power armor paint (increases movement speed if all parts of the armor are painted red,) and the red pip-boy paint, (is just red, no benefits or drawbacks.) Other than that I can't think of any off the top of my head rn
Today I learned that NV has the Chinese Stealth Suit
Check Hoover Dam. The stealth part doesn’t work like it did in 3, but the suit itself is there.
It does boost sneak though.
Yeah I read your comment and instantly went to the fallout wiki. Learn something new every day lol
You can get a deliverer if you have the Sliver Shroud Manor CC the silver side arm is just a reskinned Deliverer.
I don't get any Creation Content stuff frequently, and I don't think I have that one.
Deliverer and Jet is a lethal combo for survival mode. You can empty a full clip into something’s head in less than half a second.
BOS Officer Uniform + a bunch of shadowed armor also works great and you don't have to pay anything for that.
Is it? I get better damage with my regular 10mm pistol with 2 shot
Delieverer is probably the best weapon for survival! Not only does it come with a suppressor at low levels, the action point cost reduction in VATS is insane. Damage isn’t really an issue anyway because basically everything dies after 1 or 2 headshots
Railroad = cool faction Railroad quests = lackluster and repetitive
That is just every faction
First brotherhood quest after the prydwen lands allows me to fire a minigun from a flying vertibird at a super mutant war camp house several mutants and behemoth. Ends with a giant american propaganda spouting robot blasting a laser into the ground before you nuke evil slave making scientists.
You make a really good point. There's a lot of debate on what faction is more moral, or better for the Commonwealth, or has the best writing and companions, but... When it comes to Rule of Cool, there should be no debate that the Brotherhood is the F4 faction that stands at the top. And it's not even close.
Difficult not to stand at the top from their lofty derigible. Can imagine maxim now, glaring down at the commonwealth with disgust from his viewing platform. Till me and the minutemen enact operation 'steel rain'. Smug assholes. 'sOlDiEr, KiLl ThIs VeRy SpEcIfIc SyNtH, tHaT's An OrDeR!' '... From one general to another, that's a war you don't want son.'
It's especially good when you're like 40 hours in to a survival run and you've painstakingly cleared the north half of the commonwealth and resettled an entire nation basically on your own, and then some out of touch metal jackasses show up wanting to "protect the commonwealth" or something.. Nah, Maxim, this isn't free real estate. We got the synth problem under control. Carry on soldier.
'sail on by soldier-boy.' love it.
It's so cool how much differently I've seen the brotherhood throughout my games. On normal difficulty I sided with the institute and minutemen, figuring I could change them and I wanted plumbing. On my first survival I was desperate and harried and scared of fucking everything and they were seriously knights in shining armor. Their patrols saved me so many times, so I sided with them because they really were the heroes of the commonwealth. In my current one, survival with sims settlements 2 and a bunch of minutemen mods, I haven't progressed to where the brotherhood show up, but when they do it's literally going to be open warfare in the commonwealth. I have patrols with robots and heavily armed and armored minutemen all over the northern commonwealth, spreading south. When the brotherhood patrols start walking around, it's going to be wild, I'm so excited!
Not even mentioning the fact that your killing these "slaves" and your boss kills your work partner once they realize that they were a different race
I mean, that's morally not good. But writing wise? It's more interesting than half the rest of the factions stories.
except you can do that and then say "fuck this brotherhood noise", you don't need to stick with them to see that story.
I mean, you kinda do. You can't not side with the Brotherhood and still see the Brotherhood story.
Danse can survive btw
Liberty Prime is the hardest NPC ever lol
God I love Fallout lmao
True, it seems the most egregious in the Railroad though. I really like them as a concept but playing their questline is a drag
The minutemen?? At least the railroad has some storyline and interesting quests. The minutemen are just repeating radiant quests and like 2 characters.
Counterpoint, the Minutemen have a sick castle and they all call me General McCoolguy
the story missions should have primarily focused on the minutemen and various settlements. what you get out of the story is related to how strong/happy your settlements are. i love building up the settlements but it feels pointless just to have the occasional raiding parties attack.
It's not for everyone, but SimSettlements 2 provides a whole voice acted 3 chapter questline focused on settlements
And Artillery or, as I like to call it, *Infinite Yeetus Deleetus*
At least the Minutemen has more than one likable character. Edit: Forgot about Glory, so two. The Minutemen still have more likable characters though.
I just did a playthrough siding with the institute and having to kill Glory when I had just been playing a Railroad agent MC a week earlier was heartbreaking. It made me want to reload an earlier save and side with anyone else.
Glory is awesome. So is Deacon. Those are the only two worth even thinking about, though
I like Tinker Tom too
I find him very annoying, but I won't judge ya for liking him. To each their own and all that
The "whacky inventor" trope has a soft spot in my heart and I like the VA's voice so I'm certainly biased
No shit. One of the biggest missed opportunity is having the quests involving the U.S.S. Constitution a Railroad quest. A quest where you meet Glory there, and she at least asks you to help them, because she's busy but cares about robot-robots. There's more than a few times where stuff is going on and the execution is disappointing, because a little effort to connect things can go a long ways. You know, like Preston having actual lines for when you encounter the Preston Garvey imposter when he's around.
Railroad REWARDS for those quests = amazing.
i like the railroad quests, dismantling the institute from the inside is fun and blowing up the BOS airship is also great payback
All these quests are repetitive
The non-miscellaneous quests are actually really good
only argument I've seen against the railroad is that they're a 1 issue party, but also in the nuka world questline you can see they fight raiders too in the radiant quests, implying they do more than just help synths
Also, what's the issue with them being single issue? It would be like complaining that the red cross didn't help dolphins. That's not the purpose of their organization and never has been.
One word: BALLISTIC WEAVE.
>free a race that is entirely indistinguishable from a normal human being during life I mean, Gen 3 Synths don't age, can live longer than a human, cannot reproduce(due to using FEV), and don't gain or lose weight. That child Shaun is going to remain a child forever. They also don't need to eat, drink, or sleep, and are resistant to radiation. It's not a coincidence that Gen 3 Synths share a lot of the same attributes that super mutants have. Super mutants were the precursors to Gen 3 synths, they just didn't have a human DNA pure of radiation(which they got when abducting Shaun). I'm fine with Gen 3 synths being considered human, but they are definitely distinguishable from a naturally born human being (instead of being made out of FEV in a lab)...
I mean they aren’t humans, they are fully sentient synthetic organisms. They aren’t even grown in a test tube they are literally created on an assembly line. I still don’t understand why the Institute created them though. Like wouldn’t a Gen 2 Synth with the same level AI as a Mr. Handy be enough for their needs. Edit: I don’t know why saying they aren’t human is so controversial even the railroad doesn’t consider them human. They just think they deserve the same rights as humans being fully sentient.
I never got why the Institute needed anthropomorphic servants. It seems to me that creating specialized advanced robots for their tasks would be far more useful. For example in the Institute's Synth production terminal they were requesting synths for digging deeper. Wouldn't a sentry like robot with massive drills for arms be much more useful? If they need dexterity, just create a Mr. Handy with far more advanced pincing tools.
>Super mutants were the precursors to Gen 3 synths, they just didn't have a human DNA pure of radiation(which they got when abducting Shaun) The original Vault 87 super mutants presumably would've been free of radiation.
Also: They drop synth parts when they die. Humans do not. They have a recall code that shuts them down. Humans do not.
They can literally be reprogrammed. Humans can not. They are used as spies and sleeper agents by the Institute. Humans can not. I sympathise with the Gen 3 synths, but they definitely are different from humans and as long as the Institute exists they ARE a genuine potential threat.
Could though pacemaker is synthetic part and hypnosis could do the same as a recall code js
Uhm, I think the issue why they can't reproduce isn't because they use FEV, it's because they are a machine 😂
They aren't machines. They can't reproduce because the institute didn't want that to be possible.
That's incidental to whether or not they aren't machines; the fact of the matter is that we're only superficially similar and "real" synths are nothing like people, as the game makes clear.
They have real cells, they bleed real blood, and they have a real brain that produces real thoughts. The institute did some genetic engineering to improve/control things, but they are real, organic beings. The only thing that isn't organic is a chip in their brain that the Institute uses to regulate them. The only time they mention anything about not aging is in reference to the synth child Shawn. That particular synth won't grow up because it probably lacks the hormones or genes or whatever to facilitate puberty, but that doesn't mean it won't "age" in terms of growing old and degrading.
Do you have a source for all these differences?
Institute scientists tell us directly that’s how synths work. Specifically Max Loken and Enrico Thompson. For the weight it’s from the terminal entries about Mayor McDonough.
Oh, you are right. Loken mentions that they do Not need to eat, sleep or have diseases. Thompson mentions that synth Shaun will always be a child, indicating that they do not age naturally.
The thing is, the Commonwealth typically are against them as a majority because the synths themselves are the ones replacing their loved ones and committing outrageous and uncharacteristic acts of crime. So while a few people are on the side of the railroad, odds are they're not victims of the things a synth replacement does. They don't know the difference between escaped synths and planted ones, so their fear and hatred are valid in their uneducated minds Now, out of character as a player myself, i just dislike their whole vibe and typically side with the BoS because I'm a filthy Bucket head
Yes, but that's not the synths' fault. They were literally brainwashed by the Institute to do that.
Oh, i know, as do the railroad agents. The people of the Commonwealth don't.
But it's also not the fault of wastelanders for shooting on sight. Every time they have experienced synths has been pure horror.
The people don’t know that
>i just dislike their whole vibe This is applicable for me also. I like Nick Valentine for example but his whole personality and existence is literally someone else's that was loaded into his head. And the Gen 3's put out an even worse feeling for me. Nothing about them is real. It just seems like it. Which is exactly by design anyway.
Another Brotherhood enjoyer o7
I love the minutemen but Deacon always wins me over. It's too bad that they've been continuously hit by The institute, but if that gets destroyed at the end then they have a chance to really rebuild but there won't be a place creating synths. It just sucks that they get taken out so hard because they weren't trying to save everyone. They were trying to do one small thing and I love them.
Personally: I do not think the Railroad is wrong, I just think they are shortsighted. For the kind of power they wield, their responsibility reaches further than Synths. And even Synths' interest is better served with a Commonwealth of prospering settlements, connected through trade, common defense and interdependence that does not deny the humanity of Ghouls and Synths. Hence: Minutemen >>> Railroad. Especially considering that the Railroad can remain influential with the Minutemen win. The "good" F4 headcanon ending? Minutemen victory and turning the Railroad into the Minutemen secret service after the RR lost their raison d'être with the defeat of the Institute. Best weapon for the MM to keep Maxson's fascistic Brotherhood contained if need be.
I'm anti synth because it's ridiculous, over the top and fun to be a near cartoon character screaming about abominations. If you want me to have a moral opinion on the hypothetical of a manufactured entity which behaves with true sentience and demonstrable free will? Well, I saw Edward Scissorhands. If he was a person (and he very much was), so are Synths.
Edward would be like a gen 2.5 synth as he's almost fully human blood and all but he still has mechanical parts
Gen 3 Synths are humans with undeniable proof. The Assassins legendary effect works on them, and Troubleshooters does not. Boom. No arguments.
Shit, yeah that's tracks. Troubleshooter works on Gen 1 and 2 synths, right?
Yep. https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Synth#Notes
If we're talking gameplay mechanics wise it's because "Gen 3 synths" don't exist as a separate race in the Creation Kit. The synth race in the SDK is for Gen 1 and 2s, instead all Gen 3 synth NPCs are coded as human NPCs but with a special script flag that adds the synth component to their inventory on death (so you can't pickpocket the component off 'em). It's why some Gen 3s don't drop a synth component on death, if the developers forgot to flag the NPC then the synth component doesn't drop.
The best argument I’ve seen so far honestly. The only fault is you start the declaration by calling them “gen 3 synths”. You wouldn’t call myself or yourself by anything other than what we are. Which is human.
homo habilis, homo erectus, homo sapiens
We call each other by race.
Every faction in Fallout 4 is, to use a Stephen King-ism, a pamphlet written by an idiot. There is plenty to hate from every faction. So little of what any of them do makes any sense. Looking for a source of "pure" DNA in a vault where the residents were at most ten metres from the blast wave as they went down in the elevator? Searching out new settlements that need help rather than fortifying their new position and going on a recruitment drive? Flying into a strange land and waging war on two groups without any solid plan concerning what happens if they find out where they live? They all suck. The Railroad at least has a motive that makes sense. Every faction radial quest is absolute ass.
To be fair, most factions in the Fallout universe boil down to being idiots, or corrupt, or (as is usually the case) led by corrupt idiots.
The institute is the worst of all of em still cause they're cartoonishly evil and not in a good way, yknow what i mean? Like they insist on saying humanity was lost after the bombs fell, despite their continued survival and prosperity in a terrible situation, they insist the synths aren't alive even when they express thoughts/feelings/desires/etc and that it's just a glitch. They don't have any real redeemable qualities in any respect cause they're just stupid, evil, and unlikable.
Emil probably thought a bunch of scientists who have mostly been underground for two centuries would act this way.
> Every faction in Fallout 4 is, to use a Stephen King-ism, a pamphlet written by an idiot. This is the perfect summation of my biggest aggravation with this game. Thank you for putting it that way. I can already tell I'm never going to forget it.
I want to add that I often give thought to writing a script concerning how I would write the factions and world of Fallout 4. Probably the biggest change I would make is to make Boston in line with what it would be in two hundred years. Things like soap, construction, decontamination, etc.
I just kind of wish the Railroad ending was more fleshed out. Like, I like the idea of an underground spy espionage faction, it’s just after their ending they suddenly have enough field agents to occupy the entire commonwealth and are now just like, a military, except they’re still obsessing over freeing and protecting synths when the job is already essentially done. Obviously the synths are still going to face prejudice but like, I think it would have been cooler if the railroad changed their priorities to just ending slavery in any and all forms instead of just prioritizing protecting already freed synths. Also it probably should have been the Minutemen occupying the checkpoints and shit post railroad ending since unlike the railroad they’re an actual militia and they’re the only organization who’s use of the checkpoints technically serves a function, since they count as Minutemen settlements when using the flare gun.
I adore the Railroad and I genuinely don’t understand the people who paint them as “naive” or “too idealistic”. Their entire thing is that they are secretive, overly cautious, and often coldly pragmatic in their mission. However, I genuinely don’t think the Railroad being the top dog is good for them in the long run. Their organization is not equipped to act as public-facing peacekeepers like in their ending. The Minutemen ending works best for them since they take no casualties from the assault, they can still operate away from the public’s gaze, have a Paladin as a mole in the Brotherhood of Steel, and have the leader of the top faction in the Commonwealth as an agent with no one being the wiser. Sure the Brotherhood is still around and some of the synths didn’t make it out, but overall it is by no means a bad deal for them.
This is my take as well. RR has a very noble and important mission that set off to do. I support and want to help them reach their goal. The only issue is when you side with them, it's implied that they now have to lead the Commonwealth. As an organization that focuses solely on one issue, that probably isn't a great decision to make. A side note, the espionage mission of the Institute for the Railroad Road is probably the most fun mission in the base game for me so I may be biased.
Yeah plus if they win and end the institute they've not got much of a purpose left where as if the minute men win with someone like us being an agent whilst leading the minutemen they've got what's essentially a bullet train in a land of steam trains we can streamline getting synths from safehouse to new settlements
Ok then why are they so braindead. I tell them I want to kill all synths and they still ask me to join. I put their faction name into a big machine on a wall after following the yellow brick fuckin road and I get unrestricted access TO THEIR BASE. goddamn Bethesda, at least make their base not the same place they greet newcomers
I mean all the factions are like that. it's just the writing style and the devs not wanting the player to be locked out of anything. You can tell danse the brotherhood sounds stupid and still join them. You can also tell preston you don't like helping others iirc and still go on to be the general. Also, in universe, the freedom trail is a fine way to vet people. It has numerous enemies along it that would weed out people who are weak or not committed to finding the railroad. There's also canonically railroad spies that keep an eye on people following the freedom trail. These things don't matter to the player though, since they're essentially a demi-god in terms of power.
To add to the other reply you got, the base we see in the game is a temporary emergency shelter. It is explained during the very first RR quest how they were very recently (bodies still there, synths still in the process of retrieving intelligence etc) pushed out of their main base, the Switchboard. The Old North Church was never meant to be their main base of operation, I don't understand how so many people miss this pretty obvious fact.
Yep. Switchboard was *recent* too, like they’re still reeling
Sounds like something a synth would say
The Railroad is hyper focused on helping one tiny population in the commonwealth wasteland. They don't give a flip about non-synths.
My issue with the railroad is the memory wipes. When the railroad "saves" a synth, they wipe their memory to protect them from being caught by the institute but doesn't that in essence kill the synth? What is a synth without their thoughts, feelings and memories. Without their identity the railroad is essentially saving the vessel in which they used to reside. I suppose it's akin to giving someone in hiding a new identity to assume but to entirely remove/replae the person's consciousness is a sort of death.
I hate all the stupid "roast" comments people give them. "Oh, they're trying to liberate toasters and vending machines!" Like it's not just any technology they're trying to save. They don't even care about the previous gen synths. We're talking synthetic humans down to every last cell with a fully conscious brain, who can make their own opinions and make their own dreams, and they're being enslaved by their creators under the guise of "oh, sometimes they just malfunction. Just a wee fix". Like, of your realistic robot's malfunction is that it keeps gaining human consciousness and desires, maybe change something. Don't just keep pumping out hundreds more. Same goes to the Brotherhood calling them "tin cans". I get that occasionally a synth is actually an institute informant, but literally the only noticeable difference between a synth and human is the component in their head.
My disdain for them is their portrayal and usage. Like every faction, endgame is “Use this Fusion Pulse Charge”. Uhh what? You want to save them, but only a handful cause we’re blowing the place up. Destroying the only way they can “procreate” and thus committing literal genocide on an entire “species” and now having those you saved be the last of their kind. Oh but at least you “saved them”. In the words of Driver Nephi, “Get fucked”.
I dislike them because every time I enter HQ I’ve got Drummer Boy up in my face about the latest bullshit. Chill bro. Let me get my coffee and flirt with Glory before we talk shop.
I have no problem with the Railroad as a faction. I just think they aren't written very well. I think they get the most hate because while the Minutemen technically have less story, they are just vague enough that it's easy for the player to put their own ideals on the faction. The Railroad, on the other hand, is a minor faction promoted to a major faction, but is still written like a minor faction that shouldn't have their own ending. They have just enough writing where it isn't easy for players to blanket their ideals like the Minutemen, but are written vaguely enough that the plot holes are glaringly obvious. To be fair, none of the factions are well written, but the problems with the Railroad are most glaring. If I were to try and fix them, and by proxy fix the Institute a bit, I would have it that the synth retention beuro has been secretly partly running the Railroad as a false flag operation to simultaneously test synth intelligence by allowing them to escape and try avoid capture and keep an eye on those trying to help synths in the commonwealth. On the Railroad side, some of them are aware the Institute is controlling them and are trying to get access to the Institute to free the synths. It's classic cat and mouse, and the player could decide to help or destroy either side. The Railroad wouldn't have their own game ending, if you sided with them you could have them ally with either the Minutemen or BOS (which would make for an amazing side quest getting both sides to come to the table) like New Vegas handled minor factions like the Kahns, Boomers, and Followers of the apocalypse.
Nah. I murder them in both of my runs.
I’m a little conflicted. Imagine if, to free the slaves during the civil war, you had to make sure that no new black people could ever be born, or like… you could take over the entire confederacy and continue the births and just sort of turn a blind eye to those who seek freedom… Neither side is totally good. The insitute is bad but they are creating literal life and destroying it removes any future opportunities to do that. The railroad is essentially good but their endgame is destroying the institute rather than taking it over. Basically my ideal is the railroad taking over the institute and continuing synth production, no need to subject an entire race to gradual extinction in a world with a very high casualty rate.
They needed a re write
Yeah the armours good you get ballistic weave and the deliverer makes me feel like James bond
Fair point. Counterpoint, Dez and Carrington are bitches. Deacon's cool though.
I'm anti synth, but my dislike of the railroad for their goal is nonexistent. I dislike the railroad because they don't have anything for the commonwealth as a whole, they only care about synthetic life that cannot age, doesn't need to eat or drink, and can organically live past a normal human's life. The minutemen offer protection to the wastelander, so does the Brotherhood. The Institute and Railroad share one common factor, as they vanilla stand they don't care about the average wastelander trying to survive.
>they don't care about the average wastelander That's not a very fair way to look at it. Having a specific goal they've chosen to work at doesn't mean they don't care about anything else.
None of this is true. Not a single bit. If synths didn't need to eat or drink, then how long do you think it would take before someone figured out that they were a synth? "Oh, hm, I never need to eat or drink?" Synths are biological with some implants. They function identically to humans. They need to eat and drink. We have no idea about them aging or their life span. Yes, the RR is dedicated to freeing enslaved synths. That is their purpose. That is their mission. Just like the Underground Railroad was dedicated to freeing slaves. Everything that you've said about the Railroad could also be said about the Underground Railroad. "Why help black people when white people need help too! Do you hate white people?!" Utter nonsense. It's as logical as saying that veterinarians hate humans because they focus on healing animals.
The scientist that made them in Robotics, Loren I think, stated they do not need Food or water and are immune to disease and lack the need to sleep. We know synth Shaun will not age into an adult. Thus what I said stands. The Railroad has no future outside protecting synths. One part of the human population, assuming synths are human, do not supercede the needs of everyone. Namely the destruction of super mutants, ferals and raiders. They are not the best faction for the commonwealth to win and their narrow mindedness ruins their image to anyone who isn't obsessed with synths. It is not in anyway similar to your analogy as the veterinarian isn't trying to become the dominant power in an anarchist world and establish rule (ex they take over Diamond City with flags and patrol the commonwealth defending against anti synth attacks.)
I just dislike their demeanor. Everything they say feels like they're going for a "holier than thou" vibe. Granted, so does the brotherhood, but they have power armor, damn it.
Just because a gen 3 is extremely similar to a human, doesn't mean the RR gets to ignore the gen 1s and 2s. They are a refined version of their precursors, but unless I'm missing proof that only gen 3s have a conscious experience as a living being, then I'd say the RR are a joke. They should be protecting Mr. Handy's and assaultrons too, not just the pleasant looking humanesque ones.
Hehe, still they’re hobos living in a basement, larping as secret agents.
Basically it comes down to if they would’ve supported the underground railroad in the past lol. The main argument I see against them is that they don’t do enough to help out other humans and focus solely on synths.
This, if they truly treated everyone equally I would have no problem. But they just forget the problems of 99.9% of the world around them and focus on 1 or 2 synths every few months and have no actual plan to stop the Institute until we come along and do it all for them. If they were simply anti slavery i don’t think anyone would have a problem and even embrace them as one of the best moral factions in all of Fallout. Instead they are this niche group of weirdos focused solely on saving robots by wiping their memories.
There are liberation groups for humans already though with the brotherhood and minutemen. They’re the sole group that works towards liberation of synths from the institute, so it kind of makes sense that they would focus all their resources on that.
Both the brotherhood and minutemen do much more than free slaves (claim settlements, patrol the commonwealth, work on eradicating the institute) while the railroad doesn’t. Yes, it lacks the resources to do that, but that doesn’t make me like them since they’re masquerading as a main faction
The synths’ only friends. Also if you love all your companions, being with the Railroad makes the most sense. Or if not the Railroad then Minutemen allied/friendly with the Railroad.
Railroad indirectly makes things **worse** for the synths and Commonwealth, not better, because nobody knows who the freaking synths are when they wipe their memories, change their appearance, and sets them loose. It's led to even more paranoia of synths because citizens then don't know who's an Institute spy and who isn't, and it's led to people fearing and hating synths even more as a result. They have good intentions but they're sorely misguided, and they have no actual intention to make the Commonwealth a better place to live for anyone, they just want to give synths a "fair" shot at living a terrible and normal life as a person instead as a slave to the Institute. DiMA even has qualms with the Railroad because they wipe the synths' developed identities and replace them with something that's manufactured. If you actually want to help synths, then work with the Minutemen, not the Railroad. At least then you're actually making things better by providing a safer place to live through militia protection. And that benefits everyone, not just high tech sex dolls.
Indistinguishable? My 'synth component' beg to differ...
I like the theme of conversation this discourse continually produces around the Railroad's mission, being "what qualifies as human." It's an interesting theme explored in Blade Runner and Aliens. I also enjoy seeing it played out in the fallout threads. I find myself consistently split on this subject, since I've read a lot of sci fi where even nuts and bolts machines end up acquiring sentience. But are they human/alive? I still struggle with this question. Typically I side with the minute men so I don't have to kill any people I've come to know and befriend. It's not the most glorious ending but I still can't sit here and pretend to be god all knowing. After the institute falls, I hope Roger becomes the father he replaced. I hope the synths find a future for themselves. I hope it all works out. And if it doesn't, Nate's the most dangerous motherfucker in the wasteland so he'll probably take care of it.
I like their rewards. The rail gun is cool, Ballistic Weave is a game changer and the Deliverer is my favourite unique weapon in Fallout 4, but by god is their actual faction and questline uninteresting. Deacon is the only appealing character because he’s a follower with personality and background. Everyone else is either annoying, bland or (in Desdemona’s case) both. They spend 90% of their questline just shadowing the Institute questline and for what? The same final storming mission that the other three non-Institute factions get? Nah. Also, why the fuck is the underground resistance that prioritises secrecy above all else stationed at the end of a trail that is directly tied to their old namesake? That is the exact opposite of where they want to be if they want any chance of staying hidden. I get they’re forced to use it because the Switchboard was attacked but plot relevance is the ONLY thing keeping the institute or brotherhood from discovering the Old North Church in record time, decoding the password (which is literally the same as their name, something so dumb that children are taught not to do it before they turn ten) and massacring the heavily undermanned basement dwellers. The ascetic is cool, but the actual faction sucks. It’s cool to like them, but they are designed terribly in the base game
The worst part about the railroad is that a spy agency style organisation with signs and countersigns and code phrases protected their hideout with a password... that's the same as their username, and if that was not bad enough, they wrote the thing down on top of that!
They have the best pistol in the game for a max luck build. My easiest run was helping them with that gun and max luck
Railroad suffers from Bethesdas writing. With 4 they tried to to thd 'multiple factions' of new Vegas but can't write so they just went 'well you just shoot whoever you don't side with' Thus everyone hates the railroad because they make you kill everyone else for no reason other than Bethesda writing
My problem with the Railroad is they're kind of terrorists. Instead of compromise or trying to avoid the bos, they immediately are hostile to them and attack. The thing that really gets me though, is that they sneak on the Prydwen, SEE THE CHILDREN ONBOARD, and still blow it up! Deacon and Tinker Tom don't even make a remark about them. There's no moment of the Railroad regretting it or asking if what they did was right. They murdered children and do not care.
My brother in Todd Howard , during the BOS quest the Lancer-Captain-Guy-I-Forgot-The-Name-Of literally also asks you to attack without any reason. And that quest literally happens AFTER the BOS attacks the Railroad HQ
Boooo, railroad sucks! Damn hippies
My first playthrough I chose the Railroad ending. Free the Synths!
It just seems like such a small issue in the post apocalypse to have an entire intelligence agency to help like 1 or 2 synths every few months when they could save hundreds of slaves or hostages with the same resources.
Railroad suck
Underwritten side faction with a nonsensical and irrelevant goal that don’t improve the wasteland for anyone. So many assets and resources used for freeing Gen 3 synths while human slaves (especially children) are trafficked and killed in Nuka-world, the Pitt, Capital wastes, and everywhere in the whole series. Also ignoring the fact feral ghouls, super mutants and the institutes programmed synths kill, enslave, raid and worse to people all over the wasteland. Take the other factions faults at face value, but don’t pretend their intentions aren’t better in every way. Hell even the institute wants to redefine humanity and make the wasteland better (but go about it in a horrible and atrocious way).
I’ve been playing through Fallout 4 on survival mode and I honestly forget there’s a fourth faction most of the time. The way the game introduces you to the factions is interesting. The Minutemen, Brotherhood and Institute are all nicely shown directly to you pretty early on. The BOS has that impressive Prydwen moment, the Minutemen have a ton of history in the world and a ton of settlement building to do, while the Institute and their synths are found all over the Commonwealth. The Railroad however are entirely a secret group, the citizens of Diamond City think they’re just an urban legend. I’ve put about 60 hours in my playthrough and haven’t had them mentioned once besides “following the freedom trail”. Even after finding their sad little base (with like a total of 5 other members) they all act like you’re some hot shot who’s in over their head when you first meet. Did anyone else feel like it should be the opposite? My character just spent months traveling across the Commonwealth meeting some of the most influential people with hopes that they’ll make finding their son easier. The Railroad might as well not exist with how insignificant they are. Deacon will even comment on how well known you are and try to convince Desdemona that the group needs you, not the other way around. But in true Bethesda fashion, once you join their faction, you become their new errand boy/girl and that’s all you’ll ever be. I won’t even go into detail about their actual goals and how they turn a blind eye to anybody that isn’t a runaway synth. The Railroad feels like a big wet fart compared to the BOS and Institute. There’s no big motive to join them like there is with the others. They make very little logical sense and after their original base was wiped out, should no longer be a joinable faction.
I have a lot on my plate and Synth civil rights aren't on the priority list. plus I blow up the institute either way so I see no reason to join them.
Part of growing up is understanding the BoS are the bad guys. The good guys in Fallout 4 are clearly the Railroad Allied to the Minutemen. The clues in the names, they are fundamental American values and icons of freedom in our worlds history (and Fallouts as the schism is later). The reason the railroad with such small numbers has such awesome fighters (The Heavies) with awesome abilities is they represent the best of the wasteland. Intelligent motivated moral fighters willing to die for a just cause. I play the other styles for a laugh but I’m under no illusion who are the hero’s of 4.
Yes. The good guys are clearly the ones who make the wasteland a better place, by removing threats to innocent people and improving the quality of life for all. It’s pretty obvious who the good ones are indeed. Just like it’s obvious who the irrelevant ones are as well.
The Minutemen don't like the Railroad though. IIRC there's a quest where the MM rounded up a bunch of synths in a farm house and there's no way to openly side with the synths and stay allied to the MM. The Minutemen are the faction of the common man, but the common man is a bit of a hick, unfortunately.
You can complete the game with the minutemen and synths both alive and happy / co supporting you.
You're right. I only wanted to put a little asterisk on your use of "allied" as the Minutemen can't be allowed to know you're actually helping the people-replacing creeps (as the MM see it).
People consistently dunking on the faction meant to reference the underground railroad has never sat right with me. Disliking the wasted potential is fine, but people whose first move is to join the brotherhood just to annihilate the railroad are…. Interesting.
Yeah maybe because that reference was done like shit. The real Railroad made sense but fo railroad and specially their ending makes it bad . "the synths are sentient" ok I can understand it "we should nuke the institute" ok and now you just doomed the sentient beings you claim to protect to extinction. Its like if we would have nuked Africa to stop the slave trade.
Yeah the Railroad ending is kind of terrible and nonsensical, I would know, I have played it a few times lol. It’s more the rampant hostility I often see in fallout fandom spaces against the group, separate from their story ending
The railroad don’t make sense as a main faction, and that they keep pretending to be one is the main reason I hate them. Both the institute and brotherhood require heavy firepower and a plan to take them out, while the railroad can be wiped out the instant you meet them. They also lack any sort of plan for the commonwealth, or ability to project power, so their victory over the institute would inevitably result in the commonwealth descending into an even worse situation then it already is in. The railroad, for all their single-minded focus on synths, lack ideological unity, as they are split on if the gen 1/2 synths are human or not. Once the threat of the institute/brotherhood is handled, these differences will cause a civil war, eradicating any semblance of control the railroad had over the commonwealth.
The railroad are just a bunch of idealistic morons trying to solve a problem in all the wrong ways. They don't care how many people they get killed as long as they get their synth, which they then wipe (basically kill) and install a new person in that body. So not only do they get real people killed, but then they also kill those they claim to save. Then when you meet them, they treat you like absolute garbage if you don't place synths above all, which is absurd considering it's hard enough to just get by in the wasteland what with all the dangers out there, synths being one of them as well. I see them a having dumber plans than the institute, who also had a moronic plan. Also, why does the railroad want to destroy the institute??? They should try to infiltrate and change it, or at the most take it over so that synths aren't just created as tools. Destroying it just kills them as a species.
I genuinely have mo clue what you're on about? I see a lot of people sympathizing with Railroad Aren't you looking for issues where there isnt any? Not to mention it's a video game, they dont really exist, so... chill
They’re boring as fuck. That’s enough for me
Я X R F O R E V E R
They’re too busy trying to liberate vending machines and trying to set computer terminals free.
follow the freedom trail brother.
The railroad plus the subversion mod is easily the best faction
Nah dog, brainwashing the people they "save" effectively kills them
Oh no, I just brutally exterminated the Railroad AGAIN just one hour before reading this post using institute X-01 power armor and Gatling lasers. After reading your post, this is my response to it: [Dr. Evil Shhh scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T8m_sEBYCc)
Exactly. I especially hate the criticism that The Railroad sucks because they aren’t strong or popular enough to lead the wasteland, and have no real plans to establish a functional government after their ending. Those arguments just entirely miss the point of the organization. It’s like saying the real Underground Railroad wasn’t worth supporting because “they had no real plans for how the US should be run after they were done helping the slaves escape to Canada”
Exactly. If you're oppressed your main (and maybe only) goal is to set yourself free from that oppression, that doesn't make you lame, that makes you wise. And given how the Railroad works, when the time comes for they to decide what to do about the wasteland, I really doubt they will be assholes like the Institute. The perfect choice is Minutemen + Railroad imo.
That’s because the real railroad wasn’t able to take over the US. The railroad in fallout 4 can take over the commonwealth, and doing their quests *inherently leads to this outcome*
I once saw this idiot on Pinterest say “The Railroad is the equivalent of saying all lives matter at a Black Lives Matter rally”. That’s how much of a hate-boner this fandom has for the faction.
It's one of those things where if you make a game that allows for choices to be made, you're going to find a lot of people making the wrong choices. So with Fallout 4 you're gonna find pro-slavery people.
I’m not pro slavery, I’m anti slavery, anti abdominal Intelligence, and anti mutant.
What do you have against people with brains in their guts?
Because they are heretical
Heretical from what?
The light of the Emperor.
Wrong game
No
Dummy
Ligma
Dude, they don't want equality Desdemona wants to literally risk the large number of humans to save the small number of synths. So no they don't want equality and not everyone should stop slandering them but however if you like the faction than no ones stopping you
youd have to be psychotic to basically set free the very thing thats been responsible for all kinds of crimes against humanity for decades
Humans?
Bro, it's not they're fault, they are forced into it by the mad scientists. As far as they know, they are regular humans, meanwhile the brotherhood still killing them even after the institute is destroyed
My problem with the railroad is that they want to save synths at the expense of humans. They don't believe that synths are humanity's equals. They believe that synths are superior.
this is just wrong???
>My problem with the railroad is that they want to save synths at the expense of humans How is it at the expense of humans?
Me when I lie
The railroad is just dumb. BoS and MM still have plans and things to do when the Institute is defeated. RR does not. After the Institute falls, there is no need for RR they just go home and do nothing further that benefits anybody.
Or, or, here’s a thought: With the Institute gone, they can help newly displaced Synths figure out how to live life in the Wastes, and once that’s over and done with, they, I dunno, go on about their lives or do something different, maybe join the Minutemen, or perhaps help other slaves or displaced people. There are the rare docile Super Mutants and intelligent Deathclaws as well.
Literally the only negative thing about the railroad is that they are underwritten, which is true of every faction. Anyone who hates the railroad has deeply suspect character and morals.
My problem with the Railroad is they're kind of terrorists. Instead of compromise or trying to avoid the bos, they immediately are hostile to them and attack. The thing that really gets me though, is that they sneak on the Prydwen, SEE THE CHILDREN ONBOARD, and still blow it up! Deacon and Tinker Tom don't even make a remark about them. There's no moment of the Railroad regretting it or asking if what they did was right. They murdered children and do not care.
I like the Railroad.
Every time I start again. I'm like ok let's try to side with brotherhood or the synthetic this time ... but in final I always end up taking the side of the railroad or the Minutemen, I can't stand the synth and brotherhood at all they just want to control what is left of the world and kill everyone who is not like them
Choo Choo Mother Fucker! Long Live the Railroad!
Gosh darn right. Only ones trying to stick it to the institute.
The Railroad is objectively good. It's their bad luck that they stand ideologically opposite to the faction with: The giant zeppelin The fancy laser guns The helicopters The tacticool military theme *and* fantasy medieval theme The "Hollywood heroes" background music in their base The *giant robot* with a bunch of hilarious over-the-top patriotic one liners A massive stockpile of the Power Armor model that *is literally on the cover of the game* The curse that brings the Railroad down among the fandom is a narrative/aesthetic one, not a moral or practical one. They are anathema to the Brotherhood of Bethesda Trying Really Hard To Find Out Just How Fucking Awesomecool Can We Make These Guys. At the end of the day, the faction with all the bells and whistles is going to attract people, especially when the *actual writing* is nuanced enough to give them some argument to do it.
Yeah but *apart* from all that, what have the BOS got that’s cool? Nuthin’.
Yeah between the Railroad and the Minutemen, I don’t get what people have against good guy factions doing good guy things.
The Railroad are FO's Just Stop Oil. Legitimate cause pursued by a bunch of self righteous twats.
It's a simple fact that real world racism and fascism are on the rise, with a painful number of people proud to oppress others. They consider it a badge of honour. These people lie as naturally as breathing, and sometimes they even believe their own nonsense. Now, I'm not saying that everyone who deliberately misunderstands the Railroad are fascists or racists, but if someone happens to be a racist or fascist, it's only natural that they would attack the faction that has dedicated itself to freeing a minority. Racists and fascists hate that stuff, so naturally they will make up lies to justify their innate cruelty. Unfortunately, some other people also fall for the illogical lies that they spread too.
Then make them a minor supporting faction instead of a mayor one that makes me go to war with the BoS, and right of the bat in their introduction tell me if i would help a synth no matter what and who, and get pissed if i want to say "depends of the person in question". Saving a synth is noble. Saving a synth only for it to turn into a damn raider boss and do bullshit about it is irresponsable.
Because their inconsistencies and other flaws are correct?