Spoiler Warning S5E54: Stop Worrying and Love the Troll

By Shamus Posted Wednesday Aug 17, 2011

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 112 comments

And so we enter the endgame…


Link (YouTube)

Sorry to those of you who have been hoping we’d cover Old World Blues, but the crew was unanimously in favor of moving on. (And we never unanimously agree on ANYTHING.) While Old World Blues is excellent, it’s not exactly ideal for an interesting let’s play. It would begin with more than a solid episode of nothing but clicking through a single dialog, followed by three weeks of episodes of Josh looting stuff. You want to know what the Spoiler Warning coverage of Old World Blues would be? Just stare at a picture of the pip-boy inventory screen and have people take turns yelling in your ear to stop carrying so much stuff, stop using weapons for which you have no skill points, and stop not using hotkeys.

We’re starting to get New Vegas fatigue. We’ve said our piece with the game, and from here on we’re going to just be driving the drinking game into the ground. This is what happened at the end of BioShock, and I’m sure you remember how that turned out.

In yesterday’s episode I said I’d never played with Wild Wasteland enabled. This is not true. In my latest play-through, I’ve sunk dozens of hours into a Wild Wasteland-powered game. I managed to fill in over 80% of the world map. I hit my level cap of 40. I amassed almost 200k in caps. I did Honest Hearts, and Old World Blues. I did quests and sidequests and achievements and built massive collections of objects. I even did the Sunset Sarsaparilla quest. In all that time, I never really noticed Wild Wasteland. (Although, I would have noticed if those aliens had showed up.) I liked the idea of Wild Wasteland. It was a good way of trying to please the people who liked the more gritty, grounded world of Junktown versus the people who liked the crazy gags and pop-culture references that permeated Fallout 2. I think it just needed to be a little more wild.

BTW: I loved recording this episode in particular. Lots of fun.

 


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112 thoughts on “Spoiler Warning S5E54: Stop Worrying and Love the Troll

  1. Mincecraft says:

    Last! Wait…

    I doubt disagree with your views on OWB, it is VERY dialogue heavy, you would have an entire episode on the first conversation alone.

    I’m happy we’re moving on though, I feel like something new.

  2. Sydney says:

    You want to know what the Spoiler Warning coverage of Old World Blues would be? Just stare at a picture of the pip-boy inventory screen and have people take turns yelling in your ear to stop carrying so much stuff, stop using weapons for which you have no skill points, and stop not using hotkeys.

    Sounds…familiar.

  3. SougoXIII says:

    ‘You want to know what the Spoiler Warning coverage of Old World Blues would be? Just stare at a picture of the pip-boy inventory screen and have people take turns yelling in your ear to stop carrying so much stuff, stop using weapons for which you have no skill points, and stop not using hotkeys.’

    So… it would be business as usual then?

    EDIT: Damn it! Ninja’d

  4. Piflik says:

    I said it before and say it again, I really hated Obsidian’s implementation of Yes Man. He is essentially an identical replacement of House. He talks funnier, but in essence you are doing the same stuff for the same reason: because he tells you to. It just didn’t feel like I was the one ruling the Wasteland after doing the Wildcard questline, but rather Yes Man’s second in command. If I had had anything to say during New Vegas’ development, I would have made the following changes (going to be a rather long post, but I’ll try to structure it for easier reading…)

    1. Yes Man and the Platinum Chip:
    The Quest for retrieving the Platinum Chip will stay exactly the same. You get it from Benny (or not, depending what you do) and then you meet Yes Man in his backroom.
    Instead of being a Quest Giver, he is no more than an Information Dispenser. He tells you, what you can do to rule the Wasteland your own, just as had Benny planned, but he will not tell you what to do. You will also not get any rewards from him, when you do as he suggests; you are not his trick dog.
    Yes Man will answer your questions about the wasteland and can be a companion (maybe replacing ED-E), so you have your Information Dispenser handy whenever you want.

    2. Main Factions:
    The Main Factions remain largely unchanged, but I’ll add some situations that can drastically change their disposition towards yourself. First of all, you would be able to enter the Securitron Bunker on Fortification Hill without ever talking to anyone (minus the guy operating the ferry). You can open the door with the Platinum Chip without talking to Caesar, but that will make the Legion hostile to you. When you enter the Bunker without House’s consent, he will talk to you at the beginning via his intercom (just as he does now) and tell you, what he wants you to do. When you reach the end of the dungeon, you have three choices: activate the Securitrons for House, acivate the Securitrons for yourself (SCIENCE check, kills the House questline permanently) or destroy them (kills the House questline permanently, redeem yourself with the Legion, if you entered without Ceasar’s consent).
    Secondly the assassination attempt on the President is not triggered by a quest, but by flags being set for dealing with the minor factions (more on that later). When all flags are set, the next time you approach Hoover Dam, you will be greeted by a guard telling you that the President is due to arrive for a speech that shall 1up the troop’s morale (this dialog would trigger the assassination scenario to begin). He then tells you to get lost, allow you to watch or even ask you to help securing the perimeter, depending on your relations to the NCR. You can then try to prevent the assassination (increase NCR Reputation to maximum on success, big malus on Legion reputation) or kill the president yourself (reduce NCR reputation to minimum, not redeemable, big bonus on Legion reputation). If you were told to leave the perimeter and are spotted sneaking around, the NCR will shoot you, but the hostility is temporary.
    Endgame will be activated a set amount of days after the assassination attempt (successful or not). The Hoover Dam tile(s) will be swapped with those of the Endgame-Instance in the background, when you’re not currently there, or, if you are inside Hoover Dam, NCR Troopers will tell you the Dam is under attack and you can leave into the Endgame Instance. If you are currently on Fortification Hill, you will be asked if you want to take part in the attack and then transported to the Legate’s camp. More details to follow later.

    3. Minor Factions:
    The quests for these factions are not changed, but they can be done regardless of you progress with the Main Factions and without being told by them to do so. When you finish their respective questlines, you can choose to make them pledge allegiance to yourself or (if you have the respective quests active) to any Main Faction. These choices will not render you unable to help any faction (you will, of course, still get a Reputation increase on the respective faction you complete the quest for, no malus for the others, though), but if you chose to side with a different faction during endgame, you would have to fight them. Benefit of making them not side with yourself would be the rewards for the Main Faction’s quests (you will fail those, if you make them side with yourself) and their loot ;).
    The flags I mentioned earlier will be set, when you either make them ally with you or a Faction, or if you kill their leader(s) and take them out of the picture. You can also tell a Main Faction to ignore them, and setting the flag that way. If you set a flag (regardless of how), you will fail or complete the respective Main Faction quests (just like you fail unaccepted quests by killing the quest giver).
    The questgivers will still tell you to do these quests (so beginners won’t have to read wikis or similar to finish the game, also Yes Man can provide you with pointers, if you ask him), but you can now trigger Endgame and finish the game without even talking to anybody (only the people forcing you to, and I have to admit the guard greeting you at the assassination attempt is one of them). You could kill everything you see and you will still be able to finish the game.

    4. Substation:
    This quest is completely optional when you don’t work for House, but if completed, you will have Securitron assistance during the Endgame, if you activated the Securitrons for you or House (regardless of which faction you choose to support). To upgrade the Securitrons and make them useful, you can either give House the Platinum Chip, or use Yes Man as a terminal to upload the program, if you activated the Securitrons for yourself.

    5. Endgame:
    Essentially the same as now, but with few alterations. For one you are not forced to do anything and also not prevented from doing anything. You can go kill the NCR’s current leader (depending on the assassination’s results) then go talk to the Legion’s leader and win Hoover Dam for them, or Vice versa. You can kill both leaders and claim the Wasteland for yourself or House (if you haven’t killed him/his questline). If you activated the Securitrons for House and chose to be the Wastelands leader, you will now have to kill a bunch of them, until Yes Man can override their orders (now he is your trick dog). The NPCs’ hostilities will depend on your reputation with them only. Theoretically you can have good reputation with both Legion and NCR, walk in there unhindered by the fighting forces, cap the President/Ambassador and Caesar/Legate and claim yourself Godemperor of the Wastes without big hassle (if you’re sneaky enough about it, you can pull this of without altering your reputation with NCR or Legion).

    I guess that’s it. I hope at least someone has read this wall… :D
    If someone wants to try and make this into a mod, feel free to do so and put Obsidian to eternal shame (this would be exactly as beginner-friendly as the current game, and still not patronizing for veterans). Sadly I wouldn’t be able to play it an my PS3…

    Oh…one little unrelated change: skillchecks in dialogues would not display the number of skillpoints needed to succeed. Only the skill involved and two different dialogue lines, depending on if you would succeed or not. That bothered me beyond imagination…

    1. Eärlindor says:

      I have a question concerning the Yes Man: if he’s just an information dispenser and not a quest giver, how will you get the quests you receive in the actual game? Doesn’t that assume the player knows where everybody/place/thing is? Or would you be able to ask the Yes Man where to find, say, the Great Khans and he’ll provide you with a marker?

      1. Piflik says:

        Well…no quest-markers, but he would tell you where you can find what you look for and reveal the icon on the map.

        1. Eärlindor says:

          Yes, that makes sense.

          Okay, next question: when taking the Platinum Chip to Fortification Hill, how would it not be removed from your person by the Legion? Will they automatically miss it somehow? Is it determined by a Stealth check, and if so, isn’t that selective to certain builds? Wouldn’t that mean non-stealth character will have to shoot the place up to get the Chip back? Or a Speech check; convince them its worthless. But that goes back to the selective build problem, assuming you don’t exactly want to shoot the place up, at least not right away.
          How does this play out?

          Interested to hear your thoughts.

          1. Piflik says:

            How would a Legion guard know the difference between a normal casino chip and this special one? He probably wouldn’t even know it existed…he will take weapons and meds, nothing else.

            1. Jarenth says:

              It is made of platinum, isn’t it? That’s a pretty easy difference to be told to look out for.

            2. Abnaxis says:

              Shoot up the place to get it back, convince them it’s worthless, sneak it through…

              This is beginning to sound like a problem with multiple ways to solve. Something I would usually commend in a game like this…

          2. GiantRaven says:

            It has quest item immunity.

    2. Deadpool says:

      One thing you mentioned, which New Vegas does often and I hate…

      KILLING Kimball should NOT make the NCR hate you. Being SEEN killing Kimball would…

    3. SlowShootinPete says:

      “Yes Man will answer your questions about the wasteland and can be a companion (maybe replacing ED-E), so you have your Information Dispenser handy whenever you want.”

      While this would be incredibly cool, what happens if you decide to play on hardcore mode and Yes Man gets iced by a deathclaw or something?

      “When you reach the end of the dungeon, you have three choices: activate the Securitrons for House, acivate the Securitrons for yourself (SCIENCE check, kills the House questline permanently)”

      Activating the securitrons already leaves your options for how to use them open-ended.

      “Secondly the assassination attempt on the President is not triggered by a quest, but by flags being set for dealing with the minor factions (more on that later). When all flags are set, the next time you approach Hoover Dam, you will be greeted by a guard telling you that the President is due to arrive for a speech that shall 1up the troop's morale (this dialog would trigger the assassination scenario to begin).

      Endgame will be activated a set amount of days after the assassination attempt (successful or not).”

      But what if you never go there again? Why have the endgame only available after a set time that might never be triggered?

      “Benefit of making them not side with yourself would be the rewards for the Main Faction's quests (you will fail those, if you make them side with yourself)”

      How would House, Ambassador Crocker, or Caeser know your intention to turn your new allies against them when you can just lie about what your plans for them are?

      1. Piflik says:

        While this would be incredibly cool, what happens if you decide to play on hardcore mode and Yes Man gets iced by a deathclaw or something?

        Well..take care of him or leave him somewhere save ;)

        Activating the securitrons already leaves your options for how to use them open-ended.

        Not in my game. House doesn’t share power. ;)

        But what if you never go there again? Why have the endgame only available after a set time that might never be triggere

        There is no attack on Hoover Dam before the assassination (attempt)…if a assassin shoots a president and no player is there to watch it, does it make a corpse?

        How would House, Ambassador Crocker, or Caeser know your intention to turn your new allies against them when you can just lie about what your plans for them are?

        Just as they do now…you can’t complete the minor faction quests for more than one major faction. Theoretically you could lie to Caesar/Hoese/Crocker and get triple XP/fame but the game won’t allow it…

        1. SlowShootinPete says:

          Without a quest telling them to go to the dam, if they don’t wander over there on their own, the game will never end.

          Also I thought you could still betray House after activating the securitrons.

          1. Entropy says:

            You can. I have done it on every single one of my playthroughs. He congratulates you on your success, but you can still kill him and network the Yes Man in.

      2. Bret says:

        Yes man, like Victor, respawns if you kill him. No reason to change that.

    4. Paul Spooner says:

      Never played the game, but this sounds like a great improvement. Watching the lets-play gave me the impression that “Yes man” bosses you around all the time, which struck me as very odd given the character. I’m glad I’m not the only one bothered by it. Giving the player choices with consequences is much preferable to leading them by the nose, at least in my book.

    5. Even says:

      Then again I always treated him as just an information dispenser. Because that’s what he really is, aside from being a Quest Giver on part of the game mechanics. It’s not like the plan was his own at any rate, he’s just telling you the info he has on House’s databanks hence the similarities in the Wild Card quests and The House Always Wins quests. I never really saw him as bossing me around but rather just him acting upon his personality programming, giving me the info I need to do what I want which is to liberate New Vegas from the undeserving hands that are trying to grab it. I suppose I can see why you’d get the impression that you did, but that’s just not how his character translated to me in this case.

      1. Piflik says:

        Yeah…that might have been a personal thing, but I always had the feeling I worked for him…

  5. Riggaburtos says:

    Do you guys think you’ll end up doing another 50 minute finale like with Mass Effect 2?

  6. AlternatePFG says:

    I’d be hilarious if the ending of the season was just the game glitching out, crashing, and the saves corrupting.

    Or tragic. Don’t know which one.

    1. Zombie says:

      It would be a healthy dose of both. Hilarious, because of what Josh, Shamus, Ruts and Mumbles would say, and Tragic because we would have lost everything.

  7. TJ says:

    Got a plan for the next game already, or do you guys put off that arguing until the last possible minute?

    If you do another interlude like the Half-Life 2 one (which was awesome by the way), might I suggest the amazing Source-mod “The Stanley Parable”. And if possible, DON’T play through it beforehand.

    1. AlternatePFG says:

      The Stanley Parable was awesome. Each playthrough of the mod takes like 10 minutes at the most.

    2. James says:

      im assuming the next game might be Bioshock 2 (its seams to be a trend with SW to go ME Fallout Bioshock, Bioshock 2 is a good game not as good as one, well the combat is better, but the story is a bit wacky more so then 1. but then again they might turn around and do something completly different, a Batman game maby, just to troll mumbles.

      1. Milos says:

        I really hope they don’t go for Bioshock 2. On one hand it would be in keeping with some sort of tradition, but on the other it could quickly degrade into Bioshock Act 3 all over again. I mean there’s a lot of polish and some new gameplay depth added onto the 1st game, but the story would probably drive Shamus berserk.

        Plus with ME3 on the horizon there’s less time and opportunity to squeeze in a new IP.

        Edit: it just occurred to me that if they stall for a week or two with some short LP they could go for new Deus Ex next. Now that would be delicious…

      2. Reet says:

        I very much doubt that they are going to play bioshock 2. Considering the problems all of them (mumbles excepted) had with the game and how much the LP devolved at the end I don’t think it would be a good idea to do a game that has been overwhelmingly identified as “the same game but not as good”.

        On a different note, when I saw josh trying to kill vendortron at the begining of the episode I laughed a ton because I did the exact same thing YESTERDAY! And then the game glitched out in the exact same way too. I think the game slingshotted the ragdoll out of the building so fast that the game had to continuously load new areas while it flew away. pretty wierd.

    3. Paul Spooner says:

      Yes. Do “The Stanley Parable”! Even if you’ve all played through it I would love to hear your discussion!

    4. Jeff R. says:

      It might be time for Reginald Cousland…

      1. AlternatePFG says:

        Didn’t they say soemthing about how DA:O had too many parts of uninterrupted, constant combat? (Deep Roads, the Fade)

        1. Reet says:

          Whether or not they said it it’s definetly true. I couldn’t get through the deep roads without cheating. It’s very difficult and long (and by extension kinda boring).

          1. James says:

            they did back during a Fallout 3 post, and its is true, plus may i remind you of The Fade!, i hated that bit several long tedious hours of nonstop combat, that doesn’t end doesn’t ever play to your strengths and DOESN’T END!!!!!, DA2 might be fun, its really repetitive but it’d be a nice diversion, but yea i agree, some Special Eps will Dues Ex 3 then that would be aswome

  8. Peter H. Coffin says:

    “We've said our peace with the game”

    s/peace/piece/

    1. Michael says:

      It’s a combination of “made our peace” and “said our piece.”

      SHAMUS uses MALPROPISM.

      Foe PETER H COFFIN fainted!

      It’s Super Effective!

  9. Dude says:

    Thank you, Rutskarn, for getting your volume fixed, so I don’t have to raise my volume to hear your voice and then get JOSH LAUGHING HIS WAY THROUGH DISTORTING MY SPEAKERS TO DEATH.

  10. Jeremy says:

    Substationary is what you write the subtext on.

    1. Chuck says:

      I think a substation is a way to route power without taxing the main power station, but I’m not an electrician or an engineer.

      I do have to remember to time when I drink while watching, lest it go up my nose and into my lungs from laughing :)

      1. Paul Spooner says:

        1. Awesome pun. Well done.
        2. A substation steps down line voltage from the mains. It’s like a supermarket, that buys in bulk and sells individual units, only with electricity.

    2. tengokujin says:

      The sub station is where you get on the subway.

  11. Nick Bell says:

    Disclaimer: I understand other things are taking up your time. I understand this site is free, that I have no right to complain. I appreciate all you’ve done in the past.

    But I’m really ready for some non-video related content. Its been two weeks of only Spoiler Warning and Carmack vidoes. I’d love for some variety.

    Of course, if you tell me you’ve done nothing else because you’re writing the book, I guess I can forgive you.

    1. albval says:

      +1, especially since I’m surfing at work, so all I can do is read the comments.

      1. Paul Spooner says:

        What kind of messed up firewall lets you view the comments but not the blog? I don’t understand…

        1. Destrustor says:

          I think it is more of a “watching videos with sound is harder to hide from a boss/supervisor than plain normal text” kind of situation. Additionally, if browsing random entertainment is allowed, like maybe during lunch break, a video is more time-consuming and thus less preferable in a limited timeframe.
          It may not be that he/she can’t, but that he/she would rather not.

          1. albval says:

            This. Being a teacher I can read snippets of text e.g. while the pupils are working on an exam, but i think you’ll all agree that watching SW is not possible in those situations. Time/content -ratio is also an issue, like Destructor said.

            1. Destrustor says:

              Destrustor, with an S, please. The obvious typo is intentional.

              [blarg nitpick, sorry]

              1. albval says:

                Arg, never noticed the intentional typo. Sorry for the unintentional detypoing:-)

  12. Goolick says:

    I thought the endgame was pretty disappointing when I did the house storyline. I expected to be followed by a huge army of securitrons, like the game said I would… but I ended up doing all the fighting on my own.

  13. Vect says:

    That Wild Wasteland thing at the Dam is meant to be on the NCR Emergency Radio station where you hear someone saying “GAME OVER MAN, GAME OVER!”

    That or someone going “Bravo Bravo Charlie” and talking about how The Doctor is here.

    Also, personally the dumbest thing to do with the securitrons was to blow them up, but that would involve listening to Caesar.

  14. Destrustor says:

    What I hate about those legion assassins is that they pop up everywhere, sometimes loading in the middle of the screen as if one of them was a magical teleporting clown car containing the other three, sometimes in illogical places ( how’d you guys get inside nellis AFB?).
    What I love about those legion assassins is that they are easily defeated by the wasteland’s amazing door technology. Whenever they attack me near a building, I just get inside and when I come back out, they’re gone. PROBLEM SOLVED.
    “Aw, man! He/she used a door! That’s cheating! How are we supposed to kill that courier in the name of KAà¯à¯à¯-ZZAHRRR when he/she keeps using that fancy space-age technology? We can’t deal with that!
    Come on guys, let’s go report our failure…”

    1. Sleeping Dragon says:

      Sooo, basically they have the same sneaking abilities as the player with sneak on 100, except they are good chaps and stand up before they attack you?

    2. Daemian Lucifer says:

      Why would you run away from free loot like that?

    3. Zombie says:

      Their only really madding if you have low Damage weapons, or dont see them until its to late. It was only hard when they showed up for me personaly, because I was wearing the Sherif outfit from Primm.

      1. Destrustor says:

        That’s the problem: they ALWAYS spawn three feet away from me, sometimes in plain sight or directly behind me, as if born from my very footsteps. I never see them coming because they aren’t technically coming from anywhere. My best case scenario is when I see four marks suddenly appear one at a time on my compass, moving at a speed at which I can deduce that they’re just behind the rock/building I’m looking at. THEN maybe I have one or two seconds of that wonderful luxury of “seeing them coming”.

  15. Hitch says:

    I loved the opening to this episode. “Sometimes Spoiler Warning breaks the game, and sometimes the game breaks Spoiler Warning.”

    Rutskarn’s dismay at realizing what option Josh was taking… it had just been discussed that blowing up the damn was pointlessly destructive and the chaotic stupid option. If Rutskarn had ever watched Spoiler Warning it should have been obvious what Cuftbert would choose.

    Eating people is bad mmkay?

    Edit: Oh yeah, Wild Wasteland wasn’t nearly wild enough. Most of the things I saw because I had that perk didn’t seem particularly out of place. They should be included by default and you can waste a perk on “Anti-fun” if you don’t want the silliness that makes Fallout worth playing.

    1. decius says:

      I am confused by making a distinction between the “gritty, grounded world of Junktown” and “the crazy gags and pop-culture references that permeated Fallout 2.”

      Junktown had four maps, two major joblines, (gizmo/killian and the Skulz) and several minor joblines. Both recruitable NPCs are references to other works (Road Warrior and Wasteland).

      It’s not a random encounter with the Bridge of Death, but it’s not exactly sterile.

      1. Kelly says:

        People shouldn’t say much of anything about the random encounters considering Godzilla’s footprint and the goddamn Tardis are in FO1. Special Encounters are free game for weird shit.

        Really the only thing that bothers me in FO2 is the Scientologists, and they alone are hardly enough to make what is otherwise a VASTLY superior game suddenly worse than FO1.

        To be honest I find it weird that people focus so much on the talking deathclaws. What, humans can turn into gigantic green monstrosities by FEV, but FEV and Enclave research can’t grant intelligence to things? That’s bullshit.

        Not that I’m saying that fantastical settings shouldn’t have rules and lines that are uncrossable mind you, it’s just that’s hardly a violation.

        1. HeroOfHyla says:

          I never played fallout 1, and the talking deathclaws in fallout 2 were the first ones I ever saw. I had no idea that they were special because they could talk until I played more and got murdered by some.

        2. Even says:

          It wasn’t either that they gained a gift of speech through mutation, they just learned to mimic human speech like parrots. Which makes more sense. I don’t see it as that big of a stretch to have some special strain of the FEV to give them intelligence.

          Also, a fun fact: Fallout 1 was going to have a village of talking raccoons, but it got cut out: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/S'Lanter

          1. Deadpool says:

            Interesting tid bit, the FEV was DESGINED to increase all stats, including intelligence (to the genius level).

            The problem is, the radiation seems to affect the FEV, so most Super Mutants become stupid. Still, when someone with barely any radiation exposure (like, say, Marcus) they also get smarter…

  16. AlternatePFG says:

    Also, while I’m somewhat disappointed that you won’t be doing Old World Blues, I was getting pretty tired of New Vegas anyway. Glad you guys decided to end it here.

  17. Paul Spooner says:

    I enjoyed this ep more than most. Good job making Josh’s intolerable failure fun to watch instead of merely grueling. Keep up the good work team! There will be cake and grief counseling after the test.

  18. Alexander The 1st says:

    I’m ashamed of you Rutskarn.

    Shamus: “Blowing up [it] is pointlessly destructive and the chaotic stupid option.”

    *Five minutes later*

    Rutskarn: “Wait, why are you blowing up [it]?”

    Even I knew what the endgame was going to end up like from that one line. Well, that, and the line before from Shamus: “I’ve never blew [it] up.”

  19. ProudCynic says:

    Oh thank god. I love New Vegas, but goddamn–SW must have spent what, 14 hours playing it? It’ll be good to see something new after all these months. (And to stop grating my teeth when Cuftbert does something chaotic stupid when every nerve in my body is screaming to do something rational and sane that leaves as many people as possible alive and happy.)

    But never actually seen the endgame, so it’s kinda fun to watch… Including the utterly pointless destruction of the Dam. That was… interesting. Just like that lovely image Rutskarn painted in my head. Thanks for that.

    1. Zombie says:

      Reginald Cuftbert? Do something sane that wouldnt kill people? What strange world do you live in?

    2. Alexander The 1st says:

      SW must have spent what, 14 hours playing it?

      To be fair, from what I understand, most people spend forever on this game, even without DLC, just doing sidequests.

      14 hours is actually not that bad…Until you realise The Bastion was a 15 dollar game for ~8 hours of straight storyline. Sure, it’s less lateral and more linear narrative, but sometimes that works.

      (And to stop grating my teeth when Cuftbert does something chaotic stupid when every nerve in my body is screaming to do something rational and sane that leaves as many people as possible alive and happy.)

      And that’s half the fun for me though. Josh always is willing to show the least sensible solution to the game, disregarding the potential sanity of it.

      I mean, he saved some of the Little Sisters in Bioshock (Without killing them outright, but as I understand, not all of them were saved) sure, and maybe he destroyed the Reaper base for the paragon option, but:

      – They killed off most of Feros.

      – They killed Three Dog.

      – They rallied the crowd.

      – They killed off Miranda AND Jack.

      I really like that they show off some of the lesser chosen options in games.

      1. ProudCynic says:

        I know people spend a lot of time playing NV–I’ve probably poured around 50 hours into just one file–but I can’t help but feel it’s dragging on a bit long. Video games are most fun to the one playing them, y’know?

        It is nifty to see some of the more obscure options, but… I dunno. I guess I’m just too much of a meta-gamer and too bossy to see someone blow up Hoover Dam and think anything but “There are so many better options! Why did you have to go for that one!”

        Not that I dislike the show or anything. It’s always fun to watch and listen to and the commentary is usually pretty insightful when it’s not insane. I’m just glad to see them moving on to something else.

  20. Tobias says:

    I can’t believe you are ending the game without spending an episode playing caravan or gambling in a casino.

    Also, I loved yes man’s comment on the caotic stupid option. He sounded just like shamus.

    1. Destrustor says:

      Well they did break the bank in the sierra madre, and even if they did it off-screen, we still ended up watching a good five minutes of it. Besides, I don’t think they’d have the patience to do it again just to show it to us.

      Oh who am I kidding Josh would totally have the patience for that.

  21. JPH says:

    You know what I’m confused about? I’m confused by the fact that you didn’t do the stupid, pointlessly self-destructive choice at the end of Fallout 3 (i.e. using the “modified” FEV.)

    1. Hitch says:

      Because Cuftbert got so upset at being told he wasn’t a mercenary that he just murdered everyone and there was no storyline left possible in the game.

    2. Even says:

      I don’t think the self-destructive part applies to Reginald himself beyond the rampant substance abuse and general bullrushing. He wouldn’t be able to drink the FEV-water, so maybe it’s just a hint of some sense of self-preservation, however miniscule.

      1. JPH says:

        Despite what everyone says about “What Would Reginald Do,” I don’t think anyone in the cast actually cares about Reginald Cuftbert’s motivations and personality. I figured the reason Josh blew up the dam wasn’t because that’s what Reginald would do, but because it’s an ending most people aren’t going to see and therefore would be interesting to watch.

        And I figure the modified FEV would be the Fallout 3 equivalent to that, especially since the way they continue the story in Broken Steel without the FEV actually affecting anything substantially is a laughable pile of bullshit.

        1. Even says:

          Uhh it’s not like most people here do either. (At least I don’t think they do) It’s just fun to analyze the character and speculate what the character may do, even if he’s just an extension of Josh’s ridiculous playstyle. Trying to give some meaning to his past dealings is just a way to create some sense of history for him. Nowhere did I mean to say that it should be established as canon. But it still IS a Role Playing Game and whatever the character does in the world usually affects something else which means there’s almost always some interaction going on. Whether the cast really cares about what happens is not that vital to the process.

        2. Rutskarn says:

          It’s important to distinguish that Reginald isn’t just a character–it’s basically us giving a name and face to Josh’s gaming personality. So when we say “Reginald,” we really do mean, “that bastard at the reins.”

  22. Xanyr says:

    So what’s the next series? Dragon Age 2? I’ve always wanted to hear Shamus sob futilely into his microphone…

    1. X2-Eliah says:

      DA2.. Myeah, I think it would actually work. Also the engine & visuals would be sufficiently different from the Oblivi-engine..

      1. Raygereio says:

        No, it wouldn’t work. It would break the SW crew. Ask them to play Daikatana; it would more kind.

        Josh would for one be sad due to there being little to no ways to “break” the game, that and he’ll be quickly reduced to incoherent raving by the rampants deaths due to the guys-who-spawned-behind-you trick DA2 just loves.
        Meanwhile Shamus and Rutskarn will have to resort to heavy doses of prozac for the former and a straightjacket for the latter in order to get through because if you look at DA2 analytically it’s one of the most depressing and infuriating games ever made due to the massive piles of wasted potential and baffelingly stupid design decisions.
        And as for Mumbles… erm, well I guess she would be happy watching the rest be miserable.

        1. Deadpool says:

          Well, she also enjoys big boobs… Plenty of that in DA2.

          Seriously, Isabella grew like three cup sizes between DA1 and DA2…

          1. Raygereio says:

            And keeping with Isabella’s retarded “Look at me! I’m so sexy, I don’t even need pants!”-character, they even gave her boobs one hell of a gianax bounce.

        2. Piflik says:

          Sounds like fun…I would like them to make DA2…I haen’t played the game, have no ambition what so ever to change that, so I would expect to enjoy that game’s Spoiler Warning exactly as much as the one about Mass Effect 2.

    2. Hitch says:

      Not DA2, then. DA:Origins, just the Deep Roads, for hours and hours on end. They could do it all in one week. Shamus would be incoherent by Friday.

      1. Entropy says:

        I beat the Deep Roads in like 3 hours. It was a bit boring, but not THAT bad….

        1. Alexander The 1st says:

          I think part of the problem is it’s larger than Denerim’s map, and it kicks in AFTER you do the whole fetch quest with whoever and take down Jarvis.

          Seriously, I hated that fight – until I went archer with Shattering Shot. Then I just intensely disliked it.

          1. Sydney says:

            They could do Orzammar in bits. Do part of it, go do something fun. Do another part of it, go do something fun.

        2. Rutskarn says:

          Let’s assume we meet your ideal and power through in three hours. That’s about two and a half weeks of nothing but fighting darkspawn in grey corridors.

          1. ps238principal says:

            What if we suggested speeding up the footage and setting it to “Yakkity Sax?”

          2. Destrustor says:

            Well there’s always the fast-forward button and some awesome upbeat quirky music, with maybe a touch of old-timey video filter.
            That would be shorter and immensely funnier. (For the audience)

      2. Xanyr says:

        The main problem is that DA: Origins is frickin long. Longer than New Vegas…

      3. Adam F says:

        Don’t destroy him! He hasn’t finished Project Frontier yet.

    3. Sleeping Dragon says:

      Let’s see… it’s separate enough that it can be used without playing 1, it has some high moments and a few development decisions that I really liked (like, sometimes, focusing the player choice not so much on “if” they’ll do something but “why”, which I think is a much better form of railroading because while it does force the character into the plot it doesn’t destroy the actual roleplay)… at the same time quite a few low moments and the ending is so rushed and forced I dare say parts of it can compete with ME2 in dumbness. Yeah, I think it could work.

      On the other hand I’m not entirely sure if there isn’t too much combat that, unlike in NV, can’t really be rushed through. Oh well, I suspect next we’ll get Bio2 anyway, but first probably a few weeks break.

      1. Chuck says:

        I’ve been wondering if the new editing program can handle KOTOR, because I think that’d be a fun one.

        1. Zombie says:

          This. KOTOR was a great game, and we wouldnt have to listen to “The plot sucks” kind of stuff like in the Bioshock, or we would if they did Bioshock 2.

          1. Raygereio says:

            Nah, KotOR 2 would be far more entertaining.

            KotOR 1 was a good game; but it has no real offensive qualities that can be ranted about, nor it good to the point where one can carry commentary for a whole game with just singing praises.
            KotOR 2 on the hand has downright excellent qualities in it’s writing (it’s in my opinion the best Star Wars story out there) and it has fun deconstructing common RPG tropes. But at the same time there are a lot of things wrong with it, mainly due to it’s rushed development.

            1. somebodys_kid says:

              Yes! This!
              KOTOR 1 is consistently good to great but rarely fantastic and rarely awful.
              KOTOR 2 is partially fantastic and partially what-the-hell-is-the-matter-with-the-people-who-made-this. Just the constant oscillation between praise and legitimate complaints may drive one (or all) of them insane.

              1. Zombie says:

                I hate KOTOR 2, mostly due to one thing. I landed aon Nar Shadar, and Lizard men took over the Ebon Hawk, and of course, I took shitty party members with me, because I was just going shopping. So after clearing out the whole area, killing everything on my ship, I couldnt figure out what to do, there were no hints or anything, so after looking around for a while, I just gave up.

                1. Jonathan says:

                  You must have missed a spot… one of the lizard men will offer to surrender, and you have a few options like making them work for you, or maybe killing them all… then you’re done and back to normal.

  23. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Im just amazed that Josh didnt take the heavy incinerator.

    And I hope that therell be some more half life 2 in the future.

    1. Chuck says:

      I don’t know… that whole week I felt guilty for enjoying games not made by Valve and for not playing Half-Life 2, but that might just be me.

  24. Irridium says:

    A long time ago, Rutskarn questioned why you all weren’t doing MDK2.

    Perhaps… it is time.

  25. Dante says:

    So I’m posting this before I watch the episode, but I’d just like to say I WAS RIGHT…..on my time estimates if SW did OWB.

  26. V'icternus says:

    I heartily recommend KotOR II for the next Spoiler Warning!

    …Or I would, were it not about as buggy as New Vegas, and seeing the content they have to work with get worse and worse as they near the endgame might just hurl me into depression, as it did when I played it myself.

    Obsidian, please learn to finish your games kthxbai!

  27. Dragomok says:

    Is it only me or is the title of this episode a reference to Dr. Strangelove?

    1. TheAngryMongoose says:

      No, it’s a reference to The Count.

      From Sesame Street.

      1. Dragomok says:

        I’m sorry.
        I thought Dr. Strangelove was obscure enough that naming the reference wouldn’t sound irritating.

        Before I started to write comments on Twenty Sided I didn’t know that saying “first post” was against the local netiquette. But naming obscure references isn’t something wrong, is it?

        1. Jarenth says:

          No, naming obscure references is usually not irritating. But Dr. Strangelove isn’t really obscure, I think.

          It’s a thin line to walk.

        2. Zukhramm says:

          Personally, I don’t like naming the references. It’s like explaining a joke.

    2. somebodys_kid says:

      I’m going with Dr. Strangelove.

  28. RTBones says:

    First, yay internet, for finally fixing yourself for Mumbles. Nice to have her back for the end run.

    Second, looking forward to this sequence, as my playthrough (yes, still my first) is doing the NCR ending. Thanks to the SW crew, I ended up going back and doing Dead Money – just because.

    Third, while I know you are suffering from F:NV fatigue, I do find myself wondering what you’ll do next. A myriad of choices come to mind.

    1. RTBones says:

      Replying to my own note? Nah – edit time line expired and I just thought of this. Anyway – one interesting thing you could do to fill the void between games: compile a video of commentary/bloopers that Josh cut from the published episodes. This, of course, presumes Josh still has all the original footage.

      1. Dante says:

        On a similar note, Josh could just make a compilation of Mumbles swearing.

      2. Indy says:

        There’s something like ten minutes of Josh mucking around before this episode on the livestream. I really think they could just put that up.

        Holy Hand Grenades are dangerous, Josh.

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