Spoiler Warning S5E40: Against Regulations

By Shamus Posted Thursday Jul 14, 2011

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 63 comments


Link (YouTube)

I think Obsidian could easily get revenge on us for this series by releasing a DLC with a new weapon: The Loadstone Cannon. It’s the size of a man’s torso, constructed of solid concrete, weighs 150lbs, and fires 10lb. bricks at your foes. If they make its damage 0.01% higher than any of the weapons Josh is currently carrying, he will pick it up and never put it down again. Bonus points if they make it an “energy weapon”. (Every brick has a D battery taped to the side.)

 


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63 thoughts on “Spoiler Warning S5E40: Against Regulations

  1. Tse says:

    I’m thinking the cannon from Serious Sam would be a better weapon. It is an energy weapon because the cannonballs are actually mini nukes encased in a thick lead shell. Oh, and the cannonballs would weigh at least 20 lbs.
    P.S. And firing it would push the player back several meters, harming him/her. Hitting a wall behind the player would do additional damage.

    1. decius says:

      Make sure that ammo is just scarce enough that nobody will ever use it.

      1. acronix says:

        Wasn´t there already a weapon like that? Small Kid or something?

        1. Milos says:

          And in traditional realism adorning the Bethesda’s engine, it becomes heavier as it wears down.

      2. Peter H. Coffin says:

        Wasn’t there a shotgun mini-gun or something in Fallout 3 that was being carried around for a while? I remember some kind of discussion about there being eight rounds of ammo for the thing *in the whole game*.

    2. Alan says:

      How about a portable trebuchet which fires car batteries – electricity AND acid damage!

  2. Kdansky says:

    And of course, there should not be enough ammo to use it more than once every half hour.

  3. Jjkaybomb says:

    I think the voice of the elder is Yuri Lowenthall, the voice of most the men in the game. His voice does sound silly coming from an old guy….

    1. Chuck says:

      I always figured McNamara was mid fifties, which I guess is old… I’m 22, so all things in relativity.

  4. Tom Davidson says:

    I think the lack of Hidden Valley Ranch ads on this page represents a lost opportunity.

  5. Hitch says:

    Okay, I generally put up with the BoS. I find them relatively non-offensive. I always brought Veronica along and never had to earn their respect (or whatever you did). “Listen to me lie out my ass to this NCR Ranger. Now you can trust me.” Yeah, they need to die.

    1. Chuck says:

      Plus her opening the gate for you is hilarious.

  6. krellen says:

    The sandstorm is cover for their patrols, which they send out at night.

    1. tjtheman5 says:

      no, the sandstorm is created to make it impossible for missiles to target the bunkers. it says so in the log.

      1. Destrustor says:

        Yeah. the sandstorm is full of aluminum dust which bugs the shit out of ICBM targetting systems so computers can’t find or target the bunkers. And it obstructs the view so manual aiming is pretty much useless.
        although one could still carpet bomb the whole area and call it a day. But then again, nobody has this kind of budget to waste on an unobservable hypothetical secret base, especially post-war.

      2. krellen says:

        That is the original purpose of the sandstorm. However, the Brotherhood is now using it as cover for their night-time patrols.

        1. And the best part is, it doesn’t work – EVERY faction knows they’re there, they just don’t consider them worth their time.

          1. James says:

            even there mortal enemies the NCR are like meh, theres like 12 of them and 11 are men and the women is a lesbian not like there gunna thrive is it (SHHHH Veroinca is the women SHH its a secrete)

  7. Littlefinger says:

    This means goodbye to Veronica, doesn’t it? Ah well, we had a good run together.

    1. Indy says:

      Yeah, they aren’t coming back for her.

    2. yd says:

      I blew up the bunker with her standing right beside me – she helped me kill the brotherhood as we ran out, stayed loyal to me till the end of the game, and she randomly interrupted me on in the middle of nowhere after we’d blown the place up to cry about how she really wanted to go there when we got a chance.

  8. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Mumbles,you wanted to spare at least one cool npc per episode.

    Also,isnt every explosive thing an insta kill when you put it in someones pocket?Why then does Josh save all that dynamite and go for the grenades?

    1. acronix says:

      I was wondering the same. But it is probably that characters don´t go “Hey, what´s that noise?” while the sparks of the alight tnt fly from his pocket.

    2. Raygereio says:

      A better question would be why Josh seems to be incapable of using the alphabet and simply scroll down to the D for Dynamite of F for Frag grenade, and instead randomly scrolls around like a maniac through his humongous inventory until he happens to find something he can use through sheer luck.

      1. Tse says:

        You can do that? I’ve been playing for many hours and I didn’t know.

      2. Sekundaari says:

        This makes some assumptions on his level of education.

        1. Raygereio says:

          Not really.
          Forgetting the fact for a moment that my comment was made in jest and should be treated as such, all it does is make an assumption about Josh’s willingness to apply his knowledge of the alphabet.

          1. Sekundaari says:

            Exactly.

            (Mine was in jest too.)

    3. Destrustor says:

      I don’t know if it still works, but in fallout3 you could even pantsplode people with pulse grenades, which was hilariously stupid.

    4. James says:

      Dont forget ME2 save him, be nice to her, make him get over the cold seesh mumbles its like your nice guy, who likes Bioshock and ummmm hipster.

  9. Vect says:

    If I remember, McNamara isn’t supposed to be old. He’s the Elder because he was the one who took command after Elijah bailed when the NCR kicked their ass at Helios One. He doesn’t have “Old Guy Face” and he’s not voiced by Peter Reneday (who does all the Old Guys of the game) also.

    Apparently he’s just prematurely grey.

    1. Sumanai says:

      I thought it was pretty well established in the video that he colors his hair.

      1. Chuck says:

        I think that gives Bathesda’s engine a bit too much credit, but perhaps not.

        1. Sumanai says:

          It’s much more fun to think that what the Spoiler Warning crew, or some of the viewers, does or thinks up is canon, than to think up what must be the real intention.

  10. Indy says:

    I don’t get why you can’t wait near the bark scorpions. It’s three seconds to deal with them! I think my courier is experienced enough to kill them in his sleep. I’m not going to miss the three bullets it takes either. Why am I forced to hunt them down?

    1. Hitch says:

      You can’t wait, sleep or fast travel when “enemies” are nearby. That includes mole rats and radroaches that won’t attack and you kill with casual strength. If it’s red and alive within detection range, it counts.

  11. RejjeN says:

    Question for Shamus: If going to speak with a guy is a fetch quest, isn’t EVERY quest EVER a fetch quest? (Especially if you consider that you have several options for how to complete it).

    Also: The “Explosive Collar” isn’t actually explosive, you get to know that if you tell the ranger that the BoS put it on you (while warning him about them), he does however add that it has a microphone, which is when they come running in.

    1. decius says:

      No, the collar is explosive. If you leave the area, you get decapitated by it. If you spill the beans to the Ranger, he -disarms- it, notices it has a microphone, and the BoS come crashing in.

  12. DNTZ says:

    I miss the Rock-It Launcher in New Vegas sooo much. It would have been good for this playthrough. Think of all the unique weapons Josh could have shot out of that.

  13. X2-Eliah says:

    Hmm… just how is this annoying? The next quest the BoS make you do (then one hunting all over mojave for BoS scouts is far, far worse, imo; and it’s hardly like the BoS are the only ones who treat you badly in the game. And, also, this is hardly the only quest ‘go talk to dude’ – in fact, this one is almost admirably short and effortless, compared to other quests in the game. I don’t get where the hate for this part comes in…

    1. kanodin says:

      I’d say it’s more how they present it to you, with threatening to kill you, treating you like dirt, and then demanding you help them with no reward beyond them not killing you. Almost exactly like Father Elijah really, only he was a character you were supposed to hate. Intentional similarities?

      1. Elijah was the guy who ran this place before MacNamara.

  14. Kelly says:

    The reason for the fetch quests is just to send you to different areas, and the Brotherhood of Steel fetch quests send you to some of the best ones, like the Vaults, Reppcon HQ, and Black Mountain. It’s a perfectly fair way to direct the player towards as much content as possible.

    It just so happens that the Brotherhood themselves are assholes while giving you said fetch quests, and while doing most other things (such as Veronica’s quest if you have her try to join the followers).

    1. Sozac says:

      You ninja’d my response about the bringing you to cool places, but yeah I mostly do the quests just to get power armor. The Brotherhood in this game are stupid though. It’d be awesome if you could kill them and tell the Followers they can have all the tech. I wouldn’t care what they would say about the murder, but that would be what I’d do everytime. It irks me that you could wipe aout the base and do nothing with the tech. That is a lot of tech. You should be able to use it as a bargaining chip.I might even give it to the Khans once just to see what they’d do with it.

      1. Kelly says:

        Brotherhood Armor isn’t very helpful though since it’s faction armor for a faction everyone hates.

        And really the Brotherhood are the same as they always were, except now they’ve been forced into such an awful position that they have no real way forward, unable as they are to break their code, which is what Veronica’s whole character is about. Also they seemed more favorable in 1 and 2 because they had all the best toys, so players liked them more. Now though, there’s other, better toys to get without having to take their bullshit.

        1. Shamus says:

          I really do like this take on the Brotherhood. (Well, I hate them, but you know what I mean.) It’s a lot deeper and more nuanced than Elder Lyon’s Zaney Comedy Toupe of Armored Dunces in Fallout 3. The thing that kept them relevant (their superior weapons) is also what kept them safe, but after so many generations it’s hard for them to culturally accept any other way of living. This is a sensible take on what these guys might be like, 160+ years since the bombs fell.

        2. Irridium says:

          Actually, if you do all their quests and get the Elder replaced, you’ll be rewarded with a set of Power Armor that doesn’t have the Brotherhood faction-tag on it.

  15. Gale says:

    On the other hand, it’s nice to see Obsidian writing the Brotherhood as the assholes they actually are, instead of Bethesda’s bullshit knights in shining armour.

    1. Klay F. says:

      Yeah people seem to forget how they treated people in the original Fallout (drink!): Sending prospective members on a suicide mission.

      1. John R. says:

        In fairness, when they gave you that mission, they also said “hey, this is a suicide mission, please don’t actually do it, we’re just trying to tell you to screw off.”

  16. Some Jackass says:

    It is against regulations to shove a live grenade down the Elders pants…good to know for future BoS encounters…

    1. Raygereio says:

      It’s actually somewhat frightening that they would have regulations about this sort of thing.
      The BoS regulations handbooks must the ultimate example of crazy prepared.

  17. GiantRaven says:

    Is it just be that doesn’t really see how/why this Brotherhood of Steel stuff is stupid/obnoxious? I don’t follow the complaints at all…

  18. Even says:

    Oh wow. I thought this would be the perfect hook to start exploring the vaults, or at least couple of them, but guess not. I guess you guys just don’t like much going too in depth about introducing a faction or actually having a reason for doing something other than driving the main quest onwards. I don’t mind the the overtly chaotic nonsense, rather it does keep it entertaining to a degree, but it’s just getting a bit weary watching it go almost non-stop with no clear purpose ever since Dead Money. From gameplay perspective, it’s like the only thing to look forward to is Reginald doing something wacky or something stupid happening ingame. The commentary does save a lot here, so thanks for that. I’m just wondering if this is what the rest of this of season is going to be or do we get to actually see something other than just you following the railroad you hate so much, just trying to make most out of it?

    Are the DLCs the only break from the “norm” we’re going to see?

    1. Shamus says:

      It really depends on the mood we’re in. At the start of every session we have a short conversation, discuss possible activities, talk about how we want to fill out the week and and go over parts of the game we want to show off.

      Then Josh ignores us and does something none of us expect.

    2. Klay F. says:

      The thing is, Josh IS playing with a purpose. The problem lies with the game. After Benny dies, basically all you do for the rest of the game is kill time until the final battle. The story structure is completely fucked.

      1. krellen says:

        The vast majority of RPGs end in killing. The last act of almost every RPG I have ever played has been near-constant fighting. Fallout, Fallout 2, and Planescape: Torment are the only prominent examples I can think of.

        1. Klay F. says:

          That wasn’t really what I was talking about.

          The problem I have is that from the moment you upgrade the Securitrons until the final battle at Hoover Dam, you basically killed time as an errand boy. There are many, MANY devices that could be used to move the story along. Dicking around while you wait for the final battle is not one of them.

          But then again this is all very familiar (see: Mass Effect 2’s main plot of gathering random people).

          1. Raygereio says:

            I take offence at comparing it to the likes of ME2 in which you’d be even hard pressed to find something resembling a plot.

            Thing is, you don’t have to dick around. Dicking around is for the most part wholly optional. The middle part of the main quests for the most part just provides quick hooks for the side quests.
            Mind you, I’ll admit that this probably could have been done better.

  19. Irridium says:

    Wow, there’s really a sandstorm?

    Guess my game was bugged. Since I never saw one at night. At any night hour.

    Awesome.

    1. Falcon_47 says:

      That, or you’re graphical settings were preventing you to see it, maybe check your options (not sure if this is the cause since i always play with high settings but could be the case).

  20. Grudgeal says:

    Still prefer them to the Boomers. At least the Brotherhood doesn’t bombard you on-sight, using scripted events that make no sense and force you to go through that crap every time you want to approach them, and then rub their ‘superior’ ways in your face while calling you ‘savage’. Stupid Boomers.

  21. burningdragoon says:

    You know what’s loads of fun? Having Veronica with you and have her coming into the bunker with you glitch out. First time I tried I went through the sans-Veronica scenes and when I came back after talking to the elder I was stuck in place and had to then watch the with-Veronica entering scene.

    Several reloads, enter/exits and a few sidetracks where I just tried to kill them all right out (wasn’t so smart to do an unarmed build so I got my ass handed to) I finally got it to work. If it wasn’t for Veronica though, I would have happily murdered them all.

    Also I got into screwy situation where I was doing the kick out McNamara quest and Veronica’s try to convince him to change quest at the same time. That’s less a glitch and more Obsidian not exactly thinking that one through.

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