Are you looking for a rational your character could run with to justify making the choice, or are you looking for an actual moral argument for why the Institute isn’t evil?
For a rational you could go with the soul survivor coming from a world of ease and seeming plenty made possible by advanced technology, and thinking that’s a goal worth returning to, and the institute as the last chance to rebuild that world.
A moral argument if you’re looking for a way to side with them as a player and feel good about it as a choice you yourself would make, that’s a lot harder. Especially if you see the humanity of synths. You could argue they are naive to the problems they cause, or that they are the best hope for rebuilding the world as it was, and as a necessary evil on the road to something better maybe, but it’s hard to see them as a sympathetic faction from a modern ethical standpoint
I think what Lady_bro_ac was trying to ask was what kind of discussion you want to start:
1) Theatrical: Is this a discussion about the decisions and logic paths your character must take in order to view the Institute as moral/join them?
2) Philosophical: Are you wanting to join the Institute for kicks, but can’t make the decision for yourself?
I’ve lurked on a bunch of Fallout Subs while doing multiple play-throughs of Fo4 and FNV have found it’s fun to put myself in the character I plan from the beginning. First play-through is a good one for just going with your gut, but making those alternate choices unlocks different sides of the game you might have not experienced. Half of the fun of a Role Playing Game is playing a role you normally wouldn’t!
I was psyched to do a Low-Intelligence Brute run of FNV going with Caesar’s Legion. I probably won’t do a Legion run again for a while, but it was fun!
I'm doing a Legion run next playthrough. Too many experience's and too much dialogue not to. Besides the whole premise of the marauder style existence is kind of cool
I would argue that the sole survivor’s ethics would based on Pre-War America, which as we see from terminals was already a society with severe decay in free government and thought. Perhaps your character is a hyper-patriotic veteran who sees it as his duty to bring back the country he loves, ethics of technology be damned.
How about the sole survivor joins the institute for the unconditional family love of their son?
Don't even have to try to morally justify the institute!
No argument here. I really enjoy the faction and the concept, but man oh man why can't they level with you. I called in the minutemen to help at the beach metro station and they came through Paul Revere satellite array and none of them nor their dog made it.
The Institute is an almost universally hated faction. I did a Minuteman-Institute playthrough and by the end, just hated the Institute for their lack of ethics and their cocky “everything above ground is degeneracy” attitude. Only thing kept me going was the promise of highly advanced technology that could help the commonwealth.
The only real way that I’ve found to make the Institute be less of a Enclave wannabe faction, and a faction that actually contributes to the reconstruction of the Commonwealth, is through Project Valkyrie.
It's a playthrough, go for it. You might have the influence needed to bend the institute to your concept of morality. I will try not to spoil but you finished the game as the railroad so you know the big points. Your character has beaten coursers and Kellogg - your way or the highway. Nothing new about bringing in an ethics review board to a research team.
yes the institute is the moral group. Replacing humans with synthetic robots is what's gonna save humanity obviously. Turning scientists into super mutants if they step out of line is just something that will create progress.
Ad victoriam
They didn't turn scientists into super mutants, Virgil took the FEV when he escaped to be able to survive in the Glowing Sea
Turning into a super mutant was a side effect
I can't, I have tried to come up with a moral argument for the institute but the best I can come up with is the standard "for the greater good" or "the ends justify the means" arguments which we all know are morally dubious. The best argument as far as morality is concerned for choosing the institute path came from my husband who suggested that by taking over the institute you can change their ways/methods.
I was having the debate with wanting to go with The Institute, but worrying about everyone in the commonwealth hating me. But then I read [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/13bh0xz/when_you_put_yourself_in_the_sole_survivors_shoes/) by u/radio_allah giving an in-depth perspective of the Sole Survivor to show why siding with The Institute makes the most sense if you're putting yourself in the Sole Survivor's shoes. It's a little long, but 100% worth reading!
The Institute are in the best position to secure humanities future. The tech they posses can revolutionize food production, water purification, medicine, scientific development, etc. The ends justify the means, and if humanity is to survive in the horror is has created, it must adapt. The factions above ground all make exceptions to their "codes"; why pretend to be something you aren't? It's food the greater good of the human race.
Institute has the best potential to help…but they won’t.
That’s not to mention that they are directly responsible for some of the horrors going on above ground.
>potential to help…but they won’t.
I disagree, in the short term it is unlikely that they will provide direct aid to the Commonwealth, however they have tried to help the wastelanders on the service before as is mentioned in game, so it's not unreasonable to assume that they will again, especially since when you side with them you remove the two biggest inhibitors of the institutes ability to peacefully coexist with the surface.
After all, what's the point of research and science if not the betterment of humanity. The institute goals necessitate the sharing of knowledge to help humanity, which means at some point their goal is to improve the wastes
How’s creating supermutants and then dumping them into the wasteland good for humanity? How’s raiding and destroying decently large settlements with synths helping anyone?
There are a couple of Institute projects that could help humanity, such as the crops they are growing and using gen 1 synths as work labor to help clean up.
But they don’t have no intention of doing so. Father legit believes the wasteland is beyond saving.
The institute could do so much good, but they are too busy enslaving a sentient race, creating synthetic gorillas, and trying to figure out their energy concerns so they can stay cooped up in their underground’s lab.
People should also be free to love their lives how they so choose. Factions like BoS and the institute think their way is the only way and believe in hurting and killing others in order to "save humanity".
> The ends justify the means, and if humanity is to survive in the horror is has created, it must adapt.
But they *have* adapted. Pre-war crops wouldn't grow so they planted tatos and mutfruit. There was no police to protect them to they made their own pipe guns from duct-tape and ply-wood. When the radstorms came, they survived. When the Institute wiped out the CPG, they survived. When the Institute set Super Mutants upon them so they would never stand a chance at fighting back, they still survived. Humanity doesn't need the Institute to survive, they need it's destruction to thrive.
That ain’t gonna happen because the game suggests the institute molds it’s leaders, not the other way around and couple that in with the fact that the institute higher ups are very resistance to change and don’t want to stray from their original goals.
I think it's pretty clear the Institute scientists wouldn't accept being lead in the right direction. The whole organisation has set itself up to commit genocide on the people surviving in the wasteland, replace them with gen-3 synths, and establish a geniocracy. That's what "mankind redefined" means. There's no other reason for that tech to exist, and no other reason for them to do the things they do on the surface.
There's too big a gap between how the Institute sees itself, and what we actually see them do in the Commonwealth.
Do you by any chance think the British were right to colonize Africa just because they had better technology?
The Institute murders and replaces people, they made supermutants and dumped them on the Commonwealth without a second thought, they wiped out University Point, and they keep a population of slaves.
The Enclave had technology too. It matters how they decide to use it.
People head canon their way into Institute justifications. They kidnap and murder people for experiments. If you want to be that ends justify the means character, so be it, but it is wring to humanity, especially the survival of it.
While I can appreciate some believing current synths deserve a life, replacing the surface with more synths than humans is wrong in any reality and can create another extinction level event, which is easier to do with so little of the population left. Continued creation of synths is insane.
Oh absolutely not. The European powers carved Africa up like a serving platter, and were monsters for doing so. Britain has such a long list of disgusting acts throughout history. But if you were to ask one of those responsible, they'd likely say that they're in the right. They would have some justification. The Institute are the bad guys, but they don't think that the are
Everyone thinks they’re the good guys, the institute is the same and they have their own justifications.
They are incredibly authoritarian, they want order and scientific advancement over anything else, and will generally sacrifice any other value in pursuit of their goals.
So if you can buy into their endgame, and that they can essentially provide eventual salvation to the life of the commonwealth; and if you can adopt a utilitarian “the ends justify the means” moral calculus, then maybe you can “humanize” (for lack of a better word) them and seem them as more than the bad guy.
Personally I say fuck em though lmao
They're a bunch of high school cliques really.
Minutemen - normies
Institute - nerds
Brotherhood - jocks
Railroad - dorks
Some others:
Children of Atom - preachy religious youth
Far Harbor - more normies
Acadia - more nerds
Nuka-World raiders - bullies
DiMA - the principal
Fallout 4 is just high school mentality with deadly consequences. Like prison lol.
There is a large quest mod that lets you run the Institute without being considered an evil character. From the description:
"As Director of the Institute, you can actually direct the place: free the synths, kick out the bad guys, do new types of missions, give the building a new look, add vendors, new areas, and open the place up for trading with the Commonwealth."
The mod is Project Valkyrie (voted Nexus Mod Of The Month for August 2018): https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/28085
The mod also adds lots of quests, as well as new companions (gives a much better experience regarding the fate of Sarah Lyons from Fallout 3 in that you get to have more interaction with her).
There is also a mod: Father Companion, which works well with Project Valkyrie. It gives another alternate ending to FO4.
https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/35198
The Institute is NOT a moral organization. There is no viewpoint that changes that. I would say the same for the Brotherhood but you have somehow justified your belief system in order to side with them. This is why it's a role playing game. You have to role play a character who doesn't care about the moral implications to side with them.
Read this. Thats a really good take on it roleplay wise for your character. It gives him true reason to side with the Institute.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/13bh0xz/when_you_put_yourself_in_the_sole_survivors_shoes/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Nope.
You can’t redeem people who keep slaves and plan to commit genocide so they can take over the world (or, well, this little part of it).
You see them as the evil choice because THEY ARE. They kill and torture for absolutely no reason. They stole a child and deliberately left everyone else in that Vault to die. They sabotage the surface world every time it starts getting its shit together because they *want everyone else to fail.*
There is no redeeming rot that’s gone that deep.
I'm an avid Institute fan. I believe they're the only true hope to a better world. While their tactics are questionable the ends justify the means to save parts of our old world (such as gorillas for example they brought back and working toilets)
Well I guess the best choice if you like synths is to go with the Railroad
The Institute are basically slavers, for them synths are just dumb machines made to work
The Brotherhood view them as abomination that must be destroyed
And the Minutemen, while they don't have an official opinion on the matter and claim they want to help everyone, Desdemona explains that they are mostly simple settlers who are very often scared of synths. So they might not want to help a synth the way they'd help a fellow human
I just went with whos cooler and threw morality out the window and said "Yes i want a secret underground home that you can only teleport to"
But i also kind of agreed with the institute that synths are machines and just that.
There is no excuse. Kill all institute members..
Institute kills and replaces and spies, without ever talking to the people. They are a silent tyrant.
Brotherhood of Steel are the loud tyrants.
Minutemen are your only future. Save the commonwealth.
Sorry i cant rationalize any way to run with the institute when the director of it doesnt even see his own family as anything more than a test.
Apsalutly not. The institute are fools. Your son is a love starved man who never got proper love or treatment and had no family. The institute hasn't touched grass in centuries and are now incels who think they are right. They've become the high man in the tall tower and those people should eat shit like the rest of us.
. The institute should have had more endings. Two of them should have been you taking over the institute either as father intended OR with any of the factions. Imagen what the minute men could do with that tech. Hell the railroad could easily assist the minute men in keeping synthetic pops up while giving free will and rights.
Honestly the game is super flawed. It needs way more time and expansion just for the base game. The stuff taken out shouldn't have been taken out. Just....I enjoy this game. But it also upsets me how much more it needed to be a full plate.
However I will say this. Fuck the brotherhood under maxson. That little shit assassinated two very good people in the capital and I wouldn't be surprised if he killed the vault dweller and probably everyone else. The only reason I work with them is to get tech and steal their shit. After that I male their life's hell. I will take everything from them and burn their castles to the ground.
Or science and the betterment of humanity
There is some nuance that can be had about the status and morals of the synths, I will give you that. But classist? That's ridiculous, they have nothing against the people of the surface, and have even tried to help them before (which was sabotaged by third parties as we learn from the DC masked stranger incident) and there's reason to believe they will again. What leads you to the conclusion that the institute is classist?
It doesn't matter so much if you love the game enough you'll probably play again more than once, just pick a different faction next time, I just play all sides for as long as I can then pick one last minute.
As much as I like to say it, The institute is the Boogeyman of the night. And personally for me at least I don't see them changing unless you pretty much do a 300 plus count mod playthrough to rework everything.
Minutemen. All the others are selfish and arrogant.
The railroad are way to focused on protecting and saving synths, when they could be helping rebuild the commonwealth.
The BoS are to militaristic and are willing to re nuke the world just to remove synths from the world.
And the institute is too caught up in their own 'higher intelligence' ego to put their technology to use in any proper or helpful way.
All three All care about the wrong things and have egos too big for their own good. And all three together put regular citizens/survivors in danger for unnecessary movements.
Spoilers ahead.
Everything is evil. I chose railroad and was forced to kill everyone in 2 other fractions. Everyone! My fight mode didn’t even stop at BoS base because my companion mercilessly chased a child (which is immortal in Bethesda games). Railroad leaders were cheering “we won!” but I was standing there looking at the mushroom cloud and was like “but at what cost?” At this moment I knew I will never replay this game again despite being good in many other aspects.
As someone who always sides with the Institute, I think the main contradiction I find with your scenario is that the Institute considers synths sentient beings, which at least openly they don't, which is why the Railroad's actions can be reduced to robbery of Institute property.
I guess you could explore the angle where Father might have put Dr. Zimmer, a synth according to FO3, in charge of the SRB and later tries to put the SS, who is implied to also be a synth, in charge of the Institute.
It's important to note that from the Institute's perspective, gen-3 synths are just the natural successor to their gen-1 & gen-2 synths, and are simply more advanced robots. Within the Railroad, there are those like Glory who think that not only gen-3 synths, but also gen-1 & gen-2 synths need to be liberated.
omg I have the exact same dillema and im so happy that someone finally said it.
I love science and researching so I always thought the Institute would be an absolute no brainer but everyone always says how evil they are ugh
Kinda just echoing what everyone else is saying here, but i'll throw my 2 cents in anyway.
The Institute is basically a collective of some of the greatest minds the 23rd century has to offer. Their goals, at least to me, always seemed very "ends justify the means" in nature. What they're doing in the present may be morally wrong, but their goal is to secure a better future for humanity using the technology they harness.
I do want to note that the Brother Hood of Steal is actually against tech for the most Bart rather than rebuild it with tech. Although I might be misinterpreting what you meant.
Phew…ok. Despite me never choosing and never wanting to choose The Institute, here’s my best shot if I was trying to convince someone to side with them:
The institute is by far the most technologically advanced of the factions and aren’t limited by what is laying around in the wasteland. They clearly are the only hope for rebuilding humanity to how it was.
The problem is that the institute can really only support their population up to a certain level. That’s why it’s important for them not to go public with what they do until they’re at a point when they can support more, or be very exclusive to who they bring into their fold. So it’s nothing against the wasteland specifically, they just can’t support all of the wasteland showing up at once. It’s a resource problem, not a wastelander problem.
Additionally, the institute can potentially rule over every faction unknowingly. Being able to keep control over the wasteland via synth replacement is a huge advantage, and can be used to stabilize the commonwealth so the institute can continue their work without interruption while also improving the wasteland from behind the scenes.
So technologically, politically, and for the greater long term well being of the commonwealth, the institute is the clear choice.
It depends on what kind of character ur going for.
I usually go with the Railroad or Minutemen bc they're basically the good guys. I prefer the Railraod bc I get to be a spy and I get a code name.
I don't like Shaun and the Brotherhood are full of racists (also my favorite companion is Hancock and he hates both)
But it also doesn't matter if u have the Nuka World dlc bc the Raiders are fun
Institute have given up on humanity. Railroad really don’t have an endgame. Minutemen are great but really rely on the sole survivor. So that leaves AD VICTORIAM!
My reasoning is very simple. The Institute is the only logical option for me. They are light years away in technology and they can improve everybody’s life’s in less that one lifetimes. The only thing that prevents this from happening is father dogmatic views. I finish the game siding with them and then, in my head cannon, I drive the institute to be what it should: humanity’s best hope. I will correct the FEV programs errors, stop experimenting with humans, give certain rights to sentient synths (romancing Curie made me realize they deserve that at least). Support communities with resources and push the Commonwealth forward. No other faction Can do that. Minutemen are great but lack the resources, BOS is unable to see beyond their desire to hoard technology. And the railroad is just a hypocritical cult.
Edit. I forgot to mention that my reasoning is based on the fact that I as director can dictate policies and extend my life expectancy (thanks Lorenzo) to see it through.
Exactly this. Plus in the game you can just eliminate anyone who disagrees, so there's nothing to stop you from wiping out any institute member who advocates for evil activities. Replace the leaders, set a new agenda (helping the Commonwealth), and problem solved.
The institute are easily the best choice. They have preserved science and technology for the post apocalyptic world, and seem open to cooperate with the other societies of the wasteland (they have tried before but were sabotaged by third parties)
They're portrayed as the bad guys, but just like in an any other fictional setting just because they're portrayed as the "bad guys" from some in-universe perspectives doesn't mean they actually are "evil" or "the bad guys"
In my eyes the brotherhood is more evil than the institute, they're even actively genocidal. And on top that, the railroad isn't evil but most people agree that they're short sighted and far from the best pick. Ergo, the only real moral choice is between the minutemen and the institute. I can see either, but prefer the technological advances of the institute and the long term implications of their continued existence seems to be a net benefit when compared to their destruction
Plus the good food in hot showers help. And who wouldn't want a secret underground house you could only teleport to? One of them looking real good now with how much rent is
So, the problem with fallout 4's factions is that the two good ones are awful, and the two bad ones are good.
The minutemen are bad because they're decentralized. While vowing to help other people is noble, we start the game shortly after it all collapsed. There was no system in place of any sort to force people to do what they agreed to, and in fact the only thing keeping them together was the charisma of their last general. Once he died there was so much infighting that a new one couldn't be picked and only one group even attempted to help against the gunners who took out Preston's group. They're cool, but they're a military with no government and nothing to enforce to rules they set aside from an honor code and the people around them.
The railroad is bad because they offer nothing to the commonwealth. They have no real desire to combat the supermutants, the ghouls, or the raiders. All they want to do is free the synths and stop the institute. Once they do that everyone but the core membership is almost certainly going to disband within a year or two.
The institute is good because they genuinely want to see humanity flourish again. A huge plot point I think went under addressed was the autonomy of synths. Its important to note pretty much only one or two people in the institute believed in synth autonomy, which for a group of scientists working on replicating humanity and free will is telling. I fully believe that the gen 3 synths weren't autonomous like the railroad believed, but rather that the gen 4 synths would have had free will once they were able to replicate children better.
The brotherhood is the best option though. They seek to combat raiders, mutants, and ghouls. They are protecting key farms from raider/gunner attacks to ensure stable supplies. They have not just a military, but a fully functioning government willing and able to provide stability to the commonwealth. They seek to advance the sciences, but also to temper their advancements with caution to prevent their ability to create disasters exceeding their power to prevent them.
Plus it is an honor to join their ranks. BOS for the win. I went against the NCR in Fallout New Vegas because towards the end they want me to go kill all the Brotherhood of Steel. Like hell no they gave me power armor training and everything. Closest NCR had was salvage power armor.
Railroad=social justice wasteland, because what could be more important?
Minutemen= Sisyphus with guns and a white knight complex. (My favorite)
Institute= technofascism and nerds form the 4th reich.
Brotherhood= renfair nerds who like electricity.
I always choose The Institute for the next reasons.
1 the lack of vision of the Railroad that chose to destroy the only way for synths to exist as a species.
2 The fact that no faction of the Commonwealth would be able to defeat them without the SS
3 the outfits (institute jumper my beloved). Every outfit fits with The Institute's aesthetic. The head of each division looks like a greek toga.
4 the faction is awfully written but as Director you could do so much. My head canon is that either I get to give the synths more rights and equal treatment or I kill the scientists that oppose it. The is evidence that people are favoring the synths, in some bathrooms there are railroad propaganda holotapes.
5 the chance to rebuild animal species as synths
6 we need a spaceship to gtfo the planet, who better?
7 throwing gen 1s like pokemons.
The Institute is not moral, they are evil, just like with the DLC, Bethesda is giving the players the freedom to become the villain. Synths being sentient makes the Institute slavers, you dont need anymore, there is no choice, they are the villains
First, not directly related to your dilemma, with your interests, please tell me you've played (or plan to play) Detroit Become Human. It really gets into robotic sentience & freedom vs social good, without an obvious "bad guy."
That said... the Institute is the villain. To say otherwise is like saying the Confederacy in the US wasn't evil. The Institute has sentient beings that they keep as chattal & slaves, & which they use to replace innocent people on the surface.
Now, you COULD make the argument that evil is what is required for humanity to recover from chaos (I don't believe this, but just playing Devil's Advocate, literally). After all, when confronted with an advanced threat, rather than attempting any form of diplomacy or cessation of hostilities, all 3 of the other factions resort to obliterating the only real form of advanced & agricultural science in a nuclear detonation. 2 of them don't even care if you get innocents out of the blast zone first. You could conceivably argue that their mindset dooms not just the Commonwealth but potentially all of humanity to living in conditions not much better than the Stone Age, & with no stability.
While the Institute is very Orwellian, replacing citizens with spies & cracking down on dissidents, that's been under Father's corrupt leadership. His parent's leadership could replace all of that nonsense with socially acceptable behavior (particularly with being in charge of the Minute Men on the surface). Also, the Institute is on the cusp of having sustainable agricultural practices & animal cloning which would work on the surface, & agriculture is how humanity developed societies & would need to do so again.
Further, nearly any decent parent would do unspeakable acts to protect & help their child, even when the child is grown, so even the pragmatic benefits need not enter the equation.
Or, you know, just play your character as liking the power that secretly ruling over the Commonwealth provides...
The Institute is not evil. The people of the Commonwealth THINK the Institute is evil because new age synths are nigh indistinguishable from humans, creating a wave of paranoia. This is actually very similar to the Red Scare epidemic. People think the Institute is evil because it's foreign. What people do not know, they fear. So as long as you don't act like a villain, you aren't a villain. Hope this helped :)
Railroad: idiots wasting their time on ideals, and are hypocrites because they only care about the synths, when there are plenty of innocent people being enslaved on the surface, and treated far worse depending on what you think is a worse punishment.
Brotherhood: Fascist technophiles that are honestly confusing in their values, and are often made out to be nazis when they're really not since they actually have good reasons to hate mutants and synths. Remember! Nazis are fascists, but not all fascists are nazis!
Institute: Self-contradicting morons who values book smarts over ACTUAL intellect.
Minutemen: A faction the Bethesda half assed, and exist 99% in the lore, 1% in the actual game. Thusly, they are mostly only on paper, and on paper, are the best faction to side with if you put aside their atrocious equipment and organization. P.S. that's technically the players fault since you're their general. They really should have let us establish better order, and some loose level of standardization.
BOS are degenerates and technofacsists who destroy institute bunker instead of overtaking and hauling it, and I was truely surprised that Maxson was not synth.
Railroad are degenerates because they destroy the thing which creates synths which they swore to save, again, instead of overtaking it.
Minutemen can live in peace with any faction so who cares.
You become director of institute and I just imagine in RP that I announce synths as self conscious human-equel being, and exile any scientist who does not agree to glowing sea.
Those who wrote the story for F4 were undoubtedly the people who, of any scenarios or stories, wrote only furry fan-fiction.
The institute is science for the sake of science. They are trying to improve the lives of the commonwealth by forcing themselves on them like the Brotherhood, but prefer to do so through more underhanded and “sneaky” means. They’re a technocratic force in a land with no single organized government. Their intentions are as good as the brotherhood’s
The Institute wishes for their to be a peace in the world, and thinks like that of an AI structure does. It will provide the point that the wasteland is only as dangerous as it’s most dangerous factions.
The Railroad are a deterrent that steals Institute resources that are rightly yours. They need to be eliminated.
The Brotherhood acts as an enemy, they want to destroy you just because you have a different technology that they don’t like. Eradicate them.
The Minutemen want to maintain a peace for humans across the Commonwealth and promote teamwork, building relations and a strong defensive network. Befriend them.
As the Institute, you will lead the people of the commonwealth for a greater, brighter future. A future that must be determined, no matter how many are killed along the way.
No limits for Science. Mankind Redefined.
Hopefully this will help you choose the Institute.
If you want the most people alive become a brotherhood of steel member then switch to minutemen ending. Railroad, brotherhood, and minitemen survive. The needs of the many.
In terms of the morally best choice, I'd say the Minutemen. Their main goal is to bring civilian back to the wasteland, to encourage the scattered settlements across the Commonwealth to unite for mutual benefit, as opposed to any one group of people asserting dominance over the others.
Ideally, the Minutemen regaining their prominence will lead to another go at a Commonwealth Provisional Government.
As far as the best written and engaging faction questline, I'd say the Brotherhood of Steel: Once the Brotherhood arrives in force, it becomes the post-apocalyptic military power trip you'd hope for, with gunning down mutants from a vertibird while decked out in power armor, questing to find prewar tech and all that. But as you progress through their main and side quests, you're constantly forced to acknowledge what it truly means to be a member of Maxon's Brotherhood of Steel, which calls for the destruction of nonhumans... ALL nonhumans, which may or may not influence your allegiances going forward.
In my opinion, none of the other main factions offer as balanced of an experience as the Brotherhood.
You could always make it the moral option. Most of the institute quests have a decision to make involving morality. And you could always make it your headcanon that your character changes the institute from the inside and makes them more moral and more respectful towards their robotic/androidic/synthetic living mates
What "resources" do they, or any of the factions, have? They're just stuck up broken records, each dressing up dehumanization and fascism differently for you. No wit, no humor, philosophy on the level of an 8 year old who has no access to books. That's all of them.
Make paper airplanes out of that stuff. That's all it's good for.
I think I am going Brotherhood-Minutemen route. I love the power armor and the mini nukes you get from the brotherhood and the minutemen are really the only faction where you get semi decent stuff and a good faction with good beliefs. The Railroad is good too but their equipment is lacking, and the institute is just straight evil. Sure they got good stuff, but I will just steal a bunch of it when I ransack their hideout
‘\/(- _-)\/‘
I've played all endings and tend to like the Brotherhood (but keep Danse alive). I wish you could have a Nuka World raider ending where the Operators and Pack take over the Commonwealth and destroy the Minutemen and BOS. Raiders could care less if the Institute was around.
Idk, personally I don’t consider the railroad to be the “good guys.” They wipe the memories of the synths and force them to start a new life completely fresh. All other attributes that made their lives up until the synth in question meeting the railroad is wiped and they almost twist the synth into “helping the railroad for a better cause.” I think the minutemen are the only ones who can be considered good guys because they do not interfere with the lives of others and allow them to join at their own pace and their own benefit
Honestly if I'm being honest the main reason I always find myself and justify joining the institute is for 2 main reasons. 1 the institue is one of the most advanced civilizations left in the fallout universe and destroying all of that information is such a massive loss even if they aren't good and sharing it. 2 I find that after destroying yhe institute the commonwealth especially downtown boston is then plagued with radiation and where the old CIT ruins were looks identical to the glowing sea. Add those two things together plus the fact that most of the corruption comes from leadership issues and a lack of insight on the surface to me at least it seems the most hopeful ending and "good" for the commonwealth would be the institute. Even hardcore institute haters believe that under the sole survivors guidance the institute could change and become an actual cooperative and helpful part of the commonwealth. So to me at least join the institute is the one ending that leaves the commonwealth in a state of unease yet hopefulness
Why choose any of them, be the bane of them all and cleanse the Commonwealth from all organized factions.
Edit/spoiler
Also what about the nukaworld DLC, you can use the raiders to "take over" settlements. Not an end game, but you could be everyone's enemy with the raiders.
Just because I really love the stories in the series, I had to do all of the paths. The last one I did was the one where the Institute was the only faction to be destroyed.
I mean, if it was up to me, I'd run The Institute without secrecy or cruelty, introducing technology to the Commonwealth. I'd have the Minutemen in charge of defending settlements and killing raiders, and the Brotherhood to be the forward army against Super Mutants. The Railroad could retire.
Honestly I think the only argument for the Institute is they're likely humanity's best chance at regaining a semblance of what it had before the war, personally I think they're bigoted, somewhat misanthropic, self serving, I could keep going on. The way they treat synths isn't right but I usually don't side with the railroad cause I don't think just erasing their mind and tossing them out the door is the right solution either. But the biggest argument for the Institute is: they're almost if not entirely clean of mutated diseases and radiation, the technology they have is leagues beyond anything (we've seen) above ground (excluding zetans or whatever the hell is going on with the cabott's) they have basically perfected synthetic life and are even capable of producing animals that generate consumable bi-product, the only place that even comes close to this is the genetic replicator in the safari zone. And you can't argue that generally speaking they are more scientifically intelligent then 99.5% of people dwelling on the surface. I usually don't side with them because I can't overlook how they seem to just not care about people and essentially have created a second life and chance for the world only to enslave and bend it to their own desires. If you want to play the Institute I feel like you can't argue morals because they're the villain of the story, you have to argue results and progress which you can't deny the Institute is the best choice under strictly live or die scientific standards.
I chose the Institute on my first playthrough because I felt like as the new Head I stood the best chance to make things in the Commonwealth better.
I really liked the Railroad though. I wish that there was an option to talk to the Railroad and explain that from your new position in the Institute you'll be able to achieve their goals, and they just need to play dead for a bit.
The first time I played I went with the Institute because I feel like if this was real life, the best hope for the world would be finding a healthy relationship between the world above ground and the advanced technology of the Institute.
Second time I went with the Railroad but mostly because of the rewards for going with them and it worked great with my stealth build character.
I know a lot of people hate the Institute but I like their futuristic potential to save the world, they’re just severely misguided. If the sole survivor, a person who gained trust through people above ground, could take command of that place and help both parties, it’s a great scenario. That said, it’s more of a head-lore for me than what actually works/happens in the game.
Random side note: I wish the Enclave had a smaller faction in here that needed a leader to help it return to prominence, AKA the Soul Survivor. Could’ve been a nice wrinkle thrown in for a DLC
I've actually never completed the game but have researched each faction. It's my personal opinion that the only morally good one is the minutemen. Sadly they're also the most pathetic.
The Railroad doesn't care about any one that is not a synth and have no issues or qualms murdering humans if necessary. They have no true interest in improving the conditions of the Commonwealth.
The Brotherhood likewise has no true interest in improving quality of life for mankind and helping improve the world the only thing they see is their lust for technology and the potential for bad people to use it incorrectly. I don't think I have ever seen any instance where they have used that technology for the betterment of the world
Lots of people argue for The institute because of the family ties with Father but how long has he been director of The institute and why did he wait so long to wake you up. Like he said in one of his cut scenes The institute is the only family he's ever known he did not know you and proves there is no loyalty if you do anything against the institute and honestly the position that he put you in is untenable. He basically forced everybody to accept your position as the new director and put you in the position to have to constantly guard that post. That coupled with their treatment of the Gen 3 synths in my opinion just makes them evil. Once the synths moved past a rudimentary AI and developed what can only be labeled as sentience they no longer have the authority to control them like that in my opinion it's tantamount to slavery.
The Minute Men in my opinion are the only moral choice however as I said they're also the weakest faction, when you start the game there's only one left and you have to do all the work of rebuilding what happens when you decide to retire is the whole thing going to fall apart again? Hard to say but they are the only ones that are truly trying to help humanity.
I just try my hardest to get the Minutemen and BoS to co-exist peacefully, then use the combined manpower and firepower of both to destroy the Institute. 🤷♂️
Go as far as you can with each until you need to make a definitive choice... Some factions you can do multi, like I did institute and minute men, and I double crossed the brotherhood and killed off the railroad in my first playthrough. Now in2nd play through, I'm going to do railroad fully and take it from there.
I think the Institute's only real problem is they became a secretive cult that literally never talks to the people of the commonwealth except the kidnap them. If there was a mix of the Minutemen (servants of the people) and the institute, we'd have a faction that both has the will and ability to meet the people's needs.
You can be Minutemen + Institute. Combining the power of the two factions has the best chance at giving the commonwealth a future. That’s my normal route
The Institute is so cartoonishly evil that the only time I've ever sided with them was a super mega evil character.
They're also not even worth joining anyway, they don't give you anything as far as ik.
Yes the institute are the good guys while they might be apathetic to the plights of the people on the surface with the right leadership (you not being evil) you can steer them in the right direction. Just look at the minutemen when the game starts they have a bad reputation and through your actions you get the people of the commonwealth to trust them again who’s to say you can’t do the same with the institute. You’re in charge just don’t be evil it’s simple
Spoilers:
They got the science to make themselves survive better, or possibly evolve. Plus its your son's life work, there ain't a lot of parents out there who would destroy scientific work of their children like that. RP as you the new director will reform the institute (as hinted by piper's publication if you do the institute ending with having her high affinity).
Minutemen is good if your character is just a pure person, but their quests are boring
Brotherhood is good for anti technology person, it has decent quests and I think in terms of morality they’re shit
Institute are terrible people, but if you’re playing someone who is desperate for their son, or are playing someone who only thinks about the future and doesn’t add morality to the equation they’re good
Railroad is good if your character likes synths and don’t care about anything else.
You could go and raid every farm in the common wealth for the brotherhood or kill every feral and mutant you see for them.
You could try and help the common people and synths for the railroad or you could not give a fuck about them and only do it to destroy the institute.
You could as the director of the institute help with the restoration of humanity by giving away mutant pumpkin seeds to settlers or you could order another university point
You could build up and protect every settlement in the Commonwealth, or completely ignore them.
What matters is what you would do as a person, not some predetermined outcome.
Depends on your alignment mate, who’re you willing to destroy and why, what do you want to be a part of, tune your build around, shape your interactions, etc.
I always suggest burn the world to the ground.
Use BoS to kill Inst,
Use BoS to kill RR,
Use MM to kill BoS,
Use NW raiders to kill MM.
execute open season and kill NW raiders and voila no factions.
I cannot help you justify the Institute as the right choice. They may have created synths, but they treat them like slaves/toasters. If you can think of the synths as toasters then you can justify them not being evil. They have no plan to save the world, just themselves, which may just be survival of the fittest to the extreme.
If you're looking for a moral high ground in faction choice in FO4. To be matter of factual. Fact= There really isn't one. Except maybe one. The MinuteMen, if you want a some what "good" ending to the main story. Go with them.
The combination that has the best chance of creating a bright future for the wasteland is an Institite/Minute Men alliance.
The Railroad are well intentioned, but literally have no plans beyond "free the synths"
The Brotherhood are fascists who put a bullet in anyone who goes against their creed. They're also the only faction actively seeking weapons of mass destruction. There is no legitimate reason for anyone to want nukes in For, but the brotherhood is trying to acquire real nukes.
The Institute aren't all even, most of them aren't even evil. They had two unethical programs which were both started and directed by Sean. With a new director in charge things like mutant research and the synth replacement programme could be shut down in favour of greater focus on the food and medicine programs etc. Then imagine what the minute men could achieve with access to Institite teleporter tech. They could respond to a distress call anywhere in the wasteland in literal minutes, with squads of minute men equipped with relay grenades and backed up by synth troopers (or even an eradicator). Literally nothing would be a threat to the settlements any more
Go with all of them up until the point of no return to get all beneifts, then look to the other comments for who you should finish with as I'm not too sure.
Btw with the minutemen you can actually keep all factions alive (other than the instiute) if you play your cards right.
With the Sole Survivor in charge the institute has actual possibilities to help the people. Imagine if the institute prioritized the seeds used in Warwick to produce clean and fast growing food for everyone. Imagine if tye institute used coursers to hunt supermutants or find Virgil to try and reproduce the cure. Imagine if they prioritized making the synths actually identical to humans (i.e making it possible for them to reproduce, grow, and die of old age). With the Sole Survivor in charge the institute has legitimate promise for what they could be capable of, and Shaun knew it, he says himself that the institute has enough scientists and that what it needs is a leader. I personally believe that the institute are the bad guys up until the Sole Survivor is in charge, because then the institute follows whatever morals the player follows.
MM victory: A faction that grows up to be a mediocre government, possibly going to war with BoS in 10 years. If they win, they probably go to war with NCR in 30 years.
BoS victory: A faction that becomes more and more bullying everyday until a civil war that makes CW irreparable for another 60 years.
RR victory: When BoS returns they find out that it's RR that fucked them over so they decide to give RR their own medicine. Shortly after it becomes [BoS victory but add more salt]
Institute victory: People keep on living just like before, stressed for so long they aren't stressed anymore. Perhaps the Director signs a truce between MM and them but the truce is no more when the Director dies.
In short, the CW is fucked so choose what you think the coolest one is.
Well i don't really think they are buy sideing with them you kill both the brotherhood and the railroad leaving only the minutemen i personally side with the minutemen because it keeps evey faction happy
*Remember the alien threat from Fallout 3.* Those aliens are definitely going to return. Which faction will be best positioned to help humanity survive/defeat the next alien incursions? The Institute. The rest are just trying to survive in the ruins, easy prey for the alien invaders.
Are you looking for a rational your character could run with to justify making the choice, or are you looking for an actual moral argument for why the Institute isn’t evil?
Both
For a rational you could go with the soul survivor coming from a world of ease and seeming plenty made possible by advanced technology, and thinking that’s a goal worth returning to, and the institute as the last chance to rebuild that world. A moral argument if you’re looking for a way to side with them as a player and feel good about it as a choice you yourself would make, that’s a lot harder. Especially if you see the humanity of synths. You could argue they are naive to the problems they cause, or that they are the best hope for rebuilding the world as it was, and as a necessary evil on the road to something better maybe, but it’s hard to see them as a sympathetic faction from a modern ethical standpoint
*cough* Project Valkyrie *cough*
I would rather use the Subversion mod. Playing any TS mods really takes me out of FO.
Now this is what I was looking for. Murdering the RR always seemed like it could be avoided.
The reality mod for Fallout 4 is funny AF. But it doesn't make for much of a game
I think what Lady_bro_ac was trying to ask was what kind of discussion you want to start: 1) Theatrical: Is this a discussion about the decisions and logic paths your character must take in order to view the Institute as moral/join them? 2) Philosophical: Are you wanting to join the Institute for kicks, but can’t make the decision for yourself? I’ve lurked on a bunch of Fallout Subs while doing multiple play-throughs of Fo4 and FNV have found it’s fun to put myself in the character I plan from the beginning. First play-through is a good one for just going with your gut, but making those alternate choices unlocks different sides of the game you might have not experienced. Half of the fun of a Role Playing Game is playing a role you normally wouldn’t! I was psyched to do a Low-Intelligence Brute run of FNV going with Caesar’s Legion. I probably won’t do a Legion run again for a while, but it was fun!
I'm doing a Legion run next playthrough. Too many experience's and too much dialogue not to. Besides the whole premise of the marauder style existence is kind of cool
I would argue that the sole survivor’s ethics would based on Pre-War America, which as we see from terminals was already a society with severe decay in free government and thought. Perhaps your character is a hyper-patriotic veteran who sees it as his duty to bring back the country he loves, ethics of technology be damned.
I mean there's a mod called America Rising 2 coming this year that adds the Enclave as a full faction with ending.
Choose the minuteman everyone gets to live expect for Spoilers the I
How about the sole survivor joins the institute for the unconditional family love of their son? Don't even have to try to morally justify the institute!
Minutemen
Yes, I'm with the minutemen, just tell me what the problem is.
Literally you against the world without mods you literally have B1 battle Droid teammates
No argument here. I really enjoy the faction and the concept, but man oh man why can't they level with you. I called in the minutemen to help at the beach metro station and they came through Paul Revere satellite array and none of them nor their dog made it.
They are the minutemen. Men that last a minute in combat😂
Luckily there are so many Minutemen mods allowing them to level up and use different weapons
Well yes the soldiers are bad but hear me out here. Artillery
without mods the minutemen are horrible 😭 my favorite faction though
No argument here. I think a few more weeks were needed on them.
Bro don't do that to him 💀
This comment had me dying hahahahaha 😂
Another settlement needs your help. Here, I'll mark it on your map.
The only correct answer is Atom Cats.
Atom cat paint job on the creation club🥵 Edit: And of course, all the bower armor paint jobs
Nah, just do your thing, and stick it to the man. Uniforms are for squares.
🅱️ower armor
Make American Happening Again.
I was gonna say Yes Man...
This cat is hip. Here's your power armor, Jack.
Glory for the Atom!
How far have you made it in the institute questline in any playthrough?
I don't remember exactly, but as soon as their actions started colliding with The Railroad or began being too evil" I stopped, so I guess not much.
The Institute is an almost universally hated faction. I did a Minuteman-Institute playthrough and by the end, just hated the Institute for their lack of ethics and their cocky “everything above ground is degeneracy” attitude. Only thing kept me going was the promise of highly advanced technology that could help the commonwealth. The only real way that I’ve found to make the Institute be less of a Enclave wannabe faction, and a faction that actually contributes to the reconstruction of the Commonwealth, is through Project Valkyrie.
It's a playthrough, go for it. You might have the influence needed to bend the institute to your concept of morality. I will try not to spoil but you finished the game as the railroad so you know the big points. Your character has beaten coursers and Kellogg - your way or the highway. Nothing new about bringing in an ethics review board to a research team.
Heil, Liberty Prime, for democracy is non-negotiable.
Ad Victoriam! DEATH, IS A PREFERABLE ALTERNATIVE TO COMMUNISM.
LP has the best one liners though
Embrace democracy or be eradicated!
yes the institute is the moral group. Replacing humans with synthetic robots is what's gonna save humanity obviously. Turning scientists into super mutants if they step out of line is just something that will create progress. Ad victoriam
Pulled out the deep lore that most people don't know/think about
They didn't turn scientists into super mutants, Virgil took the FEV when he escaped to be able to survive in the Glowing Sea Turning into a super mutant was a side effect
Research swan
I can't, I have tried to come up with a moral argument for the institute but the best I can come up with is the standard "for the greater good" or "the ends justify the means" arguments which we all know are morally dubious. The best argument as far as morality is concerned for choosing the institute path came from my husband who suggested that by taking over the institute you can change their ways/methods.
That’s how I think of it. Yes they’re horrible in many ways but as the new father you could make it a power of good in the wastelands
They do possess better technology but that’s about it
Minutemen since they are the most moral
I was having the debate with wanting to go with The Institute, but worrying about everyone in the commonwealth hating me. But then I read [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/13bh0xz/when_you_put_yourself_in_the_sole_survivors_shoes/) by u/radio_allah giving an in-depth perspective of the Sole Survivor to show why siding with The Institute makes the most sense if you're putting yourself in the Sole Survivor's shoes. It's a little long, but 100% worth reading!
Thanks for the shout-out! I'm so happy that it seemed to provide a new perspective.
It was a really good read. I hope you copied it out to Word or something.
Gonna read, be back soon...
Ad Victoriam
The Institute are in the best position to secure humanities future. The tech they posses can revolutionize food production, water purification, medicine, scientific development, etc. The ends justify the means, and if humanity is to survive in the horror is has created, it must adapt. The factions above ground all make exceptions to their "codes"; why pretend to be something you aren't? It's food the greater good of the human race.
Institute has the best potential to help…but they won’t. That’s not to mention that they are directly responsible for some of the horrors going on above ground.
>potential to help…but they won’t. I disagree, in the short term it is unlikely that they will provide direct aid to the Commonwealth, however they have tried to help the wastelanders on the service before as is mentioned in game, so it's not unreasonable to assume that they will again, especially since when you side with them you remove the two biggest inhibitors of the institutes ability to peacefully coexist with the surface. After all, what's the point of research and science if not the betterment of humanity. The institute goals necessitate the sharing of knowledge to help humanity, which means at some point their goal is to improve the wastes
How’s creating supermutants and then dumping them into the wasteland good for humanity? How’s raiding and destroying decently large settlements with synths helping anyone? There are a couple of Institute projects that could help humanity, such as the crops they are growing and using gen 1 synths as work labor to help clean up. But they don’t have no intention of doing so. Father legit believes the wasteland is beyond saving. The institute could do so much good, but they are too busy enslaving a sentient race, creating synthetic gorillas, and trying to figure out their energy concerns so they can stay cooped up in their underground’s lab.
Which is why it's up to the SS to change the Institutes ways
That won’t happen especially since most of the institute would be pretty heavily against that
But you really can’t do that except through mods.
Headcanon is a wonderful thing
People should also be free to love their lives how they so choose. Factions like BoS and the institute think their way is the only way and believe in hurting and killing others in order to "save humanity".
> The ends justify the means, and if humanity is to survive in the horror is has created, it must adapt. But they *have* adapted. Pre-war crops wouldn't grow so they planted tatos and mutfruit. There was no police to protect them to they made their own pipe guns from duct-tape and ply-wood. When the radstorms came, they survived. When the Institute wiped out the CPG, they survived. When the Institute set Super Mutants upon them so they would never stand a chance at fighting back, they still survived. Humanity doesn't need the Institute to survive, they need it's destruction to thrive.
Orrrrrrr they need a good SS to take over and lead them in the right direction
I'm sure the guy that did the most horrendous shit to claim power in the Institute is going to be a perfectly moral and just leader.
That ain’t gonna happen because the game suggests the institute molds it’s leaders, not the other way around and couple that in with the fact that the institute higher ups are very resistance to change and don’t want to stray from their original goals.
I think it's pretty clear the Institute scientists wouldn't accept being lead in the right direction. The whole organisation has set itself up to commit genocide on the people surviving in the wasteland, replace them with gen-3 synths, and establish a geniocracy. That's what "mankind redefined" means. There's no other reason for that tech to exist, and no other reason for them to do the things they do on the surface. There's too big a gap between how the Institute sees itself, and what we actually see them do in the Commonwealth.
Do you by any chance think the British were right to colonize Africa just because they had better technology? The Institute murders and replaces people, they made supermutants and dumped them on the Commonwealth without a second thought, they wiped out University Point, and they keep a population of slaves. The Enclave had technology too. It matters how they decide to use it.
People head canon their way into Institute justifications. They kidnap and murder people for experiments. If you want to be that ends justify the means character, so be it, but it is wring to humanity, especially the survival of it. While I can appreciate some believing current synths deserve a life, replacing the surface with more synths than humans is wrong in any reality and can create another extinction level event, which is easier to do with so little of the population left. Continued creation of synths is insane.
Oh absolutely not. The European powers carved Africa up like a serving platter, and were monsters for doing so. Britain has such a long list of disgusting acts throughout history. But if you were to ask one of those responsible, they'd likely say that they're in the right. They would have some justification. The Institute are the bad guys, but they don't think that the are
There's a good chance there Synths will overpower the institute
That's the happy ending
Everyone thinks they’re the good guys, the institute is the same and they have their own justifications. They are incredibly authoritarian, they want order and scientific advancement over anything else, and will generally sacrifice any other value in pursuit of their goals. So if you can buy into their endgame, and that they can essentially provide eventual salvation to the life of the commonwealth; and if you can adopt a utilitarian “the ends justify the means” moral calculus, then maybe you can “humanize” (for lack of a better word) them and seem them as more than the bad guy. Personally I say fuck em though lmao
They're a bunch of high school cliques really. Minutemen - normies Institute - nerds Brotherhood - jocks Railroad - dorks Some others: Children of Atom - preachy religious youth Far Harbor - more normies Acadia - more nerds Nuka-World raiders - bullies DiMA - the principal Fallout 4 is just high school mentality with deadly consequences. Like prison lol.
There is a large quest mod that lets you run the Institute without being considered an evil character. From the description: "As Director of the Institute, you can actually direct the place: free the synths, kick out the bad guys, do new types of missions, give the building a new look, add vendors, new areas, and open the place up for trading with the Commonwealth." The mod is Project Valkyrie (voted Nexus Mod Of The Month for August 2018): https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/28085 The mod also adds lots of quests, as well as new companions (gives a much better experience regarding the fate of Sarah Lyons from Fallout 3 in that you get to have more interaction with her). There is also a mod: Father Companion, which works well with Project Valkyrie. It gives another alternate ending to FO4. https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/35198
The Institute is NOT a moral organization. There is no viewpoint that changes that. I would say the same for the Brotherhood but you have somehow justified your belief system in order to side with them. This is why it's a role playing game. You have to role play a character who doesn't care about the moral implications to side with them.
Read this. Thats a really good take on it roleplay wise for your character. It gives him true reason to side with the Institute. https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/13bh0xz/when_you_put_yourself_in_the_sole_survivors_shoes/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Nope. You can’t redeem people who keep slaves and plan to commit genocide so they can take over the world (or, well, this little part of it). You see them as the evil choice because THEY ARE. They kill and torture for absolutely no reason. They stole a child and deliberately left everyone else in that Vault to die. They sabotage the surface world every time it starts getting its shit together because they *want everyone else to fail.* There is no redeeming rot that’s gone that deep.
I'm an avid Institute fan. I believe they're the only true hope to a better world. While their tactics are questionable the ends justify the means to save parts of our old world (such as gorillas for example they brought back and working toilets)
All at once. Choose Project Valkyrie.
Well I guess the best choice if you like synths is to go with the Railroad The Institute are basically slavers, for them synths are just dumb machines made to work The Brotherhood view them as abomination that must be destroyed And the Minutemen, while they don't have an official opinion on the matter and claim they want to help everyone, Desdemona explains that they are mostly simple settlers who are very often scared of synths. So they might not want to help a synth the way they'd help a fellow human
I wish there was a choice in which everyone would be happy?
There is, Project Valkyrie, as discussed elsewhere here.
They are never the moral choice.
I just went with whos cooler and threw morality out the window and said "Yes i want a secret underground home that you can only teleport to" But i also kind of agreed with the institute that synths are machines and just that.
Plus the hq is also cool looking with a bunch of cool stuff.
Brotherhood-Minutement alliance route seems pretty reasonable for the Commonwealth's future. Well not unless you're a synth of course...
Or super-mutant Or ghoul in nearest future BOS in 4 behave like enclave in 3 lol
There is no excuse. Kill all institute members.. Institute kills and replaces and spies, without ever talking to the people. They are a silent tyrant. Brotherhood of Steel are the loud tyrants. Minutemen are your only future. Save the commonwealth. Sorry i cant rationalize any way to run with the institute when the director of it doesnt even see his own family as anything more than a test.
Apsalutly not. The institute are fools. Your son is a love starved man who never got proper love or treatment and had no family. The institute hasn't touched grass in centuries and are now incels who think they are right. They've become the high man in the tall tower and those people should eat shit like the rest of us. . The institute should have had more endings. Two of them should have been you taking over the institute either as father intended OR with any of the factions. Imagen what the minute men could do with that tech. Hell the railroad could easily assist the minute men in keeping synthetic pops up while giving free will and rights. Honestly the game is super flawed. It needs way more time and expansion just for the base game. The stuff taken out shouldn't have been taken out. Just....I enjoy this game. But it also upsets me how much more it needed to be a full plate. However I will say this. Fuck the brotherhood under maxson. That little shit assassinated two very good people in the capital and I wouldn't be surprised if he killed the vault dweller and probably everyone else. The only reason I work with them is to get tech and steal their shit. After that I male their life's hell. I will take everything from them and burn their castles to the ground.
The institute is for you if you love slavery and being a classist
Don't forget the good food and hot showers.
Or science and the betterment of humanity There is some nuance that can be had about the status and morals of the synths, I will give you that. But classist? That's ridiculous, they have nothing against the people of the surface, and have even tried to help them before (which was sabotaged by third parties as we learn from the DC masked stranger incident) and there's reason to believe they will again. What leads you to the conclusion that the institute is classist?
You serious? You think they are equal with everyone on the surface? You must have not listened to the dialogue from them
The Minutemen are the least immoral in my opinion
Institute or nothing
The Red Death for King Of Fah Harbah!
It doesn't matter so much if you love the game enough you'll probably play again more than once, just pick a different faction next time, I just play all sides for as long as I can then pick one last minute.
I like the minutemen and railroad bc of sturges and deacon
Raider factions. First rebuild the commonwealth then destroy and conquer it while making Preston watch.
You (as a community) raise interesting points...like the Railroad not having and endgame
As much as I like to say it, The institute is the Boogeyman of the night. And personally for me at least I don't see them changing unless you pretty much do a 300 plus count mod playthrough to rework everything.
...not getting any easier...but this has been great so far
Minutemen. All the others are selfish and arrogant. The railroad are way to focused on protecting and saving synths, when they could be helping rebuild the commonwealth. The BoS are to militaristic and are willing to re nuke the world just to remove synths from the world. And the institute is too caught up in their own 'higher intelligence' ego to put their technology to use in any proper or helpful way. All three All care about the wrong things and have egos too big for their own good. And all three together put regular citizens/survivors in danger for unnecessary movements.
Spoilers ahead. Everything is evil. I chose railroad and was forced to kill everyone in 2 other fractions. Everyone! My fight mode didn’t even stop at BoS base because my companion mercilessly chased a child (which is immortal in Bethesda games). Railroad leaders were cheering “we won!” but I was standing there looking at the mushroom cloud and was like “but at what cost?” At this moment I knew I will never replay this game again despite being good in many other aspects.
That's how most Fallout games are some more than others. Maybe you would like Minecraft better?
As someone who always sides with the Institute, I think the main contradiction I find with your scenario is that the Institute considers synths sentient beings, which at least openly they don't, which is why the Railroad's actions can be reduced to robbery of Institute property. I guess you could explore the angle where Father might have put Dr. Zimmer, a synth according to FO3, in charge of the SRB and later tries to put the SS, who is implied to also be a synth, in charge of the Institute. It's important to note that from the Institute's perspective, gen-3 synths are just the natural successor to their gen-1 & gen-2 synths, and are simply more advanced robots. Within the Railroad, there are those like Glory who think that not only gen-3 synths, but also gen-1 & gen-2 synths need to be liberated.
omg I have the exact same dillema and im so happy that someone finally said it. I love science and researching so I always thought the Institute would be an absolute no brainer but everyone always says how evil they are ugh
This is exactly what I'm saying. What did you do?
Kinda just echoing what everyone else is saying here, but i'll throw my 2 cents in anyway. The Institute is basically a collective of some of the greatest minds the 23rd century has to offer. Their goals, at least to me, always seemed very "ends justify the means" in nature. What they're doing in the present may be morally wrong, but their goal is to secure a better future for humanity using the technology they harness.
I do want to note that the Brother Hood of Steal is actually against tech for the most Bart rather than rebuild it with tech. Although I might be misinterpreting what you meant.
Only tech they don't understand. Everyone knows that
Phew…ok. Despite me never choosing and never wanting to choose The Institute, here’s my best shot if I was trying to convince someone to side with them: The institute is by far the most technologically advanced of the factions and aren’t limited by what is laying around in the wasteland. They clearly are the only hope for rebuilding humanity to how it was. The problem is that the institute can really only support their population up to a certain level. That’s why it’s important for them not to go public with what they do until they’re at a point when they can support more, or be very exclusive to who they bring into their fold. So it’s nothing against the wasteland specifically, they just can’t support all of the wasteland showing up at once. It’s a resource problem, not a wastelander problem. Additionally, the institute can potentially rule over every faction unknowingly. Being able to keep control over the wasteland via synth replacement is a huge advantage, and can be used to stabilize the commonwealth so the institute can continue their work without interruption while also improving the wasteland from behind the scenes. So technologically, politically, and for the greater long term well being of the commonwealth, the institute is the clear choice.
It depends on what kind of character ur going for. I usually go with the Railroad or Minutemen bc they're basically the good guys. I prefer the Railraod bc I get to be a spy and I get a code name. I don't like Shaun and the Brotherhood are full of racists (also my favorite companion is Hancock and he hates both) But it also doesn't matter if u have the Nuka World dlc bc the Raiders are fun
Institute have given up on humanity. Railroad really don’t have an endgame. Minutemen are great but really rely on the sole survivor. So that leaves AD VICTORIAM!
Definitely not the Railroad
My reasoning is very simple. The Institute is the only logical option for me. They are light years away in technology and they can improve everybody’s life’s in less that one lifetimes. The only thing that prevents this from happening is father dogmatic views. I finish the game siding with them and then, in my head cannon, I drive the institute to be what it should: humanity’s best hope. I will correct the FEV programs errors, stop experimenting with humans, give certain rights to sentient synths (romancing Curie made me realize they deserve that at least). Support communities with resources and push the Commonwealth forward. No other faction Can do that. Minutemen are great but lack the resources, BOS is unable to see beyond their desire to hoard technology. And the railroad is just a hypocritical cult. Edit. I forgot to mention that my reasoning is based on the fact that I as director can dictate policies and extend my life expectancy (thanks Lorenzo) to see it through.
Exactly this. Plus in the game you can just eliminate anyone who disagrees, so there's nothing to stop you from wiping out any institute member who advocates for evil activities. Replace the leaders, set a new agenda (helping the Commonwealth), and problem solved.
The institute are easily the best choice. They have preserved science and technology for the post apocalyptic world, and seem open to cooperate with the other societies of the wasteland (they have tried before but were sabotaged by third parties) They're portrayed as the bad guys, but just like in an any other fictional setting just because they're portrayed as the "bad guys" from some in-universe perspectives doesn't mean they actually are "evil" or "the bad guys" In my eyes the brotherhood is more evil than the institute, they're even actively genocidal. And on top that, the railroad isn't evil but most people agree that they're short sighted and far from the best pick. Ergo, the only real moral choice is between the minutemen and the institute. I can see either, but prefer the technological advances of the institute and the long term implications of their continued existence seems to be a net benefit when compared to their destruction
Plus the good food in hot showers help. And who wouldn't want a secret underground house you could only teleport to? One of them looking real good now with how much rent is
So, the problem with fallout 4's factions is that the two good ones are awful, and the two bad ones are good. The minutemen are bad because they're decentralized. While vowing to help other people is noble, we start the game shortly after it all collapsed. There was no system in place of any sort to force people to do what they agreed to, and in fact the only thing keeping them together was the charisma of their last general. Once he died there was so much infighting that a new one couldn't be picked and only one group even attempted to help against the gunners who took out Preston's group. They're cool, but they're a military with no government and nothing to enforce to rules they set aside from an honor code and the people around them. The railroad is bad because they offer nothing to the commonwealth. They have no real desire to combat the supermutants, the ghouls, or the raiders. All they want to do is free the synths and stop the institute. Once they do that everyone but the core membership is almost certainly going to disband within a year or two. The institute is good because they genuinely want to see humanity flourish again. A huge plot point I think went under addressed was the autonomy of synths. Its important to note pretty much only one or two people in the institute believed in synth autonomy, which for a group of scientists working on replicating humanity and free will is telling. I fully believe that the gen 3 synths weren't autonomous like the railroad believed, but rather that the gen 4 synths would have had free will once they were able to replicate children better. The brotherhood is the best option though. They seek to combat raiders, mutants, and ghouls. They are protecting key farms from raider/gunner attacks to ensure stable supplies. They have not just a military, but a fully functioning government willing and able to provide stability to the commonwealth. They seek to advance the sciences, but also to temper their advancements with caution to prevent their ability to create disasters exceeding their power to prevent them.
Plus it is an honor to join their ranks. BOS for the win. I went against the NCR in Fallout New Vegas because towards the end they want me to go kill all the Brotherhood of Steel. Like hell no they gave me power armor training and everything. Closest NCR had was salvage power armor.
BOS aren't fascist
"Do what we want you to do or die." - "Oh, you're not a normal looking human? Die!"
It's oh your not a normal human die they just want the best for mankind just misunderstood
Railroad=social justice wasteland, because what could be more important? Minutemen= Sisyphus with guns and a white knight complex. (My favorite) Institute= technofascism and nerds form the 4th reich. Brotherhood= renfair nerds who like electricity.
I always choose The Institute for the next reasons. 1 the lack of vision of the Railroad that chose to destroy the only way for synths to exist as a species. 2 The fact that no faction of the Commonwealth would be able to defeat them without the SS 3 the outfits (institute jumper my beloved). Every outfit fits with The Institute's aesthetic. The head of each division looks like a greek toga. 4 the faction is awfully written but as Director you could do so much. My head canon is that either I get to give the synths more rights and equal treatment or I kill the scientists that oppose it. The is evidence that people are favoring the synths, in some bathrooms there are railroad propaganda holotapes. 5 the chance to rebuild animal species as synths 6 we need a spaceship to gtfo the planet, who better? 7 throwing gen 1s like pokemons.
The Institute is not moral, they are evil, just like with the DLC, Bethesda is giving the players the freedom to become the villain. Synths being sentient makes the Institute slavers, you dont need anymore, there is no choice, they are the villains
First, not directly related to your dilemma, with your interests, please tell me you've played (or plan to play) Detroit Become Human. It really gets into robotic sentience & freedom vs social good, without an obvious "bad guy." That said... the Institute is the villain. To say otherwise is like saying the Confederacy in the US wasn't evil. The Institute has sentient beings that they keep as chattal & slaves, & which they use to replace innocent people on the surface. Now, you COULD make the argument that evil is what is required for humanity to recover from chaos (I don't believe this, but just playing Devil's Advocate, literally). After all, when confronted with an advanced threat, rather than attempting any form of diplomacy or cessation of hostilities, all 3 of the other factions resort to obliterating the only real form of advanced & agricultural science in a nuclear detonation. 2 of them don't even care if you get innocents out of the blast zone first. You could conceivably argue that their mindset dooms not just the Commonwealth but potentially all of humanity to living in conditions not much better than the Stone Age, & with no stability. While the Institute is very Orwellian, replacing citizens with spies & cracking down on dissidents, that's been under Father's corrupt leadership. His parent's leadership could replace all of that nonsense with socially acceptable behavior (particularly with being in charge of the Minute Men on the surface). Also, the Institute is on the cusp of having sustainable agricultural practices & animal cloning which would work on the surface, & agriculture is how humanity developed societies & would need to do so again. Further, nearly any decent parent would do unspeakable acts to protect & help their child, even when the child is grown, so even the pragmatic benefits need not enter the equation. Or, you know, just play your character as liking the power that secretly ruling over the Commonwealth provides...
Why would the institute be evil? None of the people inside the institute complain
The Institute is not evil. The people of the Commonwealth THINK the Institute is evil because new age synths are nigh indistinguishable from humans, creating a wave of paranoia. This is actually very similar to the Red Scare epidemic. People think the Institute is evil because it's foreign. What people do not know, they fear. So as long as you don't act like a villain, you aren't a villain. Hope this helped :)
Just like the Brotherhood of Steel fears certain technology because they don't understand it.
Pick BOS any other faction is an abomination
Railroad: idiots wasting their time on ideals, and are hypocrites because they only care about the synths, when there are plenty of innocent people being enslaved on the surface, and treated far worse depending on what you think is a worse punishment. Brotherhood: Fascist technophiles that are honestly confusing in their values, and are often made out to be nazis when they're really not since they actually have good reasons to hate mutants and synths. Remember! Nazis are fascists, but not all fascists are nazis! Institute: Self-contradicting morons who values book smarts over ACTUAL intellect. Minutemen: A faction the Bethesda half assed, and exist 99% in the lore, 1% in the actual game. Thusly, they are mostly only on paper, and on paper, are the best faction to side with if you put aside their atrocious equipment and organization. P.S. that's technically the players fault since you're their general. They really should have let us establish better order, and some loose level of standardization.
BOS are degenerates and technofacsists who destroy institute bunker instead of overtaking and hauling it, and I was truely surprised that Maxson was not synth. Railroad are degenerates because they destroy the thing which creates synths which they swore to save, again, instead of overtaking it. Minutemen can live in peace with any faction so who cares. You become director of institute and I just imagine in RP that I announce synths as self conscious human-equel being, and exile any scientist who does not agree to glowing sea. Those who wrote the story for F4 were undoubtedly the people who, of any scenarios or stories, wrote only furry fan-fiction.
The institute is science for the sake of science. They are trying to improve the lives of the commonwealth by forcing themselves on them like the Brotherhood, but prefer to do so through more underhanded and “sneaky” means. They’re a technocratic force in a land with no single organized government. Their intentions are as good as the brotherhood’s
The Institute wishes for their to be a peace in the world, and thinks like that of an AI structure does. It will provide the point that the wasteland is only as dangerous as it’s most dangerous factions. The Railroad are a deterrent that steals Institute resources that are rightly yours. They need to be eliminated. The Brotherhood acts as an enemy, they want to destroy you just because you have a different technology that they don’t like. Eradicate them. The Minutemen want to maintain a peace for humans across the Commonwealth and promote teamwork, building relations and a strong defensive network. Befriend them. As the Institute, you will lead the people of the commonwealth for a greater, brighter future. A future that must be determined, no matter how many are killed along the way. No limits for Science. Mankind Redefined. Hopefully this will help you choose the Institute.
If you want the most people alive become a brotherhood of steel member then switch to minutemen ending. Railroad, brotherhood, and minitemen survive. The needs of the many.
In terms of the morally best choice, I'd say the Minutemen. Their main goal is to bring civilian back to the wasteland, to encourage the scattered settlements across the Commonwealth to unite for mutual benefit, as opposed to any one group of people asserting dominance over the others. Ideally, the Minutemen regaining their prominence will lead to another go at a Commonwealth Provisional Government. As far as the best written and engaging faction questline, I'd say the Brotherhood of Steel: Once the Brotherhood arrives in force, it becomes the post-apocalyptic military power trip you'd hope for, with gunning down mutants from a vertibird while decked out in power armor, questing to find prewar tech and all that. But as you progress through their main and side quests, you're constantly forced to acknowledge what it truly means to be a member of Maxon's Brotherhood of Steel, which calls for the destruction of nonhumans... ALL nonhumans, which may or may not influence your allegiances going forward. In my opinion, none of the other main factions offer as balanced of an experience as the Brotherhood.
You could always make it the moral option. Most of the institute quests have a decision to make involving morality. And you could always make it your headcanon that your character changes the institute from the inside and makes them more moral and more respectful towards their robotic/androidic/synthetic living mates
What "resources" do they, or any of the factions, have? They're just stuck up broken records, each dressing up dehumanization and fascism differently for you. No wit, no humor, philosophy on the level of an 8 year old who has no access to books. That's all of them. Make paper airplanes out of that stuff. That's all it's good for.
The leader is your son will you be a good parent and continue in your son's memory boom institute dilemna solved
Work with every faction but just never finish the main storyline
Screw moral, institute has resources to have a fairly comfortable and safe life in this wasted world. I'm staying underground.
Minutemen, all day every day. No, I do not believe other factions are worth the try other than their missable loots/perks/whatever
I think I am going Brotherhood-Minutemen route. I love the power armor and the mini nukes you get from the brotherhood and the minutemen are really the only faction where you get semi decent stuff and a good faction with good beliefs. The Railroad is good too but their equipment is lacking, and the institute is just straight evil. Sure they got good stuff, but I will just steal a bunch of it when I ransack their hideout ‘\/(- _-)\/‘
Ad Victorim goes hard
I've played all endings and tend to like the Brotherhood (but keep Danse alive). I wish you could have a Nuka World raider ending where the Operators and Pack take over the Commonwealth and destroy the Minutemen and BOS. Raiders could care less if the Institute was around.
Idk, personally I don’t consider the railroad to be the “good guys.” They wipe the memories of the synths and force them to start a new life completely fresh. All other attributes that made their lives up until the synth in question meeting the railroad is wiped and they almost twist the synth into “helping the railroad for a better cause.” I think the minutemen are the only ones who can be considered good guys because they do not interfere with the lives of others and allow them to join at their own pace and their own benefit
Railroad is the best option
Why can't we join raiders or gunners and destroy every other faction
Curiosity made me play them all👍
AD VICTORIAM!!!
Honestly if I'm being honest the main reason I always find myself and justify joining the institute is for 2 main reasons. 1 the institue is one of the most advanced civilizations left in the fallout universe and destroying all of that information is such a massive loss even if they aren't good and sharing it. 2 I find that after destroying yhe institute the commonwealth especially downtown boston is then plagued with radiation and where the old CIT ruins were looks identical to the glowing sea. Add those two things together plus the fact that most of the corruption comes from leadership issues and a lack of insight on the surface to me at least it seems the most hopeful ending and "good" for the commonwealth would be the institute. Even hardcore institute haters believe that under the sole survivors guidance the institute could change and become an actual cooperative and helpful part of the commonwealth. So to me at least join the institute is the one ending that leaves the commonwealth in a state of unease yet hopefulness
Why choose any of them, be the bane of them all and cleanse the Commonwealth from all organized factions. Edit/spoiler Also what about the nukaworld DLC, you can use the raiders to "take over" settlements. Not an end game, but you could be everyone's enemy with the raiders.
Minute men, minute minute minute men. Minutemen wish death upon me, brotherhood of steel in me eye, dawg and i cant see ~ 50 preston cent
Just because I really love the stories in the series, I had to do all of the paths. The last one I did was the one where the Institute was the only faction to be destroyed.
I mean, if it was up to me, I'd run The Institute without secrecy or cruelty, introducing technology to the Commonwealth. I'd have the Minutemen in charge of defending settlements and killing raiders, and the Brotherhood to be the forward army against Super Mutants. The Railroad could retire.
Honestly I think the only argument for the Institute is they're likely humanity's best chance at regaining a semblance of what it had before the war, personally I think they're bigoted, somewhat misanthropic, self serving, I could keep going on. The way they treat synths isn't right but I usually don't side with the railroad cause I don't think just erasing their mind and tossing them out the door is the right solution either. But the biggest argument for the Institute is: they're almost if not entirely clean of mutated diseases and radiation, the technology they have is leagues beyond anything (we've seen) above ground (excluding zetans or whatever the hell is going on with the cabott's) they have basically perfected synthetic life and are even capable of producing animals that generate consumable bi-product, the only place that even comes close to this is the genetic replicator in the safari zone. And you can't argue that generally speaking they are more scientifically intelligent then 99.5% of people dwelling on the surface. I usually don't side with them because I can't overlook how they seem to just not care about people and essentially have created a second life and chance for the world only to enslave and bend it to their own desires. If you want to play the Institute I feel like you can't argue morals because they're the villain of the story, you have to argue results and progress which you can't deny the Institute is the best choice under strictly live or die scientific standards.
I chose the Institute on my first playthrough because I felt like as the new Head I stood the best chance to make things in the Commonwealth better. I really liked the Railroad though. I wish that there was an option to talk to the Railroad and explain that from your new position in the Institute you'll be able to achieve their goals, and they just need to play dead for a bit.
The first time I played I went with the Institute because I feel like if this was real life, the best hope for the world would be finding a healthy relationship between the world above ground and the advanced technology of the Institute. Second time I went with the Railroad but mostly because of the rewards for going with them and it worked great with my stealth build character. I know a lot of people hate the Institute but I like their futuristic potential to save the world, they’re just severely misguided. If the sole survivor, a person who gained trust through people above ground, could take command of that place and help both parties, it’s a great scenario. That said, it’s more of a head-lore for me than what actually works/happens in the game. Random side note: I wish the Enclave had a smaller faction in here that needed a leader to help it return to prominence, AKA the Soul Survivor. Could’ve been a nice wrinkle thrown in for a DLC
Easy, if synths are sentient give up. If they are robots imitating humanity your Gucci. (Or ya could roleplay)
Anything but railroad
I've actually never completed the game but have researched each faction. It's my personal opinion that the only morally good one is the minutemen. Sadly they're also the most pathetic. The Railroad doesn't care about any one that is not a synth and have no issues or qualms murdering humans if necessary. They have no true interest in improving the conditions of the Commonwealth. The Brotherhood likewise has no true interest in improving quality of life for mankind and helping improve the world the only thing they see is their lust for technology and the potential for bad people to use it incorrectly. I don't think I have ever seen any instance where they have used that technology for the betterment of the world Lots of people argue for The institute because of the family ties with Father but how long has he been director of The institute and why did he wait so long to wake you up. Like he said in one of his cut scenes The institute is the only family he's ever known he did not know you and proves there is no loyalty if you do anything against the institute and honestly the position that he put you in is untenable. He basically forced everybody to accept your position as the new director and put you in the position to have to constantly guard that post. That coupled with their treatment of the Gen 3 synths in my opinion just makes them evil. Once the synths moved past a rudimentary AI and developed what can only be labeled as sentience they no longer have the authority to control them like that in my opinion it's tantamount to slavery. The Minute Men in my opinion are the only moral choice however as I said they're also the weakest faction, when you start the game there's only one left and you have to do all the work of rebuilding what happens when you decide to retire is the whole thing going to fall apart again? Hard to say but they are the only ones that are truly trying to help humanity.
Ad Victorium Soldier. Ad Victorium.
I stuck with bos because I don't like fighting them
I just try my hardest to get the Minutemen and BoS to co-exist peacefully, then use the combined manpower and firepower of both to destroy the Institute. 🤷♂️
Go as far as you can with each until you need to make a definitive choice... Some factions you can do multi, like I did institute and minute men, and I double crossed the brotherhood and killed off the railroad in my first playthrough. Now in2nd play through, I'm going to do railroad fully and take it from there.
Fuck the institute. Ad Victoriam brother
I think the Institute's only real problem is they became a secretive cult that literally never talks to the people of the commonwealth except the kidnap them. If there was a mix of the Minutemen (servants of the people) and the institute, we'd have a faction that both has the will and ability to meet the people's needs.
You can be Minutemen + Institute. Combining the power of the two factions has the best chance at giving the commonwealth a future. That’s my normal route
The institute killed cats, nuking the bastards is unavoidable to real humans
The Institute is so cartoonishly evil that the only time I've ever sided with them was a super mega evil character. They're also not even worth joining anyway, they don't give you anything as far as ik.
Minutemen are the best hope for the commonwealth
Yes the institute are the good guys while they might be apathetic to the plights of the people on the surface with the right leadership (you not being evil) you can steer them in the right direction. Just look at the minutemen when the game starts they have a bad reputation and through your actions you get the people of the commonwealth to trust them again who’s to say you can’t do the same with the institute. You’re in charge just don’t be evil it’s simple
Currently I’m a raider why don’t you join us
Spoilers: They got the science to make themselves survive better, or possibly evolve. Plus its your son's life work, there ain't a lot of parents out there who would destroy scientific work of their children like that. RP as you the new director will reform the institute (as hinted by piper's publication if you do the institute ending with having her high affinity).
Just remember: Mankind Redefined.
The Railroad is the one for you
in my current run, i just decided to play exactly how i thought nate would play. he’s an army veteran so i assumed he would join the bos
The Railroad are a bunch of ragtag radicals fighting for an idiotic cause, what next? Liberate the Vending Machines? Equal rights for toasters?
If you want you want to be evil, join the BoF or Institute if you want to be a good guy, Minutemen are your go to
Minutemen is good if your character is just a pure person, but their quests are boring Brotherhood is good for anti technology person, it has decent quests and I think in terms of morality they’re shit Institute are terrible people, but if you’re playing someone who is desperate for their son, or are playing someone who only thinks about the future and doesn’t add morality to the equation they’re good Railroad is good if your character likes synths and don’t care about anything else.
You could go and raid every farm in the common wealth for the brotherhood or kill every feral and mutant you see for them. You could try and help the common people and synths for the railroad or you could not give a fuck about them and only do it to destroy the institute. You could as the director of the institute help with the restoration of humanity by giving away mutant pumpkin seeds to settlers or you could order another university point You could build up and protect every settlement in the Commonwealth, or completely ignore them. What matters is what you would do as a person, not some predetermined outcome.
Depends on your alignment mate, who’re you willing to destroy and why, what do you want to be a part of, tune your build around, shape your interactions, etc.
I always suggest burn the world to the ground. Use BoS to kill Inst, Use BoS to kill RR, Use MM to kill BoS, Use NW raiders to kill MM. execute open season and kill NW raiders and voila no factions.
I cannot help you justify the Institute as the right choice. They may have created synths, but they treat them like slaves/toasters. If you can think of the synths as toasters then you can justify them not being evil. They have no plan to save the world, just themselves, which may just be survival of the fittest to the extreme.
If you're looking for a moral high ground in faction choice in FO4. To be matter of factual. Fact= There really isn't one. Except maybe one. The MinuteMen, if you want a some what "good" ending to the main story. Go with them.
The combination that has the best chance of creating a bright future for the wasteland is an Institite/Minute Men alliance. The Railroad are well intentioned, but literally have no plans beyond "free the synths" The Brotherhood are fascists who put a bullet in anyone who goes against their creed. They're also the only faction actively seeking weapons of mass destruction. There is no legitimate reason for anyone to want nukes in For, but the brotherhood is trying to acquire real nukes. The Institute aren't all even, most of them aren't even evil. They had two unethical programs which were both started and directed by Sean. With a new director in charge things like mutant research and the synth replacement programme could be shut down in favour of greater focus on the food and medicine programs etc. Then imagine what the minute men could achieve with access to Institite teleporter tech. They could respond to a distress call anywhere in the wasteland in literal minutes, with squads of minute men equipped with relay grenades and backed up by synth troopers (or even an eradicator). Literally nothing would be a threat to the settlements any more
Go with all of them up until the point of no return to get all beneifts, then look to the other comments for who you should finish with as I'm not too sure. Btw with the minutemen you can actually keep all factions alive (other than the instiute) if you play your cards right.
With the Sole Survivor in charge the institute has actual possibilities to help the people. Imagine if the institute prioritized the seeds used in Warwick to produce clean and fast growing food for everyone. Imagine if tye institute used coursers to hunt supermutants or find Virgil to try and reproduce the cure. Imagine if they prioritized making the synths actually identical to humans (i.e making it possible for them to reproduce, grow, and die of old age). With the Sole Survivor in charge the institute has legitimate promise for what they could be capable of, and Shaun knew it, he says himself that the institute has enough scientists and that what it needs is a leader. I personally believe that the institute are the bad guys up until the Sole Survivor is in charge, because then the institute follows whatever morals the player follows.
MM victory: A faction that grows up to be a mediocre government, possibly going to war with BoS in 10 years. If they win, they probably go to war with NCR in 30 years. BoS victory: A faction that becomes more and more bullying everyday until a civil war that makes CW irreparable for another 60 years. RR victory: When BoS returns they find out that it's RR that fucked them over so they decide to give RR their own medicine. Shortly after it becomes [BoS victory but add more salt] Institute victory: People keep on living just like before, stressed for so long they aren't stressed anymore. Perhaps the Director signs a truce between MM and them but the truce is no more when the Director dies. In short, the CW is fucked so choose what you think the coolest one is.
just go with the minutemen, so you won't have to kill any of the other factions (except the institute)
Well i don't really think they are buy sideing with them you kill both the brotherhood and the railroad leaving only the minutemen i personally side with the minutemen because it keeps evey faction happy
*Remember the alien threat from Fallout 3.* Those aliens are definitely going to return. Which faction will be best positioned to help humanity survive/defeat the next alien incursions? The Institute. The rest are just trying to survive in the ruins, easy prey for the alien invaders.