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The Followers of the Apocalypse.
(hexbear.net)
Tabletop, DnD, board games, and minecraft. Also Animal Crossing.
3rd International Volunteer Brigade (Hexbear gaming discord)
Rules
I think Freeside was done dirty. It was supposed to be a lawless city that sits on the outskirts of the most wealthy casino resort but by the time you get there in the stereotypical playthrough the enemies that ambush you are very underpowered compared to you. It doesn't help that a lot of Freeside quests are just: "walk to this person, walk back, rinse and repeat." If Freeside presented more of a threat to the player then the Followers wouldn't be so pathetic.
But 18 months isn't nearly enough time to make a game so things had to be cut.
It's hardly enough time to make a straightforward linear game, absolutely blows my mind every time I think about the fact that they made an entire open world RPG in that time... And it was good. Even if clunky and weird at times.
I never was part of the first generation of FNV players who played the game as it was being patched in real time after release and was instead a Viva New Vegas enjoyer during the pandemic so I don't have any first hand experience of the game when it first released.
But watching the videos showcasing the game at launch felt like watching a horror movie since I was so used to the polished modded New Vegas experience.
also, like any time a fight breaks out, there's like 5 kings and other friendly NPCs that just kill the 1 dude who has a pipe they're trying to batter you with and then they immediately die. the only 'real' fight in all of freeside is probs the shady bodyguard tourguide guy who tries to jump you with his boys
That or trying to kill the Van Graffs and steal their energy weapons, or go guns blazing and fight the securitrons defending the Vegas entrance.
Freeside felt more like a ghetto than anything.
I dunno. Fallout New Vegas is above all else a power fantasy. You are the guy who is at the center of everything and it is your actions that decide the fate of the mojave. What kind of gangster would they have to have in freeside to be any threat to the player who has already crossed half the mojave?
I do also just very much enjoy the breadth of content that you get to as soon as you enter freeside. There's just tons of stuff to do, even if a lot is fairly linear in execution. Just giving rotface caps to hear rumours about the town, or even just donating medicine to the followers is pretty satisfying. It's also just hilarious how they try to do this gritty gangster noir type stuff when the game looks like this: