Hi there folks!

I have completed the game with the Minutemen and the Brotherhood of Steel. This time, I wanted to follow through with the Institute or Railroad, and after dealing with Desdamona and following the BoS questline, I decided it best to just wipe the RR off the face of the Earth, because let's face it, Desdamona demanding I give her the corser chip and then condemning me for working with the Bos annoyed me. Next I was going along with Danse as my follower after Blind Betrayal and a vertibird and two knights clad in Power Armor decided to jump us. Attacking him I would have understood but attacking me was kind of annoying. (I get it's a game mechanic but still) I could even understand that they would attack me, thinking I was passing along BoS info to Danse, but alas once Danse was dismissed, all of the BoS at the Airport and on the Prydwyn acted like nothing had happened and they hadn't tried to kill me. Seems kind of odd to me.

So now, my power armor specialist, is returning to the Institute because well, I can get behind the concept that Synths are tools, with the exception to Nick, because, well...he's Nick. I don't like the human experimentation and abductions, but I can (head cannon) that as acting director of the Institute I can end that, as well as provide some beneficial tech to the surface, such as solar panels (Thanks to a fantastic little mod by DDProductions83,) and Synth patrols to help reduce innocent deaths at the hands of Supermutants and Raiders. (something I've heard happens if you side with the institute?)

Sadly doing this I'll lose Madison Li, since I convinced her to return to the Brotherhood and I'm not sure if I'll be able to relocate Shaun to somewhere besides the institute, like my private island with Piper, Codsworth, and Dogmeat.

Anyways, how have the rest of you guys and gals justified siding with the Institute?

I can find myself justify siding with Institute easily. They're the most advanced scientifically, any other ending would have destroyed everything the Institute had researched so far with. Their research can reverse FEV, and possibly ghoul, radiation resistant crops, bigger crops, bringing back old world animals, like maybe they could make regular milking cow, synth workers for rebuilding the world, extending human's life, etc. Being the director, you could make certain changes like stop replacing people, I doubt they have to replace people anymore, they have synths openly exist in cities to gather information. I promise my wife to protect my son and the tape tells me to do whatever it takes to protect him. I romanced MacCready in that file, and I just feel like we are in the same boat. We both lost our wife, and we would all do whatever it takes to keep our son safe. The Institute has the best chance at reversing the world back to what it was, and it's the only option that doesn't create another nuclear crater.

Pretty much all of this. The Institute is the only faction that doesn't repeat the mistakes of the past that destroyed the world in the first place, and, with you guiding it, it's the one with the most potential for doing good for the world overall.

Another big deciding factor is the concept of home rule. If the Commonwealth is going to be dominated by a technologically superior faction, it's going to the local one, not an invading army pretending to be benevolent while attempting to extend its influence.

Very well said, but your last line is the key (to me and my typical character) bring the world back to what it was. That is the problem with them They will indeed bring the world back to how it was before (pretty crappy all in all)

( I actually enjoy your posts Battlebloodmage and may indeed USE (edit hehe) your exact line of thinking once I clear my pallet for a new playthrough and stop thinking so railroady heheh)

All fair points and thanks for taking the time to reply. I knew synths can end up replacing settlers in your own settlements, suggesting that either a) these settlers were always synths or they were replaced by the institute after joining your settlement. I know there are some notable synths that are well blended in as well as some that are not doing too good of a job blending in

Hey Rel_Dovahkin, I was replying to Battlebloodmage when you responded but this line made a lot of sense to me as well "Another big deciding factor is the concept of home rule. If the Commonwealth is going to be dominated by a technologically superior faction, it's going to the local one, not an invading army pretending to be benevolent while attempting to extend its influence."

It seems that the problems that the Commonwealth have with the Institute are abducting humans and not being able to tell that a Synth has replaced a human. Abducting humans seemed to be a problem caused by the now decommissioned FEV lab. Diamond City has no problem with Nick because everyone knows he is a Synth. Adding mechanical cat ears to Gen-3 Synths would be a way to distinguish between humans and Synths.

My problem with the Railroad is that they are about as useful as the Marijuana Party. They are a one-trick pony that lose their meaning when their issue is finally resolved. The Railroad doesn't care about the Commonwealth at all and when the last Synth is freed, they will just disappear or cause more problems. If they were smart, they would create a community of just Synths or Synths and humans so Synths can live in peace. Giving Synths new identities is what likely causes most of the fear in the Commonwealth. Sure the Institute replaces a few people with Synths, but most of the Synths found by the Commonwealth are Synths freed by the Railroad.

You don't need to use spoiler tags in this section since everyone should know that they will experience spoilers in this section of the forums.

I know but since it was kind of off topic for the thread topic I spoiler tagged it.

Also, I like your point about the longevity of the Railroad. I see them trying to remain relevant somehow, likely causing more issues than they'll solve.

The only "issue" they solve is the peculiar institution of Synthetic Slavery. And they solve that by blowing up the most technologically advanced group in the Commonwealth, no doubt killing large numbers of men, women, and children, along with many of the Synths they were trying to "save," and displacing all the others, creating a huge amount of refugees who are suddenly homeless, broke, and ill-equipped for the Wasteland. The refugee problem will be further exacerbated by the fact that the people on the surface are unlikely to want to provide much care or comfort to the remnants of the Institution, as it has been vilified by everyone, and I doubt that the destruction of the Institute is going to lead to Gen III Synths being treated any better than they were before by surface dwellers (e.g.: lynched by angry mobs because they're Synths).

So the Railroad's ultimate goal will lead to the deaths of many people as well as the Synths they claim to be fighting for, all while making life a living hell for those lucky enough to avoid destruction.

All in all no Faction is a shallow as claimed, I think, It is just finding all the timeline events and putting it together rough as hell.

Keep in mind this is just my opinion but:

1. Blood is thicker than water.

2. The Institute is the only faction which puts you in a direct absolute power leadership role. The next closest is The Brotherhood, but you're still playing second banana to King Arthur.

General of The Minutemen is nothing but a figure-head role, with no power, and no real ability to do anything. The MM can, and do, outright refuse your orders if they don't like them.

By assuming the leadership position of Director, you can implement policies to reform The Institute (ending the Gen-3 program, ending Synth replacement etc.), or simply continue the plan of remaining isolated underground. You've also possibly just become the single most powerful individual on the East Coast in a single swoop.

3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKwJx1uf2X4

4. The Institute is pristine, clean, and beautiful. Excellent home if you ask me. Hot showers, clean sheets, and the closest standard of living you'll find to the pre-war times. Pretty tempting.

5. You get Synth relay grenades. By far the best reward out of any faction. The MM flare gun has nothing on being able to spawn gobs of synths wherever you go, whenever you want. Inside or outside. Its like having your own personal army at your back.

6. No Preston.

7. X6-88 as a companion.

8. Instant teleportation to wherever you want to go. Have a mission with a time limit? Don't want to waste time fast traveling? Never fear, the molecular relay is here. Added benefit of feeling like you're in Star Trek.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. How is X6-88 as a companion?

One of the best, if the best in my opinion. But that's just personal taste.

I gave my thoughts on him in a different thread: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1574302-x6-88/

I just really struggle to They've built themselves a race of slaves, have murdered countless people to replace them with synths, and what they did at University Point.... Ugh.

I think that most of the humans replaced by Synths are caused by the Railroad since the Railroad loves to add false memories to Synths and give them new identities. As for University Point, it is unclear what happened. We have someone claiming to be from the Institute threaten the council to hand over pre-war information and a fight heard by a girl that thinks the Institute attacked, but has no experience with previous Synth attacks. So it could be Kellogg or it could be a Gunner that is claiming to be part of the Institute. If you have a Gunner claiming to be part of the Institute confront a Settlement, then they would be able to get whatever they want without firing a shot.

Its the sharpest future possible for the commonwealth, imho:

Realising the new director is unlikely to start massive FEV experiment wave and surface people will ultimately have a better grasp on what synths really are, the surface will ultimately benefit from the technological advance of the institute in terms of medicine, food and water, with gen 2 synths effectively protecting the wastes and being less hurted from eventual losses in doing so compared to other factions, the Institute would end up bringing stability in the surface, even if that wouldn't be their major goal in the first place.

After the contact with the surface, in short time, the institute will learn to produce smaller laser rifles and pistols, so everyone will have access to good and efficient weapons.

Well, let's see.

Even the latest version of human replicant synths have flawed programming. This is mentioned. When these flaws in programming become apparent, the Institute seems to let it run its course to see what will begin to happen, and then wipe and start over with a patch.

Why is this important? Are the synths sentient? Maybe not yet.

Why?

Glory seems to be one of the only successful railroad repurpose. If you can call her successful. She loves murder and mayhem. After a few conversation checks she'll even tell you synths aren't human like the Railroad thinks. They're built piece by piece.

So what happened to the other synths that escaped and were repurposed?

Well the Institute has files on a few of them. One of which you hunt down. The programming flaw in latest gen synths can lead them to be sociopaths even after reconditioning by the railroad. The railroad reconditions them, and they wind up becoming -leaders- of entire groups of raiders.

The railroad, as a faction, is responsible for causing a good many of the ills occurring in the Commonwealth.

And who's to say the Institute was responsible for the kidnappings and replacement?

I see no evidence of it in the Institute itself (I don't recall seeing it in the FEV labs either).

What I do recall is that the Railroad uses P.A.M. whose goals 'temporarily align with those of the railroad'.

Pretty sure the railroad is a group of unwitting dupes of P.A.M.

They use PAM to determine where to reassign a repurposed synth.

I came across Andy and Andy and -both- of them thought they were the real Andy and were trying to kill each other and me.

Desdemona is the face man. PAM runs the railroad.

You also has the synt replacement at the water treatment farm, unlike the major who make some sense this than was pointless as its plenty of both undermanned and unused farms.

Or they could simply pay some farmer a bit to test the new seeds. They grow giant watermelons

As for the institute, you get the leadership rolle, you also show your strength during the rebellion, both an having them stand down or kill them show your power and that you will be an stronger leader than father.

How to justify it?

Without rationalizing to much you could simply say: blood is thicker then water, whatever his/her/their shortcomings.

- i choose the institute because i like science , and that's what i see to be a better future for "me"

- not everybody cares about the commonwealth ( so experimenting on some of them is not a problem )

The institute as a faction is not clearly written i think they missed a few key aspects of the institute :

- u needed a few missions that instructed u to kidnap a resident to be replaced by a synth

- i think the the FEV lab should be operational and give u a few missions to get subjects

PS: the institute does NOT help the commonwealth in any way people stop saying they do , they are just out for themselves

The PC I used to complete the MQ for the Institute was a female so I sort of let the mother instinct take over, 'bloods thicker than water, or coolant' and all that. She also never allowed herself to see robots or synths as anything more than what they actually were, a man-made tool, nothing more. She never was bothered with them looking or acting human anymore than we get bothered by our GPS's directing us with a female voice. To her the tools were just made that way for the benefit of the humans working with them. The supposed 'free will' they had were just programming not responding as intended, nothing more.