With the securitron labour, the many empty houses in freeside and westside, the concrete from QJ and the NCR pipeline in place, its perfectly achieveable.
The foundations are there.

My main question about house is his views for the rest of the mojave, i believe him when he says he will give them freedoms, but will he share with them the valuable technology and wealth he makes. I know he has goals of progress but will he make sure the mojave gets energy and water from the dam, and police the streets, or even develop technology that will benefit them like new farming tools. Also will any effort be put forth to clean up the slums around vegas, i understand that he's currently in no position to do any of these things but will he ever is the question.

I have to agree with Marty here, huge labour force doesn't count for anything if it's largely un-intelligent waster trash. Self-sustainabilty and security are the two immediate priorities; I doubt very much that House will have a popular resistance on his hands if Freeside doesn't become a nice place in five years. The people have shelters and I think that the houses as we have them to-day are going to be less important to the wasteland. In the wasteland would you really want your populace living spread out over a wide area in houses or close-nit behind Vegas's walls? If your houses aren't going to have standard modern appliances what's the point in living in a house at all.

It would be very counter-productive not to do these things wouldn't it?

Yes but does house see that.

I don't see why he wouldn't, reducing criminal elements, keeping people fed and clean; it's not exactly rocket science. It's not like House is hoarding money for himself to buy gold jacuzzis or yachts is it? Really that's one of the most positive aspects of House, aside from power he has no personal needs; everything that he earns and does is done for for the benefit of the people as he himself is... well he has to stay in a coffin or he dies.

Good point but still he hasn't shared much of his advanced technology that could save lives, he is a genius but whats a genius if nothing he creates is ever seen, my point is that between house and yes man, yes man is what ever you make of it, you control the securitrons and the dam, and therefor control the mojave, now i'm not saying that house wouldn't share everything (in fact i think he is a great option for new vegas) all i'm saying is that we can't know for sure but if your the one who controls everything, then you can be 100% sure that vegas evolves into your vision for it, thats why the ending slides for yes man are so vague because vegas is truly what you want it to be. Now a lot of people say that it's anarchy but technically new vegas becomes its own city state, and depending on who you are, goes into chaos or a very well functioning society develops.

But the idea of you taking it and making it 'Independant' is that it has NO leader. If the Courier topples House just to take his place and his plan, you're taking one despot and replacing it with another, which means Vegas ISN'T independant.

That said, House's inventions HAVE been shown. RobCo terminals, robots, various conveniences, all the brain children of his when he ran RobCo, which he ran from the age of 22 up unto the Great War. If a man can run a successful nationwide company for 30-35 years without being removed from his position, I doubt running the Vegas region of the Mojave would be any harder.

Making it independent doesn't mean it has no leader, it means no power (ncr, legion, or house) is controlling it and that it functions on its own. And running a company is nothing at all like running a nation, House sees people as numbers and statistics not human beings.

*Facepalm* If you take over House's postion as ruler of New Vegas. YOU are House. You didn't make it independent, you staged a coup and became the New Dictator. Indie is about each community being left to their own devices without a central power. In the short term everything may work out peachy, but in the long term it'd present a problem. The Three Families were kept in line by House, without House, they could inflate their prices, muscle businesses, et cetera. I don't think you're looking at the bigger picture, just the immediate future.

Yes and No.

The Three Families would certainly go out of control, and in the short term Vegas would fall short of what it should be, or even fall apart without Mr. House in the picture.

But, the Courier is not becoming House. Choosing Independence would deprive Vegas of leadership, while the rest of the wasteland becomes completely anarchic.

You don't become house all i'm saying is you watch over things not as a dictator but more of a mediator, and the three families aren't kept in line by house they're kept in line by the securitrons, which don't go away. To clarify you aren't the leader of new vegas you just make sure its safe and is getting power and water, and that sort of thing. Also id like to point out that most people in the mojave want to be left alone, although some like the NCR because the keep things safer, the securitrons will fill that gap.

Fundamentally, how is being a mediator any different than being a dictator, than being a "House?" As the one who's got the most guns in the region, you pretty much have the last word on everything that happens in Vegas and the Mojave. When you need to assume your "mediator" duties, which by your own admission includes supplying water and power and making sure everything's safe, you are actively taking a hand in setting and enforcing the rules and laws of the region. Which means...you are a dictator. Spin it however you like, that's exactly what you are.

And you will inevitably come across resistance; if violence is breaking out in the Strip, you send in Securitrons to break it up. If a gang of raiders is terrorizing the roads while slowing down trade and traffic, you send in the Securitrons to deal with them. If the Three Families decide to start waging war on each other, you put your foot down and put a stop to it. And if, say, the people of Westside start demanding more power, for whatever reason, it's up to you to acquiesce, refuse, or negotiate with them. As the, ah, "mediator" of New Vegas as you so like to put it, you can be as strict or lenient with how you use your power as you like, but that changes nothing; everything in Vegas and the Mojave exists largely at your whim and mercy.

THANK.YOU. Finally, someone else gets it.

Seriously, it doesn't matter how much you pretty it up, you're the new House.

House in control after Hoover Dam:

House supplied water with Hoover Dam
House picked and chose which tribes he kept around and disposed of.
House ultimately decides who does what, but in general lets people do as they want so long as they behave themselves.

That sounds awefully similiar to what you have in mind Liberator. No matter how many fancy names a dictator gives himself, a dictator is a dictator.

That's not how I interpreted 'independent' at all. I thought it meant being independent of the two imperial powers - NCR and the Legion. Think of it this way, when the USA declared independence from the Brits, that didn't mean the Americans had no leaders.

@ Xetirox, Sure, if you go Yes Man you might be still be a House-style autocrat in the short term, but if you were so inclined, you could conceivably begin to steer the Mojave towards responsible self-government though, as Arcade tries to do in some of his endings. With House you're basically giving up political autonomy, which if you're okay with a lack of democracy (which is a valid stance) is probably a better bet than going independent (Yes Man).

In general, yes. But given the name 'No Gods, No Masters', it would pretty much imply the Mojave has no one leader as if House were to take over. Indie is pretty much toppling all the powers and making the Mojave have no one central authority.

Actually i AM doing house now because, i was talking to stella and she told me about New Reno, and House actually makes it into a nation (i think its the Free Economic Zone of New Vegas) but i still stand that independence is open to interpretation and doesn't just mean "anarchy"

That's one way to look at it - another way to interpret 'No Gods, No Masters' would be that it's the Courier that will has no gods and no masters, not the Mojave.

It makes sense if you look at the names of the other final quests - 'All of Nothing' and 'Veni, Vici, Vidi' clearly refer to House and Caesar respectively, not the Mojave/Vegas. Okay, I'm not sure about 'Eureka!", but it still fits better as a description of the NCR than the Mojave in the event of an NCR victory.

I never said it meant purely anarchy. My spite for Indie is that it's either A. Anarchy, or B. Short term stability with unsureness of the long term reprecussions.

Ehhh, I wouldn't say that, here's how I see it.

'All or Nothing'- House making a high wager gamble in the hopes of attaining the big winnings.
'Veni, Vidi, Vici'- Caesar finally conquering Vegas, futhering his delusions of his Legion.
'Eureka'- NCR having 'found' (Eureka, aside from being Californias motto, means 'I have found it' or roughly to that equivalent) their complete victory at Hoover Dam, and conquering/forcing Vegas to become another taxable territory.

I'd rather see Vegas in House's hands (Or Indie depending on how the ending played out) because simply put, neither power cares for Vegas, they only see it as an alotment of their power. But House and Indie are about helping Vegas. The way I see it, House and Indie are two faces of the same card. One is an independant Vegas under House and his protege, the other is the Courier and Yes-Man. I don't care about the Legion, and the NCR can do just fine without Vegas as a territory. Let NCR handle the wastes outside Vegas region for all I care.

I agree, the NCR drained all their lakes so they'll likely drain vegas dry and move on, Cesar will enslave everyone. Both will destroy the essence of vegas and take away the fact that it's an oasis in the wasteland.

Aren't we in agreement here? The point of my previous post is that the final quest names all relate to the person or organization that rules over the Mojave in the various endings, not the region itself, ergo the name 'No Gods, No Masters' doesn't imply the Mojave having no central authority.

Though I do disagree here. A Yes-Man Indie Courier has exactly the same material resources House has, so an Indie ending has at least the potential to be as good as a House one. And a Vegas independent of NCR and Legion is on pretty precarious ground anyway, House or Yes Man. A Yes-Man Indie ending is just even riskier as the Courier is an unknown quantity at regional politics.

Independant is the name of the Yes-Man ending, it therefore implies that assisting Mr House does not lead to an independant New Vegas; is House really an imperial power? I have to agree with the above posters that the "independant" ending likely means that the player himself is acting independantly and not that it's leading to some free Vegas, what if your Courier was an [censored], is that going to be a "free" Vegas?

EDIT: I do agree with your second point, a Courier led Vegas is really incredibly dangerous and probably short-lived.

House is a really great guy, ill give him that. He is smart, sees the big picture and cares for progress and humanity in a whole, BUT does he care for HUMANS in particular? no he doesnt, although he has saved Vegas, and organized a few tribes into (more or less) civilized families that now work for him. Also pretty [censored] smart to keep the NCR occupied fighting the Legion, while he drains NCR for all they got, but he pushes people out of Vegas just cause they dont have the wealth, now thats just wrong. He may be smart, but in the long run u have to be pretty [censored] cold if u want to support him. I took Indy, cause of houses lack of care for people, Legion lack of humanity and LOVE FOR TECH (cmon we are playing computer games, how can u support them when they would destroy FALLOUT GAMES if they would get to power LOL. ok bad point IK) NCR may be democratic (sort of) but they take what their want and PUT THEIR INFAMOUS TAXES on people that dont even want them around. Lack of freedom, and thats ironic cause aint that what the NCR stands for?
Indy has flaws, as it doesnt give a clear picture of whats gonna happen, but people are running around spreading rumors about it being canon. A Indy Vegas, it gives u complete freedom to tackle the situation however u want, NCR and Legion give u that too, but in another way.

Thats all i got to say, thanks for reading (IF U ACTUALLY TOOK UR SWEET ASS TIME TO READ THIS [censored])

First of all Indy won't be canon (no ending will be) it's just the default one because you can do it no matter how many people you piss off, and House does in fact care for people, otherwise his goal would be to keep all of the money made to himself not to rebuild humanity, the only reason people died when he created the strip was because he had very little time.

I'm not sure House's regime can be defined as an imperial power. For one, his ambitions are limited to the environs of New Vegas, and he shows no interest in territorial expansion - he even leaves the Boomers alone. Being an imperial power implies geographical reach.