So I'm at the point a lot of you have gotten to, having basically done nothing else the whole game other than chase my baby boy.

I'm at the point where I have talked to everyone in the Institute, but it seems like now the only option is to upload the tape from the Railroad, who were the ones to help me get in.

It seems like the only option for me is to side with the Railroad? What are the main options for this quest and the end of the game? I have so many questions and am unable to make a decision for lack of information.

It's basically the BOS where the tech guys get everything, Institute and side with my son (but a robot world?) or side with the Railroad (betray my son). Is this really it? Is there no middle road?

If you aren't "with" the Institute, you are "against" it.

You can side with BOS, Railroad, Institute, Minute Men. No matter who you choose, you're making enemies with somebody else.

The way I looked at it: my son was dead. He died when "they" took him. Immediately, I didn't like that old man. Immediately, I didn't trust him. That lying bastard and his whole shady operation needed to be put in forced, permanent retirement. I was satisfied with my choice. Ad victoriam.

I betrayed him, after he (my son) ordered me to kill the RR. Even though he stated he knew I was friendly with them. Friendly isn't the word, considering that he and the institute were nowhere to be seen and the RR guys (along with the MM and BoS - to a smaller degree) helped out. Not to mention, if my son freed me why not just meet me outside the vault door? Why all the running around looking for him? Especially after he said he "observed me". What? [censored] you brat.. BOOM - right in the face. But the game wouldn't let me. (Didn't Tom state at E3 that we could shoot anyone?)

So I cannoned it with me telling him off. About how he lost his humanity. And that there was none of me or his mother in him. And I betrayed him.

In other words, the end game made no sense to me. It was a lazy attempt to create drama in the game. Very lame.

That was my exact issue as well. If he really wanted to meet me, really wanted me to join the Institute, why didn't he just personally go to Vault 111 and greet me as I stumbled out of my pod? Not like I was going anywhere. Instead, it was all: "Mother/Father, I decided to let you go out into the Wasteland hoping you wouldn't die as you suffer and endure all kinds of hell to find me, and when you do, I tell you to turn around and fight the very people who helped you to find me. Oh, and here's a Synth boy created to look just as I did when I was ten! In no way is this distasteful at all! By the way, did I mention I initially led you to believe your child was ten and we believe all Synths should be our slaves?"

My head-canon:
-> Shaun, the old man, is not my son.
-> Shaun, the Synth child, is just as much of a victim to him as I was. He comes with me to give us both another chance at a life.

Well the reason Shaun let you out was revenge. I don't know if you saw the dialouge about it, but he said by letting SS out of cryo, it was his chance at revenge for what happened to his mother. Still, you can easily say that the other method of just meeting SS as he came out of cryo would have been easier and more sure, and why not decades ago? Why risk dad getting shot by a random raider?

Still, with the institute you cannot find enough basic information about what is going on to make a judgement, information that could be gained by being able to make real obvious questions to the characters (but which are lacking since F4 conversation system is seriously lacking. Its like Bethesda is thrusting a major moral quandary over the situation and not offering any data to make it. A big guess. Its not very immersive feeling, it actually all feels pretty contrived and forced.

At least BOS are pretty straightforward, but honestly only because you are relying on old information from the previous Fallouts.

Why is the Railroad so fanatical about synths? You never really get a clear answer about that one, it does not match everyone else's basic fight for survival so why does this one group get to be so leet with their agenda?

The problems with the institute situation are extensive and you all have done a great job spelling them out.

We are all standing here mostly confused about what choices to make and its based on bad writing and poor planning on Bethesdas part. Also the intent was to make the choices not black and white, that is something of a Fallout tradition I think, but I feel the previous iterations gave you so much more to work with. As with so many game releases we are probably dealing with a rushed product with major problems.

Also, is it ever explained even once why there are so many synths and why they want to make them so human? Obvious question but one which I still don't really have an answer for.

My save game for this quest is linked to the railroad who helped me build the teleporter. I am trying to meet the informant in the 'maintenance room' of advanced systems.' When I get there though I cannot find anyone or get past the force field. Any ideas?

Well, they need Synths because the Institute trains every human in science.

Someone has to scrub the toilets, ladle the food, and murder people.

The reason they're so human is so they can serve as spies in the Commonwealth.

This.

The Institute's motivation is creating the perfect synthetic life form. They're close. So they must be stopped. No way is humanity getting replaced by walking, talking toasters on my watch. Sorry old man, but my son is dead.

I approve of the Battlestar Galactica solution.

Have six until relations improve.