Fine, I'll admit i was cutting corners a little. In the end you do decide who to wipe off the earth. But none of it ever convey's any agency. I never felt like I was a part of the grand scheme of things. I guess what it boils down to that instead of making up your own damn mind the factions, the BoS making no exceptions, just have you jump through hoops like a trained dog. If shaun ex machina hadn't been a thing what more would you have been over any of the NPC's?

The difference is I am probably one of the best trained soldiers of the wasteland by coming from the pre war US Army.

Our actions played a huge role in the events of the game, but without the support of our faction we would not have accomplished the goals we did.

A lot of lives were lost by every faction during the story

The road to hell is paved with good intentions? The Brotherhood has definently taken a step back under Maxson's rule. While that may not be a good thing for the wasteland, it is probably a good thing for the Brotherhood. They are a military organization, beholden to no one but themselves. And should continue to be just that.

That just flat out isn't true. case and point: If you play the female sole survivor you're every bit as skilled as your male counterpart and she's a law student. So the male protagonist's time in the army adds nothing to the experience.

And the main character doesn't know this world, he or she has to discover everything as he or she goes, meaning that the protagonist has a huge disadvantage towards more experienced wasteland militants. As for the protagonist "huge role" in the game, (spoilers) during the battle for bunker hill you literally have to do nothing but kill the courser you have to do nothing but sit back and watch the three factions tear each other apart. an experience I found synonymous to much of the story.

yeah, the SS would probably be more capable than *someone from her/his generation* in surviving, but compared to a wastelander who's had to gun down supermutants since they were old enough to hold a gun and dodge ferals just to get food from the Super-mart, the SS is a rookie.