First off let me say that I'm new to this forum and the Fallout series in general as I am basically a refugee from GTA V. I've played through 3 and I just started New Vegas. Fallout 3 was such an amazing game to me that it flat out made me completely forget about Grand theft Auto all together.

Well anyway the main point of this topic is about factions more specifically Raiders. I am wondering if Fallout 4 will allow for Raiders to be a friendly faction to the player if our karma level is very evil?

Hello and welcome! We really don't know anything about the karma system or how factions are interacted with but I would love to be able to join or at least help out a raider faction!

There is a very good chance that generic "raiders" will always be hostile.

However there is a good chance you will run into "tribal raiders" kind of like the great khans or slavers that may not be hostile if you pass specific checks.

I personally doubt we'll get to join a raider band in any meaningful way. However, it looks like there are several main factions, one of them possibly being evil. You may get to join them.

I just hope that Bethesda paid attention to how Obsidian did some things way better than they did when they made New Vegas and actually have a faction reputation system, it made a huge difference. But even then, raiders attack everyone just like generic fiends did in New Vegas did, so I highly doubt that we'd be able to join up with them.

Hey, as long as I don't get good Karma for killing always hostile enemies like Raiders and feral ghouls, I'd be all for a system like New Vegas had.

This, and I tend to be a goody to boot , well with sticky fingers but mostly good. And this just made no darn sense, same with steal hits from people long buried, crap just scattered around waiting to be taken. It does keep getting better in ways though so maybe theyll work it out. And I am really hoping this time around It might play into who is attracted to your settlements, and you get some baddy gang joinables if your not one for building.

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Yeah, Karma levels in past games were a little borked. I like staying away from both bad and good karma.. striving intensely to stay neutral. To do that basically meant counteracting the crap load of good karma they threw at you by having to choose to just be an ass sometimes. There were hardly any neutral karma solutions to things unless you just ran through the story portion of the game.

Really the one thing that kept you from being neutral is there was no karma loss for stealing.. (unless you got caught.) I think stealing from certain areas should take a karma hit. If you're a thief stealing stuff from innocent poor folks that's a pretty evil act.

I just despise the karma system overall, as it's the Dev's own judgement on what is 'bad' or what is 'good', which that can piss the right off. Reputation system on the other hand, is amazing, and I loved it, as it's basically what the FACTIONS see as right or wrong, and of course, stealing from them or shooting them will cause them to be a bit hostile in your direction.

Agree OP and welcome. Raiders automatically attacking seemed a bit too restricting. Being able to approach them initially without shots being fired (like an encounter with the Legion in NV) would have been nice. Nothing to keep the PC from being an evil type like minded basterd or beeotch full at home within a circle of raiders. Need a little more factioning room there.

Some raider factions automatically attacking anyone makes sense, though, like the Fiends in New Vegas who were so jacked up on chems that they'd murder anyone they'd see, or just charge troopers without considering personal safety.

My Neutral karma FO3 character was disappointed when she walked up to Evergreen Mills for a party. She figured Raiders=Neutral Karma=Buddies.

Not so much. She shot her way through the scum at the gate, hoping that things would improve inside. It never really got better.

Finally, she sold a lot of second-hand armor to Smilin' Jack, and gave him a grenade in exchange for a real nice shotgun.

In fallout 3 some companions required you to have bad karma. Also some areas you were liked is your were evil. So yes and no. You'll always have people out to steal and kill. But some story faction may want you to do that with them.

Thanks for the insightful responses and warm welcome guys!

So yeah I guess it does indeed make sense for the "generic" raiders to always be hostile to anyone and everyone due to their being so thorughly chem addled and basically feral "wildmen."

Hopefully there will be a group of "tribal" or more "sophisticated" Raider-type groups like the Paradise Falls slavers or the Pitt Raiders or the great Khans present in 4 that we may become friendly with if we meet certain conditions.

By the way guys who agrees with me that if Trevor from GTA V were in the Fallout Wasteland Universe that he most definitely would be a Raider?

How the heck do Raiders get new members if they shoot everyone they see?

That's a very good point!

Ah man, very good question indeed! How the heck did I miss that!!

I can't be the only person who hated New Vegas's reputation system... I mean, I guess I'm fine with the concept on paper, but in practice I didn't feel like it added anything to the experience. Between disguises, mixed reputations, and psychic NPCs (being undetected when killing someone not being enough is stupid) and how all of those parts work together just doesn't feel like it makes logical sense in the game world, and I hated how inflexible it was.

Not to mention the wonderful phenomenon of the Legion sending death squads after you at the smallest amount of negative rep, and then you inevitably become vilified after that for killing their Legion assassins. Or getting locked out of the Powder Gangers quests (which are the only way to actually side with the NCR and take down the Powder Gangers) by killing anyone during the Ghost Town Gunfight quest, since it counts your Powder Ganger kills on top of the reputation hit just from completing the quest.

I'd much rather something like Skyrim's regional bounty system, but organized by factions instead of by geographic regions.

Well the disguises had their flaws but I thought it was ok. I think the regional system, modified of course, would be a good thing for F4 too.

Acutally now that I think of it, the Pitt Raiders led by Ashur were Raiders done right, meaning there was an actual way of joining them by surviving and winning in the Arena fights by legitimately establishingly yourself as a force to reckoned with.

The generic hostile Raiders of the base Fallout 3 game were exactly the same as the feral psychotic Wildmen of the Pitt. Basically they were made irreparably psycho by the combination of chems, radiation, and pollution.