I gave Virgil's schematics to Sturges this time. Plan is going all the way with them and side with them when it comes to choice.

But in the meantime I'm doing the other factions' quests. But with the Railroad seems I'm stuck. They (of course) know I got access into the Institute. And now Desdemona is in this loop asking me to side with them. Every time I tell her I'll be with the Minutemen but if I talk to her again, the same question.

Will I be "locked out" of a Minutemen ending (assuming there is one) if I side with Railroad in this case ?

I mean assuming because so far there doesnt seem to be much of Minutemen questing (aside from repeatable ones to help settlements). I mean, I have pending quests with all factions except the minutemen....

From what I have seen in my own game, you are at a critical crossroads. There is nothing RR-related to you except what comes after you declare for the RR. Hence, all you get is, "Are you going to join us? Return when you're ready to sign up." As far as I can tell, NONE of the factions will help build the Signal Interceptor unless you sign up with them (and only them).

The Minutemen path opens up when you become enemies with the Institute - either by cutting your ties with them during a quest, or killing a named Institute NPC. In that regard it can happen at pretty much any time after you start Institutionalized, so you should be fine with telling Desdemona you'll work with them. In fact, if you screw up their questline, she'll ask you to take care of the Institute with the Minutemen.

I have joined the RR (completed Tradecraft with Deacon, did several of their side quests) and yet at one point, as I came close to Dez at her table, she began a conversation with me, saying she had seen me hanging out with the BoS, and asked flat-out if I was on the Brotherhood's side, or the Railroad's. I had to say "I don't know". Then she said something snarky. Sheesh, I have never had anyone in the MM or BoS ask me this question... Although I dislike Maxson for many reasons, I dislike Desdemona equally, though if not more just for other specific reasons. I'm not even at a point where the game has told me I will become hostile to one faction or the other.

OP: Have you done Tradecraft at all? Because if you haven't, then you really haven't joined the RR. But if you have...then I'm not sure what to say about your situation, and I wonder if it is at all like what Dez did to me in regards to the BoS. I know their group is more of a secret organization than any of the others (minus the Institute, which is also secretive), but she comes off as way over-protective, scrutinizing everything you do with other factions, even though the game gives you the opportunity to quest with anyone up until a certain point. :/

Sorry if that went a bit off-topic...

Yet another reason why I'm glad I destroyed the RR. More and more they prove themselves to be short-sighted fanatics with a "with us or against us" mentality. I'd say destroyed them was doing both them and the Commonwealth a favor.

On the plus side, their goals are so narrow that it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of the wasteland what they do. One secretive underground faction destroys the other secretive underground faction? Not much changes, except for a big new crater in Cambridge.

My issue is with Dez primarily, though I have to say that some of the RR characters are not very memorable even with some of their quirks (Tinker Tom and Glory stand out, but still pretty much a lackluster group). With BoS, I also dislike the leader, and only a few individuals stand out, but they at least will be more memorable to me than the RR characters (not sure why, though). I don't think any of my characters, present or future, will side with the RR at the end, honestly. Just using them for Ballistic Weave and quests (XP + caps, time-killers).

Well what happened with me is i was given a quest by the Railroad called Underground Undercover.

IIRC I was supposed to work with the Institute undercover for the Railroad which I did up to a point.

I didn't complete that quest (failed it in fact) I think it was when I broke cover in a conversation with Father, not sure now.

What had happened is that after a while the Institute wanted me to do things that i didn't agree with.

The decision to break cover eventually led me to the Minutemen ending.

Yes, I've done Tradecraft, one of my first missions, on any faction (The Deliverer is too good if you go sneaky sneaky) . Plus a few others, like Memory Interrupted, Butchers Hill, some Weathervana and Randolph safehouses.

Currently, for Railroad I have to turn in a Randolph safehouse quest but I can't since Desdemona is this loop about them and the Minutemen. I could do Variable Removal: Kill Courser too.

For the Institute, is pretty much the 1st mission, Synth Retention.

For BoS, I'm asked to talk to Proctor Ingram for Liberty Reprimed quest

For Minutemen, I think one of the Abernathys got kinapped. Again, lol... That's it.

From what I recall of my two other runs (one siding with Railroad and the other with Institute) is that Bunker Hill mission seems to be kinda like a turning point for your allegiances

Allright, I'll tell Desdemona what she wants to hear and I'll keep goin and see what happens. Thank you guys

With whom you built the Signal Interceptor ? Railroad or Minutemen ?

Yeah, almost positive you can screw up Underground Undercover talking with Father. It can be done at some point inside the institute or, I think, during the conversation after the Bunker Hill quest.

The Railroad and i deliberately broke cover because my empathy lies with the settlers.