In FO3, the Brotherhood of Steel is seen as a good faction, fighting off the Evil Enclave and distributing the "waters of life" across the Wasteland in Broken Steel. But in FONV, the BOS is seen in a different light. Shutting themselves away in an underground bunker after being defeated by the NCR, they use you and Follower Veronica as their tech messengers. They appear paraniod and not at all as powerful as in FO3. So what do you think the Brotherhood is: you tell me.

The Enclave are niether Evil and the BoS do not distribute the water, they let the inexperienced Rivet City guards do it for the most part whilst they ironically continue war with a broken and battered Enclave which would rather fade away and rebuild than fight.

The West-Coast Brotherhood of Steel are as much elitist pricks as the Enclave, considering the wastelanders unable to comprehend and use properly the technology left behind from the Old World; even sending genuinly helpful people from a Vault (in Fallout) no less on purposeful suicide mission which even their own best have died on. Despite only existing for 200 years they have developed an over complicated and ridiculous organisation and are doomed to failure due to their complete lack of purpose, they collect technology almost always having military applications for the purposes of nothing, the Monks of Saint Leibowitz had a greater purpose than the Brotherhood, [censored] them all.

I believe House said it best:

"Why do you hate the Brotherhood of Steel?"

"Because they're ridiculous." - House

Brotherhood in New Vegas are the Mojave Chapter. They had a bad leader and made them hide in the bunker. They are a chapter of the Original Brotherhood aka Western BoS.
In Fallout, you can avoid them. They send you on what they think is a suicide mission, if you don't have enough Rad-X and Radaway it is. Complete the mission they let you into their base. You can them do a quest to help fix a suit of PA. There are other ways. They can help fight the Master if you ask but you don't have to. They trade with outsiders. Fallout Bible says Lost Hills became a state within NCR.

Fallout 2 there is only a couple of them and you can do an easy quest to get into a very small bunker. They don't effect the game in any major way.

Fallout Tactics we see the creation of the BoS outside Chicago. The MWBoS, they do help people but it comes at a price, you have to pay for protection with food, ammo, best and brightest and other supplies. They recuit outsiders but treat them as cannon fodder. Only the elite units, paladins and generals get the PA and good weapons. They make use of labour gulages IE Death camps. They made it all the way to Cheyenne Mountain and took control of the Calculator. FO3 says they fell on hard times in the 80 years since the events of Tactics.

Lyons came from Lost Hills but went native in DC, almost half his people became out Outcase.

Brothehood in the West were neutral up til the NCR, Brotherhood war. We don't know who started it.

MWBoS well that depends on what ending of Tactics they go with. I am hoping the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2ZcpcO7C58

Lyons yes he's good because Bethesda made him so.

Good and bad. The only reason they are "bad" is their questionable leaders over the past years :whistling:

Well, taking away technology from lesser beings in order to protect it until the time is right for the world to be reintroduced to it doesn't sound too bad.
Think of how many things that could have been important that have been disassembled and sold as junk by prospectors.
That technology can very well be lost.
So in a sense, yeah, they are the good guys in how they want to save our history.
Only bad thing about them is that just cause NCR had some nice tech they just had to go to war with them and that sometimes they can be pretty ruthless and that they prioritize weapons more than other tech.

The Brotherhood in the west is good but no were as good as the Lyons BOS.. They aren't an Enclave in disguise but are unfair & should change their ways..

They are paranoid tech cravers who think they should be the only ones to have any advanced technology. But I wouldn't call them bad, just self centered pricks.

They aren't really good or bad. Just grey. The BoS's original objective was to police technology, and prevent it from getting in the wrong hands, so that the end-of-the-world doesn't happen. Again. Around the point of Fallout 1, their goals are appreciable, but now they just aren't necessary.

West Coat Brotherhood and Lyons Brotherhood are two different things at this point. The East Coast is certainly a "good" organization; they've fought to save the Wasteland and have yet to display ulterior motives. The West Coast is more of a neutral organization; they don't actively persecute or commit crimes but neither do they go out of their way to help people.

BoS deems themselves the only worthy owners of weaponstech or any tech that they deem to powerfull to be in the hands of the "locals". They will "confiscate" any tech they deem inappropriate and hold it "safe"....

They are elitist xenophobic techno-fascists with an outdated and arrogant view of their role in post-war america.

So... "Bad".

To be honest, the Brotherhood owning any given plasma rifle is probably better than a random wastelander owning any given plasma rifle. The wastelander's probably not going to be able to use it, and if a raider or morally dubious individual (who abound in Fallout ) gets their hands on it they could do a heck of a lot of damage. The BoS may not share their weapons tech, but even the western BoS doesn't turn it on innocent civilians.

I think those Doctors they butcher in the end of Veronica's quest would beg to differ.

I would say there good with a little gray in them.

Are they evil? I don't think any faction in Fallout can be truly defined as "evil".

Are they inefficient, as stagnant as dead fish, and ridiculous in their "knights of yore-holier than thou" attitude? Yes.

This was perfectly said, I agree 100%

The only reason why the BoS are looked at as Outcasts in New Vegas, is that they lack purpose. They have the technology, and the tactics. Just not the motive, they believe in hiding underground and not actually trying to take certain territories for themselves.

I think they're machine fetishists, I wish I could give them Fisto.

...

Seriously though, I don't think the Westcoast BoS is evil. They're just really really dumb. Dangerously dumb.
Some innocent wastelanders is just walkin' the Mojave, mindin' his own business, and then those tin cans show up saying ''Give us that plasma rifle, it's dangerous in your hands.We want to six it up.'' Then the tin cans leave. Now, the innocent wastelander is left behind, with nothing to protect himself. The innocent wastelander continues to walk the Mojave, mindin' his own business. Then, he gets attacked by a coyote. Innocent wastelander has nothing to protect himself, so the innocent wastelander dies.

They don't have evil intentions, but they're just too dumb to see that what they are doing isn't helpin the Mojave.

I'd slaughter them for Mr. House any day

The BoS are good.

Even the mean Outcasts are good in their intentions.

Technology is better off preserved and used by them than in the hands of some idiots.

But the Capitol Wasteland BoS is the best one I think.

Not seen others outside of Fallout 3.

You should get one that. Fallout, Fallout 2 and Tactics are super cheap. :foodndrink:

Fallout: we see the BoS for the first time.
Fallout 2: we see them but only a couple of them literally.
Fallout Tactics: we see the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtXhuaTcohY :fallout:
Fallout 3: You already know.
Fallout New Vegas we see a chapter of the Original BoS dealing with being cut off, loss of an Elder and a battle lost to NCR.

Neither, they are neutral; but they are not truly selfish, they are frightened. They saw what happened last time technology got into the hands of just anyone, and in their own way are trying to prevent it happening again.

They are elitist jerks in the West

They are goody two shoes in the East

They are fascist-esque in the Midwest

Like every faction in the originals series the BoS are shades of grey.

I am considering getting other Fallout games.

I might get Fallout Brotherhood Of Steel for PS2.

I will see how the gameplay is before I get any other other Fallout games other than New Vegas.

I am definately getting New Vegas.

Don't.

Do any of them really suite you...

Yep

It's odd to me why people think that they must be good or bad in the context of F3, as opposed to a lawful neutral.
The outcasts are named such ironically, which is there to show that Lyons' BoS isn't intended to be representative of the BoS Faction.