One of many reasons my Director is taking a good long hard look at the Gen-3 program to see if its too much of a security risk to continue.

I mean really, the Gen-2 synths are just about all you really need. Aside from blending in, they can do everything a Gen-3 can do. And none of them show any signs of free-thought (with the exception of Nick, who was an advanced almost-gen-3-prototype).

Well you'll find plenty of people on here who view the Gen-3's as 'talkie toasters' and so that's a point of contention IMO. The Brotherhood wishes to exterminate this same race, which to me, if objection is raised to enslaving them, then objection should also be raised to purging them with extreme prejudice.

But I still find the Enclave at least as, if not more 'morally' evil than The Institute if we're talking an objective scale. Partly because, they never planned world-wide pest-control like Richardson or ran genetic compliance checkpoints to purposefully exterminate wastelanders. And it seems like most people in The Institute are unaware of things like the FEV program (which Father purposefully kept hidden from everyone who wasn't associated with the project). I'm not trying to white-wash them, mind you. I just find The Institute's brand of 'evil' to be a bit less maligned. Keeping in mind of course, I supported The Enclave in Fallout 3 too (although I think Richardson was off his rocker).

Although granted, that could very well just be because its easier to emphasize with The Institute since, unlike The Enclave, they aren't treated as mindless clones that purely exist as something fun to shoot. We can *gasp* actually talk to them and hear their thoughts.

Thank you for spelling this out. For me, this is the only solution to the Institute MQ that makes any sense.

The best I had come up with, was...well, heck, it's Shawn, and I miss my old life and my family, so...

Plus, our character doesn't know anything about BoS history, except what he hears from Maxson, I can't imagine my character being motivated by any of that stuff...

While I agree with this (and being in the "synths are talkie toasters" camp, I'm not upset if they're destroyed ala Brotherhood or used for general labor by their creators), but my biggest problem with the Institute is the stupidity of the evils they do commit. In my mind, the super mutant ordeal is probably the derpiest thing any faction has done in the series, and while it was clearly done for gameplay reasons 'cause "dur super mutants must be in Fallout dur" their reasoning is just so poorly explained that it borders on unfathomable levels of stupid evil. I understand that I can shape things like this as Director, but I'm not convinced that my successor, or his successor, or his, and so on wouldn't eventually revert back to using the Institute's insane amount of power for yet another world-threateningly stupid or evil experiment. Leaving the Institute intact means that it can always happen again, which is why I prefer the endings where in which the threat is removed altogether. They are the only way to ensure that it doesn't.

My feeling is that they are more twisted in a way because they have automated their evil and now they are free to enjoy their calling in peace without worrying about those they are harming.

IF we see the Enclave return in more than a remnant group, I'd like the option to talk to them, hell I'd like the option to talk to the Raiders and Gunners since my more morally grey characters would like to come to an arrangement with them.

That's certainly a valid point. But the way I look at it is two-fold:

1. The FEV program seems to have been a pet-project of Father. Who kept it purposefully hidden and going, despite Virgil's (and undoubtedly others) objections. Why he continued it is never explained. And although I won't wave it away as just bad-writing, I will say that lacking any sort of explanation for this action, or even being able to bring it up to Father, makes it difficult to justify it being in the game at all. It just seems very off-putting, like it was just put in as an afterthought to explain the mutants.

2. The counter to "The Institute becoming worse" is also that The Institute could also revert to what they were before. There was a time when they genuinely did care about The Commonwealth. Founding the CPG was evidence of that. Societies, which is what the Institute is, aren't static. They ebb and flow. The collapse of the CPG is what caused The Institute to become callous about the surface. Perhaps a change could come about to eat away that callousness.

I was there until Curie stole my heart. Became an in game RP reason for me to stretch myself to find a reason to either stay with RR or go over to Institute. Finally, I went with Institute for Shawn's sake and thought that maybe may days with Curie were over, but she stayed with me after, so it worked out!

*repeats to self over and over... "she isn't a blow-up doll, she isn't a blow-up doll..."

I finished the Institute MQ, and I recall seeing the FEV lab, but I don't recall it ever coming up in conversation, or quest lines, or anything. In fact, if I wasn't an explorer who has to open every door and check out every corridor, I wouldn't have even known that it was there I don't think... Did I have to go into that area for Virgil? I just don't remember at this point.

I understand this, which is why I was referring to the long term. I fully expect the Institute to become better with the SS ( ) at its helm, and it's very possible that the next few successors could do a lot of good as well. But my point is that as long as the technology and structure exists, that massive threat is there, and it can never really go away. It's like if a benevolent dictator were the only person in the world with access to both nukes and advanced medicine. Sure, he might go his whole life only using the medicine and doing good for his people. But if the system in place means that his son will inherit both technologies, there's nothing stopping that son from using the nukes to his heart's content. Even if his son does follow in his father's footsteps, there will always be another heir to take his place, and the coin is flipped with every successor.

The FEV lab is specifically there for Virgil's quest. It also serves as a shortcut from one section of Bioscience to another for a different quest in the Institute quest line. Most of the scientists won't talk about the FEV lab, but there are terminals inside the lab with details about what is going on. The details of which are... disturbing.

There's also the 'implied stories' that you gather from the environment. One is an observation room with a dead supermutant surrounded by children's toys and a dead cat. While there's no way to prove it, I feel strongly that was a mutated child.

Thought this would be about a different Director that is in the game lol

The FEV Lab is more important for the BOS MQ. I just wish, as Director, I could invite Dr. Virgil back to the Institute to become Chairman of my Scientific Ethics Oversight Committee.