The NCR might be doing some bad things to the locals, but if you look at their pass actions they are the only guys around that have a plan of resorting civilization. Everyone else either doesn't care (West Coast Brotherhood, Mr. House), lack the resources to actually do anything (East Coast Brotherhood, Followers of Apocalypse), or are out right crazy (The Enclave, Caesar's Legion).

Remember, good doesn't always mean nice. The NCR are not angles or Saints, but they are humanities best hope in the long run.

One of the things I am most curious to discover in the beginning of "Fallout: New Vegas", is the nature of the New California Republic. According to the Fallout Wiki, the NCR is dedicated to "restoring order and progress to the wasteland, as well as old world values such as democracy, liberty, and the rule of law." This sounds like a noble cause worth supporting. However, Josh Sawyer recently said that the NCR "taxes all 'legitimate' trade and abuses the local populace." This leaves me wondering if the abuse of the local populace is due to corruption in the lower ranks of the NCR, and poor oversight of the lower ranks due to a lack of manpower, or if it's something which the top leadership of the NCR knows about, and approves of. Further, I've heard people on this forum refer to the NCR as a stagnating bureaucracy. Is this based on facts, or is it something people just assume? I know they are supposed to have expanded too quickly, that they are spread too thin, and that they have trouble maintaining order, though I haven't heard anything about stagnating bureaucracy.

What type of individuals do you believe the leadership of the NCR is comprised of? Do you expect there to be some 'ideological crossover' with the Enclave, in that there may be many elitist authoritarian fascists in both factions? Do you expect the leadership of the NCR to be more like typical pragmatic, wishy-washy, politically correct bureaucrats that stand for nothing and only care about their own 'political capital'? Do you expect there to be any truly principled republican statesmen?

Do you expect many of the lower 'rank and file' soldiers of the NCR to be genuinely good American patriots, inspired by the U.S. Marines, the Texas Rangers, etc.? Or, do you expect most of them to be thugs, mercenaries, and so forth?

It's been made pretty clear that the NCR aren't the knights in shining armor. Do you believe we can seek to reform the faction from within?

I've raised many issues regarding the NCR, so don't feel like you need to address them all. Please post if you have any thoughts, or answers, to any of them (without heading into spoiler territory).

Why would the Legion be crazy?? I bet that Caesar's Legion will turn out to be the best hope for humanity.

(1) The NCR is not going around conquering every community that they come across like Caesar's Legion is doing. They use diplomacy and offer economic incentives for them to join the republic voluntarily. Look at Vault 15 for example, the NCR could easily send out their military to take the vault by force, but instead, they hire you for finding a diplomatic solution. (In one of the ending in Fallout 2, they could have invaded Vault City, but as far as we know it isn't canon.)

(2) The NCR has a track record of dramatically improving the standards of living for the people under their rule. Something that other factions doesn't bother to do. Just look at these pictures:
Vault 15 before joining the NCR:
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/File:Fo2_Vault_15_Squat.png
After joining the NCR:
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/File:Fo2_Vault_15_Squat_PostNCR.png

(3) The NCR isn't committing genocide like the Nazis or the Enclave. In fact, they are one of the few factions that openly outlaw the discrimination against non-feral ghouls and reformed Super Mutants. They go as far as to accept them in their military and even their government. The Brotherhood on the other hand, shot ghouls on sight. Even the 'good' ones in DC still have this problem

(4) Again, slavery is outlawed in the NCR. Compare this to the West Coast Brotherhood, who doesn't care about other people; the Enclave, who uses slaves themselves; and the Caesar's Legion, in which their entire culture is based around enslaving other people.

It is easy to tell the difference between the civilized people and the barbarians. The civilized people doesn't have the right to take the land from the barbarians, but neither does the barbarians have the right to wipe out the civilized people. The problem is, the barbarians are not interested in diplomatic talks, so even the most civilized pacifist will have to defend themselves.

NEW CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC
We’re Here! Why not join us? There’s a wonderful future ahead – and it could be yours with the New California Republic! But what is it, you want to know?

HOW BIG IS NCR?
Founded eighty years ago, the NCR is now comprised of the states of Shady, Los Angeles, Maxson, Hub, and Dayglow. Approximately 700,000 citizens are pleased to call NCR home.

WHAT DOES NCR STAND FOR?
The New California Republic is dedicated to bringing peace, security and justice to the people of the great west. NCR’s fine police forces constantly patrol and arrest any raiders, cannibals, slavers, and lawless mutants within the country, and the NCR army valiantlyprotects the borders against outside marauders. To ensure justice and liberty, all citizens have access to NCR’s courts and the right to vote for a representative of their choice to sit in the Hall of Congress. In the words of President Tandi, “A safe people is a strong people.”

WHO’S IN CHARGE HERE?
NCR may be a bit different from what you’re used to. There are no chieftains, town bosses, kings, or dictators here. Our leaders are elected by the people! That’s right -- every state has the right to send representatives to the Hall of Congress. These representatives select the President and Vice-President to head the council and it is their advice which guides the President’s decisions. For ten terms now, President Tandi has been the unanimous choice of the council, who respect her wisdom and foresight.

SOUNDS GREAT! HOW DO I JOIN THE NCR?
All law-abiding and peaceful people, human or mutant, are eligible to become citizens of NCR. To become a citizen all you have to do is move to NCR and present your claim for immigration. After citizenship training and processing your application, you will be notified of your new status as a PC (Provisional Citizen). From there, it’s only a short step to full citizenship! Of course, NCR is not for everybody – slavers, unreformed mutants, known raiders, and other undesirables need not apply!

BUT I WHAT IF MY ENTIRE TOWN WANTS TO JOIN?
Depending on where your town is located, NCR does accept petitions by villages, towns, bases, city-states, even minor kingdoms for annexation by NCR. Once the petition is accepted, NCR will grant your town territorial status. Once the needed police and army presence is established and any banditry or other lawlessness has been dealt with, your village can apply for full statehood in the NCR. It’s that simple!

So remember – WE’RE HERE. WHY NOT JOIN US?

Prepared by the New California Relations Advisory Panel

Welcome to the New California Republic! Before entering our fair city, please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the following rules and regulations.

• No weapons may be openly carried inside the city limits.
  
• Persons found under the influence of alcohol or drugs will be arrested.
  
• Slavery, gambling, and prostitution are not permitted within city limits.
  
• Ignorance of the law is no excuse. A [censored] will get his/her butt kicked just as fast as a [censored].
  
• If you can’t live by these laws – then get the hell out cause we don’t want you here!

That's patently ridiculous - there are plenty of governments in the real world today that don't neccesarily have simple "constitutions" based on the American model - the United Kingdom is the most obvious example. I've yet to see David Cameron declare himself "Lord Protector".

Furthermore, you're putting emphasis on a simple majority versus an absolute majority, when such things are indeed no protection against the sort of "fascism" that you claim to be against. The requirement of a supermajority for constitutional ammendments never stopped things like slavery, eugenic sterilisation programmes, or the prohibition of alcohol in the United States of America.

If you're worried that a nation would descend into totalitarianism based on a 50% + 1 vote, should you not logically fear the same occuring based on 66% + 1? Where does the threshold fall? At what point is the majority rejected?

In addition to this, I don't know that there is enough information about the NCR available to state conclusively that they do not in fact have a constitution that enshrines personal Rights and Freedoms.

here's a thought...do you think it's possible to create an alliance between two factions, against a third? personally, i'd like to see Mr. House allying himself with NCR, to their mutual benefit, and watch them both drive Caesar's Legion out of the Mojave Wasteland. Or, you could have CL join with a (heavily corrupted) NCR to take on the house of House. OR, House decides to capitalize in the slaving industry by aligning himself with CL, thus economically starving NCR to extinction.

What do you guys think?

I hope the game doesn't trick "good" players into supporting the NCR at the beginning of the game only to reveal at the end that we've been tools for a fascist government. Moral choices should be transparent, I'm tired of crazy plot twists.

Personally, I don't think twists/reversals of that sort add complexity or depth. It's kind of a cheap trick, on par with extending a pop song's length by changing the key.

I think it's more interesting to give the player a basic initial impression of a person or group and layer on complexity and depth over time. I think John and the designers did a good job of making the groups feel like they are comprised of individuals with their own motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. With very few exceptions, I always found someone or something to love in a group and someone or something to hate.

Personally, I don't think twists/reversals of that sort add complexity or depth. It's kind of a cheap trick, on par with extending a pop song's length by changing the key.

I think it's more interesting to give the player a basic initial impression of a person or group and layer on complexity and depth over time. I think John and the designers did a good job of making the groups feel like they are comprised of individuals with their own motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. With very few exceptions, I always found someone or something to love in a group and someone or something to hate.

One of the things I am most curious to discover in the beginning of "Fallout: New Vegas", is the nature of the New California Republic. According to the Fallout Wiki, the NCR is dedicated to "restoring order and progress to the wasteland, as well as old world values such as democracy, liberty, and the rule of law."

With all of what has been said about NCR by the developers and the points said in this thread, it is truly hard to make a choice. The Rangers are up my first character's ally. But if there are things about NCR that I really don't like, I might not join. I'd hope that you can be a unpatriotic member of NCR. Somebody who supports them because they believe it's the best option and not say crap like "For the Republic!" at all.

Not sure how this is going to play out, but I think that in my first play-through I'm going to take kind of a man with no name approach from Fistful of Dollars. Trying to balance in between NCR and CL as long as I can, profit as much as possible, then pick a side and then betray both of them in the end. Just to see little bit of how they are like as I currently aren't fond of either of them.