So I was making another playthrough and very early in the game you have the option to ask about basic Mojave history and about the different factions, such as What is Caesar's Legion and What can you tell me about the NCR?

I know the purpose of these questions. They're the most natural way for you (the player) to get backstory on the events surrounding you regarding the Mojave Wasteland and its setting

But judging from the timeline (see http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline) of events in the Fallout universe we'll see that the first appearance of the NCR in the Mojave Wasteland is as early as 2270 with the NCR conflicting with the Legion as early as 2273. The events of New Vegas the game take place in late 2281 almost a decade later.

So, maybe from a roleplaying perspective if you roll (get it? dice?) that way, where has your Courier been for the past ten years that you don't know about either the Legion (so not out East) or the NCR (likewise out west) or atleast what is your rationale for the Courier not knowing this information above and beyond the plot-device of giving backstory to the player as mentioned above?

Or is it all just an acute case of bullet-induced amnesia?

I bet the Courier was hanging out in the UK, laughing at America for having been destroyed in the nuclear apocalypse.

Sometimes I like to pretend he's secretly an agent of one of the factions in the Mojave. Unless I'm going for a Yes-Man playthorugh. If that's the case he's part of a secret organization hell bent on controlling everything under the sun. Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

My courier spent most of his life in New Reno, oh man, that one time, I have a HUGE bottle of absinthe, and woke up the next morning next to a Brahmin in my bed. She was the most beautiful bovine of them all.

GAH, er, I uh, I probably shouldnt have mentioned that aloud. :blush2:

Apparently some type of demi-god who decided to become a wasteland mailman for some inexplainable reason.

My courier Arnold Layne is a reformed peeping tom from back east. After peeping on the wrong person, he decided it was time to change his ways, but he was already too well known in his neighborhood and started wandering west. Trying to put his past behind him wasn't easy, as he continuously saw easy pickings everywhere he went...And then one day he happened upon a position as courier six, where he would have a life altering event happen to him; and he would put his past back east behind him once and for all, and focus on the man who shot him in the head.

The dude took two bullets to the head. It's not SO unbelievable that he could have amnesia to an extent...

Mako... he was troubled, he couldn't shake his past and what he had done, and, after being chosen to be in charge of the Midwestern Talon Company Regional HQ, forced to ride a desk, the memories began to eat at him, he jumped at the chance to scout the west for future markets, only taking some Lightweight Talon Combat Armor, a Hardened Assault Rifle, and 200 rounds of ammo. On his way he heard rumors about the Legion, and, after some scouting, decided they were inherently bad for business. When he reached the Core Region and explored a bit, he decided to take a look at the Mojave for better prospects, deciding that getting a job at the Mojave Express would be a great way to scout the region without raising suspicion...

My courier when he got shot in the head he lost his memory. He has no Idea who is where he comes from and only knows his name. The only thing he remembers is the job he took with the package and the moment where he got shot. Everything before that is a blur.

I don't recall the second shot.

The fact that you were already established as a courier for the Mojave Express leads me to believe you've already been in the Mojave for a while. That is backed up by the fact that Ulysses, who is a resident of the Mojave and previously resided at Wolfhorn Ranch, had heard of the Courier before the Courier was even assigned to the Platinum Chip.

After serving in the NCR military for almost four years I decided that when my tour was over I would leave the army and become a courier, I recieved the Sierra Madre star for my actions at the first battle of Hoover Dam and just wanted to take some time off and explore the Mojave. Around 2281 I was traveling to the strip to deliver some kind of fancy poker chip to the Lucky 38 when I got ambushed while I was sleeping outside a little town called Goodsprings, and well the rest as they say is history.

In the cutscene? Yeah it's not shown. Though...understandably. I'm pretty sure if you were to get shot twice in the head, you probably wouldn't be concious enough to feel the second shot.

Legate Lanius and the one "psychic" kid at the 188 Trading Post both say you got shot twice though.

Unless he has terrible aim. "I..you...you shot me in the ear. Guys, please. Last wish, don't let this guy kill me? Am I supposed to teach you how to kill me?"

Well, you wouldn't, would you?

Actually thats exactly what it is.

the U.K. is also taking a dip in some rads as the war effected the WHOLE world