What's with the lack of Evil-aligned characters?

[Shiro]

So it never bothered me - or at least I never noticed - until I rolled-up a Neutral/Evil styled character, but why are ALL companions of either Neutral or Good alignment? With Fallout 3, you usually had a few options of companions regardless of your character's intended alignment. In this game the closest that you get to any characters havin any alignment is that Boone and Veronica won't travel with you if you hurt their respective factions (heck, Boone won't even give me current character the time of day); but those are neutral and good factions, respectively.

So what's with this game and the lack of recruitable Evil-aligned characters?

[Mauno]

Cut content & the fact that people generally don't like ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

I'm pretty sure Obsidian would've created a Legion companion as well, had they been given more development time, but an actually evil companion? I doubt that, honestly.

At least the robots don't care about your morality.

Originally posted by Shiro:

but those are neutral and good factions, respectively.

More like "kind of evil" and "evil".

[Taxation is still theft]

not to mention how much content was cut from the "Evil" point of view if obsidian had a little more time they could've released a much better game

[hghwolf]

I... don`t think those are the right descriptors. NCR is "uncaring" but not actively evil as such. Lawful Neutral is the D&D moniker I believe. Well there IS that imperialism...

Pretty much the same goes for the Brotherhood. They aren`t actively out to get you so "Evil" again doesn`t apply.

[Taxation is still theft]

Originally posted by hghwolf:

I... don`t think those are the right descriptors. NCR is "uncaring" but not actively evil as such. Lawful Neutral is the D&D moniker I believe. Well there IS that imperialism...

Pretty much the same goes for the Brotherhood. They aren`t actively out to get you so "Evil" again doesn`t apply.

if that was derected towards me i was speaking of the legion

[hghwolf]

Originally posted by darkhunter3666:

Originally posted by hghwolf:

I... don`t think those are the right descriptors. NCR is "uncaring" but not actively evil as such. Lawful Neutral is the D&D moniker I believe. Well there IS that imperialism...

Pretty much the same goes for the Brotherhood. They aren`t actively out to get you so "Evil" again doesn`t apply.

if that was derected towards me i was speaking of the legion

Nope, Mauno. Your post went up while I was writing that.

[Samuel]

Maybe they were trying to go for a "Good Guy Courier" kind of setup where nobody's a ♥♥♥♥.

[Shiro]

Originally posted by ♥KenitaTheConfidentFox♥:

Maybe they were trying to go for a "Good Guy Courier" kind of setup where nobody's a ♥♥♥♥.

Except that would go against the philosophy behind every-other Fallout game before this. Your character is a blank slate, he is what you make him. He isn't inherently good or evil, making only the choices you make for him. Now granted, the canon in later games might state that the player character from a previous game took specific routes, but the game itself lets you do anything.

[Mauno]

Originally posted by hghwolf:

-snip-

I guess, yeah. They may not be actively evil, but they're still total arses.

[hghwolf]

Originally posted by Mauno:

Originally posted by hghwolf:

-snip-

I guess, yeah. They may not be actively evil, but they're still total arses.

No argument from me there.

[Vita, Mortis, Careo]

To me, the faction alignment was by far the most interesting thing about the game. There was no "good" faction. You had all three neutral alignments represented along with an evil alignment, forcing my character to think long and hard about choices.

NCR (Lawful Neutral)
Mr. House (True Neutral)
Independent Vegas (Chaotic Neutral)
Caesar's Legion (Lawful Evil)

[Boss]

Originally posted by Two Bears:

To me, the faction alignment was by far the most interesting thing about the game. There was no "good" faction. You had all three neutral alignments represented along with an evil alignment, forcing my character to think long and hard about choices.

NCR (Lawful Neutral)
Mr. House (True Neutral)
Independent Vegas (Chaotic Neutral)
Caesar's Legion (Lawful Evil)

Exactly. Everything is more gray than black&white. It's only because we can't visit a Legion village that they seem so evil.

Nevertheless a Legion companion would still be a very welcome addition to the game, but like that Legion village it's just one of the things that (sadly) was rushed.

I prefer Obsidian's gray moral choices and factions/characters over Bethesda's black&white approach. Bethesda usually sticks with the default evil&good factions and choices. The Pitt was a nice exception though.

[Vita, Mortis, Careo]

Originally posted by Bas:

Originally posted by Two Bears:

To me, the faction alignment was by far the most interesting thing about the game. There was no "good" faction. You had all three neutral alignments represented along with an evil alignment, forcing my character to think long and hard about choices.

NCR (Lawful Neutral)
Mr. House (True Neutral)
Independent Vegas (Chaotic Neutral)
Caesar's Legion (Lawful Evil)

Exactly. Everything is more gray than black&white. It's only because we can't visit a Legion village that they seem so evil.

Nevertheless a Legion companion would still be a very welcome addition to the game, but like that Legion village it's just one of the things that (sadly) was rushed.

I prefer Obsidian's gray moral choices and factions/characters over Bethesda's black&white approach. Bethesda usually sticks with the default evil&good factions and choices. The Pitt was a nice exception though.

Yeah, Bethesda's black and white morality leave a lot to be desired. However, I also agree that the moment of decision in The Pitt DLC was absolutely amazing; one of the best I have ever seen in gaming. It was truly a diamond in the rough.

I also agree about the evil followers, but I can understand it through story. Ultimately, you're working to sacrifice the quality of life of the individual for the sake of order, which probably won't make you a popular figure. Given the amount of backstabbing, deceit and general douchebaggery that you have to commit in the course of the Legion playthrough, it stands to reason that followers probably wouldn't want to be your friend. And given the type of person that you have to become in the process, the player character probably wouldn't care either.

[Dosbilliam, Boring but Practical]

Originally posted by Two Bears:

To me, the faction alignment was by far the most interesting thing about the game. There was no "good" faction. You had all three neutral alignments represented along with an evil alignment, forcing my character to think long and hard about choices.

NCR (Lawful Neutral)
Mr. House (True Neutral)
Independent Vegas (Chaotic Neutral)
Caesar's Legion (Lawful Evil)

Spoken like a classic nerd, and I agree fully. Aside from that, I enjoyed the Legion playthrough I had, not for the rampant slaughter of people I like (BoS, mostly) but because of the wildly different view of the Mojave you have during the quests...it's less "protect the people" and more "destroy the nonbelievers." :D

[Milonator]

well raul doesnt care who you side with but hes not evil so to say...