Ugh highpool.

[Majigato]

I like a harsh game. I actually liked that you can only save one of them. But when one option has the potential for unforgivable obtuseness it gets annoying.

If you choose highpool but you “only” kill off the raiders, put out a burning building, save a dog, and prevent the entire town from going ole faithful; but you failed to treat every patients booboo, fix their every appliance, regrout their bathtubs, realign their chakras and do their taxes for them. Then naturally they all vote for the “f$!k the Rangers” guy...

Anyone else find that irritating?

[Gillsing]

No, that never happened to my Rangers, as they expertly made everything right. Though the people of Highpool were pretty irritating. Like a whole community full of Kathy Lawsons, except without her brains, as I put it in a thread where someone thought she was irritating.

[bunny de fluff]

You are not the only one that think those people are being ungrateful a-hole. Both Highpool and Ag centre, I meant who wrote their dialogues and plots anywhere? It was like we the ranger were the ones taking their protection money and owe them their safety for many years. Talking to them really made me consider leaving both them towns to die.

[ÄmJii]

Well, Rangers caused some commotion in Highpool during Wasteland 1 (it's actually considered canon outcome) of which Highpool's militia leader Sam Bergin can tell you more about... you know, the person right next to the lift you used to enter Highpool.

Quoted from WL Wiki :
https://wasteland.gamepedia.com/Highpool_(Wasteland_2)
Some commotion happened in 2087 when a group of Desert Rangers came through Highpool. "They assisted the population by repairing the water purifier the town's economy depended on at the time, but gained the town settlers' ire after their dealings with Bobby.

Bobby had asked the Desert Rangers to help him find his missing dog Rex. The Desert Rangers found the dog in an underground cave network but were forced to put the dog down when they discovered it had caught rabies and and became hostile to their presence. Bobby did not react well to this resolution and tried to attack the Rangers who might have overreacted to the young man's hostility by returning fire. Soon after the Rangers left Highpool to continue their adventures in the wasteland but the inhabitants would carry on the memories of that day, causing a general dislike of the Desert Rangers."

[red255]

regardless of what different rangers did 20 years ago.
thats not your team.

I've only had them vote for Sam though when I let the underground water thing get destroyed.

[🐈TinyLilAsian🐈]

20 years ago, a group of rangers did kill the kid bobby and his dog out of self defence. I don';t think the town see it as self defence though, . Since the only people who can proof that it was self defence were dead.

all they see was some ranger who was paid to protect them killed a dog and a child in the town.

I can totally see why the whole town would` thinks the rangers are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Their hate for rangers is justify.

[SnapSlav]

Let's get some corrections, cause all these falsehoods are starting to get irritating.

1) It was 15 years ago, not 20 years ago, which may seem like no big deal, but that makes it "more recent" to the residents of Highpool. Certainly almost everyone who was there is still there, just 15 years later.

2) The rangers didn't JUST shoot Rex and Bobby. Angela comments how Highpool had a "delinquent problem" when she was there last, and that it is still an issue when she returns. This is a reference to the NUMBERS of children that the rangers can optionally kill in Highpool in WL1 (in fact, the ONLY enemies for rangers to fight in Highpool in WL1 are kids, a dog, Bobby, more kids, and the Red Ryder after all the kids are killed). So the rangers didn't JUST overreact to a single boy and a single dog. They kinda roughed up the place while they were there.

3) Rex was in a cave hidden away outside of the town when he was put down by the rangers. They had to find this hidden cave- disregarding Bobby's pleas for mercy -venture into it, climb around some slippery rubble and THEN upon finding a rabid Rex shoot the dog. This means that the people didn't know that Rex was rabid, since he was hidden away and only Bobby knew his condition, nor did they even see the act of the rangers being first attacked by Rex when they shot the dog.

4) There's some pretty major spoiler that I won't comment on. But the take away is basically that the townspeople didn't REALLY see what happened at all. Somebody saw something, who told somebody, who told somebody else, etc. Everything was mostly hearsay. So all the hate that the town of Highpool has for the rangers is almost entirely just the rumor mill spinning for 15 years, since they didn't actually see it happen.

When you ask around Highpool in WL2 (if you save it) you can tell that many of the residents aren't really bothered by the rangers that much. It's Bergin who really has it out for the rangers the most, and that's because he's Bobby's uncle, so it's more important to him to hate the rangers than anyone else. Most of the townspeople are completely indifferent to the rangers. They don't see them as saviors or as villains, but the talk of the town has been "rangers bad" for 15 years, so despite being under ranger protection all this time, they still don't see the rangers in an overwhelmingly positive light.

[Majigato]

pff yeah i get the history (of 15yrs ago) but generally current events supersedes all that.

[The Cunning Fox (raZoleg)]

They see you as some a*sholes with guns. Who knows? Maybe you killed those raiders to make yourself their new master?

I'd not trust anyone either. In fact, I'd try to fight both, Rangers and Raiders, while they're at it. Kill them when they're busy. Take their guns. Proclaim "The Greater Duchy of Highpool" and everyone can go f*ck themselves, especially those ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ crazy monks with a giant d!ldo that they pray too.

F*ck the Rangers, they're just like raiders only unrealistically Mary Sue in the plot.

[Gillsing]

Originally posted by razoleg:

In fact, I'd try to fight both, Rangers and Raiders, while they're at it.

Big talk on behalf of a community that can't even stand up to the Wrecking Crew, which is one of the weakest groups of raiders in Arizona. The only ones that are weaker would be the random noob-fodder raiders encountered around the Ranger Citadel.

And no, Rangers are not "just like raiders". With Rangers there's a good chance that they won't kill or oppress innocent civilians.

[The Cunning Fox (raZoleg)]

Originally posted by Gillsing:

Originally posted by razoleg:

In fact, I'd try to fight both, Rangers and Raiders, while they're at it.

Big talk on behalf of a community that can't even stand up to the Wrecking Crew, which is one of the weakest groups of raiders in Arizona. The only ones that are weaker would be the random noob-fodder raiders encountered around the Ranger Citadel.

And no, Rangers are not "just like raiders". With Rangers there's a good chance that they won't kill or oppress innocent civilians.

The game gives you a choice to be so "badass", they send Delta team after you. You get to decide the way the wasteland lives with literally no real consequences. "Good Chance" my ass.

Random cannon fodder raiders are so numerous, that if they had banded together, they'd steamroll any motherf*cker who tires to bring "order" to the wasteland.


You can kill the entire Highpool, women and children, and Vargas says "Yeah? Oh... okay... well, like... don't make that mistake again".

And what exactly is "innocent"? What are "innocent people"? It's like saying that the Earth is always dark if you've never seen the sun before. Innocence is lack of knowledge about other people's lives, nothing more. And it is like beauty - in the eye of the beholder.


No, they are raiders, only they don't see it. Kind of like USA is the opressor of the world, yet they see themselves as "Leaders of the Free World". Rangers were born out of strife and raidership (they literally took the prison and kicked eveyone out, again, like the USA did with Native Americans).

I've seen this bs way too many times and it's always the same. In fact, the weakest part of the game is the plot. Even Bethesda gives you moral choices, here it's just "be bad or be good, hurr durr, cause the policemen can't be bad and their intentions are to keep peace an uh... prosperity...". In a f*cking nuclear holocaust where the only rule is violence. Yeah, right.

If anything, Wecking crew are at least honest in their intentions (and so deserve more respect), but Rangers are exactly the same, only they mindf*ck you into beliveing they want to "pruhtegdt n sherve", while really they just want resources.

They wandered into a random town and shot a kid with a f*cking BB gun cause they though it was threatening. I'd blow the motherf*ckers out of the air if I ever saw them coming close to Highpool.

What the game is trying to sell you here is that feeling of "We're the shepherd and the sheep hate us, but we take it cause we stronk!", just like when the Middle Eastern children don't want democracy delivered to their doorstep in the form of JDAMs and so the US goes in anyways, cause "Muh Freeduhms". But Bill Hicks and Kubrick said it much better than me.

Originally posted by Stanley Kubrick:

Private Eightball: Personally, I think, uh... they don't really want to be involved in this war. You know, I mean... they sort of took away our freedom and gave it to the, to the gookers, you know. But they don't want it. They'd rather be alive than free, I guess. Poor dumb bastards.

[Gillsing]

Originally posted by razoleg:

The game gives you a choice to be so "badass", they send Delta team after you. You get to decide the way the wasteland lives with literally no real consequences. "Good Chance" my ass.

Yes, that's a "good chance" compared to raiders. I never made the choice to kill any of the civilians in Highpool, and I'd bet that the vast majority of players also didn't kill civilians in Highpool, or even just let it be destroyed if they went there before Ag Center. And if any of the NPC Rangers had killed someone in Highpool during the last 14 years I'm sure we would've heard about it from the Highpoolers. Meanwhile, in 'Happy' Valley, people die all the time. Because that's raiders for you.

[The Cunning Fox (raZoleg)]

I'd rather fight an honest wolf, than trust a snake on my side. But that's me.

Highpool are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, but I get where they're coming from. You can paint it however you like - but a tank is a tank, it's not gonna turn into a firetruck cause it's all red. Same with Rangers and Raiders - there is no real difference (apart from that, which is artificially imposed upon them through a weak story). Just giving some random dude from the wastes the ability to have the power to kill your entire village is already bad enough. Besides, you wouldn't accept help from anyone in their shoes. Who knows what the Rangers might want in return? We fixed your pipes, now give us all your women and children 12 and over. The women will be our concubines and the children - our conscripts for dangerous missions. The risk is too high. I'd not let them in.

But kill off two birds with one stone while they're fighting? Hell yeah!


Any military order (like the Rangers) is built on subordination and violence. The more skilled warriors rule the order. One day Vargas will die, and some scumbag will take his place. And, since you've signed some bs agreement you have to work for him (cause if you don't - they'll murder you conveniently placing you on their list of enemies, justifying it by however they want, like that you've helped Red Scorps at some point). Rangers are a gang with no real rules, no government, no constitution, nothing of the kind, but a lot of weapons. They are "police" without a state, which is like a grenade without a pin. They are an enforcing organ, but what do they enforce? Their own version of justice? What are the borders and defining principles of that? A military codex from long ago that only functions within an entire system of government and old world order? That's like trying to build a snowman in July - it will melt and crumble, no matter how refined the shape is or how cold the snow. You have to have a climate for these things, and this climate isn't created by paramilitary organisations without a goal other than "For Greater Justice! (take off every zig)".


Take NCR from Fallout. Or Caesar's Legion. Why are they feasible? Because underneath all the paramiliatry BS there is an idea, a government and a principle. They are totally viable. Rangers are just last remnants of the old world, slowly dying without purpose, gathering resources and thinking that that would help them while their main problem is the lack of direction.

[Gillsing]

I don't judge the Rangers by what they could do, I judge them by what they actually do. If I judged people by what they could do, the whole world would be full of thieves and murderers. But most people don't actually steal and murder, because that's generally not socially acceptable. Unless it's the government doing it, but that's the price you may have to pay for not living in a society ruled by local warlords and the like, who don't have to care about what's 'socially acceptable'.

Originally posted by razoleg:

But kill off two birds with one stone while they're fighting? Hell yeah!

But why would Highpool want to kill off Highpool and the Wrecking Crew? Because that'd be the result when 4-7 Rangers realise that Highpool is also an enemy to be defeated, and not a vibrant community to be protected. And that's just a small group of Rangers, not the whole lot of them. Even if you managed to kill them you wouldn't have killed the entire 'bird'. And you'd better hope that the all of Highpool is on your side, and that no one would rat you out to the Rangers afterwards. I'd rather take the chance that the Rangers wouldn't behave like raiders.

[The Cunning Fox (raZoleg)]

Originally posted by Gillsing:

I don't judge the Rangers by what they could do, I judge them by what they actually do. If I judged people by what they could do, the whole world would be full of thieves and murderers. But most people don't actually steal and murder, because that's generally not socially acceptable. Unless it's the government doing it, but that's the price you may have to pay for not living in a society ruled by local warlords and the like, who don't have to care about what's 'socially acceptable'.

Originally posted by razoleg:

But kill off two birds with one stone while they're fighting? Hell yeah!

But why would Highpool want to kill off Highpool and the Wrecking Crew? Because that'd be the result when 4-7 Rangers realise that Highpool is also an enemy to be defeated, and not a vibrant community to be protected. And that's just a small group of Rangers, not the whole lot of them. Even if you managed to kill them you wouldn't have killed the entire 'bird'. And you'd better hope that the all of Highpool is on your side, and that no one would rat you out to the Rangers afterwards. I'd rather take the chance that the Rangers wouldn't behave like raiders.

Why not? I'd kill the rangers as someone from Highpool, then send their heads back to Vargas as a message. He can go f*ck himself if he wants water (judging by the amount of oases in the desert - it's not a problem).

Don't touch us and we won't touch you. You have to keep in mind that when it's a lawless desert, what people could do is what they will eventually will do. Only this time - you won't have the power to resist them.

I doubt Rangers would send anybody to fight Highpool, unless they want to be stabbed in the back. If they did, I'd keep a lookout in the desert so he can go and tell the raiders they can kill the Rangers @ citadel whilst they're sieging Highpool. That would force the rangers to retreat, whilst I'd go and screw over the Raiders stronghold while the main force is out dying at the citadel. If the Rangers win - they won't be hard to finish off. If the raiders win - likewise (especially considering how many times I could ambush their beaten force in the desert).

[Rob'sEvilTwin]

I never save Highpool. ****em :D