BarbadosSlim said:
Okay, what is up with Fallout two making the desendents of Vault 13 being a bunch of spear-chucking heathens in just 80 years time? That makes no sense. You'd think they would trade for guns and ammo at some point. And why can't they just go on hunting parties to eat game? Why does the village have to rely on "you" to find a god damn G.E.C.K.?
80 years is NOT a short time. Just think about it - how many things have happened between, say, 1910 and 1990? A lot of events transpired, entire empires grew and fell, two world wars and a lot of smaller ones...
Seems to me like you haven't thought on the issue at all or checked your sources. The Vaulties-gone-tribal plot device was quite possible a deliberate design choice to fit in with the dark irony of the Fallout world.
Why do I say that? Examine the storyline. Every horror the Vault Dweller faced in Fallout 1 was a direct product of science and technology, from the very foundation of the Fallout world (a world destroyed by nuclear power) through mutants (radiation from nuclear bombs and FEV) to the Master and the Unity (born from the man-made FEV-II virus). Then there is the Brotherhood, a xenophobic, feudal organization that is obsessed with technology and refuses to use it to help non-Brotherhood humans. Given these experiences it's not a stretch to infer that the Vault Dweller came to the conclusion that technology itself was the problem and so he chose to create a community free of this (perceived) evil - Arroyo. Apparently, he had no problem convincing others to his idea, even Vault 13 people (who probably also saw reason in his words - after all, the fate of an entire Vault once relied on a single control chip, making the humans slaves of machines) and so, he chose a secluded, remote location rich in wildlife and fertile ground to create the settlement.
Of course, he couldn't envision that after two generations the region would be struck by a horrible drought, one that cannot be mitigated by the village people. Heck, even the people of Modoc, a medium sized farming town couldn't cope with the drought, so how would a small tribe do it? That's the reason the Chosen One was sent for the GECK, as a sort of last, desperate measure.
Now, where's the irony? It's pretty simple. All of the other communities, from NCR to Vault City, from Redding to Broken Hills, suffer from various social ailments, be it drugs, totalitarianism, democratic sluggishness, lawlessness etc. All of these problems can be traced back to technology. Shady Sands is a pretty clear example - from a self-sufficent, reclusive settlement where everyone works for the common good, it turned into a capitol of a Republic, complete with ever present trigger happy police, biased laws (e.g. Vortis' Holding Center, which is a perfectly legal front for slaving operations, just outside city gates, simply because Vortis has money), shady deals with crime families to pressure other cities into joining the fledgling Republic and corrupt right wing politicians. It's a pretty clear example of how technological advancement can also corrupt a community.
Arroyo, on the other hand, is a self-sufficent community with little to no crime, where everyone knows each other, is accountable to everyone and the entire community works hard for the common good. What's the noticeable part of that? Lack of technology. Arroyo inhabitants are tribals and yet they lead happier, safer lives than most of NCR citizens or other wastelanders.
It's perfectly logical.
And what is up with the original vault dweller leaving Vault 12 in F1 going North? Why couldn't he just go to the BOS?
See the previous point.
And what is up with San Francisco? How come they aren't a major player in wasteland politics? How come they don't really do anything? That's lame....
The Shi simply have an isolationist policy. They don't bother the wasteland and the wasteland doesn't bother them (mostly).
