So, I don’t think anyone has made a thread like this, or if they did, I couldn’t find it by searching. What the thread IS is mainly two things:
1) my argument against a Good Karma Courier
2) Hopefully a discussion about what the canon ending (faction and karma) likely was, and I’ll give hints as to my inkling (meaning I’ll state my opinion flat out).
So first of all, in terms of Karma, I can’t see a Good Courier even being viable. My reason for this is the nature of their injury: brain damage.
Let’s look at people who have survived brain trauma akin to bullets; first, Gabby Giffords, shot in the head by a maniac with a rifle. Now, going into Gabby Gifford’s story, it’s important to note that speech in the brain is governed by two sections: Broca’s Area and Wehrnicke’s Area. It’s not important which does which for the purposes of the thread, simply that damaging them can result in either not understanding/recognizing words but being able to speak, or recognizing words but not being able to express oneself verbally without significant speech therapy. The latter happened to Giffords.
Her personality was untouched, miraculously, and she was still the same woman, but her language, her ability to speak, were horribly damaged and required a large amount of speech training to fix.
The Courier speaks just fine (we think), so why is this relevant? Well, it ties into my argument as to why the Courier’s brain damage is more like my second example: Phineas Gage. We all likely know the story; railroad worker tamps some gunpowder and an iron rod flies through his skull. Ouch. What happened to Gage, you may not know; his personality became erratic. He could speak fine, unlike Giffords, but his brains were scrambled. Friends described him as quick tempered and easily distracted, not the man they once knew.
I believe the Courier is more like Gage than Giffords. Should Benny shoot the Courier once, then somehow fuck up the lethal temple shot when they’re on the ground (which I suppose he does, considering that New Vegas even happens), they can speak, but wouldn’t it stand to reason that the round knocked something loose? Would the Courier really become Santa Claus of the Wastes, or would they rather become like Gage, quick to distract and quick to anger? In that vein, we have to use another psych example: Doc Mitchell’s eval.
The Trait system in NV, as you know, is in the form of a psych eval. Now we’re gonna use me as an example. I have Borderline Personality Disorder. There’s a bunch of shit that involves abandonment issues and such, but we only care about one aspect of my disorder: violence. Some Borderline people self harm, others get violent fits of rage. The really lucky ones, like myself, experience both and become actual sociopaths off their meds.
Now, while the Courier is free to choose no Traits, say they have an underlying condition. Wouldn’t the bullets emphasize that shit? How would the rounds to the head impact someone who’s already suffering from likely untreated mental illness? Wouldn’t it stand to reason that the hostile dialogue options, and perhaps even Terrifying Presence, are canon, simply due to that?
Furthermore, the ending... as hostile as they are, I’d argue House is canon, or Yes Man. I say those two simply because, in the case of House, a “Chaotic Neutral” or “Lawful Evil” Courier is like to side with the man who makes him rich. I see Yes Man as the other canon option because, well, if the Courier does have an underlying mental illness made worse by being shot, it wouldn’t surprise me if they killed high-and-mighty House for the sin of being a pompous dick.
In any event, those are my theories. What did you think of my logic? What are your theories as to a canon Karma and base game ending?
1) my argument against a Good Karma Courier
2) Hopefully a discussion about what the canon ending (faction and karma) likely was, and I’ll give hints as to my inkling (meaning I’ll state my opinion flat out).
So first of all, in terms of Karma, I can’t see a Good Courier even being viable. My reason for this is the nature of their injury: brain damage.
Let’s look at people who have survived brain trauma akin to bullets; first, Gabby Giffords, shot in the head by a maniac with a rifle. Now, going into Gabby Gifford’s story, it’s important to note that speech in the brain is governed by two sections: Broca’s Area and Wehrnicke’s Area. It’s not important which does which for the purposes of the thread, simply that damaging them can result in either not understanding/recognizing words but being able to speak, or recognizing words but not being able to express oneself verbally without significant speech therapy. The latter happened to Giffords.
Her personality was untouched, miraculously, and she was still the same woman, but her language, her ability to speak, were horribly damaged and required a large amount of speech training to fix.
The Courier speaks just fine (we think), so why is this relevant? Well, it ties into my argument as to why the Courier’s brain damage is more like my second example: Phineas Gage. We all likely know the story; railroad worker tamps some gunpowder and an iron rod flies through his skull. Ouch. What happened to Gage, you may not know; his personality became erratic. He could speak fine, unlike Giffords, but his brains were scrambled. Friends described him as quick tempered and easily distracted, not the man they once knew.
I believe the Courier is more like Gage than Giffords. Should Benny shoot the Courier once, then somehow fuck up the lethal temple shot when they’re on the ground (which I suppose he does, considering that New Vegas even happens), they can speak, but wouldn’t it stand to reason that the round knocked something loose? Would the Courier really become Santa Claus of the Wastes, or would they rather become like Gage, quick to distract and quick to anger? In that vein, we have to use another psych example: Doc Mitchell’s eval.
The Trait system in NV, as you know, is in the form of a psych eval. Now we’re gonna use me as an example. I have Borderline Personality Disorder. There’s a bunch of shit that involves abandonment issues and such, but we only care about one aspect of my disorder: violence. Some Borderline people self harm, others get violent fits of rage. The really lucky ones, like myself, experience both and become actual sociopaths off their meds.
Now, while the Courier is free to choose no Traits, say they have an underlying condition. Wouldn’t the bullets emphasize that shit? How would the rounds to the head impact someone who’s already suffering from likely untreated mental illness? Wouldn’t it stand to reason that the hostile dialogue options, and perhaps even Terrifying Presence, are canon, simply due to that?
Furthermore, the ending... as hostile as they are, I’d argue House is canon, or Yes Man. I say those two simply because, in the case of House, a “Chaotic Neutral” or “Lawful Evil” Courier is like to side with the man who makes him rich. I see Yes Man as the other canon option because, well, if the Courier does have an underlying mental illness made worse by being shot, it wouldn’t surprise me if they killed high-and-mighty House for the sin of being a pompous dick.
In any event, those are my theories. What did you think of my logic? What are your theories as to a canon Karma and base game ending?
