Why the Independent ending is the best ending

CT Phipps

Carbon Dated and Proud
The Wild Card ending is the best hope for the REGION as opposed to just New Vegas as a whole.

The big problem with the New California Republic is brought up if you talk to the Doctor at the Airport where he says that NCR is suffering a food crisis. It's overexpanded with too many mouths to feed and it is continuing to expand Eastward. If it successfully annexes the Mojave, then it will suddenly permanently share a border with the Legion and have to defend against them or their fallout when they collapse. They need to garrison the border, pay the troops, provision them, and keep the region occupied ala Iraq while it is suffering from its own immense internal problems. That includes while trying to incorporate all the independent communities of the Mojave into NCR.

The Independent ending or House ending offers the New California Republic an immense reprieve. It adds an army of hundreds (if not thousands) of Securitrons The Securitrons are a payless military force which is entirely capable of patrolling the Mojave border and protecting against Caesar's incrusions as well as dealing with internal security. NCR will not have to shell out a single cap and they can use the resources to build up food sources as well as other infrastructure to protect themselves.

The Independent ending also benefits the region because New Vegas is perfectly functional as a self-sustaining city state tied economically to the towns around it. Its an economic center that has food grown around it but also plenty of economic ties with NCR. NCR doesn't need to rule New Vegas to gamble there as well as get fresh-water and electricity from Hoover Dam as Mister House supplies it. In short, NCR is going to get all the benefits of New Vegas via trade which it would have gotten via conquest.

In terms of geo-politics, the Independent ending also prevents things from getting worse in the region as well. The communities surrounding New Vegas are mostly ambivalent about NCR at best with the Kings, Strip tribes, Brotherhood of Steel, and Boomers all being suspicious of NCR. With an Independent Vegas, none of these groups are going to go to war with NCR or need to be subdued. An Indepedent Vegas can result in a Paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel or at least someone allied with them controlling the Securitron army, preventing the need to massacre them with Mister House or the inevitable breakdown of relations with the BoS and NCR. The Boomers, certainly, aren't joiner types.

Maybe in a generation or two, ties between the groups will allow a united Mojave to work together but first there needs to be a stable economy and ties between the communities.
 
i don't know about entrusting an entire army of securitrons to an AI Securitron called Yesman.

probably why i destroyed the Securitron bunker, and eventually the Dam since Yesman can't be trusted, he can be used since currently he's programmed as a helpful bot but later becomes more assertive by the end.
 
Sawyer confirmed that the assertiveness simply means he only listens to you and that he's not going Skynet. Besides, you're told in the ending slides what happens in the future. The Courier keeps New Vegas free for generations to come.
 
I honestly prefer House to Yes Man. Especially as there isn't only one independent ending. I mean, all endings have some degree of diversity, but Wild Card in particular depends too much on the player. Meanwhile you (more or less) know what you're getting with House. Finally, he's an economical genius, so I think he'll probably spark commerce and development in the area, while setting up a favorable trade relationship with the NCR.
 
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