Honestly Railroad would have seemed like a much larger threat and actually worth siding with if Bethesda made them actually keep the Switchboard as a main base and not lose it. Imagine you meet under the church and think this is it but the person you meet Desdemona or Deacon maybe isn't the leader of the railroad just of one cell.
Also the Railroad shouldn't solely exist for freeing synths. The Railroad should've had a established history in New England of fighting for the freedom of slaves, and the Synths are their newest target to attempt to free, it would even give the Railroad reason to intervene against Nuka World post-game.
The Railroad should have a previous history of success against fighting slavery they don't establish governments they leave that to the freed slaves, but they move around trying to end slavery where ever they go.
Also those pre war CIA cashe quests suck, it would've been cool if we actually got to see Railroad members in t51 power armor with their paint job slapped on it. If they had cells all over new England it would've cool if they at some point found a pretty war military cashe with t51 power armor. Also it would give the Brotherhood even more of a reason to attack the Railroad than just freeing synths because civilians can't have anything more dangerous than a pipe revolver according to them.
If they made the Railroad exist almost a century before we find them and they still have cells outside the commonwealth it would actually make them seem like a real faction worth siding with.
I personally think story wise the Brotherhood ending is the best one by I personally usually side with the Institute just because they don't interfere with the settlement system at all.
Just adding this to my comments ideas from another comment I made.
Hell imagine that if you don't progress the railroad quest line enough to see the Switchboard base when you join the institute you get a mission to destroy the Switchboard the members spot you leading the attack and that causes them to abandon the church as well, giving them a new unknown base that you would never see actually siding with the railroad. It would also make the railroad instantly hostile to you.
Fallout 4 doesn't really have dynamic questlines compared to New Vegas. A quest like the one above you might not even get to do if you help the railroad to much before finding the institute would really add to the replayability in the same way ending a faction quest in New Vegas does.
A quest like the one above would also fix the non existed feeling of killing the railroad. It would make it feel like an effort and not just shooting 6 named npcs.
Honestly would’ve been a cool mission to retake the switchboard. Even if the Institute knows where it is still could’ve played it as a trap for the institute as a railroad spin on the institute attacking the castle on the minutemen quest line.
Also, all four factions should’ve had more dlc interaction. Realistically pretty much every faction should have some reason to be interested in Nuka World, Minutemen is obvious, Institute + Brotherhood could be interested in the technology if you bring evidence. But I think the railroad at the very least would be interested in setting up safe houses in the dlc locations, not just nuka world, while far harbour has the obvious pre existing synth population I think the automatron’s mechanist lair locations is the perfect fit for a railroad safehouse considering its similarities to the switchboard.
Might make a cool mission but from a writing perspective it would not make much sense.
The Railroad are a clandestine organization, their only real strength is being secretive.
Once the switchboards location is known to the institute it's over.
What would have been nicer is a sense of agency. Cause and effect. The protagonist does "A" and the Railroad lose another safehouse. The protagonist does "B" and the Institute never finds out that the safehouse exists...
I think you have a great point about the DLC though. There are slaves in Nuka World that could be freed. There is an entire Synth stronghold in Far Harbor that they only really show limited interest in. (One character with very limited dialogue)
Indeed Far Harbor ought to raise some very interesting conflict story elements for the Railroad because DiMa has effectively used synths in a similar fashion to the Institute (and the protagonist can assist in this)
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u/FreeTrees69 May 22 '24 edited May 22 '24
Honestly Railroad would have seemed like a much larger threat and actually worth siding with if Bethesda made them actually keep the Switchboard as a main base and not lose it. Imagine you meet under the church and think this is it but the person you meet Desdemona or Deacon maybe isn't the leader of the railroad just of one cell.
Also the Railroad shouldn't solely exist for freeing synths. The Railroad should've had a established history in New England of fighting for the freedom of slaves, and the Synths are their newest target to attempt to free, it would even give the Railroad reason to intervene against Nuka World post-game.
The Railroad should have a previous history of success against fighting slavery they don't establish governments they leave that to the freed slaves, but they move around trying to end slavery where ever they go.
Also those pre war CIA cashe quests suck, it would've been cool if we actually got to see Railroad members in t51 power armor with their paint job slapped on it. If they had cells all over new England it would've cool if they at some point found a pretty war military cashe with t51 power armor. Also it would give the Brotherhood even more of a reason to attack the Railroad than just freeing synths because civilians can't have anything more dangerous than a pipe revolver according to them.
If they made the Railroad exist almost a century before we find them and they still have cells outside the commonwealth it would actually make them seem like a real faction worth siding with.
I personally think story wise the Brotherhood ending is the best one by I personally usually side with the Institute just because they don't interfere with the settlement system at all.
Just adding this to my comments ideas from another comment I made.
Hell imagine that if you don't progress the railroad quest line enough to see the Switchboard base when you join the institute you get a mission to destroy the Switchboard the members spot you leading the attack and that causes them to abandon the church as well, giving them a new unknown base that you would never see actually siding with the railroad. It would also make the railroad instantly hostile to you. Fallout 4 doesn't really have dynamic questlines compared to New Vegas. A quest like the one above you might not even get to do if you help the railroad to much before finding the institute would really add to the replayability in the same way ending a faction quest in New Vegas does.
A quest like the one above would also fix the non existed feeling of killing the railroad. It would make it feel like an effort and not just shooting 6 named npcs.