Alex
Arcane
I find it kind of weird that people try to explain that an "elvis gang" or a "roman soldier faction" in the middle of a nuclear wasteland isn't so implausible. That there might be a way for such groups to happen is besides the point. The point is that they are silly (or, if you prefer, retarded). You could come up with a perfect explanation as to why they exist. It might make perfect sense according to the internal logic of the game; you still made a conscious choice to make a gang based on Elvis Presley. If you didn't want that kind of silliness, you shouldn't have made the group in first place.
I am not even strongly against it; I rather like silliness, although I prefer it without the perceived need to be realistic. I think I would have liked the elvis gang more if they embraced Elvis thoroughly, instead of it just being the clothes and the hairdos. Or you could try to go for the spirit of the original Fallout, in which case I think you shouldn't have an elvis gang in first place. I think, however, the way Fallout: New Vegas did it, where there is lots of silly stuff but it goes out of its way to try to make them plausible is actually a weakness. At the end of the day, you are still silly, but you don't use it to your advantage.
Still, I think this was Obsidian's best game, even though it is full of flaws. The game gives you more to do, to explore and more options to choose than any other they made. And even if the story isn't great, it at least has several way you can influence it, including 4 approaches to the main quest. There are, it is true, lots of things you can complain about in New Vegas, but I think that if you want to argue that New Vegas is overrated, you should start somewhere else than the faction design. If I had a game that mechanically (and by this, I don't mean only combat, but rather gameplay in general) was similar, or at least comparable to Fallout, but its main plot and faction design was shoddy, it would still be quite an accomplishment.
I am not even strongly against it; I rather like silliness, although I prefer it without the perceived need to be realistic. I think I would have liked the elvis gang more if they embraced Elvis thoroughly, instead of it just being the clothes and the hairdos. Or you could try to go for the spirit of the original Fallout, in which case I think you shouldn't have an elvis gang in first place. I think, however, the way Fallout: New Vegas did it, where there is lots of silly stuff but it goes out of its way to try to make them plausible is actually a weakness. At the end of the day, you are still silly, but you don't use it to your advantage.
Still, I think this was Obsidian's best game, even though it is full of flaws. The game gives you more to do, to explore and more options to choose than any other they made. And even if the story isn't great, it at least has several way you can influence it, including 4 approaches to the main quest. There are, it is true, lots of things you can complain about in New Vegas, but I think that if you want to argue that New Vegas is overrated, you should start somewhere else than the faction design. If I had a game that mechanically (and by this, I don't mean only combat, but rather gameplay in general) was similar, or at least comparable to Fallout, but its main plot and faction design was shoddy, it would still be quite an accomplishment.