I feel like I'm the only one who notices that Alexander, the gun runner, and his guards are the only people in the Mojave who regularly change clothes. They cycle through the mercy clothes. I haven't seen any other characters do this. They all wear the same outfits throughout the whole game(unless it's quest related or when you manually change companions armor). Why are they the only ones who change clothes?

The other thing is the whole platinum chip delivery. Nash talks like they were offered a small fortune to deliver it, but never specifies the exact amount. Later on when you meet Mr. House, he says he'll pay you four times the original amount which would be 1000 caps. So, the original amount was 250. That isn't a lot at all.

Who would take that offer? Even if there was no obvious danger, you'd still have to trek around the whole Mojave(not in a direct line either what with all the obstacles). Doesn't seem like its worth the effort when you can earn just as much or even more if you scavenged through a building or two. Hell, if you escorted someone down the street in freeside, you'd get 200. A short jog and maybe having to shoot one or two unarmed junkies vs trekking all over the Mojave. I wonder why the ME took such a low offer.

I guess it's related to how Bethesda(yes I know they didn't make NV) has trouble with money in games.

"oh you cleared out all the deathclaws in the quarry? here's a couple hundred bucks"
"you like this sniper here? it's 11,000 caps"

How do the gun runners stay in business with prices like that? Only the NCR and the courier are the only real customers. I mostly just use them to unload my loot since the vendor has 8000 caps and it's easy to even out with ammo. Realistically in "my world" they wouldn't make much profit and might even lose some.

Wouldn't it have been 250 caps per item being delivered, so 250 caps for the dud items like the pair of dice etc., too, once Nash took his commission for each item (assuming it was commission-based and not a separate payment) that wouldn't be a bad sum at all, really.

I've literally never noticed that Alexander changes clothes in the way you've described, learn something new, eh.

Yeah i have to agree with Hitch, sure the courier wouldnt have been paid much at all, but there were dud items sent out as well and therefore you add all the pay together and you get a nice little bundle there.
As for why your character did the job, well you gotta think your living on the road being a courier so you have no house to go home to(at least in theory) because your always on the road. Pay is fuck all, so your probably living out of hotels most of your time. Food and water are relatively cheap depending on where you buy it. Also add to the fact, your probably one of the more experienced couriers out there since you were just below Ulysses name on the original list, so your character wouldnt really be a stranger to violence. Plus you did the chip job it without a caravan or bodyguard, so you must have been under the impression:
"So, Im getting paid to go to vegas free of charge and deliver some rich guys small package? Sweet!"
This is also assuming the securitrons would have let you in on sight of the chip.Which in all seriousness, why wouldnt they? House would want his chip bad. You would get in free to a place that many people dont get to see in their lives, and run the chance of making yourself a small fortune in the process in the casinos.
I mean all in all it looks like it would be a pretty great job. Simple, easy, and almost without flaw...were it not for benny.

The courier isn't necessarily "skilled" because he/she was right behind Ulysses on the list. The list was probably of who was available. When you start out, your stats are shit so that means they were shit before the start of the game(and Ulysses' stats are very high). The trek would have been difficult.

With low starting stats, that means low barter. Low barter means food and water is relatively expensive considering the courier would be paid chump change. I don't know Nash's wages or how much the ME makes, but it can't be much if he jumps at 250. Sure altogether the amount might be decent, but the risk and reward isn't really even. During the time of delivery, the convicts already broke out, the quarry was infested with deathclaws, primm was raided, and Nippon was likely being burned. Most of the hazards would be known so it doesn't make sense why anyone would willingly make that dangerous trek.

You'd still have a much easier time looting a few buildings than making that trek for what I would assume is half(or even less) the original payment.

It sort of sounds like they don't make much in general, but even so that's an obviously hazardous job. Nash should have pushed for more caps. Hazardous conditions mean it costs more. That's basic logic.

mabye mr house is just a cheap bastard so he thinks its a small fortune when it just nothing

House is a cheap bastard, but he doesn't say it was a lot for the job. Nash did. House refuses to go over 1250 for the chip even though he collects untold amounts from the casinos(and other strip businesses) and doesn't spend a cap on anything. No idea why he hoards caps when he has nothing to spend them on.

ZombieRedNeck wrote:

"So, Im getting paid to go to vegas free of charge and deliver some rich guys small package? Sweet!"

This is also assuming the securitrons would have let you in on sight of the chip.

That's the answer to your question. You need 2,000 caps to enter the strip, you get 250 just for taking a chip (a weightless item) to your original destination, and you also will get let in without being credit checked.

Meaning you can loot places on the way just like you keep saying.

Looting + Free money + No credit check = Good deal.

Let's not forget that anyone intercepting you is bordering on the impossible because only a handful of people have enough resources to pull that off in the Fallout universe.

Jstalin56 wrote:

mabye mr house is just a cheap bastard so he thinks its a small fortune when it just nothing

I am pretty sure Yes Man said something about House spending 825.000 caps alone looking for the chip in 2282 alone. I don't think that makes him cheap.

Wertologist wrote:

I feel like I'm the only one who notices that Alexander, the gun runner, and his guards are the only people in the Mojave who regularly change clothes. They cycle through the mercy clothes. I haven't seen any other characters do this. They all wear the same outfits throughout the whole game(unless it's quest related or when you manually change companions armor). Why are they the only ones who change clothes?

The Alexander gang's change in clothes are probably due to an oversight by Obsidian. I think nobody in the Wasteland (except the guys on the strip maybe) would bother spending money on more than one set of clothes. The Wasteland Settler outfit is supposed to represent most people living in the wasteland, and that outfit is literally just a rag.

Wertologist wrote:

The other thing is the whole platinum chip delivery. Nash talks like they were offered a small fortune to deliver it, but never specifies the exact amount. Later on when you meet Mr. House, he says he'll pay you four times the original amount which would be 1000 caps. So, the original amount was 250. That isn't a lot at all.

Well, 250 caps is alot for most in the Wasteland. Not everybody are blessed with super combat prowess and are capable of carrying 80 different guns while completing a shitton of high-paying mercernary work. I mean, the Hostelters (or however it's spelled) spent months gathering 200 caps, and they are quite wealthy. Also, the Courier's package was one out of six. That is 1500 caps.

Isn´t Ulysses telling something about the Courier being in reno? I mean you don´t know anything about your past, just pieces and Ulysses knows you and tells you some stuff, correct me if i´m wrong, has a long time since i played lonesome road

In the beginning of the game, your stats are as low as every settler. If you could carry all that crap then so could they.

If 250 makes you wealthy, then all anyone would have to do is loot a few buildings then be considered rich. Nash probably doesn't pay couriers much judging by the cheap crap you start with. So let's imagine you make about half of each payment. Most of that goes to food, water, and shelter. You wouldn't be left with much. Nash says it was a high paying job and if 200 caps means you're rich, then most customers could only pay very little. So most jobs wouldn't even cover the cost of supplies.

Ulysses is a confusing bastard. He knows who you are. You unknowingly delivered a detonator from the legion(an assumption from Ulysses) to the divide. After you left, the detonator caused the divide to become what you see in the dlc. Ulysses blames you and chases you all over creation then waits for you at the divide.

So he blames the messenger for unknowingly delivering death. He liked the divide, but still follows and supports the legion, the people who killed his own people and caused the divide to turn to hell, and decides to blame you. You, a simple courier who didn't even know what was in the package from the legion. He puts all the blame on you rather than the people who are actually responsible and then still supports them.

He's a contradictory character. He says he won't try to kill you, but sets up situations where you could die then tries to kill you when you meet. He's all cryptic and says it's not about revenge, but it so obviously is.

This is unrelated to the initial post, but I think he's a horribly written character and don't understand why he gets so much praise.

well i didnt like mr house so i kill him on every game play and feel good when i see him in the flesh before he dies

I would never take a fallout world/elder scrolls world economy at face seeing as it only really applies to you, for instance oblivion and skyrim beggars can eat for a day with a single coin iv yet to find that meal.
As for looting buildings not everyone is a god king at level one like the player so the populace tend to stay away from dangerous places as they don't have quick loads and saves.

Ulysses in all his longwindedness and love for the words indeed blames you for destroying the divide , saying that he ''liked'' it I feel is a bit of a understatement he talks of it as a Mecca with out bear or bull a place he could of started over a new happy life and you unwitting took that away via a icbm detonator that remotely linked to the silos computers , The detonator was from Navarro the coureir was delivering on the order of the Ncr .

Revenge was never his goal he wanted the world to sort you out at first then heard you were still alive.Invites you he does via radio signal to see your former home.Bombing the NCR and the legion is his goal as he feels both ideologies are wrong by crippling the bears supply lines and caging the bull leaving them to starve, he feels the bear and bull are still stuck in the old world Ideologies in a world that no longer needs them .

he never set up any hostile situations thats all the inhabitants of the divide.The player decided to see what was going on in the divide you could of left at any time heck you hear in conversations how much of a hell hole the divide is its ultra dangerous even he gives you a warning in graffiti in game that says ''go home courier six ''.

But I'm a Platypus so what do I know

it's still a case of him blaming the messenger. The saying goes "don't shoot the messenger". Someone as smart as him should know better.

Sure he says it's not about revenge, but it obviously is. He had an obvious personal vendetta on you, followed you all over, then tried to lure you to your death.

I didn't mean he set those traps. The marked men obviously did that. I'm saying he sent you through all that crap to get to him when he could have just waited for you to pick up the platinum chip.

If memory serves me correct, he aimed a missile at the ncr and not the legion. He still speaks fondly of the legion and shows he still has loyalty. He does say they aren't that great, but he still likes them even after they killed his people.

As for looting, look at the good springs school. Got some decent loot and is only guarded by things you could kill with your bare hands. Not every building is a death trap. You don't need to be a god to scavenge them. At the start of the game, you have arguably the same stats as most people. If you can loot low level buildings then so can they. Hell there's that robotics shop in freeside that has been untouched with a bunch of valuables. Only challenge are the handful of rats.

And if it were realistic, they could clean up the scrap metal that litters freeside and make free and easy money. I know that's not a game mechanic, but there really isn't a reason they can't do that. In fact, characters talk about doing things that aren't existing mechanics anyways. Perfectly reasonable to assume they could pick up the sheet metal.

Wertologist wrote:

In the beginning of the game, your stats are as low as every settler. If you could carry all that crap then so could they.

If 250 makes you wealthy, then all anyone would have to do is loot a few buildings then be considered rich. Nash probably doesn't pay couriers much judging by the cheap crap you start with. So let's imagine you make about half of each payment. Most of that goes to food, water, and shelter. You wouldn't be left with much. Nash says it was a high paying job and if 200 caps means you're rich, then most customers could only pay very little. So most jobs wouldn't even cover the cost of supplies.

Considering that you can easily kill any settler even at the beginning of the game, I'd wager that they don't match the god power of the Courier. Going through their inventory also suggest that they don't bench 6000lbs like the courier does. They are equipped somewhat realistic.

I follow you on the caps. A room is around 10 caps a night (Wrangler prices) maybe a bit less due to Jean-May letting you stay "till the busy season" (probably a few months) for 100 caps at the motel. Considering the fact that they may overcharge you at the wrangler and the rooms being fairly luxurious for wasteland standards, it probably costs about 5 caps a night to hire a bed anywhere else in the wasteland. Moving on to supplies, purified water is valued at 20 caps a piece, but it's likely due to it being a luxury. Most people probably drink the free dirty water you can find at most bathrooms. Somebody like the courier may buy a few bottles of dirty water for the road though (sometimes), putting the water cost average at around 2 caps a day. Food is tricky. You may find sixty bean cans in a building, but only a few people have the balls to be picking through old buildings due to threats like ghouls, traps, raiders, robots etc. We have to assume the Courier's ability to defend himself was very limited before New Vegas, because he had to ask Sunny Smiles to teach him how to shoot. That probably excludes him from finding a steady source of food in old buildings, meaning he'd have to both buy food or hunt a bit. He could shoot a wild brahmin, a radroach, big horner or eat cactus pears. Chances are that he would prefer traveling prepared though, meaning he may buy a little bit of food to go on. Radroach meat costs about 10 caps and it may just last you a day or two. Assuming that the courier prefers not getting sick from his food, he may just buy bean cans instead, coming at 5 caps a piece. You probably need two of these a day, but they are a steady source of protein. That still means 10 caps a day for food. So far, the courier's cost of living is 17 caps daily.
The platinum chip job would earn him just about 125 caps per your assumption. I'd think the courier would get most of the payment though, considering that the Mojave Express doesn't solely rely on one courier for a source of income. They may have about 20 couriers employed, and if they take a 20something% cut from every job they can easily manage to keep in business. I think the courier would have just about 200 caps for that job. Assuming that the delivery would take about a week, deducting the courier's cost of living, the courier's surplus from the platinum job would be 81 caps. Half of that may go to ammo so he may survive in the wasteland.

But the platinum job was high-paying, so most jobs would probably be paying just about a 100 caps albeit they may be easier. The Crimson Caravan pays you 100 caps for delivering an in-voice and that could not take more than a day. I think the courier's job is pretty shit. Glad he found out he could just press Q and VATS-shoot the shit out off any bastard daring to look at him and get paid darn well.

Wertologist wrote:

it's still a case of him blaming the messenger. The saying goes "don't shoot the messenger". Someone as smart as him should know better.

He does not want to kill you , you seeming forced his hand he has a line of dialogue that says ceasar order him not to kill any courier seeing as they could be a undercover legion fumentarii and he honors that, think you threaten him and start the fight.

Wertologist wrote:

Sure he says it's not about revenge, but it obviously is. He had an obvious personal vendetta on you, followed you all over, then tried to lure you to your death.

He does hate you but mentions that killing you is meaningless and against orders.following you only happens in the divide and if you noclip you can actually find him multiple times watching you .He invites you but you didn't have to go you could of stopped,I think he mentions this after the ashvile silo part.

Wertologist wrote:

If memory serves me correct, he aimed a missile at the ncr and not the legion. He still speaks fondly of the legion and shows he still has loyalty. He does say they aren't that great, but he still likes them even after they killed his people.

I recall both may be a faction rep thing whist talking about hitting the legion base where his tribe used to be he say it might be justice in destroying it .

Wertologist wrote:

As for looting, look at the good springs school. Got some decent loot and is only guarded by things you could kill with your bare hands. Not every building is a death trap. You don't need to be a god to scavenge them. At the start of the game, you have arguably the same stats as most people. If you can loot low level buildings then so can they. Hell there's that robotics shop in freeside that has been untouched with a bunch of valuables. Only challenge are the handful of rats.

Goodsprings school has okay loot and I believe pete mentions he wanted to blow the safe but didn't want to get bit by mantises , granted it doesn't make it dangerous but more of a pain or not worth the time for regular people.
Cerulean robotics your 100% correct full of seeming useful loot unclaimed for 200+ years guess it falls in the same area as guild quests in elder scrolls and f4 cant do anything without the player character intervention, People even point you to the bloody place.

Wertologist wrote:

And if it were realistic, they could clean up the scrap metal that litters freeside and make free and easy money. I know that's not a game mechanic, but there really isn't a reason they can't do that. In fact, characters talk about doing things that aren't existing mechanics anyways. Perfectly reasonable to assume they could pick up the sheet metal.

I can shoot a medium armored with a 50cal explosive round and casually shrugs it off lets not argue realism in a game with giant green men, 12ft? murder machines and Devilish abominations with wings.

But what do I know I'm just a Platypus

Ulysses was following you prior to the events of the dlc. In the other dlcs, you can find records of him. The dlc characters he met all mentioned he was looking for a courier. He though you died when you delivered the detonator, but when he found out you survived he began to search for you.

He's not exactly legion anymore, but still harbors respect and loyalty to them. Even if they killed his people. He says killing you is meaningless as he tries to send you through hell in the hopes that you'd die. It's somewhat contradictory. it's true you could have not followed him, but let's be realistic. The story is you follow him. Not following him would be like skipping a chapter in a book. He also goads you into following him. He tries to make it sound like it was your choice, but he was definitely baiting you and you can't deny that. He searched for you for an untold amount of time, leaves cryptic messages telling you to leave, then frequently calls you. That's practically a stalker habit.

If you're playing on very hard(which is arguably the most lore friendly mode), killing anyone isn't that easy at the start of the game. Just because npcs don't carry 100+ lbs of crap doesn't mean they can't. Lore wise, before and at the start of the game, you're an average Joe.

i hated that boss fight in the lonesome road dlc. he was so cheap and his eye bots were annoying asf

Wertologist wrote:

Ulysses was following you prior to the events of the dlc. In the other dlcs, you can find records of him. The dlc characters he met all mentioned he was looking for a courier. He though you died when you delivered the detonator, but when he found out you survived he began to search for you.

He finds out you're alive in Primm he was suppose to deliver the platinum chip which time line wise is after his Big MT trip. So again no following you if he was asking for you he may be trying to find out if you had somehow lived thru the divide being born.

Wertologist wrote:

He's not exactly legion anymore, but still harbors respect and loyalty to them. Even if they killed his people. He says killing you is meaningless as he tries to send you through hell in the hopes that you'd die. It's somewhat contradictory. it's true you could have not followed him, but let's be realistic. The story is you follow him. Not following him would be like skipping a chapter in a book. He also goads you into following him. He tries to make it sound like it was your choice, but he was definitely baiting you and you can't deny that. He searched for you for an untold amount of time, leaves cryptic messages telling you to leave, then frequently calls you. That's practically a stalker habit.

I will agree with you not doing the dlc is like skipping a chapter in a book, your meant to look for him after all he seemingly shoved the Platinum chip job in your hands almost like he new you'd get shot you of course you'd want answers.

Wertologist wrote:

If you're playing on very hard(which is arguably the most lore friendly mode), killing anyone isn't that easy at the start of the game. Just because npcs don't carry 100+ lbs of crap doesn't mean they can't. Lore wise, before and at the start of the game, you're an average Joe.

ehhhh.. never found me doing 50% of my damage whist taking 200% more from everything very lore friendly. to each their own I suppose.

But I'm a Platypus what do I know

Ulysses knew you survived before seeing your name on the courier list. That's what the wiki says. When he meets the dlc characters, he talks about looking for a courier. He met Christine when he was at Big MT. Christine left before you showed up.

I misworded what I meant. He was searching for you, not following you. That doesn't really dismiss my point though.

The reason I said very hard was the most lore friendly is because you go down from a single 9mm bullet to the head. Very hard means a bullet to the head will do the closest amount of damage.

Are you an actual platypus? If so, how are you typing with webbed feet? Did you remove your venom glands?