Are they actually preserving the wasteland or are they working on the active destruction of it by the force of their authoritarian beliefs? I got the feeling that they have some really two-faced morals (Preservation, Elitarianism). Would you say that their ideas are actually what will win over the commonwealth in the long run or do you think that they are actually not one bit better than the raiders?

As far as the whole 'Is the Institute a 'Bad' faction?' question goes, I'd say... No... They're not.
From what I can tell, The Institute is genuinely interested in rebuilding the commonwealth and repairing the damage wrought by centuries of nuclear fallout. Now, they may impose their ideals and values on those above ground... Heck, they might kill off entire settlements. But in the end, long term their goal is to make the Wasteland a safer, cleaner and more survivable place.

Watching Westworld reminds me of institute.
Anyway I see them as traditionalists/conservatives in this game, trying to rebuild or better say convert new world to old world; by forcing their agendas and manipulating new world. Let's just not forget that old world destroyed it self.
I like them as faction however they are just copy of old world, something that CC cleaner or fresh windows reinstall would fix if world was your PC.

I equate the Institute to the Enclave when it comes to completing their objective. They are willing to commit genocide in order to resurrect the past. They are willing to commit inhumane acts to restore humanity on the surface. Their intentions are sound however their method of exacting this rebirth of humanity is rather evil. Their overall seclusion from the surface really illustrates how out of touch they are with the rest of humanity. Even their meddling with the Commonwealth Provisional Government has shown that they are not willing to play ball with the rest of the world.

The scientific power of the Institute is marvelous however their methodology is morally bankrupt. Even their use of synths has shown to be a liability. The institute is not stable. It's wasteland puppetry is very draconian and their use of synths is downright dangerous.

Yes they want to recreate a utopian future but do the ends justify the means?

I never liked the Institute to begin with, their ideas of rebuilding the Commonwealth are flawed. First off, they kidnap people to benefit themselves and they say it's for the Commonwealth. Secondly, they built the synths for basically slave labor and well we all know that there will be a bunch of rebellions will spawn because of that. Also, they planned on using the synth army as "peacekeepers" that will enforce their law.

I'll be honest, the only thing I like about the institute is Kellogg. Kellogg is a badass mercenary who was screwing the institute out of there money and quite an asshole The institute is alright, I guess... I prefer a more chaotic group.

I see them as a..... maybe chaotic good? They have good intentions and they are certainly playing the long game. They're policies of killing and replacing people is why I think they are a bit chaotic. If they just took the people somewhere else then it would be different. That would be quite the twist if they kept the people they took in the Institute or in some secret location.

I think the plan for Synths was for them to eventually be able to get pregnant. I'm basing this off a few things said in game but I got the impression that they would be used to help repopulate. Also they were looking for pure prewar DNA. If you combined all of that, it's possible they wanted to rebuild humanity without the genetic damages of radiation. (Side note: Nate and Nora wouldn't be great choices since they were already exposed to radiation prewar. Nuka Quantum, fusion cars, and for Nate especially during war.)

All in all, if their plans had gone through, it would have been a much better Commonwealth.

Necessary evil, their way of doing things is harsh, very aggressive, but if you want things done in a stubborn world, that hasn't progressed much after 200 years, things have to be forced.

@"Ansaar" But they put the toilet paper the wrong way! know who does that? a synth!

Their goal seems to be rebuilding the Wasteland which is great, but their methods and how they act towards its inhabitants reminds me of a "The end justify the means" kinda outlook. They're not a bad faction but they're not very likeable or interesting, to me anyway.

Yeah probably is... The Institute just represents one of the very reasons why world ended, you know when scientists decide make Super Mutants and other horrible things.

They are not Wasteland best hope and their not trying rebuild humanity... Their trying reshape it to their image and theirs alone, their only doing what they think is best, not what's best.

I have very heavy disagreements with the BoS but I kinda gotta agree with Elder Maxson about the fact Institute must be stopped. These guys released Super Mutants in the Commonwealth in hopes it will destroy the progress of the people, they kidnapped people, stolen families, rip lives apart, left scars on the Wasteland.

But the greatest evil they did... Is what they did to the Sole Survivor, they stole his son, murder his wife. Brainwashed Shaun into becoming a monster and a tyrant who refuses see the point of views of his own people.

I find them to be a boring faction more interested in playing god and engaging in transhumanism. The BoS is right, they're a threat to humanity. They do far more harm than good.

Mandalore wrote:

I have very heavy disagreements with the BoS but I kinda gotta agree with Elder Maxson about the fact Institute must be stopped. These guys released Super Mutants in the Commonwealth in hopes it will destroy the progress of the people, they kidnapped people, stolen families, rip lives apart, left scars on the Wasteland.

I'm not completely sure on that one, But wasn't it Virgil (Working under the Institute at the time.) Who created the cure to the Forced Evolutionary Virus?

Yes but it wasn't on Father's orders. These are still the people who release Super Mutants into the Commonwealth, where you think they all came from? Or what they do to the people they kidnap?

Virgil asked many times to have the project shut down but Father refused to.

in the end game the institute are a fairly good faction looking to better the commonwealth but the way the do it is what creates hate towards them and gives them their "boogeyman" title

I kinda agree with @Mandalore, but I also agree that their necessary evil. Civilization is not gonna rebuild without some "Evil" things being done. Also, a problem with the Institute in my eyes is that they do not try to make contact or anything like that with the world above, they could do a lot of good things like teleporting supplies from settlements to settlements and providing security with synths.

I think bethesda tried to remake the enclave. with the Institute (Secretative factino who don't share with anyone)

Kill you on sight. Mutants. etc


But it just failed. when i first met the enclave on fallout 3 I was hyped. meeting synths are boring.

The Institute have good intentions, but are clearly flawed when it comes to how they treat people. This is not a problem with the Institute, but more so with Father.

Everybody complains about how the Institute treat the outside world when they do not look at the scientists within the Institute. Father is a clear dictator within the Institute, and the other scientists have no input on their own leader. Father appoints you to take the throne after his death, much to the disappointment of nearly everybody in the Institute. It isn't much of a Democracy, now is it? Look at this from their perspective, you're some murderous, savage wastelander that has just walked into the Institute and is apparently your leader's Father. Instead of appointing an actual scientist to carry on Father's legacy, Father chooses some wastelander to carry it on. How would you feel?

Not only that, but Father is a complete hypocrite. He commands his scientists to create Synths that can destroy the human race but once the Institute create technology that can help all of humanity and not just Father's ego he ends production on it. The cybernetics used on Kellogg could help humanity greatly, but instead Father chooses to end production on them and not use them himself because he wants to be "pure human" in death, when those cybernetics could've been used to save countless lives. It's one thing to not use something because you don't believe in it, but to take away the choice from other people just because of what you think is selfish.

All in all, I think the Institute ending is equivalent to the wildcard ending from New Vegas, because it leaves room for the player to decide what happens, whether the consequences are good or bad, being the Director of the Institute and all, the sole survivor can do a lot of good, or a lot of bad, which is what I like about this particular ending.

A reoccuring motif within Fallout 4 is change. The Sole Survivor enters a world changed by Nuclear Devastation, he finds the Institute, a faction dedicating to changing the world (Mankind REDEFINED) and sets out to change things, the Sole Survivor has been changed by his experiences, the wasteland has been changed by the Institute, and the change from son to Father will change things for the better. So really, the Institute can be changed, and I think this is what makes it the canon ending for Fallout 4. I keep emphasizing the word "change", but I can't believe this hasn't been spotted before.

TL;DR Version: Father is the problem with the Institute, not the Institute itself.