Some people say that they never felt that invested in hunting Benny, which was obviously meant to be the main plot at the start of the game. I agree that I didn't feel any actual need to go after him other than that seemed to be the way the quests were pointing.
Luckily, despite being made by Obsidian, it still is a bethesda-engine game at heart, and you can ignore the main quest for a longtime.
Some people also complain that they could see the lights of Vegas in the distance, and felt compelled to try to race immediately toward those lights, but were blocked by deathclaws and cazadores. People complained that there was really only one way to go, following the path through primm and all that.

Anyway, the point is, could New Vegas have potentially had a different beginning, especially if Obsidian had been given as much time and resources as they wanted? Could it have started in the NCR and eventually made its way to the mojave? Or are most people satisfied with it, as is?

I never bothered much with the start of New Vegas, honestly though it was a nice one.
But if I could somehow change how New Vegas started, it possibly would be in the 'early ages' of The Courier, where arrived at The Divide with a package that ended up dooming it.

With that in mind, we would probably have more knowledge about The Courier's past, besides of what we already know thanks to Lonesome Road.

That happened all the way back in 2077 though, so it would be that, then a time skip, then the regular opening to NV. Would be a little too jarring imo.

Honestly, I think it happened the way it did for that reason.

That's an interesting idea, to have shown more of the courier's origin, rather than have it revealed at the end of the game by a raving lunatic.
By the time lonesome road came along, I'd long ago assumed my courier had originated somewhere far, far away -- far enough away that he could ask "what's the legion? what's the ncr?"


Fallout 3 had the prequel part in the vault, with some time skips. I liked it on the first playthrough although it was something I saw as quite skippable on replays.

My head cannon has always been that TTW is the truth!!! The courier is the lone wanderer! getting shot in the head sure makes you forget some things huh? But seriously speaking its hard to get a player invested in seriously wanting to kill someone from a simple intro cut scene. So for me I barely touch Benny until late as possible.

truecreativity wrote:

My head cannon has always been that TTW is the truth!!! The courier is the lone wanderer! getting shot in the head sure makes you forget some things huh? But seriously speaking its hard to get a player invested in seriously wanting to kill someone from a simple intro cut scene. So for me I barely touch Benny until late as possible.  

Yeah ttw makes for a surprisingly good prequel.

truecreativity wrote:

My head cannon has always been that TTW is the truth!!! The courier is the lone wanderer! getting shot in the head sure makes you forget some things huh? But seriously speaking its hard to get a player invested in seriously wanting to kill someone from a simple intro cut scene. So for me I barely touch Benny until late as possible.  

Yeah ttw makes for a surprisingly good prequel.

Imagine if they let you choose your beginnings, like depending on what option you chose at the start would affect your rep with the major factions. Although I do realise there is probably a mod out there that does this.

New California mod actually gave a very good prequel to New Vegas its non canon though

I think it absolutely could have had a different beginning, but would it really need to?

Gameplay wise the early game of NV is pretty on the rails, but serves as a fantastic introduction to the Mojave for the player. They will encounter both the NCR and the Legion by following the quest markers and learn about these two main factions quite early.

Story wise could it be changed? Sure, it could. But I don’t think it needs to. The backstory for the Courier is left open, even with what is learned in Lonesome Road. I’m personally fine with this and prefer the ability to add my own backstory for my characters.
As for why you would feel the need to go after Benny, why would you feel the need to go after your father in 3? Or the GECK in 1 and 2? Or even Shaun in 4? Benny, like all of these, is just a catalyst that brings the Courier into contact with the multiple factions and conflicts of the Mojave. As for why you hunt him, it could be for revenge, to recover the Platinum Chip and complete the job, or simply because you have no other idea what to do after being left for dead.

I may be in the minority, but I think the beginning for NV is very well designed. I think Obsidian wouldn’t change much with the start, regardless of how much extra time they had. It seems that everything until you arrive in New Vegas exists as an introduction. Benny doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Once he’s dead, his presence vanishes. Killing or sparing him has no impact on the story or future of the Mojave. He is just the first obstacle the Courier deals with on their quest

Lots of people have already complained about not feeling motivated to go after Shaun in fallout 4,which is sort of what inspired this topic for me... why are so many angry at searching for a baby, but so rarely complain about hunting Benny? I'm more motivated to go look for a stolen baby than to go hunt Benny, but both somehow left me feeling "meh" somehow.
Luckily these games let you wander around a lot and go after side quests and ignore the stolen baby for a while, which is probably not something someone would do in real life,b ut that's fine. I had Geralt more worried about his gwent collection than Ciri for quite a while, but these sorts of games are sort of designed to behave that way if you want.

Elder Scrolls takes a very different approach. It's absolutely up to you as to who your character is or was, and the plots tend to involve saving the world or a large part of it, rather than hunting a single person.
I think that if you like and feel motivated by the fallout character's background and supposedly primary motivation, then fallout has the stronger beginning. But if you don't care for the forced intro or lackluster motivation, then elder scrolls ends up seeming like the stronger choice for a beginning.

I have to say that I agree with the Fallout 4 issue, it felt a bit "Eh."

As for FNV, I never felt it was "hunting Benny" but was "I have to complete this job, or at least try to get another job" that drive to actually make sure you have food.

Maybe with a bit of grovelling to Mr House as well wouldn't go a miss.

Sirdanest wrote:

Lots of people have already complained about not feeling motivated to go after Shaun in fallout 4,which is sort of what inspired this topic for me... why are so many angry at searching for a baby, but so rarely complain about hunting Benny?  I'm more motivated to go look for a stolen baby than to go hunt Benny, but both somehow left me feeling "meh" somehow.  
Luckily these games let you wander around a lot and go after side quests and ignore the stolen baby for a while, which is probably not something someone would do in real life,b ut that's fine.  I had Geralt more worried about his gwent collection than Ciri for quite a while, but these sorts of games are sort of designed to behave that way if you want.

Elder Scrolls takes a very different approach. It's absolutely up to you as to who your character is or was, and the plots tend to involve saving the world or a large part of it, rather than hunting a single person.
I think that if you like and feel motivated by the fallout character's background and supposedly primary motivation, then fallout has the stronger beginning.  But if you don't care for the forced intro or lackluster motivation, then elder scrolls ends up seeming like the stronger choice for a beginning.  

For me, the main issue with F4's "find your baby" story was that I (the character) could surmise a lot of time had passed from when he was taken. So to me, it wasn't as pressing as "this guy shot you in the head, go find him."

I think if F4 started you out as not being frozen again, it would have been a bit more compelling for me.

For NV, it was pretty easy to avoid the cazadores and deathclaws to get to Vegas, you just had to be smart about your jumps. On most of my playthroughs, I tend to run into Benny before I even go to Primm.

It would of Been Intersting if you Could Fight Benny for the Chip actually ,granted the devastating killing machine you become later just always made me wonder how lil ol Benny managed to jump the Courier
will say this thoe , after decades of playing the game I still dont feel like the Intro of FNV is a bother
It is what it is really

I once did a playthrough where I never once entered Freeside, Westside or the Strip, and just travelled around the wastes as a Hunter Ranger. Revenge against Benny is a small incentive for a plot. It's a justification for you getting involved in the power play of the Mojave, but New Vegas is such an open-ended RPG that you can enjoy it without ever touching on the main quest.

I prefer that to big emotional stakes, the kind you see in Fallout 3 and 4, because in those games you're incentivised to just travel around and do whatever you want by the gameplay, but the story is egging you on to complete things as quickly as possible, because "Oh my god you have to find your son aargh!" Only a pretty cynical person would think, "Eh whatever I don't care about my family member", whereas I can think of plenty of personality types that would think, "Some guy shot me, maybe I don't want to get involved in whatever they were doing." So New Vegas's open world gameplay has always gelled better for me because there's no big emotional melodrama.

It's all personal preference of course, but whatever game starts with as little BS as possible, will always be the best for me (Fallout and Fallout New Vegas win in that regard).

You make a good point that maybe "weak incentive" is actually better. It leaves it up to the player whether or not to really worry about Benny. It's perfectly fine to wander off and do other things, without making your character into a psychopath.
But ignoring your kidnapped infant? It's hard to imagine anyone who would completely ignore that story and not care at all, other than, well, the most unfit parents in the universe.

What annoys me the most in New Vegas beginning is that you get shot in the head which just doesn't make sense, back then, I've seen some people arguing that you could "not die" from an handgun bullet in the head but honestly, I'm not too sure about that, I wouldn't take the risk either and if I remember well, the courrier has been shot twice in the head so the guy that you must run after should be the less of your concern, your concern should be your life because you're actually dead.

Dynorph wrote:

With that in mind, we would probably have more knowledge about The Courier's past, besides of what we already know thanks to Lonesome Road.

Obsidian did have certain speech options in certain conversations allowing you to build the Courier's past on your own which I really liked. The ones I can remember of the top of my head are.

• Revealing they've been to Montana before and may have fathered a child there when speaking to the Lonesome Drifter with the Lady Killer perk.
  
• Telling Bruce Issacs they saw him at the Shark Club in New Reno
  
• Telling Jed Mastersson theyve been to Utah before
  

Wjeeheh wrote:

Imagine if they let you choose your beginnings, like depending on what option you chose at the start would affect your rep with the major factions. Although I do realise there is probably a mod out there that does this.

Here you go my good man.

https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/45739/?