Liquid H20 Water - The Reoccuring Conflict of the Fallout Universe

The Man From Nowhere

The Man From Nowhere

It Wandered In From the Wastes
Fallout 1 - Retrieve Water chip for Vault 13

Fallout 2 - Arroyo suffers the drought. Must find GECK.

Fallout 3 - Purify Water for Capital Wasteland.

Fallout: New Vegas - Battle over Hooverdam - WATER


Fallout 4 is the only one that doesn't seem to fit this theme - to my knowledge.


Thoughts?
 
Moved to General Fallout Discussion. It exists for a reason.
But yes, water is a common theme. Makes sense, too, with Fallout being heavily inspired by desert-themed post-apocalyptic fiction where water is a scarce commodity.
 
The Man From Nowhere said:
Fallout: New Vegas - Battle over Hooverdam - WATER
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It's actually electric energy that is the center of conflict here. Produced by hydroplant, sure, but fresh water is not the real issue.
Mojave Wasteland has several bodies of water and sources of clean water, and to my knowledge, most of the "water issues" in that game are minimal and inconsequential to the main story.

As for FO1, water is a scarcity, hence Water Merchants, but overall, settlements usually have some basic source. Not in abundance, however.
Your Vault has very specific needs in the form of Water Chip.

FO2 is a bit different. Drought has hit several parts of the wasteland, including Arroyo. GECK is needed to save it. In reality, GECK is a poor McGuffin and the whole thing is just an excuse to have your character save your home once again, only to discover the real threat of Enclave. In my opinion, it was lacking in execution.
That aside, most of the settlements have their source of water and food. Modoc was, for example, hit by a severe drought, but in general things are looking up.

FO3 jumped the shark here.
From Project Purity's illogical geographical placement to the unconvincing world (think of water beggars) where water scarcity is a bit artificial and ham-fisted in order to make a sort of thematic unison (and fail at it). This all 200 years after the war. Of course, you could handwave and say CW was hit by severe drought too, but the game doesn't really support this.
 
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Atomkilla said:
It's actually electric energy that is the center of conflict here. Produced by hydroplant, sure, but fresh water is not the real issue.
Mojave Wasteland has several bodies of water and sources of clean water.
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There are at least some quests about fresh water in NV, so it remains a source of conflict to some degree ^^
 
Hassknecht said:
There are at least some quests about fresh water in NV, so it remains a source of conflict to some degree ^^
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I edited the previous post.
Sure there are, but as I've written there, most of it doesn't have to anything with the main story.
 
I'd say in New Vegas in case is whoever controls the Hoover Damn, basically controls the Mojave. So, it's not completely about having it to have the best source of electric energy, it's more about having it to have the highest status of power in the region.
 
Norzan said:
I'd say in New Vegas in case is whoever controls the Hoover Damn, basically controls the Mojave. So, it's not completely about having it to have the best source of electric energy, it's more about having it to have the highest status of power in the region.
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IIRC, House needs power for The Strip - the rest is given to NCR, as per treaty, which is most of the power output. In reality, House is using that power, through The Strip, to power his own empire and all the things he does behind the scene. So he needs NCR there, as a cash cow that he keeps on milking.

NCR on the other hand needs it because they need power for their ever-expanding domain. They also need it because they need to prove to themselves that Mojave Campaign wasn't a huge sinkhole of money, resources and human life - losing the Dam could potentially destabilize the Republic. On the other hand, the war itself is already doing that.

Legion needs it because NCR needs it.

You are right that status factors into that too. Hoover Dam has a historic importance for both sides. However, it's immense strategic importance is critical here.

In the end, House tries to maintain that status quo until he obtains the Platinum Chip because that is in his best interest. Bear and the Bull just need to keep on bleeding themselves without either one succumbing to the other.

As for Benny...well, he wants it all.
 
Atomkilla said:
IIRC, House needs power for The Strip - the rest is given to NCR, as per treaty, which is most of the power output. In reality, House is using that power, through The Strip, to power his own empire and all the things he does behind the scene. So he needs NCR there, as a cash cow that he keeps on milking.

NCR on the other hand needs it because they need power for their ever-expanding domain. They also need it because they need to prove to themselves that Mojave Campaign wasn't a huge sinkhole of money, resources and human life - losing the Dam could potentially destabilize the Republic. On the other hand, the war itself is already doing that.

Legion needs it because NCR needs it.

You are right that status factors into that too. Hoover Dam has a historic importance for both sides. However, it's immense strategic importance is critical here.

In the end, House tries to maintain that status quo until he obtains the Platinum Chip because that is in his best interest. Bear and the Bull just need to keep on bleeding themselves without either one succumbing to the other.

As for Benny...well, he wants it all.
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That's all true. That's why i said it's not completely about just having it because it's the biggest source of electrical energy (even though it is the biggest factor), but also because whoever has it has the highest status of power in the region.
 
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TheGM said:
I'm surprised nobody ever made Salt a bigger deal considered how important it is.
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I did once, for fun and kill some time. Caps are a stupid thing to have in the new games. I tried to work out a monetary system that involving seeds, seasonings, fertilizer, powder, and water of course

It got very complex and I got bored fast.
 
While 'techno' factions can ignore it all together, salt is pretty damned important.

Also, just to add Atomkillas post, the NCR needs electricity to keep their empire together. Happy people with electricity do not revolt or otherwise cause problems.
 
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