Free Drones vs. Protectorate (Spoilers)

[Junty]

Hi all, hope everyone's doing okay.

One of the problems I've always had with the game is the way the protectorate vs. free drones conflict is portrayed. The Free Drones, at least in my opinion, are just so unlikeable and I never want to side with them. This is because the first interaction you have with them is recovering stolen supplies which are meant to help with a small, struggling station trying to fight off bandits. If you want to recover the supplies and give them to the station you lock yourself out of the faction. Even if you persuade them to leave it peacefully, they still won't let you join them.

On the other hand, the first interaction you have with the protectorate is them helping people in the Junkyard. Yes, you are told that they have done bad things but you don't see it. The only bad thing you see them do all game is with the CAU and even then, pretty much no one in the protectorate base agrees with what they did. Overall, they seem like the only sensible organization in the game that wants to bring some sort of order to then underail. I find it hard to condemn them as a faction just because some people say they are bad, because how does that make them any worse than any other faction or group.

I think the game would benefit by giving you more of a reason to dislike the protectorate and like the Free drones as I would like to give myself a reason to join the Free drones because I can never find it within myself to not give the supplies back. This may seem weird to some people because it's just a game, but I find the RP aspect important.

All the best, Junty.

[harperfan7]

kekels

[Junty]

Kekels? Did I get something wrong?

[Turbodevil]

There is a Free drones vs Protectorate discussion ongoing on steam and you can check this out.

By the time you enter Rail Crossing, you can have your opinion on Protectorate set. They are clearly more than meets the eye by this point. On the surface they represent unification under common banner. Not a bad idea in this world. But they are clearly expansionist and ruhtless. NPCs are concerned about their methods and losing authonomy to them. There is a Free Maura questline in Junkyard which reveals both their sides. On the surface: good, caring and reasonable, under the surface: prisons, torture chamber and dubious genetic research.

Rail Crossing itself is an interesting station. They outright ask for help because they can't handle their problems on their own. When you help them with problems, they still are too incompetent to persevere and they made, in their own words, a pact with the devil: resources in exchange of their sovereignity.

As a Free Drone sympathizer, you can label them as a part of Protectorate at this point, and they did this because they are too weak to handle problems on their own. Ie: their fault.

Does it justify working against them? Up to you to decide. Do you prefer Protectorate (deadly) authority and order over Free Drones (deadly) anarchy and freedom? Up to you to decide.

[Junty]

I know all this, and I agree to an X-tent. But I think it would be better to actually see the protectorate do something bad, otherwise, in my opinion, there is just not enough of a reason to side with the free drones over the protectorate. Yes, you do see questionable things in the basement, but this is pretty off to the side and you don't even get context to why they are doing these things which makes it hard to justify condemning them. A lot of protectorates seem unaware of these immoral doings. It seems like the normal protectorates are very unaware of the major wrongdoings (a lot like the institute) whereas the free drones all seem pretty on board with hijacking trains and leaving innocent people vulnerable.

I don't trust what the NPCs say a lot of the time. Most of them have no clue what's going on and are wrong a lot. Like most NPCs mak the faceless out to be way worse than they are. Even the faceless make themselves seem to be worse than they are, you see them do more questionable shit than the protectorate at a rail crossing.

I would also argue that rail crossing is not so much incompetent but vulnerable. A vulnerability that has been exacerbated by things out of their control (bandit movement and faceless attack)

Alright, I'll check the steam forum out, didn't know about it. Cheers.

[Turbodevil]

But I think it would be better to actually see the protectorate do something bad, otherwise, in my opinion, there is just not enough of a reason to side with the free drones over the protectorate.

This I disagree with. I much prefer broad political context, subtle dialog and visual clues over in-your-face storytelling. This way I can make my own decission based on my feelings, not game creators'. And for the full picture, you can have two playthroughs

[Junty]

True, I agree that subtle storytelling is good. Maybe it would be better to see the Freedrones do something good then, before rail crossing. Or maybe imply some of the good things they have done through environmental clues or dialogue before you make the choice at RC.

I like being able to make my own decisions but unfortunately, It's always the same one. You see and hear bad things about both factions. But, you only really see the protectorate doing good things. I never have the desire to join the FDs because I can't think of any good they've done. You could make an argument that by simply opposing the P they are doing good, but they do this by doing morally questionable things. Additionally, not many of the NPCs have much good to say about the Free Drones compared to the big P. Maybe my mind would change if I chose to side with them and see what they're about from the inside.

[Turbodevil]

You see only Protectorate doing good things because they are origin of everything this storyline. They do all the stuff. The existence of Free Drones is also direct consequence of Protectorate being what it is. Every Protectorate action falls into gray area. Helping a station vs claiming its sovereignity. Civilized diplomacy of United Stations vs militaristic dictatorship of general Melek. Order and safety vs brutal regime, oppresive enough to spawn terrorist organization. Free Drones are simply opposition to the full picture represented by Protectorate. They wouldn't exist or do anything without their rival. As such, they don't need to do anything, good or bad. That's Protectorate job. You choose to thwart it or not.

[Junty]

Maybe. But, I see both factions doing bad things, in that aspect I see neither as better than the other. They are both willing to do morally questionable things and put innocent people in harm's way to achieve their goals, which is far from uncommon in the under-rail. I suppose if you really don't like protectorate by this point you won't have trouble ignoring the bad things FDs have done. But, for me, at this point in the game P is no worse than FD through the means they achieve their goals, however, their goal is to help people and you can see how they do this. Bringing food, safety, and order to people who need it. They might not want it, but they need it. There is no order in the majority of the under-rail and it suffers because of it. On the other hand, there is no evidence of the FDs have a more admirable goal than the P at this point in the game. If the FDs won, then the only faction trying to unite the stations and bring some kind of order would be gone.

I don't even think it's a clear matter of oppression. Many organizations have spawned terrorist organizations without being oppressive. And, what exactly are they oppressing? More freedom is not always a good thing, especially when it is at the cost of stability and order in a place that desperately needs it.