When you think of it, Shaun and the Institute's biggest problem is they didn't have a Dr. Mobius to keep them in check and not affecting the outside world. Imagine what unholy experiments would've been unleashed on the wasteland if Shaun found the Think Tank.

I think the biggest opportunity Fallout 4 missed was the ability to actually influence and change a faction with your influence. Allowing the player to actually make real decisions about a factions morals, goals, and structure would make for such a unique experience.

I'm a sucker for "could-have-been" story settings. I would actually love to see a series where you narrate through a 'normal' Fallout 4 playthrough but with all your changes to the factions, so we could see the bigger picture. Plus it would be really cool!

I think tracing the problems with the Institute to Shaun ignores the fact that _the Institute raised Shaun._ They chose isolationism and infiltration before he was in charge: the Institute pulled out of the CPG around 2187, before Kellogg took Shaun from Vault 111, and the Broken Mask incident occurred in 2229, when he was two years old. (It's not canon how long the FEV research was ongoing, but if they started replacing people with humanlike synths at the same time as Broken Mask, it follows that they were experimenting on those people at least that long.) The Institute culture dehumanizes surface dwellers, prioritizes the needs of the Institute above all else, and largely prevents their members from seeing or learning anything that would make them think differently. A few do, but not many, and obviously if Shaun didn't agree with the party line, he wouldn't have been put in charge by the previous Director.

Imagine being able to bring Virgil back to the Institute after Father's death to synthesize his cure for all mutants to clean up the Commonweath completely of the mess they created. It would've made becoming leader have an actual impact and somewhat make ammends with the surface

In my head-canon, the Institute provides medical supplies, weapons, ammo and armor to the Minutemen. The Minutemen stabilizes the Commonwealth and acts as an outer protection for the Institute in a symbiotic relationship. With Gen 1 and Gen 2-synths mingled with the patrols on the surface, most people of the Commonwealth would be a lot more safe, and wouldn't have to worry about super-mutants (capture, cured and released), the gunners/raiders (captured and imprisoned in camps). The Institute would develop a genetically modified whale and build an outpost at Nahant Sociological Society, where these synth-whales would sift through sea-water to capture radioactive materials. They would return and deposit the results at the outpost for further processing. A similar project would be done in the glowing sea, using Gen 1 and Gen 2-synths to build a processing-facility, and gather the radioactive surface-material to this facility. It would take years, of course, but the amount of radioactive materials in the air, soil and inland waters would begin to decrease and ultimately be gone. Of course Dr.Virgil would return, as head of the FEV-project, to find a generalized cure, and expand the knowledge about the virus in the first place.

While I was never in the instructor side of acadaemia, my experiences as a "non-traditional student" by way of being a veteran returning to college after an almost 10-year hiatus thanks to my GI bill largely align with your own observations: When I went back to State Penn, er I mean Penn State, half the professors treated me as if I was some clueless kid straight out of high school, rather than someone who had almost 10 years of practical experience in the field my major covered (electronics), including doing said work under some of the worst possible conditions (like the time I had to go aloft to repair a radar antenna while my ship was in the middle of a category 4 typhoon near Guam in 2003), so yeah, I totally get how stuck up and insular senior academics can be. That said, I largely agree with your ideas: Like if there was an option as director (or senior advisor) to emancipate the Gen 3 synths & thus negotiate a cease-fire with the Railroad (maybe even have a member of the railroad on the Gen 3 Societal Integration Board). Also, instead of just stopping production of Gen 3 synths, they could do like I did with the Minutemen & their synth production facility (via Kentington's Workshop Synth Production mod), and basically treat them as augmented humans with full rights, hell, and I'm saying this as a proud member of the NFFE-IAM, establish a Gen 3 Union with shop stewards & the whole nine yards to make sure that their rights as workers (i.e. fair compensation, 8-hour work days, time off etc) are not violated. Also totally agree about Virgil: HUGE wasted opportunity, and it would have been cool to have a follow-up quest line where you do a couple missions to gather (or craft) mats needed for Virgil to improve/mass produce his FEV cure, followed by a series of quests where you take a syringer loaded with special FEV cure ammo, and tag all the super mutants at a particular location with the cure, then wait a few days, go back and the former super mutant lair is now populated by human settlers that you can then either recruit or make the former super mutant base into a regular settlement. But yeah, all your points stand, especially concerning Shaun! As for potential 5 easy ways to fix videos, I have one: 5 easy ways to improve the Atom Cats, because I can think of at LEAST 5 right off the top of my head, and similar videos could be made for like Vault 81, Diamond City, Goodneighbor, the Far Harbor factions and possibly even the Nuka World raider gangs or Hubologists in Nuka World, hell, 5 ways to fix the Gunners would be a good one too.

I suggest trying 5 ways to fix the companions system, affinity, conversation, personal quest, etc. I feel like a genuine relationship between the companion and the sole survivor can push the story to the next level.

I like the idea of trying to overhaul the main story. Another idea I had was also 5 easy ways to overhaul the DLC stories. Mainly Nuka World and Automatron. If you want to continue the overhauling the factions. Maybe you can try to do videos on the other smaller factions in Fallout 4? Like Diamond City, Goodneighbor, Gunners, and possibly even the Atom Cats (I really liked them, it sucked they didn’t have a bigger role).

I would like to see 5 easy ways to fix the enemy factions, each one getting their own video. Like gunners, raiders, children of atom

I like the idea of appointing a interim director who is already familiar with the Institute. The worst part of the canon Institute plotline, to me, is that the only decision you get to make as director is a binary choice where you are railroaded into choosing between two options that are both pretty stupid. More weapons or more synths? How about fixing the rest of the Commonwealth, increased study of better food production, or establishing more aboveground influence? The only explanation for this stupid choice is that the Institute department heads know the player is not fit to actually make decisions and are basically just humoring him while actually making the real decisions about Institute priorities themselves. I'd make Virgil the new interim director. He already owes the player, he is one of the few in the Institute who has made personal sacrifices for the sake of humanity, and he knows the horrors that the Institute is capable (and in the recent past has) inflicted on the Commonwealth.

I know it’s gonna be a good day when grey gaming uploads a fallout 4 vid

5 easy ways to solve the main quest sounds good, maybe even some sidequests. I would also like to see a 5 easy ways to fix the settlement system.

One thing that always bugged me about Shaun. When the Sole Survivor first meets him, he says that he is the "Acting Director". So if we're going off of the same logic as to why Ayo is the Acting Head of the SRB, then that means that the person who really is in charge is somewhere on the surface. It's either a forgotten mistake on Bethesda's part. Or something that was never built on. And if this mysterious actual Director returns after the Sole Survivor has assumed control of the Institute, what would happen? Would they accept the Sole Survivor and become an adviser? Or would they demand their control back? Which would create an interesting scenario. A proper "House Divided" quest line instead of just Higgs and Loken barricading themselves in Bioscience.

I love the idea of reinstating Virgil. I'd like to put him in charge of mass producing the cure for FEV & using Coursers to capture Super Mutants so they can be cured.

Settlement building is what brings me back to Fallout 4 again and again but I wish they had been better thought out and integrated into the main game. 5 ways to improve settlements would be interesting- besides just downloading SIm Settlements 2.

I love it my dude "hush now the grown ups are talking" priceless.

How to fix the institute in my eyes: Just make them more evil. Why do you sell me another "good" faction when their actions are evil? If you're going to make a evil action, sell them as one, it would give more options to roleplay as evil without having to join just the raiders of nukaworld. Or give the option to lead the faction in a way or the other, since as Grey says in the first point, the Institute doesn't have a real objective.

They could have just had Justin Ayo as the SRB head with mentions of Zimmer as his predecessor who went missing in the wasteland without being specific.

Personally I think Father chose the LS to be the next Director was a form of revenge for what they did to him. On the surface Father supports the Institute but deep down he wants a little payback and handing the reigns to someone else who has beef is his way of doing it. I do also think that the LS is the most qualified for the position though, I also work at a university and sometimes people who have been laser focused in a field of study need an outside perspective on more practical matters. The Institute is also evolving into more of a regional government and someone with military, survival, and relational experience is key; also someone who has touched non-synthetic grass in the last decade. There will absolutely be push back but being in charge of and coordinating between some of the most brilliant people left on the planet will require butting heads and determined authority.

The worst part about Zimmer, is that Zimmer's Voice Actor IS in Fallout 4. It's not like he's unavailable. They could have done something with him. On top of all that, there is a cut NPC Voice file listed for Zimmer in the FO4 files. Edit: He voices both Arlen Glass and the Vault-Tec Rep.

The only reason why the Institute is this bad must be because it would be too easy to make them too good. In theory you could indeed fulfil the Railroad's whole life purpose with a single memo as the Director. Which would completely negate any reason the player would join the Railroad. Bethesda wrote themselves into a corner by making the Institute too easily fixed.

I think a 5 ways to fix some of the other major settlements in the Commonwealth could be interesting. Places like Diamond City, Goodneighbor, Bunker Hill, and Covenant. With Diamond City, a lot of its issues stem from the fact that it was infiltrated by an Institute spy that is now acting as the mayor of the biggest settlement in the Commonwealth with his main campaign to get rid of the pre war ghouls of Diamond City heavily insinuating that the Institute was trying to alienate/exterminate pre war ghouls since the abduction is implied to have happened before he ran for mayor. The only resolution we get is him being found out if we don't side with the Institute and nothing really comes from it other than him no longer being there and people maybe making a comment here and there that they couldn't believe he was a synth. You'd think there'd be more uproar, maybe another mayoral election that could decide the direction Diamond City went from then on out. What about an opportunity to let pre war ghouls return to Diamond City? You'd think they'd also highlight more disconnect between the upper stand citizens and the lower stand citizens, but that feels like an interesting after thought more than anything else. Covenant has its issues mainly because of how buggy it can be. The settlers there if you side with Doc Chambers do join the minutemen, but if they ever get chosen for a settlement radiant quest, Jacob Orden bugs out trying to give you the quest. If you don't side with them, their corpses and exploded turrets are just eternally there. Some locks remain marked as owned even if they're all dead. Old Man Stockton doesn't acknowledge his missing daughter, she never returns to him after being saved even though you'd think she'd return to her father, and he can never be told she's dead either. Then there's Bunker Hill. Other than the irony of everyone saying its heavily defended and fortified yet it has a defense score of 0 when you are able to unlock it as a settlement after the Battle of Bunker Hill, I think it has other issues, too. We learn that Kessler pays off the raiders to not attack them to make trade routes easier (and because they're still being attacked, we have to take care of the raiders in question), but its never admitted why they have to pay off the raiders and how it ties into the Minutemen lore. Sure, she'll mention a massive distrust for the Minutemen and not go into it if you ask her about them, but you learn from Libertalia that the raider gang there (before Gabriel took over presumably) were former Minutemen that Bunker Hill and their caravans fucked over by refusing to pay them for the work they were providing protecting them which angered the Minutemen and they attacked after that happened one too many times and eventually descended into Raiders because it rewarded them more than Bunker Hill not fairly compensating them. Not even mentioning that all of the trade caravans run by Stockton are Institute informants, it feels like they may need some kind of fixes to their trade network as a whole. Goodneighbor does feel the most put together out of all the major settlements in my opinion, but it could still use a little bit of work. They're pretty good at knowing how to keep the Institute out without giving in to massive paranoia, are a tight knit community of interesting characters, and are integral to the Railroad's work of freeing synths. You'd think there'd be more focus on that, but we only have the one quest that brings us to Dr. Amari and it's never brought up again other than Deacon saying Hancock turns a blind eye to their operations. Also, the assumption that Magnolia the singer was one of the synths the Railroad built memories for since she is a synth. Everything else is focused more on back street crimes when I think they could've taken a more interesting approach to how Goodneighbor functions as a major settlement, especially considering Mayor Hancock and Mayor Mcdonough are brothers and the parallels that could be made between their towns.

Would have loved to see an Institute where the choice you make at the end about focusing on Synth production or weapons development actually matters

There are mods that address these issues. One in a way very close to your proposed ideas (Subversion) and another in a potentially *very* weird way (Project Valkyrie). Subversion allows using various elements in the game to persuade the department heads to support the Sole Survivor (although the SRB head is a no-sell), or allow the Minutemen to teleport in an occupying group to suppress any potential coup, or (as the author says) "go full Red Wedding" and eliminate most of the heads (except Allie, who is sympathetic) or even all of them (though that will make X6-88 go hostile). Virgil can be reinstated, and his infection can be used to turn Madison Li into an ally. The Sole Survivor, as Director, can issue a proclamation declaring the enslavement of any sentient being (synth or human) a crime punishable by expulsion to the surface. The Railroad and Minutemen can be told the Institute is under new leadership, although the Brotherhood either stays hostile and has to be fought, or the morally questionable tactic of replacing Maxson with a synth is an option. If Project Valkyrie is installed, Subversion can allow a rival Brotherhood faction to replace Maxson with their own leadership, instead. Project Valkyrie has some weird options, including something unofficially called the "Sinstitute," where a raider gang modeled on pre-war pimps and disco culture can be enlisted to help overthrow the Institute leadership, with the Institute being partially converted into a secretive party destination, synths being custom ordered as . . . companions, and other things that make it a Nuka-World like evil twist, rather than a reforming one. There are other options, though, where Project Valkyrie can be used to help reform the Institute as well as allowing the Brotherhood and Railroad to survive. It adds multiple new factions and is a much broader and more complex mod that doesn't just touch on the Institute.

If you become the leader of the Institute, you can make a legit difference in the wasteland. Any other group will result in nothing long term.

Your assessment is spot-on - it is always a joy to hear what you have to say about this great game.

Your videos are incredible! You are stupidly underrated, I'm so glad I found your channel! You deserve way more subscribers, these are the quality of videos from 900k sub channels!

Yeah I really dislike the fact that for most endings, the Institute is destroyed with no other option except joining the Institute. I've been entertaining the idea of a special ending where you get all three factions to work together to take on the Institute, and it's done in such a way that no nukes are used (aside from the ones Liberty Prime hail marys everywhere). The Minutemen and Railroad have no reason _not_ to form an alliance, as they both want to better the Commonwealth through their respective actions, and working together they'd be a force to be reckoned with. Hell, the Minutemen engineer Sturges is a synth, it's very likely he was freed by the Railroad. The Brotherhood of Steel would be a fair bit more problematic, but I imagine that actions could be taken to make them much less conservative in their mindset by influencing Maxson throughout the course of the Brotherhood questline. Ideally, Maxson could be convinced to empathize with synths enough to pity them. Not enough to fully respect them, but to acknowledge that these "monsters" were ones that never wanted to be created in the first place; this would drastically change his outlook on Danse during Blind Betrayal. All of this, of course, leading up to a joint assault on the CIT ruins by all three factions against a veritable army of synths: the Institute mobilized after seeing this alliance grow in power, and knew they would be targeted sooner or later. The force works together, with the Minutemen/Railroad working with the Brotherhood via an agreement: they would work together to take on the Institute, and the Brotherhood would be allowed access to the Institute's technology in exchange for sparing any synths they come across for the sake of the Railroad. A hard bargain, but, again, Maxson could be convinced to soften up enough to agree with it. As for if the rest of the Brotherhood would agree... well... The Institute is cleared out and evacuated. Institute scientists are captured and interrogated, but ultimately most are spared. The Railroad and Brotherhood agree on one thing: Synth production _needs to be shut down_ and that is the first thing they do once they have control of the Institute. While some Institute scientists choose to stay behind and work together with the new guys, the majority (alongside the coursers) flee from the Commonwealth, their lives forever destroyed. Many do not make it out alive, the wasteland claiming them.

I really look forward to when you post a video, your channel is one of my favorites

Love your content, keep up the good work.

Man, theese types of videos are awesome

Each of the 4 factions have aspects of a good society, its a shame we can't get them to come together and unify the whole Commonwealth. The Institute could use their scientific research to help with crop yields, medical procedures, clean water, better power, etc. They could manufacture improved armor and weapons for the Minutemen and BoS (something similar to Cambridge Polymer Labs). The SRB and their Watchers could work in conjunction with the Railroad. Basically they would be supporting the other 3 factions. The Minutemen would be the militia/police force much like they were back in the day, except with a much stronger presence. Outposts at all the larger settlements and some of the smaller more remote ones as well as patrolling the roads and/or guarding caravans. They could clear out locations of interest; such as manufacturing facilities like Cambridge Polymer, Saugus Ironworks, and Corvega Assembly and even food processing/packaging locations like Four Leaf and Longneck Lukowski's The BoS would continue much as it has, except it would become a standing military force. Their main job would be protecting the borders of the Commonwealth, but they also work in conjuction with the Minutemen to clear out nests of ferals, mutants, raiders etc. They could probably work with the Minutemen and Institute to get the random scattered APCs/ Vertibirds up and running. Give the APCs to the Minutemen and a few Vertibirds then take the rest to replenish their forces. The Railroad in conjuction with the SRB could function as an intelligence arm of a new government, specifically external threats but also keeping an eye on internal ones like the Gunners or larger raider gangs. Maybe they send agents down south to establish a base with the BoS division in the Capital Wastes and from there gather intel on places like the Pitt or Point Lookout to make sure hostile forces aren't rising back to power/prominence. Even keep tabs on the Enclave remnants.

As always an amazing video from grey

One gripe with point #2. A minor but at the same time major one. Shaun *SAID* it was his decision to set the sole survivor free and he left a trail that lead to the SS kill kellogg and enter the institute. There are terminal entries that logged an outside connection. Coupled with the dishonesty Shaun has shown it is casting doubts on that story the size of a cyclone. From first hearing that explanation it spawned the opinion that this sounded more like a soviet cover up.

Five easy ways to fix Far Harbor. Whilst I loved, loved, LOVED the setting, I actually wasn't a fan of the Church of Atom angle. I was expecting something more Stephen King, but all I got was John Saul. It was a little bit....childish. I actually liked the Synths and Far Harbor settlement(s) and all that, and Longfellow was pretty awesome. I would like to have seen an actual expansion of Dunwich, here. More on the cult they were trying to revive. That would have fit the Far Harbor setting WAY better.

Another great video. I can't wait to see where you take this next. If you're looking for ideas, i would love to see your take of fallout 76 or even the DLC to fallout 4

I love fallout 4s approach to having cannon decisions made by the vault dweller and courier. I dont like "leaving it ambiguous" to an obnoxious extent to where they cant follow up on anything. Also lets not forget that in NV they give your character a whole ass backstory in both the main story and in the Lonesome Road DLC.

I wonder if Madison Li could be convinced to say, work on something like project purity with the river that is directly next to the institute, the institute is directly connected to the old sewer network in the river. I feel like Institute helping agriculture and environmental restoration is an oddly passed over idea in fallout four.

Great video!

Amazing stuff

The institute is a glass house…one of the techs said behind the walls everything is being held together by wires and gum. They will collapse in 20 years and then what? The infrastructure is closer to a vault that is actually working instead of waiting. But the machines have a limited life and the institute should have focused on making infrastructure available on the surface and an industry they can use for repairs. If you choose the institute because it has blinking lights and elevators then you are basically trapped underground in a vault that slowly becomes inoperable.

Good stuff! Well said! There's honestly so much potential for the institute and the other factions and I feel it was just squandered. There's so much the institute could do, but they just make them at like toddlers throwing tantrums and make them just a lazy evil faction. There could have been so much more! More with Dr. Li too! 😅👍🏻

I’m glad your easy fixes are simple in their explanation but would require significant and sustained effort on the part of the Sole Survivor to enact. It fixes the story but also doesn’t whitewash the Institute since the Sole Survivor will have to expend a lot of effort beating it into semi-moral, *semi-functional* shape

1. Give an explanation for their actions beyond, we gonna science. You can sorta work out their motives from in game actions. Also a loading screen says they originally tried to work with the surface but mutual distrust ruined it. However, it would be nice to actually get a straight answer from Father. 2. Make Institute lasers at least on par with Gen Atomics ones. Why would they manufacture a worse weapon instead of the GA one? Also, a little more variety wouldn't hurt. They don't all have to use the same weapons platform. 3. Give the player more autonomy to change how the Institute operates. You basically get a speech broadcast where you're nice or evil and that's it. Let us go full evil overlord or start using the Institute's tech to help rebuild the surface instead of "The surface is ruined, let's ignore it and science in a hole forever" 4. Make the coursers more threatening. They're supposed to be like the terminator but, they're really easy to kill. Hell you could at least give some of them power armor.

I think an interesting video to make would be “how to fix the fallout 4 map design.” There was some big promise at the beginning of the game when you’re sent to Corvega plant: an obvious factory for metal products protected by raiders. It would be really nice if the other dungeons were like this. In addition to the loot the raiders or other problematic minor factions/creatures bring in that is a reward for the sole survivor, wouldn’t it be nice if there was some kind of dungeon for electronics and basic building materials that feeds back into the settlement resource system? A lot of dungeons are a one and done deal with the exception of radiant quests. You explore it, find the kinky thing at the bottom of it, and then forget it. It puts a concrete wall at the end of the game that just kills the playthrough.

(15:05) I just realized that Brian Virgil, a research in the BioScience division, is wearing an Advanced Systems lab coat after taking his FEV cure. Maybe that was the only lab coat he was able to bring with him, but it seems that a BioScience lab coat would make more sense.

The way the Institute is in game reminded me of the Republic of Dave from Fo3. Also I wish the game could have another good ending, siding the CIT with the surface and kicking the BoS out of Boston. Synths would be free coexisting with the surface and the provisional government (CPG), would make its back, working in plebiscite of ghouls, settlers and synths. the minuteman together with the Railroad would protect Boston against anything. This way the RR train the minuteman pre-war tech and tactics. P.a.m. would be the bridge of CIT and the CPG too it would be awesome, because the more data she have the more accurate she can be, mass fusion would bring power to the city too

One easy thing to add for the institute is to cannonize the use of tech to help the Commonwealth. You can already teleport to each settlement and build them up. You just need the ability to set up supply lines.

One of my biggest issues is that if you don’t side with the institute you have to blow up the institute instead of being able to convince other factions to not blow up the institute. Imagine minute men teleporting in wearing refurnished T-60 power. On that note the same thing applies to the pridwin.

5 easy ways to make fallout closer to the previous two games, because Bethesda really seems to have forgotten how they used to make games. Now it all seems to be settlement building and radiant quests. Even in freaking Starfield.

Shots fired at the SW sequel...take my like good sir.

About the whole "Academic Leadership" Part: The Institute isn't really a University anymore. It's basically a small nation with a high level of technology and a huge R&D Budget.

For me, the first idea that comes to mind with the Institute would require a total rewrite of Shaun, but I feel like that's a given. I think a far more interesting idea for him would be that, in light of his advanced age and inevitable death, he wants to in some way reconcile for what he's done, and wants to give some of the technology and knowledge the Institute has obtained to those above ground, which is where we would come in, someone who hasn't become fully jaded to the post-apocalypse, someone who remembers how things once were, and is more importantly someone with a history of being determined to fight and die to protect their homeland, or some other alternative for Nora that isn't coming to mind immediately. This would result in the player becoming the Institute's replacement for Kellogg, but in a far better light, dealing with things like Super Mutants and The Gunners, helping to establish supply lines and set up higher tech greenhouses to grow food for the commonwealth, etc. This leads into the main conflict of The Institute, that Father would still view Synths as merely machines, the main moral quandary of the quest line is still present. This could lead into an awesome scene with whoever Father's successor is able to be convinced (or more likely threatened) by the player into allowing them more freedoms and rights, potentially through the death of Justin Ayo being used to send a signal of the player wanted to go this route. This still wouldn't make people like the Railroad happy, but it would make the Institute a bit more redeemable if nothing else.

Lol I like that joke you made about new Vegas because my friend was watching with me and was already finna comment it’s like you read his mind

I love all these reasons, there's so much missed potential when it comes to the institute, its honestly pretty sad. Though ill be honest, i dont think bethesda wanted the institute to be a morally grey faction with a chance of redemption. I think they simply wanted the Bad Guy faction, aka the Wrong Choice in their eyes, the Caesar's Legion of fo4. The difference is that the legion actually had goals and a reason to be doing the things they did, the institute just does stuff bc shaun says so. Also, speaking of, if shaun has this incurable cancer, why doesnt he use the cryo pod the ss was frozen in and wait until they're able to make a cure? Maybe you could use this as a way to gain trust with the others, or, simply get shaun out of the way to pave the new path forward under the guise of good intentions In terms of moving forward, i think bethesda should focus less on having more factions, and more on good storytelling and dialogue. The speech system isnt bad in theory, like, imagine if they made it dynamic to where it could have 5-7 options, making more of a star pattern. Ngl i like the settlement system, and i hope it comes back in some way or form, just, make it better. Add a search function, give us a sprint button while settlementing, let there be more settler interactions, etc. Idk, its difficult, bc i want more, but i also dont want half-assed factions and storytelling, a bit of a dilemma

6:20 "believe it or not, I'm a former professor" -- We believe you, the way you go about explaining these changes is extremely logical.

I saw somebody else make the same point from another video on The institute and I'm going to pretty much say what he said Caesar the legion warlord and slave advocate treated us with more respect and dignity than Shaun ever did

Team up with the Templin Institute and pitch this to them as a "Fallout Reimagined" series. They do a lot of good stuff like this.

Lol love the Shawn assessment!

watching these videos while i work on a fallout 4 story rewrite.

One thing i always thought that never been really considered with the gen3 synths that could justify the institute pumping as many as they do is their ability to create doctors all over the commonwealth to improve the basic health of people then if you wanna say why would they do that maybe you could say the institute is doing to collect samples or trial medication like a win win situation that still makes them shady but helpful

Institute "scientists" : he/she's not even a scientist ! Meanwhile the sole survivor : *can craft, from junk, sentry bots, assaultrons, gauss rifle mods, fusion reactors...

The fact shaun terminated the successful cybernetic program for no reason in the lore shows how half baked/unfinished the institute is, so much cut content

A pretty minor note, but Fallout: New Vegas does canonize a number of player decisions, not of Fallout 3 the game it uses the engine of but of Fallout 2 the game that it is essentially acting as a sequel of. The very history of the NCR in that game requires fairly specific actions in Fallout 2 to get.

An idea for a settlement series: Turn every settlement into a crappy cobbled together town To be specific, mostly use pre-existing structures to build settlements to make them look like something someone would actually build in real life (when I say that I mean that I believe people would more use pre-existing structures and objects than building their own) You could use all sorts of mods (including extending settlement bound, build limits, and what you can scrap) because it wouldn’t be about being easy to replicate

New grey lore just dropped

While walking around the Bioscience (My major was Biochemistry. MANY years ago), you overhear the scientists talking about a strand of food that can grow up top. There's your answer. You FEED people. They Synths are the labor. (Food as a weapon). Instead the Institute is (imo) overly focused on REPLACING humanity. Well, humans don't like or want to be replaced. (See the perpetual battle between the two 'Arts' (iinm).

Thanks for the video

Don't even need to watch the whole thing before liking the video that grey made

My biggest issue with the Institute is their culture and how they do science. They just do things because "Why not?" The Institute doesn't actively solve problems. There doesn't seem to be an end goal or a hypothesis they are trying to prove between any of departments. I never understood why they needed to make synths when they already have automatons in-universe more capable for defense or as a labor force. There is the aspect of control over the populous, but they don't really do anything with that and they have no interest with the surface anyway. Why do they need synth gorillas? It comes across as sloppy.

I like you current ideas for new videos. I would also watch any videos you make in other games provided I play them (I haven't played any of the other fallout games and won't until I get a PC). I would watch any videos you do on the Outer Worlds.

The Institute being under Lee's command sounds like a promising future for the Commonwealth tbh

To add to the "5 easy ways to fix the.." series; maybe fixing some of the DLCs (Automatron, Nuka-world, Far Harbor), and Vault-Tec. I do like your idea of fixing the Sole Survivor. I think a good fix to Vault-Tec would be since you are doing experiments maybe after clearing the other vaults in the commonwealth you can start doing the same with them in turn making them settlements too.

i would love to see virgil leading a super mutant cure division, with FEV cure syringer armed soldiers

5 easy ways to fix settlement building. 1) everything in settlement territory is scrappable, including old buildings and pavement 2) additional unlockable build sets after you complete aspects of the main storyline that culminates in being able to build proper houses again after completing main storyline 3) the ability to expand settlement borders into surrounding areas as the population grows (perhaps an extra 10% in every direction for every 10 settlers), and higher base population of settlements as they grow, too (+10 increases to +30 in increments of 5) 4) Just as your shops can level up from 1-4 (and maybe at a 5th tier), your settlement can grow from tier 1-5 as well, with corresponding bonuses and unlockables at each level 5) not sure of a 5th and I realize you will make this your own video and might disagree with my suggestions, anyway, but I’d love to see your take on it. Maybe greater freedom to build without glitches?

Sorry if this is long. For “mankind redefined” I think the mission with the synth defect becoming a leader of raiders represents what they see as the devolution of ‘mankind’ and shows why the institute doesn’t think synths should be considered a free-thinking people; why they directly conflict with the RR. X6 shows us a lot of insight into the institutes opinion on the commonwealth. They think humans are lazy, and synths are better equipped to recolonize the planet in a positive way. The players role seems to be, if morally good, to create an awkward peace between the institute and the above ground where we control real people behind the scenes through synths, or if bad, to instil fear and essentially militarize even harder possibly to replace all life in the commonwealth including animals. The player destroying the institute seems to not even cross Shaun’s mind, even if he acknowledges us being part of other factions. He says he calms the heads of each sector about our arrival, given our progress with BOS or RR. I feel like this somehow plays into the SS synth theory but I digress because there are arguments on both sides, including implications in the game and contradictory statements the player can make. You’re right about the writing, or lack thereof. The assumptions players must make about the institute is treading on shaky ground at best as the explanations aren’t in our faces all of the time, or at all. The ambiguity really ruined what it felt like to be director of a big new underground, high-tech faction.

Love your ideas❤ Love your videos Just found your account I see you have tips and tricks for settlement-building ideas. ❤ Hope you could maybe show build ideas 💡

I feel like you should do a video comparing all of the factions based on their appeal points. I know that you already did a similar video based on who was best for the Commonwealth but I mean from a development standpoint. I feel like they tried to balance the appeal of the factions and in so doing made the Brotherhood feel like a missed opportunity I'm sure I don't have to tell about how blind betrayal originally had an option for Danse to become Elder but that was removed. I feel like they had to not let the Brotherhood essentially resolve the leadership issue the same way the Institute does, but without the same moral baggage the institute has. It's the same reason the Minutemen don't grow militarily beyond pipe weapons, and the same reason the Railroad doesn't take over the Institute base. They couldn't do it all so instead they kept cutting content until they felt everyone was on equal footing. That's what I think happened at least.

Five easy way to fix the gunners would be awesome. Wish there was a way to join/contract them or interact with them instead of just power-scaled raiders. I would have loved a DLC about them and learn more about their chain of command, other business dealings, origins, maybe even business liaisons. I have heard some cool potential head canons of them being the descendants of the super soldier program in Malden for example.

I'm a pro Institute player as I don't see them as entirely evil due to the people inside and that they aren't unified at all much like The Enclave my other favorite faction. I should emphasize I'm not blind to all the war crimes and crimes against humanity they've done and do but both factions those actions aren't done by all or endorsed by all members of their respective faction like The Brotherhood of Steel where 99% of the members are 100% on board with and everything they do. But The Enclave and The Institute the bad is done by certain bad parts of said faction. Anyway I appreciate this video as I've had many of the same thoughts and look for mods to fix the story across all 4 factions and to help my own lil head canon.

Praise the God Emperor Grey Gaming has uploaded

"Five eazy ways to get your boomer parents to listen to you".

Have you considered doing a followup to any of your 'Five Easy Ways' videos which highlight mod attempts to address some of the very issues you raise? For example, there is a mod called 'Subversion' on Nexus which allows the player to use Railroad assets to subvert the Institute. I intend to try it out myself in my next playthrough of Fallout 4.

Honestly I would like to see Fallout maybe being set in another country like the UK, Japan or Australia. Can you imagine if the road warrior came to real life with Fallout 5? Instead of Vaults perhaps the survivors of the nuclear holocaust in Australia used different means such as fleeing to the Outback to survive? I was just thinking of maybe giving a new direction to fall out, kind of breaking the mold to try something new. 🎉

I've had ideas how how to fix radiant quests and make them worthwhile to replay them. Usually you just get rewarded caps and xp. I've been thinking that instead, for each number of radiant quests you complete, you should get better rewards. For example, the MILA quests from Tinker Tom. After completing all of his quests, you should get rewarded with his gun, Tinker Tom's Special. Instead of making it a weapon that you can buy from him, make it a quest reward instead. I know the gun doesn't have a great legendary effect, but it's an example. Another example, Cleansing The Commonwealth. For every 5 radiants you complete for Rys, he could give you a Fusion Core. I've been also thinking about how items like The Last Minute and The Minutemen General's outfit could be implemented as rewards when completing a certain amount of settlement quests.

Nice video, could you make a part three for places that should have been settlements, plz.

Everyone has different issues with the Institute and different solutions. When it comes to me than my version of their mantra: "Mankind Redefined" means nothing more than a new and improved Human, that no longer has any Human weaknesses which caused the Apocalypse. To that end the Gen 3 Androids/Synths are absolutely crucial to figure out exactly what weaknesses the original Human species have and how to remove/fix them. So when it comes to the Synths and their role in the Story I wouldn't change anything. They are treated as tools. Which they are. Furthermore as part of a quest I would make it so that the Institute imprints the Gen 3 Synths mind with an unquestioning loyalty to the Institute. In laymen terms: no matter what the Institute does to them, the Synths themselves will find a reason why it is ok for it to happen. I used the excessive Brand loyalty of Fans and the original Star Wars Clones as inspiration for this idea. In short no Brainchip that can be removed. One big issue of the Institute is their chaotic nature. Fans like to tell me that the Institute is evil because they kidnap people. Both to create Super Mutants and to replace people with a Synth. The reason why I think they are completely wrong in that assessment is explained like this: In case of the Super Mutants the answer is simple. They don't exist. There's no FEV in my version of F4 and there are no Super Mutants, none at all. Ever since Fallout 76 did I truly realize just how little bethesda cares about proper worldbuilding. They could make a Fallout game in the 1800s India and you'd still somehow find Brotherhood of Steel soldiers and Super Mutants walking around doing shit. And about the Synth Kidnappings, the idea that the Institute aims to infiltrate a settlement by replacing a grunt with a synth is retarded to the core. It would be much safer and more efficient to simply place a Synth Infiltrator somewhere on the Map and simply greet a settlement as a Traveler from far away. Replacing the Leader of a faction however makes a lot more sense. So for that reason the Kidnappings of Mayor McDonough or replacement of Mr. Warwick will still happen. There's a lot more to talk about, but honestly it would better to make my own video in that case. But basically I would just completely remove the Idiotic parts of the Institute.

Imagine you are watching this video and this man was your professor at one point

Idk if you have played Starfield yet or not, but I would love to see this series continue with that game. So much of what you have said in these videos is exactly what I would like to see change, but I don't see that really ever happening. But since Starfield is a newer game, you could have some impact on the course of that game. Then again, I am just a consumer and really have no idea if devs pay any attention to the thoughts of content creators (they def don't listen to fans, judging from the rebuttals they have made on steam about starfield).

Would be sick to have a mod team create one big overhaul mod based around your corrections.

Here's a thought. 5 ways to fix Settlements. As in, the concept of the settlements and workshops as a whole and their use in the game. With Fallout 4, they are just a random radiant quest series or some fun base building for the player. They hardly have any impact on the faction or game storylines. They only are relevant to the Minutemen outside from building the teleporter or the parts for Liberty Prime. And even then, the only real relevant settlements to the Minutemen story is Sanctuary Hills and the Castle. Dialogue makes it sound like they have a impact but they really don't. So, your thoughts on 5 ways to better implement and utilize the settlements in the game and the story. One thought I have is have the settlements be a part of all the factions. Like setting up farms and homesteads to outposts and supply points for the Minutemen. Establishing recon outposts and bases of operations for the Brotherhood. Building up multiple waypoints and safehouses for Railroad routes to help synths. Building research stations or observation points for the Institute. Make the settlements have a use in the story. Another is have different settlements tied to different factions. This group of places are desired by one faction and available when aligned to that faction while another group is for another faction. Some settlements are only available to one faction while a couple of key settlements are open to all. Even have a couple player centered locations that are available regardless or for a more solo or unaligned storyline.

"mankind redefined" should have focused on cybernetic implants and perfection of FEV, that should have been the true goal of the institute. Actually improving upon mankind. The synths should have been an afterthought, literally just highly advanced machines built specifically to perform specific tasks. Go ahead and still use the synths as a catalyst but find out that it's not the institutes end goal, it's not even a high priority, they're literally just servants. Instead you find out that the institute has a real plan that will tangibly help the wasteland. That way you have both a real plan and an actual moral quandary. Do you save the synths at the expense of humanity or do you accept their role as machines in favor of humanity?

5 easy way to fix the settlement system so we can rebuild the commonwealth. 1. upgrade quests that change a locations features (like holes in walls finally being boarded up in sanctuary) 2 Make Settlements unique like the slog. Each should've had a resource to exploit (why do they all need farms). Further improving the offerings of different shopkeepers in fallout 4. 3. Trade routes should make sense and matter. Seriously I've seen my caravan go through some stupid dangerous areas. 4 recruit npcs not random nobodies. Like some of the hidden shops amongst the commonwealth.

I know this isnt the kind of thing you normally do but i think you should review the mod Sim Settlements 2. People who have played it claim that it feels like a natural expansion of the game and improves on the various factions and world building in the game but i would love to hear what you think.

in my ideal set up for the institute (through any means as long as they live, weather that be the player becomes director or your method in this video) is that they team up with the minutemen and provide crops, medicine, and other basic resources to the wasteland but with the addition of a way to keep the Gen 3 Synths going in a more humane method, have replacement be a volunteer based system for those that the medical tech cannot save such as cancer for those that have ones they need to protect like a small child or spouse, keeping all of their memories including being a synth but because they wanted it makes it more humane by a mile and allows them to progress the technology even after the bombs in a helpful way

The reason the power grid works in Fallout 4 is because the Berillum Accelerator supplies the entire Commonwealth with energy so when the Institute took this they stole the Commonwealth's energy grid which is in exact contrast to what Doctor Fallie Filmore said that they only take what they need when they tap into the energy grid on the surface because they took with this literrally evrthing

I think you should do a video on how every settlement could be improved Here’s what I think: hangman’s alley would’ve been better if the build limit was increased and you could enter the buildings (not interior cells they would be part of the exterior cell) and build in them The Boston airport should have access to the recruitment beacon and stuff and it should’ve taken up the whole airport, or at least the airport should’ve been extended to match the section you can’t build in Echo lake lumber should’ve extended to the blocked of building in the north (I think) and across the water to what I believe is an island, also the blocked off buildings should be unblocked and you should have the option the select the main building and repair it Dalton farm should have an option to repair the pre-existing structures Greentop nursery should have a road leading to it and the greenhouse should’ve just been replaced with a farm, maybe built in the place of a no destroyed building, also, more buildings should’ve been added and it should’ve been closer to males and include some of the buildings in Malden and maybe include a NURSERY Ten pines bluff could have an explanation for why there’s a random house on a hill, for example, maybe a neighborhood was being built and only one house was built before the nukes dropped The slog should’ve included the drumlin diner nearby The coastal cottage main building should’ve been in better condition and the Yao gui den shouldn’t exist County building should made more sense, honestly this is a complaint of all the small buildings because they would all realistically be one room or just an awkward pillar, and they’re everywhere, Country crossing, murkwater construction site, tenpines bluff, and just randomly everywhere, I think the building should be a little bigger and make sense to at least be able to accommodate a bed, furniture, and maybe a kitchen That’s really all I’m gonna say cause I’m running out of new ideas

This guy probably has a better life story then the video game character

5 Easy Ways to Fix the DLC would be neat