Why is Fallout New Vegas considered good?

[Sigourn]

@Sigourn Enemy two handed weapon users in Morrowind are weirdly deadly because enemies actually do treat weapon damage range as random damage (unlike the player who does damage depending entirely on how fully they charge their swing). This makes them very inconsistent. Could do one damage per attack, could do thirty. Contrast that with the comparatively narrow range (5-20) of one handed weapons.

Yep.
Knockback on two-handed weapons is also insane.

 

[deuxhero]

Per OpenMW's research knockdown and stagger are actually based on raw damage vs. target's agility with an overly complicated formula. Weapon's only involvement is the damage.

 

[NecroLord]

Yeah, was just about to say that.
Big two handed weapons are the best at staggering and knocking enemies down, that sweet Daedric Battle Axe comes to mind with its 1-80 Damage, my favorite weapon actually.
Put a Fortify Strength on Hit Enchantment on it to make it even more brutal.

 

[luj1]

Big two handed weapons are the best at staggering and knocking enemies down

IIRC weapon weight is also a factor... Which is why the Sixth House Bell Hammer is nasty

 

[luj1]

Sigourn Enemy two handed weapon users in Morrowind are weirdly deadly

Especially when you're a noob

 

[NecroLord]

I usually sell those hammers.
They sell for quite a bit (5000 gold).

 

[Dr1f7]

hmm im thirsty. i know, ill grab a nuka cola from the refrigerator!

1) Open Refrigerator [50 Science]
2) Leave

[SKILL CHECK 30: FAIL] You failed to Open Refrigerator

*close game*

 

[luj1]

Disco Elysium in a nutshell

 

[Sigourn]

I tried out BLEEDLESS for about 10 hours in a Hard playthrough. I need to play more without the mod, but it all points out to what I already believed in, and that is that quick firefights don't make for a fun experience in an RPG. Your build barely matters when you kill an enemy in one shot, and ammunition stocks up like crazy.

 

[Litmanen]

As I said in another thread, Fallout New Vegas has been really delusional for me. Way better than the 3 (the 4, I haven't even played it), but it wasn't difficult. The setting is amazing, but I would say it is mostly borrowed. So a merit-ish.

But: first, even at Hard difficulty and the "hardcore mode", it is easy, especially if you have a companion. And a breathe if you have the robo-thing that kills everything even before you notice there is an enemy.

Then, the quest design is idiotic and shallow. I played maybe 10 hours, I have been in Novak (and now I was leaving for the other place to solve "my personal main quest"), in the factory with ghouls, in differents Ranger bases, in "that place with the casino and the godly robo-thing".... and the quests were shallow... very, very shallow.

The fucking main quest: "Find who shot at you". But, WHY? For god's sake!

I was a courier, I have been shot and then saved by miracle. Why should I set on a quest to find some criminals that would kill me again, maybe? The first thing would be to escape and make a new life in a better place. I'm a courier, doesn't make any sense that suddenly I'm the hero who saves cities and people here and there.

It was really delusional and now I've understood why also the Outer Worlds was that shitty. They have changed target (and it's fair, eh): nice and charming settings with a lot of lights/strange things and stupid quests for people who don't care about them. Obsidiand had made good games with good C&C, skill checks, good stories and companions... and then these two...

 

[Butter]

As I said in another thread, Fallout New Vegas has been really delusional for me. Way better than the 3 (the 4, I haven't even played it), but it wasn't difficult. The setting is amazing, but I would say it is mostly borrowed. So a merit-ish.

But: first, even at Hard difficulty and the "hardcore mode", it is easy, especially if you have a companion. And a breathe if you have the robo-thing that kills everything even before you notice there is an enemy.

Then, the quest design is idiotic and shallow. I played maybe 10 hours, I have been in Novak (and now I was leaving for the other place to solve "my personal main quest"), in the factory with ghouls, in differents Ranger bases, in "that place with the casino and the godly robo-thing".... and the quests were shallow... very, very shallow.

The fucking main quest: "Find who shot at you". But, WHY? For god's sake!

I was a courier, I have been shot and then saved by miracle. Why should I set on a quest to find some criminals that would kill me again, maybe? The first thing would be to escape and make a new life in a better place. I'm a courier, doesn't make any sense that suddenly I'm the hero who saves cities and people here and there.

It was really delusional and now I've understood why also the Outer Worlds was that shitty. They have changed target (and it's fair, eh): nice and charming settings with a lot of lights/strange things and stupid quests for people who don't care about them. Obsidiand had made good games with good C&C, skill checks, good stories and companions... and then these two...

This is pleb talk. One of the things that makes New Vegas the superior 3D Fallout is that it doesn't force motivations on you. You know who complains that they have no reason to chase Benny? Bethestards. Redditors. Other assorted lowlifes. New Vegas lets you decide what your motivations are, and then pursue the quests that appeal to you/your character.

 

[Litmanen]

As I said in another thread, Fallout New Vegas has been really delusional for me. Way better than the 3 (the 4, I haven't even played it), but it wasn't difficult. The setting is amazing, but I would say it is mostly borrowed. So a merit-ish.

But: first, even at Hard difficulty and the "hardcore mode", it is easy, especially if you have a companion. And a breathe if you have the robo-thing that kills everything even before you notice there is an enemy.

Then, the quest design is idiotic and shallow. I played maybe 10 hours, I have been in Novak (and now I was leaving for the other place to solve "my personal main quest"), in the factory with ghouls, in differents Ranger bases, in "that place with the casino and the godly robo-thing".... and the quests were shallow... very, very shallow.

The fucking main quest: "Find who shot at you". But, WHY? For god's sake!

I was a courier, I have been shot and then saved by miracle. Why should I set on a quest to find some criminals that would kill me again, maybe? The first thing would be to escape and make a new life in a better place. I'm a courier, doesn't make any sense that suddenly I'm the hero who saves cities and people here and there.

It was really delusional and now I've understood why also the Outer Worlds was that shitty. They have changed target (and it's fair, eh): nice and charming settings with a lot of lights/strange things and stupid quests for people who don't care about them. Obsidiand had made good games with good C&C, skill checks, good stories and companions... and then these two...

This is pleb talk. One of the things that makes New Vegas the superior 3D Fallout is that it doesn't force motivations on you. You know who complains that they have no reason to chase Benny? Bethestards. Redditors. Other assorted lowlifes. New Vegas lets you decide what your motivations are, and then pursue the quests that appeal to you/your character.

You can use all the stupid primary school offenses you think are very smart but simply show who you are: some minus habens.

Plus, I detest any Bethesda game, so your stupid 6 y.o. offenses are not even right...

And, yet, the motivations behind the main quest can also be "overlooked", ok? We can also say "ok, for you that's a good reason". But even after that, all the other problems stay.

Like that you are a minus habens.

 

[Butter]

I'll get you a dictionary for your graduation.

 

[Litmanen]

I'll get you a dictionary for your graduation.

Already graduated, you are late.

 

[Lemming42]

It's a fair complaint, because the game doesn't really offer you the potential to disregard the main quest in the way that some other games do. The Courier definitely feels compressed into a certain role and limited set of motivations more than other Fallout protagonists and many other RPG protagonists in general.

I have less problem with chasing Benny though and more problem with everything that happens after the first act. Your personal quest ends as soon as you leave the Tops, after that nothing makes much sense; you're just suddenly the most important person in the world and all the major factions will essentially bend to your will. It's like if some Israeli guy stole my money and I followed him to Israel to get my cash back, but then I was contacted by Netanyahu and the leadership of Hamas within five minutes of each other, having never had any contact with either of them before and being entirely new to the area, and both told me that I was now in charge of their military strategies, that they wanted to hear from me immediately, and that my decision would shape the outcome of the conflict. Most people's response would be to fucking run for it, and I've always had a hard time feeling like any Courier I've played has any real reason to be there.

It's also odd from a writing perspective, but "let's sit here and do absolutely nothing until this mysterious mailman/mailwoman walks by and ask them what we should do, then obey" is a problem that plagues a lot of characters and factions in NV.

 

[Sigourn]

The fucking main quest: "Find who shot at you". But, WHY? For god's sake!

1) You decide you don't want to. The game goes on.
2) You decide you want to. The story continues.

Meanwhile, in Fallout 1:

1) You decide you want to find the water chip. The story continues.
2) You decide you don't care about the Vault? lol game over

Nice "RPG".

 

[Litmanen]

The fucking main quest: "Find who shot at you". But, WHY? For god's sake!

1) You decide you don't want to. The game goes on.
2) You decide you want to. The story continues.

Meanwhile, in Fallout 1:

1) You decide you want to find the water chip. The story continues.
2) You decide you don't care about the Vault? lol game over

Nice "RPG".

If "to go on" means you continue to do shallow side quests in which you act as an hero somehow without any reason or goal, even if yesterday you were just a Deliveroo guy, yes it does. But it remains a game who doesn't offer a valid challenge and interesting quests. Quests (and in The Outer Worlds all the mechanic is even worse) are just not well written and do make all the other people on the world look stupid.

A base with 6/7 rangers that cannot communicate with the WHOLE NORTH because there are big critters blocking the communication roads.
Four big ants. Four. Big. Ants.
And a base of Rangers asks the former Deliveroo Guy, just coming out from a coma, to do it for them, instead of going themselves or just using the enormous prairies for their communications with the North.

Doesn't make any sense, I'm sorry. It's true that you can do a lot of side quests (and I'm sure you'll have a lot of them also later in the game), but they are not well written, it's impossible to take the game seriously.

For me, a cRPG (then for the tabletop ones the situation is different) is not made ONLY by the possibility to spend your days selling apples at the crossroads instead of being an hero. It is made by how skills, perks and choices modify the world around you, how your dialogues are also influenced by your abilities and choices in the past, in how many different ways you can approach and then maybe solve your quests, how good your presence and involvment in the main quest are justified. And Fallout 1 did that and a lot more.

 

[9ted6]

The writing's really nothing special either.

There aren't any particularly deep characters and besides Raul and Lily none of the companions have much to their personalities besides I'm Angry (Boone) I'm A Slutty Alcoholic (Cass) and I'm Gay (everyone else). The quests are usually rushed, especially everything after Novac.

Only two of the DLCs have even minimal adequate writing, OWB is Reddit: The Video Game and LR is Chris's myspace profile.

That's not even factoring in the prewoke pandering Sawyer crammed into everything.

 

[HappyDaddyWow!]

The writing's really nothing special either.

There aren't any particularly deep characters and besides Raul and Lily none of the companions have much to their personalities besides I'm Angry (Boone) I'm A Slutty Alcoholic (Cass) and I'm Gay (everyone else). The quests are usually rushed, especially everything after Novac.

Only two of the DLCs have even minimal adequate writing, OWB is Reddit: The Video Game and LR is Chris's myspace profile.

That's not even factoring in the prewoke pandering Sawyer crammed into everything.

I think a big problem with the writing was certain ideas being translated over from the scrapped Van Buren, which sounded good on paper, but I don't necessarily think fit into what NV was trying to accomplish.

Best example is the Legion. In Van Buren, they were going to play an antagonistic role, but in NV they're a joinable faction. The problem is they're comically evil and there's really no moral way to justify helping them unless you're roleplaying as a sociopath who likes ancient Rome. They try and give it some redeemable qualities by mentioning the fact that Legion territory is safer than anywhere else in the wasteland, but logically that doesn't really justify a war mongering slaver nation when the other options (particularly NCR) have some tradeoffs that are entirely understandable and grounded.

 

[luj1]

The writing's really nothing special either.

There aren't any particularly deep characters and besides Raul and Lily none of the companions have much to their personalities besides I'm Angry (Boone) I'm A Slutty Alcoholic (Cass) and I'm Gay (everyone else).

The quests are usually rushed, especially everything after Novac.

Only two of the DLCs have even minimal adequate writing, OWB is Reddit: The Video Game and LR is Chris's myspace profile.

That's not even factoring in the prewoke pandering Sawyer crammed into everything.

FNV is not so much considered "good", as it is considered the least shitty 3D Fallout... which is still pretty crap.

 

[GamerCat_]

I really liked Fallout: New Vegas when it was new because it was a relatively well produced (production values) "RPG" that felt like it was being optimised towards the parts of these things I liked. In combat this was viscerality over abstraction. The addition of iron sights, more elaborately realised and grounded guns which can be handled in more detail, these create a stronger impression of actually firing a gun when you click/pull the trigger, rather than rolling the dice and then the game calculating a reaction on the other side. The game does still run on some abstracted logic, skills and statistics and such, but that stuff is placed far more secondary to the immediate experience of what you're actually meant to be doing in game. I never had any attachment to the form of RPG Combat, I always saw it as a concession to the impracticality of simulating violence before computers and something to be overcome. Like all things with history I do recognise it as a creative form which creates its own unique opportunities as it creates limitations, and that leads into the second refinement thing I like. The game does still keep a lot of abstract RPG stuff, but only where I think that level of abstraction works and makes sense. I cannot in game become better at manipulating and fixing mechanical devices. Their inner workings are not simulated to the point I can manipulate them. We get around this by having a Repair Skill which says my guy knows how to do that. Excellent. That abstraction makes sense and gives us a lot of value and interesting possibiliites without getting in the way of anything more interesting we could be doing (by contrast, binding combat to skills and statistics is kind of obnoxious when we've gotten so good at directly simulating gunfights in video games).

I noticed that skills like Repair, Science, Medicine etc felt really meaningful and were actually changing how my guy passed through the world of New Vegas because there are so many stuff happening moments and so relatively little go punch rats in the sewer for three hours. New Vegas is a game that's very dense with stuff that doesn't feel pointless. Some thought went into everything you run into, each part is something you won't find elsewhere, each part is saying something and playing into the bigger ideas that make up the game. In Fallout 3 I always found it neat finding more people and being able to do something for a while that wasn't moving through a tunnel and blasting away goblins. The parts that feel like your rewards for patience in most other RPGs are basically the entirety of New Vegas. The civilised nature of the setting means that exploring and violence are mostly kept to interludes or heavily contextualised episodes that are going to play into other things that are going on. There are no generic raiders in Fallout New Vegas because almost every violent encounter has its own unique context. You are never fighting just because we need to fill some time.

Fallout New Vegas is almost enjoyable as a Visual Novel. It's carried by its writing, and all of its game parts are remembered and enjoyed for how well they serve and contextualise the writing. Nobody would play a game of New Vegas combat in isolation. But for the job it does in New Vegas it's perfect. It's visceral and fun, and integrates the traits which define your guy in written sequences enough to make them feel more broadly present and real. Your guy is medicine man. That's not just a trait you tagged at the start to get dialogue options. It also means your guy can heal better if you get in a fight.

Visual novel is one way to put it, but really what New Vegas is most like is a setting book/bible which you play through. The ideas which make up New Vegas are innately interesting even outside of the game. Being able to play through them is secondary, like a consummation. I've seen it said ITT that the game is only fun once. And I might agree with that. I think it's only really fun to play Fallout new Vegas once while it's all new to you. Then once you've seen a lot (and probably looked up more) you know how it works, you know the possible outcomes of every piece of it, at this point it really is consummation. You can basically plan out a playthrough in your head by plotting the influence of a few key variables and choices. People often write about their playthroughs and how they burn out before the ending. I believe this is natural and not really a mark against the game. I believe that people only try this because of a vestigial stigma against secondary enjoyment of games. Playing New Vegas a second, third, or whatever time is kind of exhausting. Just reading about certain parts of it from above is probably going to be more fun. And there's nothing wrong with that. It is an interesting setting. It's an interesting story. The ideas that make up Fallout New Vegas are cool. People still talk about them today divorced from the experience of playing the game. /v/ threads are more likely to discuss the politics and world of New Vegas than they are the experiences of individual players. Those experiences might have meant a lot to each player and made them care a lot more, but New Vegas is much more than a game you play.

I like New Vegas because it's visceral for an RPG. I also like New Vegas because it's so much more than an RPG. It sheds so much essential (and arguably vestigial) RPG baggage for the sake of realising its ideas that it completely surpasses its genres roots and takes on a life of its own above and beyond any of its contemporary titles.

I also love Fallout 3, but that's another post...

 

[Litmanen]

I really liked Fallout: New Vegas when it was new because it was a relatively well produced (production values) "RPG" that felt like it was being optimised towards the parts of these things I liked. In combat this was viscerality over abstraction. The addition of iron sights, more elaborately realised and grounded guns which can be handled in more detail, these create a stronger impression of actually firing a gun when you click/pull the trigger, rather than rolling the dice and then the game calculating a reaction on the other side. The game does still run on some abstracted logic, skills and statistics and such, but that stuff is placed far more secondary to the immediate experience of what you're actually meant to be doing in game. I never had any attachment to the form of RPG Combat, I always saw it as a concession to the impracticality of simulating violence before computers and something to be overcome. Like all things with history I do recognise it as a creative form which creates its own unique opportunities as it creates limitations, and that leads into the second refinement thing I like. The game does still keep a lot of abstract RPG stuff, but only where I think that level of abstraction works and makes sense. I cannot in game become better at manipulating and fixing mechanical devices. Their inner workings are not simulated to the point I can manipulate them. We get around this by having a Repair Skill which says my guy knows how to do that. Excellent. That abstraction makes sense and gives us a lot of value and interesting possibiliites without getting in the way of anything more interesting we could be doing (by contrast, binding combat to skills and statistics is kind of obnoxious when we've gotten so good at directly simulating gunfights in video games).

I noticed that skills like Repair, Science, Medicine etc felt really meaningful and were actually changing how my guy passed through the world of New Vegas because there are so many stuff happening moments and so relatively little go punch rats in the sewer for three hours. New Vegas is a game that's very dense with stuff that doesn't feel pointless. Some thought went into everything you run into, each part is something you won't find elsewhere, each part is saying something and playing into the bigger ideas that make up the game. In Fallout 3 I always found it neat finding more people and being able to do something for a while that wasn't moving through a tunnel and blasting away goblins. The parts that feel like your rewards for patience in most other RPGs are basically the entirety of New Vegas. The civilised nature of the setting means that exploring and violence are mostly kept to interludes or heavily contextualised episodes that are going to play into other things that are going on. There are no generic raiders in Fallout New Vegas because almost every violent encounter has its own unique context. You are never fighting just because we need to fill some time.

Fallout New Vegas is almost enjoyable as a Visual Novel. It's carried by its writing, and all of its game parts are remembered and enjoyed for how well they serve and contextualise the writing. Nobody would play a game of New Vegas combat in isolation. But for the job it does in New Vegas it's perfect. It's visceral and fun, and integrates the traits which define your guy in written sequences enough to make them feel more broadly present and real. Your guy is medicine man. That's not just a trait you tagged at the start to get dialogue options. It also means your guy can heal better if you get in a fight.

Visual novel is one way to put it, but really what New Vegas is most like is a setting book/bible which you play through. The ideas which make up New Vegas are innately interesting even outside of the game. Being able to play through them is secondary, like a consummation. I've seen it said ITT that the game is only fun once. And I might agree with that. I think it's only really fun to play Fallout new Vegas once while it's all new to you. Then once you've seen a lot (and probably looked up more) you know how it works, you know the possible outcomes of every piece of it, at this point it really is consummation. You can basically plan out a playthrough in your head by plotting the influence of a few key variables and choices. People often write about their playthroughs and how they burn out before the ending. I believe this is natural and not really a mark against the game. I believe that people only try this because of a vestigial stigma against secondary enjoyment of games. Playing New Vegas a second, third, or whatever time is kind of exhausting. Just reading about certain parts of it from above is probably going to be more fun. And there's nothing wrong with that. It is an interesting setting. It's an interesting story. The ideas that make up Fallout New Vegas are cool. People still talk about them today divorced from the experience of playing the game. /v/ threads are more likely to discuss the politics and world of New Vegas than they are the experiences of individual players. Those experiences might have meant a lot to each player and made them care a lot more, but New Vegas is much more than a game you play.

I like New Vegas because it's visceral for an RPG. I also like New Vegas because it's so much more than an RPG. It sheds so much essential (and arguably vestigial) RPG baggage for the sake of realising its ideas that it completely surpasses its genres roots and takes on a life of its own above and beyond any of its contemporary titles.

I also love Fallout 3, but that's another post...

I appreciate that there are also people like you who want to share their opinion without primary school offenses that make just the "offended" laugh.

But, beside your politeness, I must say I do not agree with you, almost 100%. Especially about the writing that, for me, was one of the weakest things of the game. And I played it just once, so it was all new to me.

And I dislike Fallout 3 way more than New Vegas.

 

[rubinstein]

As I said in another thread, Fallout New Vegas has been really delusional for me. Way better than the 3 (the 4, I haven't even played it), but it wasn't difficult. The setting is amazing, but I would say it is mostly borrowed. So a merit-ish.
But: first, even at Hard difficulty and the "hardcore mode", it is easy, especially if you have a companion. And a breathe if you have the robo-thing that kills everything even before you notice there is an enemy.

i agree, definitely the biggest problem of FNV. its supereasy, even on higher difficulties with hardcore on. some companions are just godlike. boone and ede obliterate everything on sight, even in the late-game. well... there are mods for that. and one can be considered semi-official since sawyer himself is its author.

other points i disagree with:

Then, the quest design is idiotic and shallow. I played maybe 10 hours, I have been in Novak (and now I was leaving for the other place to solve "my personal main quest"), in the factory with ghouls, in differents Ranger bases, in "that place with the casino and the godly robo-thing".... and the quests were shallow... very, very shallow.

if you, for instance, start salvatores quest-chain in new reno, you probably expect gang war and scheming, eliminating - silently or not - all the other families, standing victorious among the ashes of your vaporized enemies, jet-pumping through your veins... but all you get is three tiny sidequests that can be done in 20 minutes. the last one is barely a quest, its a glorified cutscene. it may leave you disappointed, but if you decide to read walkthroughs, you realize these quests are actually really deep, despite it not being obvious. there are some consequences of being stupid, some hidden interactions and skill/special checks, multiple outcomes etc. i think similar shit applies to a couple of FNV quests, maybe not as many as in the original fallouts. on surface they are lame and shallow, but there is some branching and depth there, especially in the bigger ones. i feel like you just dont want to see it.

The fucking main quest: "Find who shot at you". But, WHY? For god's sake!
I was a courier, I have been shot and then saved by miracle. Why should I set on a quest to find some criminals that would kill me again, maybe? The first thing would be to escape and make a new life in a better place. I'm a courier, doesn't make any sense that suddenly I'm the hero who saves cities and people here and there.

https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Mojave_Express_delivery_order_(6_of_6)
You are an authorized agent of the Mojave Express Package until delivery is complete and payment has been processed, contractually obligated to complete this transaction and materially responsible for any malfeasance or loss. Failure to deliver the proper recipient may result in forfeiture of your advance and bonus, criminal charges, and/or pursuit by mercenary reclamation teams. The Mojave Express is not responsible for any injury or loss of life you experience as a result of said reclamation efforts.
the courier knows nothing about shit going on in NV, but he can infer something like:
"oh boy, ive lost the package, and the package seems to be rather important, because some guys almost killed me for. if i dont recover it, the client will be very mad at me, and this time i may not be so lucky" thats your motivation to recover and deliver the chip. afair you can even skip benny and the chip if you commit to ncr route, solving all your problems the other way

I also love Fallout 3, but that's another post...

thanks, save it for yourself.

 

[Litmanen]

if you, for instance, start salvatores quest-chain in new reno, you probably expect gang war and scheming, eliminating - silently or not - all the other families, standing victorious among the ashes of your vaporized enemies, jet-pumping through your veins... but all you get is three tiny sidequests that can be done in 20 minutes. the last one is barely a quest, its a glorified cutscene. it may leave you disappointed, but if you decide to read walkthroughs, you realize these quests are actually really deep, despite it not being obvious. there are some consequences of being stupid, some hidden interactions and skill/special checks, multiple outcomes etc. i think similar shit applies to a couple of FNV quests, maybe not as many as in the original fallouts. on surface they are lame and shallow, but there is some branching and depth there, especially in the bigger ones. i feel like you just dont want to see it.

I have no doubts that quests have consequences that you cannot foresee or will "pay" later. I'm sure of that. But I cannot arrive in Novak, as a stranger, and after 10 seconds I arrive when Boone is and the first thing he says is "You cannot stay here, I'm on duty". Or something like that. So, wow, really strict and law-bound. And 15 seconds later, in the same dialogue, he is asking you to bring in front of him SOMEONE (doesn't matter who), without even asking for any proof, and he will kill him/her. Sorry what?

How is it even possible to imagine a similar quest development. And, after that (you kill the mayor in 2 seconds and in Novak no one cares) "now I have to leave this place, I'm doomed". But you can walk wherever with him, no consequences.

Then, I repeat, I have no doubt there are C&C throughout the game, but a lot of the quest design is AT BEST stupid. I'm sorry, but that's it. And, again, I was really hoping NV to be good, because I'm an Obsidian fan, but... no. Really, no.

"oh boy, ive lost the package, and the package seems to be rather important, because some guys almost killed me for. if i dont recover it, the client will be very mad at me, and this time i may not be so lucky" thats your motivation to recover and deliver the chip. afair you can even skip benny and the chip if you commit to ncr route, solving all your problems the other way

Here, again: no doubt you can "skip" the main quest and do whatever you want, but if you skip it, there is no reason for me to wander the world and be a local hero for local people. I was a courier, nothing in my past says that I have to start killing critters (that apparently scare the rangers), help ghouls or whatever else.
And, if you follow the main story, it's an idiotic reason: "Oh, this gangster has tried to kill me, a simple courier. I can be fired now. Let's find this gangster and his gang so I can retrieve the packet.

No.

 

[Cologno]

Uh, Boone asks for proof, literally "how did you know?" There's even a dialogue where you can truth him if you brought some rando over or attempt to lie and need to pass a skill check.

Oh, boy, if that hangs you up, Recon at McCarran is much worse.