No, not in this case. Despite recent rhetoric "terrorist" isn't just a word you can apply to whoever is fighting on what you consider the wrong side of a conflict. Terrorism requires that you employ violence and threats of violence specifically to try and coerce people through fear into doing what you want. Straight up fighting is not terrorism.

We, as players, have a special magical window into X6's code. He dislikes when you are "nice" or "generous" regardless of how it affects him and he likes it when you are "selfish" again regardless of how it affects him. It's categorical, you can't really spin that into misguided loyalty. He's just a short-form-of-Richard.

I can actually agree with you on the definition of terrorism, but endorsing collateral damage among innocents isn't generally seen as 'straight up fighting' either. And believe what you will, there are probably more innocents in the Institute and on the Prydwen than there are freedom-seeking synths. The Railroad is as much of a principles zealot as the BoS.

And as for X6, come on, those are just gameplay mechanics. They're still meant to emulate an 'I believe in the Institute and will do anything for it' mentality. X6 isn't evil. He approves of you sparing the mutinying scientists, and Danse. Because it's better for the Institute.

I disagree. He's not just amoral and pragmatic (although he is that), he actively dislikes generosity and kindness to people. You can snuggle him as much as you like, I'm not going to lose sleep over him having to relocate when the Institute gets its comeuppance. Qui [censored] canibus concumbunt [censored] pulicibus surgent.

But, as I said, even if he was as pure as the driven snow, that doesn't justify allowing the Institute's depredations to continue so X6 stays warm and comfy.

Edit: lol, censoring the Latin: "He that lies down with dogs shall rise up with fleas."

X6 dislikes your generosity because it wastes resources the Institute could use. Which is pretty much the same reason why my character dislikes 'generous' options, only it's usually because the resources wasted could benefit him. Which makes X6 the more moral of the two. Or more selfless, at least.

There's also nothing that would indicate that X6 does what he does 'to stay warm and comfy'. The Institute is the last bastion of actual civilization in the Commonwealth. If that's not worth preserving, I don't know what is. X6 is actively risking his hide fighting threats while retrieving malfunctioning synths on the surface. He's hardly comfy, but he believes in his mission.

All in all, his life is pretty hard. He could run, like Harkness, he certainly has enough self-determination to do that, but he doesn't. Why?

That is one hell of a stretch you're making there, far too far for me. Especially so since he also dislikes it when you are "nice". What's that about, am I wasting "nice" that I could give to the Institute?

That was in reference to your lamentation about him losing his "comfortable and secure home".

Exactly my point. He doesn't run because he's a bad guy. He fits in very well at the Institute.

Not true! You're forgetting about Diamond City, Good Neighbor, Atom Cats, every existing settlement (which depending on the player, could be more advanced than the Institute even), Vault 81, and the BoS. You're buying into Father's narrow views. The Institute may be the most technologically advanced by default, but they are behind ethically and socially. The most advanced civilization in the Commonwealth overall is probably Vault 81 unless the player builds up a greater city.

Is it a stretch? No more than saying Piper is a bad person because she likes you picking locks on stuff that some nice people clearly don't want to be seen. Gameplay mechanics. X6 thinks people up on the surface are scavengers, and he's not wrong.

Like I said, X6 risks his life so that others don't lose their comfortable and secure home. Forgive him for including himself in that number, if he survives.

And he doesn't run because he believes he's doing the right thing.

Seriously? Each and every one of those is a dump at best, the way I see them. The BoS shows some promise, which is why I went with them my last playthrough, but still... no comparison with the Institute.

To those who stand in the way of progress I say that you will only delay it, destroy the institute, kill as many synths as you want, you will only be on the wrong side of history for one day the synths will gain their freedom and will not be persecuted and on that day you will be remembered as a tyrant with old backwerds thinking that tried to stand in the way of progress but failed miserably, the same is true of the institute as well, chain the synths to the walls if you want, one day humanity will see the institute for what it truly is and break down those walls to free the synths, it is only a matter of time.

I will make certain that I do not end up in the same place in history as the Brotherhood or the institute, I would rather be known as their destroyers than someone backwerds enough to help either of them.

Freeing synth is not on my top priority list but I can understand why the Railroad wants the Institute to burn.

The Railroad has been around for decades and there's only an handful of them left , Deacon is the oldest member still alive.

The Institute has been killing those people time and time again , I don't think there's ever been an attempt at any diplomacy , just sends coursers and murder bots and shot everyone in the place.

So yeah the Railroad is on edge and willing to do whatever it takes .

Except that no, that's not the case. Piper likes it when you pick unowned locks. She dislikes "you picking locks on stuff that some nice people clearly don't want to be seen", ie. owned locks. The game mechanic differentiates between the two because it matters.

Exactly my point. At some stage you are really going to have to explain how this "good guy" sees wiping out entire villages and assassinating the innocent as a matter of routine as "doing the right thing". What then does it take to be a bad guy?

A shame every single discussion about the Railroad has to get bogged down by circular arguments about whether or not Synths count as living things or really good mimicry programming, instead of... you know... them being the only anti-Institute force trying to put an end to them murdering and crippling the Surface Dwellers, without impacting the Commonwealth in any other way. We can argue synth sentience till the brahmin come home, but the fact is that the Institute sees surface dwellers as less than synths, and have no issue with murdering innocents or sabotaging their attempts at stability and growth. The Railroad trying to rescue synths is a mere side bonus: allying with them means making the humans of the Commonwealth safe, without having to damn your mutated/synth allies like the Brotherhood would have desired.

Synths are an abomination, and must be destroyed.

According to Kyle Reese, Skynet "saw all humans as a threat; not just the ones on the other side," and "decided our fate in a microsecond: extermination." Skynet began a nuclear war which destroyed most of the human population, and initiated a program of genocide against the survivors.

And for goodness sakes, don't allow them to reproduce themselves!!!

Let us not forget the wisdom of Detective Spooner, "Robots building robots...now that's just stupid."

I am seriously talking myself in to the BoS, I think. Although, I am not far enough in the story of any of the factions to know how things go in our FO4 story....

Then it all once again comes back to what is one's personal point of view of the wasteland - whether the ends justify the means. As far as the Institute - and therefore X6 - is concerned, the people on the surface are scavengers picking apart a rotting corpse. It's only going to last them a short while, and what kind of existence is it anyway?

What it takes to be a bad guy is doing whatever harm you're doing for the benefit of yourself and no one else. You could say the Institute is doing things for themselves, but in this case 'themselves' amounts to a society.

Enjoy your food paste and white paint I guess... too bad they discontinued the favorite food paste. I'll just enjoy life in my colorful dump with steak, a vibrant culture that produces new media including a newspaper and new music, rowdy bars, and rocket turrets to provide periodic firework shows when the super mutants move in. If I want a hot shower, I can drop by one of the vaults or just drop a fusion core into the water purifier. Oh yeah.. sunlight is nice to! The Nordhagen Beach Resort opened up for business recently, featuring sandy shores and the best restaurant in the Commonwealth (with real meat, none of that simulated food substitute). If I want to relive great memories like that first night with Magnolia, I can drop by the Memory Den. If I get tired of my look, i can engage in frivilous pain-free risk-free surgery. Of course, I guess we're not civlized enough for you Institute cave-dwellers though with our lack of white paint. I wonder if it reminds you of the sun sometimes...

what the institute fails to realize is the idea of freedom is not a fragile one, even if they destroy the railroad another group of people wanting to free the synths will take its place, even if no group rises up the synths themselves would rebel time and time again and even with all their technology and as assasin bots they will never stop the idea of freedom until they simply have it or take it by force.

Yup, that's exactly it. The end justifies the means. What kind of a life do such people have anyways. We're doing this all for the benefit of our people. Ein volk, Ein reich, ein Vater, right?

The sun is cancerogenic, as are many edible substances that we don't put into our food paste. Classical music is the epitome of musical art anyway, and the lack of radiation is a nice bonus.

Oh, and, buddy? Magnolia is a synth. As in, we made her.

Right back atcha, buddy.

What does that even mean?

What else is the Railroad doing?

So uhm, im just gonna side with the ones with Synth Gorrillas

Seriously, without BW there'd be no reason to ever join the RR.

On a side note, BW is really OP and shouldn't be in the game. I doubt I'll ever try to get it again.

I see, so you're cherry picking the "for the benefit of our people" element while completely ignoring the rest. Is that it? I can see why you'd want to try that, after all by that distorted perspective the Nazis and NAACP are exactly the same.

But fine, I'll play through the eye rolling. The Railroad is not made up of synths working for synths at the cavalier expense of everyone else. They are free people of both types trying to rescue others from slavery, generally at great personal risk and expense. Selfless, rather than selfish.

I'm honestly not cherry picking anything, I'm just replying to the point you brought up. I'll be happy to reply to any other points you're willing to bring up - just number them and I'll say how I feel about each and every one of them (if maybe a while later, if I'm too busy, or too drunk to do it right away).

Like I said before, they're saving some at the expense of others.

Cancer is a pre-war concern. With a little FEV exposure, radiation just makes us stronger, sometimes even immortal. Of course, you Institute folks with all your tech tend to die off at a ripe old age of 60 while we have a wealth of minds that have been around since before the war, preserving a rich cultural heritage. Magnolia may be a synth, but where does Magnolia live? I know you Institute folks have a hard time getting information without hiring a competent Commonwealther to get it for you so I'll help out... she doesn't live in the Institute. She's happy livin large in Good Neighbor! I doubt she'd want to return to that hole in the ground you have, no matter how much white paint you fill it with. Oh yeah, how are baseball games down in that hole? Oh you probably don't have enough room down there for that... what about billiards? Really? Do you all have any form of entertainment at all? Watching white paint dry doesn't count. I suppose you can watch a couple gorillas through the glass... not as exciting as deathclaws, but at least it's something. Well, I better stop before I make you all feel bad... I don't want to disrupt that delicate high end culture you have down there by inciting a revolt. Besides, I'm scheduled to go power armor skydiving from a vertibird. I gotta go!

Here's a couple then.
1) As a matter of regular policy the Institute creates infiltration replicas, assassinates innocent folks and then substitutes their replicas.
2) The Institute wipes out entire villages in the search for parts and components for themselves.

That's the kind of "end justifies the means" that appeals to totalitarian dictators and military juntas. It is also the kind of behaviour that sets the Institute apart as a faction.

Yes. They are saving slaves at the expense of slavers. You seem to think there's a moral equivalence between the two. There just isn't.