Seems kind of silly that my reputation with this faction is permanently tarnished (Or I assume so by being "Villianized") 10 minutes into the game just because some guys started randomly shooting at me and I shot back.

I do have a save right before I encountered them though. Should I reload or am I supposed to have bad rep with these guys for now?

Eh powdered gang are scum, don't sweat it.

But I'm a scumbag. I fit perfectly with scum.

They are basically the drug dealers of the Mojave wasteland right? Maybe my guy would fit right in with them..

The drug dealers are the Great Khans, Powder Gang are escaped convicts.
If you're playing an evil character though it would be beneficial to side with these guys. Seeing how you can join up with them against Goodsprings (and take over the town) I haven't tried that yet though.

...!!! I like Goodsprings. Looks like the Powder gang is going to die.

Haha yea screw those dynamite chucking crazies!

I'm pretty sure the reputation system is bugged. I've encountered the same thing. It doesn't make any sense for such drastic shifts in reputation for very little. If you are Vilified, you should be the absolute boogie man to the group... not just a guy who shot back when they started shooting at you. Even bad guys understand that rule: You shoot at someone, don't be mad when they shoot back. Also, the group set upon Goodsprings, I think, is an isolated offshoot from the main group. So they really shouldn't count overall.

There's a difference between shooting back and killing multiple members. And they're criminal scum, it's their rules, not yours. And the group from Goodsprings isn't an isolated offshoot, Cobb blatantly tells you about his friends (the other powder gangers) at the prison and says that the escaped convicts at Primm aren't his friends...sounds pretty self explanatory.

Humm...I still havent completely wiped out the prison yet...

Give Ronnie some more head punching pratice I guess.

I chose to help Goodsprings and I am now vilified by the Powedergang. Im now searching for a sheriff for the town of Primm and am decided to head to the prison to find the new potential sheriff. Now im not sure if hes a captured person or a member of the powdergangers. i hope hes not a member since getting into the prison is causing me problems. I dont wanna kill everyone to get in there (Which is whats happening) and then realize that I killed the potential sheriff too. I hope hes captured by the powder gangers and ist sort of a rescue mission. Otherwise you need to side with the powdergangers from the start at goodsprings to complete this mission this way.

He's in the prison with the others but shouldn't be hostile. Just don't kill him when you are killing everyone else and you should be able to recruit him.

Way too hard to get in im turning around and going back to one of the soldiers

Get an outfit off one of their bodies and go in disguise.

Just so you know

SPOILER
Every faction will know what you're doing all the tim wherever you are.

is it really taht easy??

SPOILED!!!
My exp was such-> I went to get the guy out of the prison. And after paying a hefty amount of caps to get inside the guard still becomes hostile of you try to move past him. I'm guessing it's because he's a scumbag. So I just reloaded and popped out my trusty weathered 10mm And let one go in his head, took the key donned his clothes and walked in like I owned the place. This made me smile

It WAS funny in GoodSpings when I first fought the gang with the town. I killed all the gangers myself and saw the big 'villianized' message and figured I must have accidentally shot a townsperson (FO3 was super glitchy that way) so I reloaded and did it again. Only that time I noticed which faction it was.

Yes, it really is. Factions think you're one of them if you're wearing their clothes.

Yea, same thing happened to me. I had to wipe out everyone at the prison, killing the potential sheriff. Oh well.

I reload until I've got this figured out and decide if I want to go with a faction. So far I'm still neutral with everyone but it's not because I didn't defend myself when the Powder Gangers or convicts attack me. I don't know the answer and I didn't read this whole thread because I don't want to be too spoiled.

Just as a warning. Don't gointo the Vikkie Something Casino in Primm wearing the Powder Gang outfit... you will have to kill everyone in defense.

My guess is you were trespassing in there territory, probably there camp near good springs.

Not for me it isn't. Wearing a disguise and bribing the guard still has the guard, Dawes, turning hostile and trying to kill me. So I'm left wondering wtf did I bribe him for, and where are the 100 caps I gave him.

I sided with Goodsprings, helped kill Cobb and his buddies, sniped a couple of Powder Gangers, and cleared out the Bison casino and rescued the cowardly sheriff. My faction rating with the Powder Gangers was as poor as could be.

Then I took the quest to find Primm a new sheriff and decided I would try to recruit the former lawman at the NCR prison. The stupid thing was that I hadn't paid close enough attention and thought that the Powder Gangers had escaped the prison but the NCR was still in control of the facility. So I walked confidently towards what should have been hostile territory. I saw a couple of Gangers on the road near the prison and for some reason they showed friendly on the compass. I approached carefully and they never attacked, although they did have their weapons out and looked like they were in the middle of a fight with someone or something else. Weird, I thought and moved on.

When I got to the prison, I quickly realized my mistake but pressed on because no one was showing hostile on the compass. I bribed the door guard, walked in, and recruited the prisoner for the sheriff job. Left without incident, all while being vilified. I was a bit disappointed the faction system didn't work as promised.

Still, I'm loving the game.

As Vilified, going through the gate instantly causes Dawes to turn hostile to me and start firing. With a disguise, he initiates a conversation but once I go past him, he turns hostile. Inside, a disguise (such as Dawes' clothing) works for everyone but named Powder Gangers and bodyguards.