If the [Speech 100] options were not marked and you had to actually figure out a nuanced conversation it might be more immersive. But being able to defeat Lanius in New Vegas by spamming [Speech 100] and [Barter 100] options without reading a single world of dialog really exposes the game design for the worse.
Older RPGs just had the [Persuade] option but kept it in the dark as to how much points you need to win it. For all you know, the persuade option can still fail. I remember KOTOR doing it so. Whereas Fallout 3 left it all up to chance, you're likely to convince the other guy if you have [Speech 100] but it can still fail if the RNG dice rolls aren't in your favor.
I once had Colonel Autumn cornered at the final level and I had 100 Speech, but he still brushed me off and fought to the end.
Talking down Lanius doesn't even make sense. There are so many headcanon arguments for why he does it rather than actual arguments the game itself presents. Everything you know and learn about The Legion tells you defeat or retreat is not an option for them, much less their highest in command. And suddenly you're talking the mythical butcher into running away, presumably to preserve his legend (ignoring how running away destroys it to begin with).
Lanius should've been another Frank Horrigan.
Exactly. All attempts to persuade Lanius SHOULD fail, since if he does retreat, either Caesar or the other Legion Legates and Praetorians will turn on him for cowardice. It doesn't matter how physically strong he is, if the Legion army turns against him, he's nothing. He should be the kind of guy who HAS to fight you, because his reputation is on the line, and the culture he's been exposed to is a do-or-die culture where, as one of the NCR officers put it, everyone from Caesar to the lowest-ranking Legionnaire will slit their throats rather than surrender. Or as Caesar puts it to a player who's fought for him up to the end, ''come back victorious, or don't come back.'' This is why when I fought him, I never use the persuade option with Lanius. I want him to fight to the end, because that's what he should do, from a lore-wise point of view.
But I suppose Obsidian really wanted to have a final boss that you can talk your way through, like in Fallout 1.
if only they made keeping him alive worth anything
man's a colossal douchebag
I only spared him for the lulz. Shit, you don't even get a bonus if he lives. The only real bonus you get are the tech stuff you have in the bunker, the holorifle, and the 37 gold bars.
Funny you mention New Vegas because Dean Domino in the Dead Money DLC is an attempt to turn the tables on this. For multiple skill-based dialogue options when the first time you meet him, you will be so forceful towards him that he ends up turning on you. Avoiding the skill-based dialogue options and actually paying attention to the dialogue will lead to different things happening
I remember that. I suppose Obsidian got tired of people just maxxing out speech skills and picking the persuade options, so they created a character who will turn on you if you use them. I suppose it's because since he's a sly talker, he knows it if someone is using the same tactics on him. But as
@God of Nothing said, dude's a colossal shithead, so if he dies, there's no real consequence. The only thing that matters in Dead Money is getting through the DLC and taking all 37 gold bars with you. Everything else doesn't matter one bit, whether or not you killed your other partners in crime, or if you killed/trapped Elijah in the vault.
