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Should You Keep Fingers Alive? A Moral and Practical Dilemma in the Wasteland

The question of whether to keep Fingers, a character encountered in the video game Fallout: New Vegas, alive is a complex one, steeped in both moral considerations and pragmatic gameplay consequences. There is no single “right” answer, as the decision depends heavily on your character’s alignment, desired outcomes, and tolerance for morally questionable actions. The direct answer is: it depends on your priorities. Keeping Fingers alive offers specific benefits like enhanced dialogue options and access to unique medical information, but it also comes with the knowledge that you’re potentially aiding a reprehensible individual who profits from others’ suffering. Conversely, killing Fingers eliminates a source of evil, but closes off certain avenues for character development and financial gain.

Factors Influencing Your Decision

Several factors should influence your choice:

Your Character’s Moral Compass: Are you playing a morally upright character who seeks to do good in the Mojave Wasteland? Sparing Fingers would likely clash with this persona. Or are you embracing a more pragmatic, self-serving approach where the ends justify the means?
Gameplay Consequences: Consider the immediate and long-term effects on your gameplay. What quests are affected? What rewards are available?
Personal Values: Consider your own personal values. Are you comfortable turning a blind eye to evil if it benefits you?
Information Gathering: Does Fingers possess information crucial to your quest that can be used to save people?
Risk assessment: What are the risks and benefits of sparing or killing Fingers?

The Case for Keeping Fingers Alive

Dialogue Options and Information: Fingers provides valuable insights into the workings of the criminal underworld, especially regarding medical practices and addictions. This knowledge can unlock unique dialogue options and quests.
Financial Gain: While morally dubious, working with Fingers can lead to significant financial rewards. He offers quests involving retrieving and selling chems.
Quest Completion: Certain quests might require Fingers’ cooperation, making his survival necessary for completion. He’s particularly involved in quests related to Gomorrah and its employees.
Strategic Advantage: Having Fingers as an ally, even an uneasy one, can provide a strategic advantage in dealing with other factions and characters. He knows people and information that can be leveraged.
Potential for Reform (though unlikely): While highly improbable, there is a very slim, theoretical possibility that your actions might influence Fingers to reconsider his path. This is primarily role-playing potential, however.

The Case for Killing Fingers

Moral Justification: Fingers is an exploiter and a perpetrator of immense suffering. Killing him removes a significant source of evil from the Wasteland. This aligns with a more heroic and compassionate character build.
Preventing Further Harm: Eliminating Fingers prevents him from continuing to profit from the misery of others and reduces the availability of harmful chems.
Symbolic Act: Killing Fingers can serve as a symbolic act of defiance against the rampant corruption and moral decay present in the Fallout universe.
Closure for Victims (Indirectly): While it doesn’t directly bring back those he’s harmed, killing Fingers can provide a sense of justice and closure for those affected by his actions.
No Regrets (for a certain type of character): For a ruthless or vengeful character, killing Fingers might simply be the most satisfying and consistent choice.

The Alternatives

Consider these alternatives instead of killing Fingers:

Negotiation: While difficult, attempting to persuade Fingers to change his ways or at least limit his harmful activities can be a viable, albeit challenging, option.
Exposure: Try to expose Fingers’ misdeeds to the authorities or other factions who might take action against him.
Exploitation: Turn Fingers’ knowledge and resources against him. Use his information to disrupt his operations and undermine his power.
Ignorance: Simply ignore Fingers and avoid interacting with him altogether. This neither helps nor harms him, but it allows you to avoid making a difficult moral choice.

Ultimately, the choice of whether to keep Fingers alive is a personal one. Weigh the moral implications, the practical consequences, and your character’s role-playing alignment before making your decision. There is no objectively right or wrong answer – only the choice that best reflects your own values and desired gameplay experience.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are 15 frequently asked questions regarding the decision of whether or not to keep Fingers alive in Fallout: New Vegas:

1. Who exactly is Fingers?

Fingers is a character in Fallout: New Vegas, specifically found in Gomorrah, one of the casinos on the Las Vegas Strip. He is a doctor, but his practice is far from ethical. He profits from the exploitation of sex workers, prescribing them chems and generally contributing to their addiction and misery.

2. What quests are directly impacted by Fingers’ fate?

Fingers is primarily involved in quests related to Gomorrah and its inhabitants. This includes quests like “Birds of a Feather” and potentially impacting the outcome of quests relating to specific prostitutes within the casino.

3. What are the immediate consequences of killing Fingers?

The immediate consequences of killing Fingers are mostly localized to Gomorrah. Guards will become hostile, and you’ll likely face a firefight. You also lose access to his services and any potential rewards he might offer.

4. Are there any long-term consequences of killing Fingers?

The long-term consequences are primarily related to missed opportunities. You won’t be able to complete any quests that require his cooperation or access any dialogue options unlocked by his presence.

5. Does keeping Fingers alive make the game easier?

In some ways, yes. He provides information and quests that can lead to financial gains and strategic advantages. However, it comes at the cost of knowing you’re supporting a morally reprehensible individual.

6. Can I kill Fingers without affecting my reputation with the Gomorrah faction?

It’s extremely difficult. Killing him within Gomorrah will almost certainly trigger a negative reaction and make the entire casino hostile. Stealth and careful planning are required to avoid significant reputation loss.

7. Is there a way to reform Fingers and make him change his ways?

No, there is no established in-game mechanic or quest line that allows you to reform Fingers. His character is primarily designed to be a morally ambiguous figure.

8. What kind of rewards does Fingers offer if I keep him alive?

Fingers offers rewards such as caps (the in-game currency), access to certain chems (though this can be morally problematic), and information that can be useful for navigating the criminal underworld.

9. If I kill Fingers, can I loot anything useful from his body?

Yes, Fingers will have some caps and often a doctor’s bag or other medical supplies that can be looted. However, these are generally not game-changing items.

10. Does my Karma level affect the consequences of killing or sparing Fingers?

Yes, your Karma level will be affected. Killing Fingers, especially if you have a good Karma, will slightly increase your Karma. Conversely, supporting his actions will slightly decrease your Karma.

11. Does Fingers have any unique skills or abilities that I can’t find elsewhere?

Fingers possesses unique knowledge about medical practices and chems, especially within the context of the criminal underworld. This knowledge isn’t explicitly represented as a skill, but rather through dialogue options and quest opportunities.

12. Can I pickpocket Fingers to gain information or items?

Yes, you can attempt to pickpocket Fingers. This might allow you to obtain caps or other items, but it’s unlikely to yield significant information that you couldn’t otherwise obtain through dialogue.

13. Are there any factions that would reward me for killing Fingers?

No specific faction explicitly rewards you for killing Fingers. However, morally aligned factions like the NCR or those who value justice might implicitly approve of your actions.

14. What is the “best” decision regarding Fingers from a purely gameplay perspective?

From a purely gameplay perspective, the “best” decision depends on your priorities. If you prioritize maximizing profit and completing all quests, keeping Fingers alive might be the most beneficial. However, if you prioritize playing a morally good character and eliminating sources of evil, killing him might be the more satisfying choice.

15. Can I revisit the choice later if I regret my decision about Fingers?

No, once you’ve made the decision to kill or spare Fingers, it is permanent for that playthrough. There is no way to undo your choice, so it’s important to consider all the factors before making a decision.

Should you keep Fingers alive?