What is nepotism?

Tell me, where in the real world has nepotism actually occurred?

Special treatment given to someone because they’re family or friends. IRL, you most often hear about it in instances where an under qualified or under performing person is hired or promoted because of their relationship to someone in the hiring process. In some fields and at some places, there are even nepotism clauses which prevent family members from working together or supervising one another, to prevent fraud, favoritism, and corruption.

Specific to F4, it refers to the soft spot Shaun is often given specifically because he is the player’s child. Every bad thing is forgiven and exclusively because of this relationship, with no further examination or condemnation, and it is a luxury which would not be afforded to any other character. Rather than deed or creed mattering in the slightest, the player effectively winks and says “I got you fam” and there are no repercussions.

^^A lot of dictatorships and empires

I see. This isn't the first time I've been heavily criticized for having such an unpopular opinion. There was a video game I loved but most others hated with a burning passion: Call of Duty Black Ops 4.

Funny, I guess my birthday zodiac sign (Taurus) wasn't kidding. While I'm a polite man IRL, I DO have a stubborn side. If someone opinionated tells me that my opinion is "completely and utterly wrong", my brain becomes defensive. If I'm pushed to the limit, then I take my anger out on a pillow.

Okay

Ultimately it is a fictional property and no real person is hurt by the in game goings-on, so it should not be taken too seriously, but there is a significant difference between liking a CoD game and supporting a (fictional) mass murderer.

Liking a game, a dipping sauce, a preferred fabric for pillow cases: these are all matters of opinion where there is little room for a judgement to be cast on anyone. You prefer ketchup, I prefer spicy ketchup, you prefer A1, I prefer 57 Sauce. It is a subjective experience from start to finish, and thing that matters is that we like what we like. If someone comes in with some left field suggestion, sure we may try it, and by god they could be right, and send us into a sense of existential dread as some weird ass sauce turns out to be so good we now have buy it regularly to scratch a new itch... but oh, well. Or maybe it's the nastiest thing we have ever tasted or seems so unappetizing, even trying it is more than we want to handle. No harm, no foul.

However, where the discussion of Shaun is concerned, it is at its core a moral argument, where there are dueling belief systems which cannot coincide. As a matter of fact, not opinion, Shaun has led the faction through the ins and outs of kidnapping and murdering wastelanders; mutilating and mutating wastelanders; setting loose the failed experiments on the surface, so that they can wreak havoc; and when speaking with him following the Battle of Bunker Hill, he states his intent and strengthened resolve that these actions were correct and his ideal future is the one where in the entirety of the surface can be killed off to fulfill his designs for the future, and if the Sole Survivor challenges that belief, then Shaun does not relent. He banishes his parent and marks them for death. Where the matter of opinion begins, is how the totality of these circumstances are evaluated by we the players, and the opposition to you, the critics of your opinion, contest that Shaun's actions are condemnable. A defense of him that starts and ends with "but he is my son" is, being weighed against every life he has already ended and ruined, along with all those who would suffer the same, if Shaun has his way.

Homie, it’s a videogame. My response was “immature” for the simple reason that I thought it would be a bit funny, and apparently ten people agreed. And I don’t exactly feel bad about insulting a fictional character that, as mentioned, is responsible for a whole lotta death. I got no beef with you, and ultimately us having different opinions about a faction in a game that has really poorly written factions anyway means all of jackshit.

Yeah, I agree that each faction was poorly written. I don't have any grudge against you, either. It's okay to disagree.

And that's sometimes the fun of it. If everyone always agreed on every single point, such that there was no hint of contention, battling of ideals, no question or what is right or wrong, then the place would be very dull indeed. As long as we are attacking fictional characters or the (ultimately unimportant) beliefs about in game factions or plotlines and we're not attacking each other, then it's all gravy.

Mmm, gravy.