How easy would it have been to enter the Strip?

[u/BooneLoverFNV]

Some dialouge in Freeside is along the lines of "I wish I was in the Strip.", however the NV Strip itself is very crowded.

[u/Big_Migger69]

All you need is to either pass the credit check, have a passport, or take the monorail, the people in freeside can't get in because they're poor

[u/wildeofoscar]

The Strip isn't built for your average destitute n' dirty wastelander. They want suckers with actual caps to spend like traders, caravans and unassuming NCR soldiers drunk off their asses to waste money in there.

All you need to get to the Strip is to assume to Securitrons that you're some sort of man of wealth, post your caps and get in. Or sneak into Camp McCarran and take the monorail to get in.

[u/LordCypher40k]

The Securitrons scan everyone who goes in and House himself keeps tabs on who's going in and out of the Strip. If you're some rich schmuck, yes you can go in. Three Families member and their workers can go in (Talent Pool Quest). NCR soldier on leave, yep you're in. An important person in the NCR, enough to be allowed to enter via the McCarran Monorail, yep. If you're not any of these; your ass ain't entering the Strip or you're a pile of ash waiting for someone to sweep you up.

[u/KNDBS]

Pretty hard, only a few lucky workers from the NCR embassy, entertainers and the wealthiest can get in.

You need to have 2000 caps (or you can buy a counterfeit passport for 500) to get in, either way this is essentially what most wastelanders make in a year, if not more, since a ton of them are basically just subsistence farmers.

Probably for most people “going to Vegas” would just mean going to Freeside, there’s casinos, shows, bars and the like there too, we only see one casino a like a dozen people because the game engine shrinks everything down.

In the all roads comic we get a scene on freeside and is absolutely jam packed with people, canonically it’s meant to look like that, a giant slum with some flashy gambling houses here and there that’s full of people.

[u/EzEuroMagic → u/KNDBS]

I assume the average wastelander doesn’t make any caps and maybe just gets lucky and finds a few, without perks you only get like 8-10 off bodies.

[u/KNDBS → u/EzEuroMagic]

Yeah i believe the same, most wastelanders probably don’t really earn anything consistently, only in larger settlements would you see a people actually earning a wage of some kind.

[u/Bokkermans → u/EzEuroMagic]

Presumably the majority of caps they get/earn are spent on sustenance, shelter and security. With the lion's share of what's left either being hidden or otherwise not on their person. Probably a fair amount of "wealth" a wastelander would have is actually scrap or salvage that they keep buried in a location only they know.

It's not like you walk around with your entire bank account in your pockets. Unless you're the protagonist of a game, I guess.

[u/eggs-benedryl]

scrap walls are always penetrable imo

i don't recall if you got any ID after paying the cap check, if not robots would likely ignore you unless they had reason to think you're suspicious but that's not likely (i wouldn't think)

[u/Weaselburg → u/eggs-benedryl]

Securitrons patrol it and presumably House has some other security systems in place. The kind of person who vaults the wall is not the kind of person that'd blend in well at the Strip.

[u/Fubar14235]

If a group could pool together the 2,000 caps they could take it in turns to enter the strip since you don’t actually spend those caps and it seems to be a one off check. You can buy a fake passport for 500, 375 if you’re smooth. Or you can use the monorail to bypass the gate but you need to be on the NCR’s good side or steal one of their outfits.

Even 375 caps is probably more than most freesiders will ever see though and I imagine getting caught pretending to be NCR in McCarran is like a death sentence or at least jail time or something?

[u/Weaselburg → u/Fubar14235]

Most quests give you 1-400 caps, so saving up 500 caps if you're REALLY trying isn't unfeasible, but it is still pretty expensive, especially because the main attractions of the Strip require money to use.

[u/Decent-Strength3530]

Getting into the strip is already tricky, and having the caps to stay in hotels is probably even more expensive.

[u/Brief_Highlight_2909]

Takes a couple hundred caps to get Ralph to make you a fake passport, I’ve gotta imagine that’s popular especially among ncr soldiers who definitely don’t have 2000 caps on them

[u/somegenericidiot → u/Brief_Highlight_2909]

Don't NCR soldiers just enter trought the monorail?