lol
It's basically New Reno 2 so it's MCA's idea if anything,
Considering both worked on F:NV that might be true, but what does it matter whose idea it was? This was a team effort.
No one in his right mind would waste energy like this in a post-apocalyptic setting (on neons, or so many casinos which make sense in contemporary world where people have plenty of resources to waste, or radio), no one would waste time to make fancy Elvis costumes and Elvis hair-dressing either, it's just silly.
No one in his right mind would waste energy constructing a model of a cargo plane when they are at a primitive tribal level, and yet...
Also, I'd argue the Elvis costumes were probably something that was simply found rather than constructed. The real Las Vegas is full of Elvis impersonators, and the Kings' headquarters is an impersonation school where he found the stuff.
Caesar's faction is also silly if only because a person like that would never grow in power this easily, he would have been squashed long ago.
Why? You could say the same about any other dictator throughout history. Caesar maintains power by force, and by making examples out of people. You know the story of the burned man? This was at Caesar's command. It is hard to squash someone who is that ruthless because people are afraid to stand up to them, else they might meet a similar fate. Why is it so hard to believe that a ruthless person could maintain power over others when history is full of countless examples of this? Saddam Hussein, Hitler, Stalin, you name it. Its actually a lot easier for a dictator to stay in power than a democratically elected leader, because in a democracy said person can be voted out, but Caesar can't be voted out, and if you ever visit him in his tent you see he has a lot of bodyguards, so killing him isn't exactly a trivial thing. Many people probably did have that idea, like Boone for instance.
And certainly his army of goons armed with hammers and machetes would have no chance against guns.
You don't say that about Supermutants when they rush at you with those big supersledges; or ghoul reavers; or Deathclaws. In real life with a decent gun you would be able to take out any of those things, but guess what... this is a video game. Enemies are bullet sponges, and melee weapons hit very hard. Also, maybe you haven't noticed, but some Legionaires do use firearms, and in fact they even make an attempt to buy energy weapons from the Van Graffs, but get betrayed and ambushed in that warehouse in the Birds of a Feather quest. So they aren't necessarily opposed to having advanced weapons, but this is supposed to be a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and tbh firearms and energy weapons should be much more scarce than what they are. In FO2 your character starts off with just a spear, and the first firearm you get is a crappy homemade pipe rifle. This is what a realistic post-apocalyptic game should be. Caesar's Legion largely using melee weapons and throwing spears is more true to the tribal theme of FO2. Bethesda are the ones who think you should get power armor and mini-guns almost immediately and play it like a HALO shooter. This was never Obsidian's idea for what the franchise should be. Caesar's Legion is a relic concept from Van Buren, and maybe wasn't tweaked enough to keep up with the changes Bethesda made with FO3 and turning it into a shoot and loot FPS, but they would have been perfectly fine with the vision Black Isle had for Van Buren to begin with, which would have picked up from FO2.
And btw, this was the cover art image that MCA had wanted to be on FO2
This is a powerful image which shows a tribal wearing a BOS helmet. This is the sort of world where Caesar's Legion with their javelins and machetes would have made sense, but Bethesda fucked up the franchise so that instead of this, we know have a HALO game like this.
Yes, you're right, Caesar's Legion wouldn't make any sense in the face of that, but this was never what the franchise was supposed to become. You have to think about them in terms of FO2 and Van Buren, then it makes more sense.
But seriously though, why would anyone in a post-apo world follow all of these strange rules and customs and listen to a rambling "visionary"?
That has always been a staple of the franchise ever since the very first game. Are you new to the series?
But that's not what OP is saying and you have to admit that he does have a point.
No, he doesn't.