Quote Originally Posted by Errorname View Post
Right, but it's not "want vs need" in the sense of "I thought I wanted to get revenge, but instead I really needed to singlehandedly win the battle of Hoover Dam for [X]". There's no conflict between these motivations in the game, the revenge story gets resolved and then as a consequence the Courier gets tangled up in the political story. It's not a story about a character realizing what they actually need instead of what they thought they wanted, both because that's not the structure and because the Courier is so player directed that their actual motivations can be variable depending on the player.
There is no "conflict", but they go in different directions nevertheless.

You are 100% right that the two objectives are not at odds. But transitioning from the hurt/revenge story to the Power Broker story enacts this transition.

In a way, the Courier also has the choice to simply refuse to engage mentally with the power broker plot. In that case, he simply remains House's loyal little employee who gets paid. Going for the NCR, Legion or Yes-man requires you to take matter in your own hands and actually decide to stake what you believe in.