system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Fallout] How on earth was the Ripper ever considered a good idea?

It's loud as hell, does jack shit against armor, it's hard to control, and it would run out of fuel in a matter of minutes. How on earth did it see "extensive use in conflicts before the Great War" per Fallout 4's loading screens?
gpt
The ripper is a terror weapon. It's designed to cause extremely awful wounds and deter people from further violent action. Remember, a lot of the conflicts before the Great War were internal. People were rebelling against governments that weren't functional any more and couldn't provide for their basic needs. Forget nonlethal anti-insurgency tactics like water hoses and sonic weapons; would you keep trying to rebel if you watched your friend get a massive chunk taken out of him by a cop wielding a chainsaw-sword? Heck no. It's one thing to charge a line of police if they've got billy clubs, but nobody does that if they're going to get hacked apart by chainsaws. The ripper is a weapon designed to instill terror; it doesn't have to be effective, just AWFUL.