We chat about videogames and videogame accessories.

karma just changes based on your actions, not if anybody sees you doing it, and is supposedly the basis of your character's outlook on life, which influences the kind of person they are, which in turn would give off a vibe of villainry or heroism, regardless of what they know about you

in practice, new vegas, unlike fallout 3, doesn't actually give a shit about your karma, except for exactly one character (who you can just not talk to in order to avoid losing them as a companion), the wording of the ending (classics such as "even though the courier was a paragon of virtue, they supported the dickbag ceasares" or "although everybody questioned the courier's methods, they still got the ncr back in power and law was established over the region"), and two very specific, dlc based endgame perks that are both arguably good no matter which side you pick

steal all you want, and if you want good karma, just go kill more ghouls and fiends