It ended just fine. I have been on the forums since day one (2 other accounts) of release, and as people began to finish the game, alot of complaints arose that the ending was terrible. I dont see it. I finished the game as a good guy today with maxed karma, only because its "cool to be kind" ,and the ending was just fine. It didnt turn my world upside down or create a strong emotional vibe but alot of those vibes were experienced thru playing the game. I completed every side-quest and about half of the free form quests(own guidebook, not just making numbers up), but i do still have many many locations to visit that i will have to load a previous save to enjoy. I dont understand what the kind of people are so critical about the ending unless they finished under an evil or nuetral karma but i did pick alternate choices at the end, and the results were different but not bad or much different than a good ending.
So i finished the game and thought to myself for about 10 minutes "what the hell are people talking about"? So i went straight to wikipedia and read thru all the fallout timelines and history and though i didnt play fallout 1 or 2, i learned the entire history of the fallout world and it would be pretty factual to say that this game has actually saved a *decadent and loopy story that the sequels to fallout were headed or had already begun to do. The old stories were getting stale and just wouldnt be logical enough to continue, Especially 200 years later. I can see that Bethesda has saved the fallout world by providing a more concrete and stable future for the games characters and factions mainly. The factions of old were deteriorating in tribalism mentality and brute cult of personality. This new game seems to have shown how progressed and more advanced the factions have become and left alot of space for a new expansion and possible future fallout games.
Finally, id like to say that the last chapters of the mainquest played nicely and were fun. I enjoyed the game and would love to play newer fallout games someday. The title definatly has my money for anything they come out with in the future.

/bump

You won't know what people miss from fallout 1 and 2 until you play them. I can't see how Bethesda "Saved" the fallout world since there was nothing wrong with it in my opinion. Fallout 3 was better than no fallout at all, for me. Its quite enjoyable and it has great visual art but theres a huge room for improvements and i hope Bethesda takes it easier now and inspires

It wasnt as big a game as oblivion...i think they just needed abit more quests and alot longer main quest line.

Fallout 1 & 2 were games I played for thousands of hours , I still enjoy playing them , For me the new game is not what I expected , Fallout tactics was a disapointment because it wasnt a rpg it was a hero game , but it did have what the others lack and thats control ( real control ) over your NPC's . now if they'd combined all this fallout 3 wouldve been great .... but

Length really isn't an issue since you have TONS of locations and sidequests that can be explored outside the main story arc.

The main story pretty much 'saves the wastes' because of what the player accomplishes in the end. But what I missed was the extensive write-up on the impact that my character had on the wastes. In Fallout 1 and 2 and even FOT-BOS the endgame went into detail of how lives were changed, communities saved or destroyed, and how people would feel the void of my absence.

Something missing from Fallout 3 that would have made it a more personal and moving experience would be: What happened to Megaton/Arefu/Tenpenny Tower/(Insert town here) and the people/Families there? What about those I left behind and even helped/hurt in my home vault? How did my contribution help or hinder the BOS? Rivet City? The Ghouls? What ever became of the Enclave?

There are so many significant choices you can make, even just in the main story arc. But in the end as a player I am left wondering what good/bad did I do? That is my only disappointment. And while it is a small let down IMO, the rest of the game is SO GOOD that it doesn't phase me one bit, and I have already made a 2nd character to play through a different way all over again.

MadDogFargo speaks the truth. I ignored the MQ, by the time I ended my first run through it was 70 hours. i discovered every place, did all side quests. Finished the game and all i got was a crappy ending. I just friggan saved a dozen places a bajillion people, righted wrongs etc etc and got nothing for it. That is NOT how we do things in Fallout. I wanna KNOW what happened to Tenpenny Towers, what happened to Little Lamplight, etc. THAT is why you do all the side quests. the MQ was never the attraction, its what you did on the side that made your legacy/history. And all we got was a lousy T-Shirt.

Its really not that fallout 3 was a bad game or even a mediocre game in fact it is a GREAT game truly deserving of its high scores. However in comparison to fallout 1 and 2 it seemed to lack a something more to it that we remember. Gameplay-wise (not graphically I love the graphics) it feels like a girl who got plastic surgery but didnt need it. The skill and SPECIAL system needs some work so you dont feel so powerfully bland. I miss being able to put 300 points in small guns and nothing else but now I HAVE to put points in other things because I have no choice. Honestly I wanted more to do in quests, some side quests seemed cut short and the number of dialogue options were a disappointment. Call me a fluff lover but I wanted to just KNOW things and maybe even have what you learned come up more in conversations with people. I wanted to know why there were a bunch of Gary's in that vault I truly did but no one knows...

Anyway Fallout 3 is a great game hands down and it wouldn't be so hard to change some of the things we were disappointed about, nothing an expansion couldn't fix or even a big patch but that's wishing. All it needs is more, not really more quests and more locations (wouldnt hurt though) but...more overall far reaching interactions and quest overlaps.

Oh and a miss my magnetic rail rifles and solar powered laser gun.

I have to agree with you there the first time i saw the ending i thought it wraqed it up nicely for me. The second time however wasnt so good because it didnt change enough and my character was completly evil. The trouble with cults is they are always upset when someone else tries to create something in their beloved world. I own fallout 1, 2 and tactics and they are very good and very funny. i can understand the cult following behind it but this is bathesdas story set in the fallout universe and they should just lap it up and enjoy what is a trully engrossing game. Let go of the past and look to the future.