No, let it end the way the old games do.

You can't have everything...Or again just buy a PC and mod it

Because you're not entitled to everything in the game. That's why. There's nothing that states the player 'has to have access to everything in the game'. That armor/weapon the last boss can drop was meant to be used by the last boss. Not you.

But I know of an easy work-around. Something which I have suggested before. Bethesda should have a easter egg shop somewhere which isn't necessarily canon but is just there for the players enjoyment. A shop which sells weapons and armors (at a super expensive price of course) which should not be in this region at all. Like the Holorifle. It's a one of a kind weapon but he has it, and he'll sell it to you. I personally think that every single weapon and armor that has appeared throughout Fallout should be in every coming Fallout game as it doesn't make much sense to me that certain prominent weapon and armors just drop off of the face of the earth and I would love to re-use weapons that don't logically fit into the region of the area. And since this shop is an easter egg, like how you can non-canonically get Dogmeat in Fallout 2, it doesn't matter if it doesn't fit in with the lore because it isn't meant to. It's just meant to be there for the players enjoyment. So in this shop you'll find the last boss' weapon and armor for sale. But like I said, the prices are really [censored] high.

They do that and you can get access to it before even taking on the final boss.

I don't see what's so difficult in exiting the game when you've seen the slide show after the main quest if you don't want that character's story to continue afterward. Really, nobody is going to point a gun to your head and make you continue playing. You have the option to stop, and if that's what you want, great. Why deprive others the option to continue, though?

Not difficult at all. As long as they get their slide show praising their accomplishments, and if they can simply ignore the extended play at the end if they so choose, it's just plain unreasonable to want to restrict those of us who do want to continue playing. In the end, however, it's really just us arguing about our personal preferences. Bethesda is going to do what Bethesda is going to do, and my money is on open ended.

No, i want to keep on playing afterwards.

i want to continue after the main quest like was said in the second post. i think its the best way. i want to be able to use the legate's helmet and blade of the west without console commands but i also want to know i changed the wastes in a significant way

It isn't difficult. I agree.

But there is a certain lack of accomplishment that happens when you have to manually retire your character.

Instead of completing the game, getting the slide-show and skipping the credits and going back to the main menu so that you feel like it is properly over you're instead dumped back into the world and you kind of ask yourself "what now?". So you play it a bit further expecting something to have changed but after seeing that bugger all has changed you feel like there is no reason to keep playing so you exit the game manually. It is incredibly anti-climactic to have to this and the sense of accomplishment completely drains out of you. And every time you finish the game after the first time there is that small nagging feeling in the back of your head that something is "off", something feels "wrong".

I don't doubt that there are those who want to continue past the main quest who have to reload to a save before you entered the point of no return feel something akin to this as well. So ultimately we're left with two sides having subjective views on whether we have to reload or whether we have to manually quit. Obviously I'm going to stick to my side on this.

Then again, 4 out of 5 Fallout games end after the main quest (Fallout 3 was designed to end initially). So if anything the game ending properly without continuation is far more in the spirit of Fallouts design than it is to keep on playing.

I want to finish everything so yes. The only definitive ending is when I'm satisfied.

I think it's personal preference. I say you get your ending slides, it does an auto save on a new slot that doesn't interfere with anything you've previously saved, and you can either choose to continue or not. To me it feels wrong to just save the game just before the end game, complete end game, and then comeback to prior save and go wandering and finishing stuff I left unfinished knowing that "hey, I'm right on the verge of saving the world or whatever, but you know they can wait, I'm going to go blow megaton to hell and set up my bachelor pad in Ten Penny Tower.". *Shrugs* different strokes.

Bethesda should consider everyone's preference.

I wish that too, then we wouldn't need any of this divisive arguing and we could all just enjoy the game they made. In a perfect world that would be the case. Unfortunately, Beth can't make everyone happy. So, what can you do?

give everyone an option. Or the modding community is going to fallow through on Bethesda's short comings.

There was someone in the last thread about this (I'm sure we will have many before the game is released) who said to have a check box in the gameplay options menu that said allow play beyond main quest or something to that effect. Honestly, that is probably the easiest way to to do it but not being a game developer myself, I'm not sure how easy that would be to implement.

Don't finish the main quest, or save before you do.

In principle yes. I like to feel that what I do, or leave undone matters instead of everything being checkbox chores that don't make any difference. Ie. most of the quests tie in to how the ending goes one way or another.

I don't mind that much if the quality and reactivity of the ending is (completely) unaffected by the post ending gameplay and the post ending play is prompted ("The story is over, some quests may not be available anymore, do you wish to keep playing? Y/N"); but I'm not sure if others would find it feasible to them that the narrative ending possibly contradicts what they see afterwards or what they are about to do next (especially since they insist on playing after it).

I'd want it to end, but be able to get the unique gear once you've done the ending and gone back pre final mission save. I don't know how they'd do that, but it'd be nice. FONV made that nice unique loot in the final mission seem rather pointless, sadly.

That's just open world RPG's. It's the trade-off you have for not having a forced linear story. "I have something urgent to attend to at the north, but I'm off south collecting flowers for a random dude I just met."

I gladly take that trade-off.

I suggested to have two different starts labelled story and sandbox. The sandbox start could for example disable the MQ for good. I made that suggestion based on this: If a story like NVs needs to end for good, it should do so. But there are always people who want to continue a character. That solution combines the preferences of two worlds. Players that want the old feel of the FOs get it and people that like to play a character "forever" can do so too.

I hope so, I played the same character for two years straight in FO3. I'm the type of player that turns my characters daily scavenging in the wastes into its own little story. I loved exploring every nook and cranny of the world and finding those old military bunkers, bandit hideouts and the sweet loot inside em.

As much as I'd love the chance to continue the game after the MQ, there's a part of me that says it won't happen. Bethesda seems to be making that exclusive to 'The Elder Scrolls'. The way I see it is that the final battle is the last thing your character does after he/she has taken care of all the other quests, have seen/scavenged for everything possible. It's the cherry on the top of a really large, irradiated cake.

A definite conclusion to the plot of the game that isn't hamstrung by the need to be open ended to ensure continuation or so minute in its affects on the game-world because they would require a lot more work (see Skyrim).

No absolutely not, they fixed this with Fallout 3 and made the game a whole lot better, because of it. Now I can understand to an extent why they didn't continue in New Vegas, due to the fact that the aftermath might have changed the game a lot if not too much. However, they could have just let us continue as the battle stayed at the Dam until a bit later when either Caesar occupies Vegas/robots all over/NCR in control or wiped out etc.

Let's not forget though that Obsidian did that and not Bethesda, so maybe Bethesda will keep the game going after the end as they do their others. Regardless, I will still play and enjoy this game!

The way you worded it, I'm not sure how to answer the poll.

But I will say that I want to continue playing after the MQ and slideshow is over. Those that don't like that can just quit then and there, but that's no reason why I can't go back and bask in the glory of being the Hero of Boston. Might even get my own statue.

I'm pretty sure Bethesda will let us keep playing after the main quest; I feel like Broken Steel was an attempt to correct a perceived mistake, and it's Bethesda's prerogative with every other RPG they made.

And I'm really all for it. New Vegas's ending just makes me avoid the main quest before I get too invested in it. I do want a main quest where our choices have significance, but I'd rather the world only change a little bit while I can still explore it (a la Broken Steel) as opposed to having an ending slideshow only tell me my choices had consequences.

How much they can make our choices affect the world without drastically changing the gameplay experience is up in the air, though. Taking over the Strip with an army of robots is one thing, but maybe we could see the in-game aftermath of overthrowing an authoritarian regime or solving an energy crisis or something.

If they did that, they'd never release the game.