Considering the only thing the difficulty slider ever did in a Bethesda game was make enemies absurd damage sponges while also dealing an annoying amount of damage in return which didn't make the game anymore difficult in the slightest but just absolutely not enjoyable, no. I doubt it will be any different in Fallout 4.

What I find difficulty to be is something that requires you to learn and adapt to the obstacles the game puts in your way and also learn from the mistakes you make along the way for which you improve upon and eventually triumph over these obstacles. Spraying hundreds of rounds into a bullet sponge and spamming stimpaks isn't that fulfilling to me.

I don't play roleplaying games to experience "difficulty." I always play Bethesda games on their default difficulties.

Definitely will try starting out on VH + hardcoe and as soon as possible toss in some difficulty mods (Increased Spawns, hardcoe/Survival Mode, Higher Vendor Prices, Less Food/Drinks).

Not sure exactly why, but I have grown to enjoy Bethesda games most when I die and reload many times to get through combat encounters. Even the hardest difficulty settings were a bit too easy in vanilla Skyrim and FO3/FNV. If I'm not dying frequently it feels unbalanced I suppose.

It's because the game is not saying 'yes' (as is usual), and you are having to take a victory instead of being given it.

I've only played NV using HC mode; though I usually pick only normal difficulty in games ~if that's a separate setting.

*My first game of Grimrock 2 took me two months to complete the game; and it was the best gaming I'd played in many years.

(Set to Ironman/single save/healing @ crystals.)

If I play FO4, then I will likely use HC mode if there is one.

Will probably play an hour or so on normal and then start my 'real game' on hard/hardcoe.

However i, and some others find barely surviving the most fun.

But as said, just bloating the HP like BGS likes to do is not difficulty. So far, i have needed mods.
I played trough the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfi2CNGaSSw mode earlier this week. Very little ammo and health items, item boxes not being linked, very different from the normal difficulty experience. That is fun difficulty.
(And i only died once with Chris I underestimated how much the guardhouse boss can take damage )

Same reason i find Dead Money fun. And why i think it would be even more fun without the vending machines If i ever stop being lazy, i'll make mod that hides some more items around the Villa and Madre, and removes all the Vending machines save the one in the beginning bunker. Alas that's an astronomical "if"

On a first play through I just keep the difficulty default normal, but eventually might turn it up. After my first play through with Bethesda games, Oblivion and Skyrim specifically I turn the difficulty up. Right now I wouldn't start a play through on Skyrim outside of Master difficulty, because I know what I am doing.

Yes to hardcoe if they have it. Food, Water and Sleep should be part of the experience, and it should be optional as I know a lot of folks that dislike this aspect of gaming.

If they do give us a HC mode and if they give ammo weight, then they damn sure better let me handload it so I can carry a lot less of it!

Probably hard or very hard wrt difficulty mode, depends what I read about it (I'll probably wait until 5+ patches us released, as I can't stand unfinished games).

If there is a hardcoe mode, I'm at least very excited about finding out what it does. In FONV, to me, it wasn't about making the game harder or even adding a "hardcoe survival element" to it, it was about have some finer nuanced game mechanics in place. Just as in real life, a little starvation doesn't kill you, it only makes you feel a bit weak and you can safely ignore it. Same with thirst and radiation. With a lower strength you could still fire a heavy weapon, but you'd have more sway too it, and you could chem up to temporarily remove bad but tolerable effects. Not sure I would want it to become a struggle to survive basic needs, then I'd probably even turn it off. Individual options and strengths would be preferable. Maybe a Daggerfall approach where "easy character setup - more positive traits than negative ones" made for a slow progressive one, although I'd like to override the progressive speed downwards if I wanted.

I very rarely play Bethesda games on the higher difficulty settings. I really don't care for how they handle it. Enemies turning into damage sponges is not interesting or fun to me. I usually leave the difficulty in the middle and look for mods to increase the challenge.

I always play on normal and use mods to increase the difficulty ... increased spawn, higher level enemies, etc. Don't like the way past Bethesda games handles difficulty.

hardcoe for me...I like to think that sleep and food and water are needed for health and welfare.