For me there is nothing better in the Fallout and ES games than the facet of exploration. I love the lore, the character building, the weapons and combat but exploring the unknown and unraveling hidden nooks is what most drives me to play these games.

What about you?

Character building mostly, but I also live for those funny moments in games like getting chased by a deathclaw and barely getting away or listening to npcs talk while youre away or just being really lucky, stuff like that

Ha ha, nothing can beat the thrill of ADVENTURE!

Fun combat, interesting characters, awesome guns, and as you said just seeing what's out there. There's alot to love.

I also like walking into a trap or having something kill my character knowing full well that the developers were having fun thinking of this happening to me (us). The imagination put into these games makes me more a fan of BGS than anything else!

The sheer amount of hoarding and exploring stuff also the atmosphere of the world.

..... Or jumping off a cliff and barely surving, accidentally dropping a grenade on yourself and booking it.....

Yes! I remember back in the NES days (if you are that old you may remember) playing games like Maniac Mansion and Zelda where exploring was essential to furthering progress in the game. What makes these games the best is having that sense of constant adventure even after completing the main storyline. Being able to play and uncover more adventure even after the main quests are over really places these games (in my opinion) as being greater than all others.

The lore and world of Fallout is really what I love about the series and what makes it unique. There's really nothing else quite like it. (Well except maybe Boy and His Dog, Mad Max, and all those other things the games take inspiration from but it takes some of those ideas and combines them to make something truly great.)

Well said and agree wholeheartedly! Working in the entertainment industry myself, having true imagination and being able to implement it well into a product, no easy task. BGS pulls it off superbly even if riddled with bugs which I'm really hoping they will have an epic breakthrough with this one and have only minor ones plague the release.

Exploration and customization. If you play a Bethesda game you know to expect these two things.

Ohh yeah, that eery post-apocalyptic atmosphere is giving me shivers already

Im a buffé kind of person, picking a little of everything, but exploring gets a tiny +

Player Choice

(Alot of games force be to be good, and the only way I can indulge my evil side is by attacking chickens)

Setting traps and ambushes. It's really fun using enemy traps against them. It's also fun just sneaking around a complex and laying mines in patrolled areas.. and oh, so satisfying if you get multiple enemies blowing up in different areas. Just hiding in a room listening to *Boom*.. "what was that? better go check." *Boom*. Makes me giggle with glee.

Edit: Oh attribute I was thinking SPECIAL, um yea what everyone else said.