I wandered the Commonwealth for quite some time now but I made the huge mistake of rushing to the end. I am one or two quests away from finishing the main quest and it feels pretty unimmersive to lead my choosen faction to victory despite not even remotley exploring/ playing most the game which is in my mind the "proper way" of doing it.

I especially want to build up the settlements starting from the north and become very skillfull at most things before moving the Commonwealth to the second stage story wise.

Has anyone tried a "proper" approach yet and had more fun that way? Does it really make a difference?

BTW I know that I can continue playing after the "end".

what is "proper" approach, is there any "defined" definition beside "play how you feel like"

beside missing some "random" faction quest, you don't actually miss much

Play until you are done with him. The main quest doesn't mark the end of the game, but some would consider it a blessing that you can start your second play through with a whole lot of unexplored world left. Means your next character can have a significantly different path than your first.

You can still do a lot of the missions after the main story, I just make certain I get ballistic weave from the railroad and synth armor from the Institute before I finish the story.

i got to a point where i could see the game was starting to rap up and went back to a save just before starting the Molecular Level and am taking more time to get stuff out of it.

I've found more locations thanks to a few youtube vids like finding the Yangtze which opens a little side quest not listed on any side quests sites. but disappointingly I've found all settlements and have run out of supplies, mainly wood and steal, i have found merchants that sell shipments of these but its a bit of a shame to have to go this way, it wouldn't be so bad if trees respawned over time, I've got all companions, i think but haven't got them all to 100% allegiance, i think you can squeeze a lot more out of this game if you dont rush it but i know how you feel, sometimes just running around isn't what you want when your Data tracker is full of quests. You've just gotta be careful of crossing the point of no return

I'd finish then start a new play through

As far as I'm concerned, when I'm done with the main quest (I should be over half way done right now), THAT'S when my Sole Survivor's story really begins. The whole main quest/picking a faction thing is just the origin story. I've barely explored the Commonwealth, especially down South. Then will come the inevitable DLC...

Very much this. I've taken a few breaks at certain points in the story where I could roleplay trauma, but my character's personality (and my own natural instinct) compels me into the main quest. It's not until things are truly resolved the my Sole Survivor can really take a step back and do things at their pace.

Unfortunately, for me, if there no quests theres nothing to work towards, i fear that finishing the main quests will make the game a bit stale like previous Elder Scrolls games. Whenever i play those these days i take the time to do the faction quests first before even going to Whiterun.

Ive already done all the side quests i could find including Yangtze. Ive found special items like the Mascot Head, X-01 armour, have full Heavy Combat armour and 2 Super Mutant looking arm pieces that call themselves Heavy Metal Armour, i still need to max out follower options but learning about Piper's bonus perk at this stage in the game is somewhat pointless. I'm sometimes eager to try and max out the game for as long as i can, i want to get more perks unlocked so i can experience more things without having to take precautions.

But if i progress with taking out the Institute or one of the other factions i will run out of tasks and have to make my own fun, which again would be fairly easy if i hadn't already found all settlements bar BunkerHill, and used up all my wood building defensive walls around them. the first instalment of DLC can't come soon enough for me but I'm sure ill be waiting a long time unless they go down the path taken by the Witcher 3 in where they trickle out missions every month or so for either free or a small fee like ￡/$1.99

Well then it's whether you want to do it all again with a different character, or wait and play something else for the time being. I personally just do things the opposite way around to you; main quest, then all the side stuff. That's only because given the context of the primary narrative it would feel out of character for me to do otherwise.

Sometimes I get annoyed at the fact I can't play as much as I used to. Sometimes I'm very glad of it. I'm LVL 21 with almost everything in the game left in front of me. The DLC's will be released well before I'm finished with the Vanilla game.

Do what you want to, you can either finish the main quest and start a new character to play differently, or just dump this one and start over. Me, I'm still playing my first character, currently at level 54, and I haven't even gone to the Glowing Sea yet. I'm still courting each of the three non-Institute factions, taking quests from each of them, and have only explored about 2/3 of the commonwealth. I'm gridding every part of the map as I go, leaving no hill or canyon or overpass or building or stinky flooded alley left unexplored. Real Davey Crockett playthrough. Been loads of fun, so far. But I've never been the type to rush through and finish a game, skipping past content. I get my money's worth

There really is no proper approach..you breeze thru the MQ, then chances are you miss out on a few faction side quests...if anything you can maximize your quests by joining all factions until the end...so if you are at that point in the game it really don't matter...you could either finish how you are now, or wait until you are nearly God-like and sail thru the end..this isn't like FO3, where you had to get everything done before going thru with the end...

Think of it this way: Fallout 4's story is the story of a man out of time trying to reunite his family. That is the entirety of the main quest. However long it takes you to do that, be it quick or slow, none of that requires exploring the land to do everything you can. Reunite your family, or learn that such a naive idea was foolhardy from the start. Bury the weight from your past, then explore this brave new world.

If anything, getting to see what the Commonwealth is really like after succeeding in/abandoning that personal quest makes more sense than putting everything on hold to check out yet another apartment that looks the same as any other.

If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong; everything else is 'proper'.

The question then: which approach will actually be fun for you? If there is no approach that will be fun with this character, start a new one!

I kind of rushed to the institute thinking that was the end. Now my character is kind of in shock/depression about what he found there and just wanders around in denial helping the minutemen take back the comonwealth while thinking about what he should do about the institute/railroad.

Like some people have said, the main quest is really kind of an origin story.