Well i'm i die hard Skyrim fan and put about 500 hours in it so far cause i love the gameplay and the world. Then in the forums i always here how great the game would be if the Devs from FO:NV would have done the writing. I thought to myself how much better could the writting, voice acting and RPG feel really be?

Well, i couldnt take it no more so i went out and bought FO:NV. My first impressions was how ugly the world was in compared to Skyrim. Second impressions was how clucky combat felt with having to kill terminator like bugs. However, i kept telling myself i need to get the know the people in the world. Well since the bad first immpression wore off i'm 20 hours in with my first charactor.

All i have to say is it feel like i have been svcked into a TV serise like Prision Break or Vampire Diares and for a video game thats amazing. I think the dynamics in this game are evenmore interesting than Mass Effect which is more like a Transformers movie with big bangs but no depth. Even the combat is getting better now that i'm learning how to dank around with modding them, ammo and sneaking around placing well place shots. I feel like a total tacitical badass running around the waste and outside the strip.

I'm going to be taking a break from SKyrim until the DLC comes out, cause i just found what i think has the potentional of being one of my favort games of all time, along with skyrim. FO:NV seems like its going to turn out as a "video game man soap oprea" with all the different factions and tons of things to do and all the people to listen to. It really gives you the sense that there is big time crap going on in the world. Thus, i now aggree that Skyrim's writing cant hold a candle to FO:NV and i agree that if could Skyrim would be a MUCH greater game. Its sad to see so much potential lost, but i still love the exploration, world and loot so whatever.

I plan on starting over with a new character cause it hard to roleplay him now cause i just didn't have any sense of the world lol. He all F'd up. He basically a scientist, with savy words that like to sneak around. He got on the NCRs jock soon in the game. Then found out he now has his chips lined up to rule vegas but is doing odd jobs for some of the families. Its totally inconsistent so i want to start over. Also, at lucky 38 i cant use that home anymore cause they shoot me up every time i go in

congrats FO:NV community you got 1up in your community

I'm just getting started but its as obvsious as a wart on a super models face, this game is EPIC

Dovahkiin can take arrows to the knee like a boss all he likes, but only Courier Six can survive bullets to the brain.

Glad to see you've got good tastes bud.

Glad you like New Vegas.

It's nice to see that you gave New Vegas some time. It seems you understand its mechanics. I hate it when people come on here saying "this game svckz I use the varmint rifle on Cazadors and death claws and I go shoot the directly in the face they won't die omg this game is bad."

I don't mind those guys so much, RPGs just aren't their style of game, at least when guns are involved. I actually wish the community here would be less antagonizing towards those people and instead either accept the game isn't for everyone or try and give the guy tips; no need to be hateful towards him just because he insulted the game.

What bothers me is when I walk on down to the Skyrim forums and I hear people calling New Vegas horribly buggy (what Bethesda title isn't?), incredibly linear ("I can't go north at the very beginning so obviously the entire game must be linear") and then try to justify Skyrim's crappy storyline ("Shouting at the fog three times was a great way to build tension for the final battle, I truly felt scared of Alduin's power after that fog!") and call it game of the year. Any time I see that I think "NO WTF ARE YOU DOING, you're giving Bethesda the green light to fire their writers (if they haven't already) and just make a game based on exploring with little to no plot," so it's good to see somebody say they actually heard some of the New Vegas people down in the Skyrim forums out, gave their claims (and game) a chance and now agrees the game is well-written. It makes me feel like all the whining I've been doing there actually DOES have a purpose , and more importantly, like it is possible to get more people on-board for the "hire-some-[censored]-writers-for-your-games, Bethesda" movement, so we can have more games as well-written as Vegas in the future.

welp, then it's you or guys like you i have to thank for helping me see the light. If it wasn't for your type i would have missed out on some epic gamplay with FO:NV. However, its a double edge sword. Now i'll never look at skyrim the same grrrrrrrrr. Now when i think of skyrim i think of the stuff its lacking damit lol. Also, now that i'm addicted to FO:NV i have to think of how i'm going to save up for all teh DLC since i'm poor and jobless, thanks again for that you jerk i could have lived happily in my state of ignorance but you had and go drag me to the light you freaking zelot lol

Actually I'd say you're lucky.
I went from New Vegas to Skyrim WITH low expectations (I thoroughly enjoyed the Thieves' guild of Oblivion and Shivering Isles, so it wasn't like Bethesda's writing had never impressed me before, but New Vegas is just in a league of it's own writing-wise, so I didn't expect Skyrim to match it) and I STILL found myself actually disappointed with it. I'll never forget beating the main quest and thinking "are you [censored] kidding me" before turning the game off and sitting there a moment, trying to figure out wtf just happened. You on the other hand got to enjoy Skyrim thoroughly and now you can enjoy Vegas.

Another strongpoint of Vegas you might or might not yet realize is the weapon balancing. The best weapon for your character is entirely subjective and depends on his stats. Reload speed (compared to your character's agility and if they have Rapid Reload), weapon accuracy (Trigger Discipline vs. Fast Shot vs neither), damage per hit, damage per second, ammo availability (cost, how common, hollow-point and armor piercing available? Custom rounds? Hand Loader perk), weapon upkeep, repair costs, weapon crit rate (compared to your character's Luck, Finesse perk etc), weapon crit damage (Heavy Handed, Better Criticals and Lucky to be Alive).....

Those are ALL important aspects of a weapon, the perks and stats listed in the parenthesis in that list being things that could make (or break) that category for you, making them character defining or absolutely useless for your character. For example, the Medicine Stick has very high damage per hit, damage per second and accuracy, but if you have an agility of 3, it simply reloads too slow for you to use it properly, thus you might use the Survivalist's Rifle instead, which reloads quickly, but falls behind on the damage-per-hit category (bad for armored foes).

The result is that each playthrough is unique. There is no such thing as an end-game weapon that EVERY character utilizes end game (self-made Daedric weapons in skyrim...). You don't choose your weapon; your weapon chooses YOU.
As an example, I have a thread up right now (The Sprtel-Wood 9700) with a video showing off a weapon when used with a character that's meant to use it. However, throughout the video you'll see text stating WHAT you need to get there. If this were a Skyrim vid showing off a weapon, I would just say "yep here it is, watch it kick ass." But in New Vegas, sure it's fun to show off that weapon kicking ass, but I also need to explain HOW to get it to that point. Every weapon needs the right perks, SPECIAL and traits to work well.

One thing I think is better about FONV (among many but I'm pressed for time here) is the main story, at least the start of it. Once you do get the chip then it can get flimsy.
See, in Skyrim, they pull the "save the world" card again which is a really cheap way to force the character down the main quest line.
Cause I mean, unless your character is a complete idiot anyone would save the world, even evil people, cause without a world, well, they can't be evil now can they?
Fallout New Vegas has a great incentive for getting on the quest line.
No it's not the revenge part.
It's the first note. It's the Divide backstory, it's the unknown of the east, north and south.
The first note says that unless the Courier finishes the delivery then mercenaries will be bought to hunt you down.
Considering the Courier knows nothing of the Legion and has roots to the Core Region where NCR is prominent it's a damn good reason to complete the delivery.
Think about it, you don't know anything of the land east, you don't know anything about the north and south which aren't NCR territory.
The only land you know of is NCR and some of the Mojave.
And now to have a price on your head if you don't complete the delivery?
It's a good incentive to go get the chip.
Cause logically, you would have two choices, one, find the chip, complete the contract and live free. Two, turn your back on the chip, and unless you go north, east or south then you'll be a marked man for life and will never be able to rest easy.

Skyrim on the other hand? Nope, it just goes "Hey, you! Yeah you! You're "Dovakhin", you have to save the world!"
It's cheap writing really,

Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 also ends with the "save the world card" but at least they don't give that up until later in the game.
First part of both games are completely selfish reasons for your vault and tribe to prosper. Only later are you tasked with saving the world, and again, it's not really for "the world", in Fallout 1 it's to save "your" vault, not the world. And in Fallout 2 it's to save "your" tribe, not the world. That you save the world is just a bonus really.

Good point, though I would throw in that the Courier's backstory does seem to imply he's been around the block. (Montana, Utah, I think Ulysses even vaguely references several other locations you've been to (some west, some east), that friggin' stalker) But even then, even if he has SOME idea of the Legion, mercenaries coming after you is definitely something you wanna avoid, instead of just saying "well I guess I'm a Legionnaire now."

Another thing that I think makes the plot of New Vegas original is that the Courier is the first neutral-karma protagonist. He's not some hero looking to save the world, he's not some criminal mastermind, he's just some lucky-ass guy who happens to be casting the only vote in the Mojave ballot, and no matter who or what he chooses, somebody is gonna die and someone is gonna be unhappy.

Hmm.... Do you think it'd be possibly to sell Arcade to Caesar and then side with NCR through the super duper good choices?
That way I think not a single named character has to die.

Why sell Arcade? For Caesar's sake? I don't count Caesar's death-by-tumor as being the Courier's fault; it's irrelevant and a completely different scenario to the war at hand.
But my main point is House. He has to die, or, if you spare him, he considers that a fate worse than death. Now while you can TECHNICALLY say "Ha! No one died," you're definitely not a goody two-shoes pacifist for doing that to him. If you support him instead, the BoS has to die.

And no, your idea wouldn't work. The NCR and Caesar are particularly sensitive towards one another, with each of them branding you a terrorist if you support them beyond a certain point. Et Tumor is definitely beyond that certain point, though you could always do a Yes Man run.

Enjoy your stay!

Ehm
sounds like named character death to me

Wait you can pull off the combo he mentioned?
Sweet!


BTW, to the OP: If you haven't done the DLCs already, do them in order. Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and finally Lonesome Road. They have an inter-connecting story between them all that's just great, and to get the full impact you should probably play them in order.

I agree completely.

I was very dissapointed in Skyrim and die hard fans of it who I know look down on my like I'm some sort of psychopath who supports the destruction of humanity or something.


I kind of agree with this.

Replace Skyrim with F3 and you have the situation I dealt with.

Though for what it's worth, FO3 > Skyrim by a longshot, imo.

The random encounters, for example. FO3 was smart and kept them simple, with the truly special ones being rare, one-time occurances. Skyrim tries SOOOOO hard to be unique and epic that it ends up being corny and immersion-breaking. If I meet that Old Orc or that guy sacrificing his cow one more time, I swear to god... FO3 you'd get a view of Raiders beating the crap out of an initiate ONCE and then you'd never see that one again. Thank you FO3 for not being [censored] and thinking the same event will make us go "wow" no matter how many times you repeat it...

FO3 also did at least a decent job of copying FO1 and FO2 as far as the main plot's mood goes. I mean for what it's worth, President Eden WASN'T just some mad psycho; he gave his argument reasonably and was able to see it's flaws as well. Realistic, in that sense. Skyrim, again, tries too hard to be epic, so you have characters in the main quest giving passionate speeches that are ALL fluff and no substance, as in, no arguments or logical points are actually being made, they're just screaming their emotions. Feels very shallow in that sense and very pathetic.

Yeah, that's why it also took Fallout 1 to turn me completely.

I have met dozens of Nords who call me a milk drinking pansy as I ride down the roads with Shadowmere, armor made up from multiple Daedric artifacts, and wielding Dawnbreaker while all they have is iron armor and an iron sword. I kill every last one of them once I am insulted. It happens so often that it just gets ridiculous. F3's was better. Every couple of in game months of exploring I would come across some mercenaries trying to kill me for my karma, a junky or two who I could buy from, or a handful of randomly spawned raiders. They didn't go overboard with it and it was enjoyable.

I also agree with this. And they also decided to make Alduin not just an evil jerk who wanted to destroy the world but had the other dragons questioning his rule. REALY? They follow the World Eater for centuries and are all killed, then he comes back, brings them back to life with plans to once again rule the world, and you question his rule? It was just so they could have all of those happy dragons circling the Throat of the World at the end.

Skyrim does try too hard. Even after the battle of Windhelm on the Imperial side was pathetic when General Tullius gives that speech to the Imperial soldiers, there wasn't enough logic in it. The random encounters become repetitive too.

You should also think about getting Fallout 3... it's even more desolate than Fallout: New Vegas, but if you like FNV, you'll love it!

I agree with all of the above posts. Now I have to ask, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED BETHESDA!?

There was once a discussion I had on the Skyrim forums where we were trying to figure out wtf went wrong, and at one point I suggested Skyrim needs more nobodys. It lacks anonymous NPCs who do nothing.
Why is this bad? Because those anonymous NPCs act as catalysts, making the unique NPCs feel only that much more unique.

Take for example, the Vagrant in Freeside and the shouter in front of the tops. Would you consider these guys unique NPCs? I would, actually. Would I consider them unique under every circumstance? Not at all. The reason those two come off as unique is...well they are. The Vagrant is unique because he's like the only named NPC that actually does...well nothing. He's unique BECAUSE he's not unique and yet he has a name. He's curious because although he's a character, he just hangs out and he's of no importance of all, and he doesn't have anything to say, really.
The shouter in front of the Tops only has unique dialog for each of the acts at the Tops. Is he unique? Yep, he's got his corny personality where he tries to act like the acts themselves. But is he super unique? Nope, beyond that, he falls into what someone else on these forums called "Bethesda's writing style," where each character is just a hyperbolized version of a personality trait and that's all they do ever. Sure enough, he's just a corny guy and that's all he does.

Now picture these NPCs if there were no anonymous NPCs. If every NPC in the game had unique dialog lines and there were no anonymous NPCs (NCR soldier, Squatter, Kings member etc). All NPCs have at least a name and one line of unique dialog. Would they still be considered unique? No they wouldn't. But in the light of the anonymous NPCs, they seem more special.

THAT'S what Skyrim lacks. It lacks contrast. Nazeem is annoying with his remark about the Cloud District, mostly because he spams the HELL out of it (like every other NPC, you just happen to walk by him more). However, if Nazeem were one of, say, five NPCs in Whiterun that were unique (besides merchants) and in return, he was given more than one line of dialog ( at least 5 or 6), would he feel unique? Would he feel like he has a personality? Yes of course, because when you have 20 NPCs in town that just say "hello" and "how are you" and serve as scenery, then you have this snobby guy who makes snobby remarks (again, perhaps instead of making 25 NPCs each with ONE line of unique dialog, make 5 with 6 lines of dialog each), then you'll remember him.

That's the goal: make the NPCs memorable. Skyrim understood this, but what they forgot is that if you attempt to make EVERYONE memorable, you actually end up making nobody memorable. It's the conundrum of "Everybody's special and unique" in game form; Skyrim has created an atmosphere that makes us respond with "well if everybody's unique then how are we unique if everyone's like that?" New Vegas responds to that question by saying "ok you're right, realistically not EVERYONE is unique" and provides a few examples in game, Skyrim doesn't respond and ta-da, nobody feels unique...
But as I said, JUST by including nameless, uninteresting NPCs in the game to compare other NPCs to, you can make ANYONE look unique, even a guy named "Vagrant" who's only unique quality is that he has a schedule, his own title, a location to hang out at and "unique dialog" (he coughs, lulz) despite being absolutely useless to the main game and void of a personality. Contrast: it's really that simple.


Fallout 3 would be New Vegas with a taste of Skyrim. It's a compromise between the two. There's no weapon balancing, extensive choices or depth like in New Vegas, but the world is immersive, exploration is made fun and there are no flaws with NPC interaction. The story is very "meh," but I say that as in it gets a passing grade (C-?). Maybe worth checking out, maybe not.
Personally, I would save up for the New Vegas DLC's first, if you don't have them already. Those are truly something special.

Skyrim was fun, but I got bored after a few weeks, so I came back to New Vegas. Man I love this game. My only beef right now though, is how hit squads do not come after you when you wear faction armor. Thats the only thing NV is lacking, and thats a few more bodies for you to get into gun fights with. One thing I will give FO3 the edge over NV is that. And maybe the size of the overall map. But I love hardcoe mode, the story is definately better, and I love the different ammo types and weapon modding. Its very easy to get into God Mode in FO3, and its not the case in NV. Even if you are stacked nicely in stats, you can still get your ass kicked by a deathclaw, or horde of cazadors. I just wish there was a few more bodies in the mojave wasteland. It does feel a little on the empty side at times when you are travelling.

Welcome to the other side

I was in the same boat as you OP. When I first put in NV, I wondered what all the fuss was about. The gameplay and graphics seemed pretty sub par. Then that all just seemed to melt away once I became immersed in the world and its inhabitants. Now I love the combat and the graphics don't bother me.

It really is the best game I've ever played.