But "Bethie" Quality Assured it.

And Obsidian made it in the image of Obsidian...weak on exploration, strong on story. That's good for some, not so good for others.

PPersonally I wasn't disappointed at all with the exploring at all. I find exploring inhabited areas in this game more interesting than going off and running into am empty bulding with a [censored] ton of supermutants with mini guns and supersledges haha

I was actually very pleased from what they came out with. Perhaps I had lower expectations but I actually love the game. It's even so much better than Fallout 3 ever could be because it's not so slow and pathetic as Fallout 3, it has alot more people, prosperity, REALISM, and even a more enhanced story. The entire game has much better places to explore and the foes are fresh and amazing. Took out the Yogei Bear too because it was too similar to the Deathclawer, and took out the cruddy Assault Rifle which was actually an MP5 and not an AR even. The only real legitimate AR in the game was the AK. I love the fact that they actually put REAL GUNS into the game instead all these 2400 year guns they have in most FO's and most futuristic games. I imagine there will be alot more guns around our time if in only 60 years we get nuked.

The experience is so much better in this game to because it'd more real and fluid, unlike FO3 when it took 10 hours to get to level 5. FONV if more like any other average RPG when it comes to XP besides the XP never changing according to difficulty.

The factions are alot better and smooth - a real military (NCR), only one faction in the game that uses Power Armor all game around unlike the annoyance of it in FO3. The Legion I can admit are abit corky and could use some arranging with it, but that's beyond the point.

Ahh and even just the setting of the game in general is so much better. The bright desert with the nice open space - real easy to get around and navigate. The desert is so much better than the ruins of the DC area where you'd have problems jumping over a destroyed car or jumping over a dabble of scrap metal on the side of a walk path. And the effects like the sandstorms and other effects I have to mention are just amazing and they're beautiful and real.

I can talk about this compared to FO3 and other RPG's for hours but I hope you can see the goods and realize the bad on your own wants and needs.

NV is superior in every way to me. Most of what you want is covered by the Increased wasteland spawn mod. It set up guards, patrols and spawn rates. So you see NCR patrols on the 95 getting into fights with creatures/Legion/Vipers alot. Plus there's epic fiend vs. NCR around Mcarren/fiend territory. I have no problem with the exploration in NV. Everyplace has a little story or is related to some quest. It make it feel liek the whole map is interconnected. Not each location is an island floating in a sea that has no connection to anything other then to be a spawn point for loot and baddies like most areas you "explore" to find in FO3.

Also of the "static" and "small" nature you guys talk about is engine limitations to be honest. Even with 8 gigs of ram and a top of the line machine having alot of actors on screen at once makes the engine chug. It's the primary reason for the cities like the strip and freeside to be broken up so much.