I wonder if I am the only player who doesn't really love Fallout 3 DLCs. To me, they: 1) add things that deviate from the spirit of the original game or 2) change the gameplay for worse or 3) are meaningless.

• Operation Anchorage: it is just a standard shooter thing, and Fallout 3 is not a great shooter in the FPS sense of the word. Plus, it gives you two of the most overpowered items in the game, the Chinese Stealth Armor and the Winterized T-51b Power Armor - the latter doesn't even get damaged and ruins the whole idea behind the Power Armor perk.
  
• Mothership Zeta: more shooting, lots of shooting. Its setting has nothing to do with the original game.
  
• The Pitt: it doesn't really add anything meaningful to the game. It is just another subset of quests, but at least it is reasonably interesting and follows the spirit of the original game.
  
• Point Lookout: the best add-on of the pack, with a new and mysterious (even scary!) area to explore and some interesting quests, even if some of them are B-movie material -- but then I guess that was the idea.
  
• Broken Steel: perhaps the most disastrous add-on of the pack, it changes gameplay for worse in various aspects: a) the new level cap doesn't really fix the problem of getting too much XP too fast in the previous levels - it is just a way to satisfy those who wanted to hear the 'ka-ching!' sound after finding a new place or killing an enemy; b ) it makes the ending even worse than it already was, because it doesn't extend the main quest - it creates another one, a fairly uninteresting string of shooter sequences; c) it adds enemies so powerful that the whole thing becomes ridiculous, really: you cannot walk five steps in the wasteland without stumbling on Albino Radscorpions, and the Super Mutant Overlords add insult to injury, because they are present at lower levels, making some quests unnecessarily hard - Germantown Police HQ, anyone? They are just bullet sponges and do not add 'challenge' to the late game.

To me, the original game had a better balance than the final game with the DLCs. It had powerful but manageable enemies (Deathclaws and Super Mutant Masters) and I liked the fact the game would eventually end, prompting me to create another character to explore areas I never visited with my first character.

Although I like some things from the DLCs (particularly some quests) I think they just kinda ruined the game for me. That's why I'll go back to the old vanilla game in order to experience Fallout 3 as I think it should be played.

I respect your opinion. I have a friend that feels the same way, but i personally love the dlcs except Zeta. Each dlc did its part to expand the game in areas.
1) OA was all combat and very powerful loot that is great to get for ppl that are new to the game. While i do agree that the loot is a lil too good, to me its just a choice to use it or not.
2) The Pitt had its own story line, which had a very cool grey story. It also gave some cool toys, such as the infiltrator.
3) PL was made just for exploration. I wouldnt really say there was a good story there, but its still was my favorite dlc.
4) BS just kept the game going for those that got attached to their character. But i do agree with u pretty much about everythin about BS.

But these are dlcs, they did their job which was to jus simply expand the game. If u dont like one simply uninstall it or just not get it

I enjoyed the DLCs immensely

for about two weeks

the overall game was more balanced, the DLC's are just a pleasant diversion but not even worth leaving on

Point Lookout
The Pitt
Broken Steel are worth playing not too bothered about the other two myself.

I enjoy them all except Anchorage. Started a playthrough where I did all the DLC first and ended up a ridiculous level before I had started in the wasteland and hit the level cap too early and so on. This is main problem I have with the DLC's, so now instead I try to do just one or 2 when at lower levels and save the others for later on.

I found them all entertaining. All of them are in different places and with different characters and missions. + the new gun are awesome.
I really hope we get lot of DLC in NV..

Agreed. And I suppose I'm in the minority on this one, but here goes, lol. Frankly, I tend to look at the DLC for basically what they are, and not expect wondrous miracles from them. To me they are simply add-on's that give me more stuff to do and new places to see. And as with every quest in the vanilla game, some people will really like some of the quests, dislike some of them and fall somewhere in the middle on others. I feel the DLC are no different. I take each for what they are and just enjoy the parts I like and muddle through the parts I don't like.

I think Broken Steel was somewhat of an answer to the complaints that the game ended when it did in vanilla, and also addressed the complaint that some had that the game was too easy. I enjoyed it mostly because I wanted new stuff to do and new places to see.

One of the most memorable things in the game (DLC or otherwise) for me was the sequence in Point Lookout where you were "tripping" on the punga juice. It was a hoot, and I can appreciate the dev's creativity and effort to try and make people just say "wow, that was pretty weird and trippy". I think they succeeded immensely with it. Overall, the worldspace of PL was new and different, the quests were mostly enjoyable and I enjoyed it.

O:A was OK, and frankly, I've enjoyed it every time I've been through it. Also, it gives the player a new operations base to use if they choose. I never use Power Armor, but I liked the Winterized Combat Armor, but I didn't feel the grey color fit in with the Wasteland's brown, drab colors. But it wasn't supposed to in the first place.

Zeta: It was fun and had its moments. I'm not one who is like some of the anti-aliens-in-Fallout-hardcoe-cannon peeps (not that there's anything wrong with that), so the whole alien thing didn't disturb me at all. (I know it did disturb many though.) Again, I just took it for what it was, and had fun with it. I'm not really an energy weapons guy, but some of the new weapons were pretty cool.

Pitt: I really liked the hard decision you had to make, and the morally ambivalent choices you had to choose from. I felt that hunting the ingots and trying to find more ammo and better weapons were fun during that part. I also liked the new weapons you could get.

Again, overall I enjoyed each of them, and didn't expect any of them to totally transform my game or my experience. I really think many folks just expected way too much from them, and when their own somewhat unrealistic expectations (in my opinion) weren't realized, they ripped on the DLC. They're just silly add-on's, not a whole new game or anything. have fun with the parts you like, work through the parts that you don't really like and just enjoy the ride is what I say! It's all about being entertained and having fun!

I agree that Point Lookout was the best DLC of all the bunch, I don't have Zeta. I'm originally from DC, and have spent a lot of time on the southern coast of Maryland, and found it perfectly fitting; remember DC was considered a southern district at one point, can't remember if it still is.
I think that there should have been an option to NOT take perks after level 20. All I wanted was to be able play on past the main quest. A level cap of 20 seemed perfect... though I will miss the little ding! whenever I kill something, as I am about to hit 30 with yet another character.
So now I create restrictions, and choose useless perks to not get so powerful.

Anchorage: Just a crate level. Lame. One and done.
Pitt: I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the moral decision and playing out the different avenues. I didn't enjoy the ingot hunt. Stepandfetchit.
BS: some bs. I like assaulting the air base, and playing out the different approaches at the end.
PL: Perfect. Wish there was more land to explore. Wish it wasn't so friggin glitchy and crashy.

The DLCs became part of the whole experience, and I guess this is what I don't really like about them. Maybe if they were not added to the game as soon as you get out of the vault... I guess I miss a mod such as SM Plugin Refurbish for Oblivion, which made the add-ons start in different moments, all depending on the context of your game.

There's a delay mod for each of the DLC.

In my opinion, Mothership Zeta was the one that really didn't add much to the story.

Sure, it was kinda cool to run around in space and zap aliens, but it didn't have the Fallout vibe to it. It felt like a space shooter with VATS.

And I'll be sure to grab them all when I get to mod my PC version of the game, but right now I'm playing mostly on PS3 and this is something the devs could have implemented in the GOTY edition.

Ah, the 'ka-ching' sound....how I miss you so

You're right! What more can i say. It's horrible! PL was the best IMO

I dont really understand how you can actually start a topic on this subject. So useless.
I mean, what would you rather have? Just the original game? Without any of the add-ons?
No other guns?
No other clothing?
No other missions?
No other places to visit/explore?
No more nothing?

I don't get it. You should be happy people are investing so much time in making them. You couldnt say that a few years ago, when DLC wasnt even used in games. You bought 1 game then, and that was it.

I'm not saying the game should not have add-ons. I'm saying it should have better add-ons. <_<