So in discussion regarding whether or not the game should continue after the main quest is completed, most of the argument revolves around the argument "It's lame to have the main quest end, then be able to continue on as if nothing happened. I want to see consequences for my actions, see the results of 'The Big Finale.' Having the game end and showing me ending slides achieves that."

I think everyone can agree that we want to see consequences for our actions. My problem with this argument is that it's based on the idea that the subject matter of the main quest needs to be something epic, something earth shattering; that the protagonist must come in and grandly change the world, be it by crowning a new king, purifying the wasteland, becoming the dragonborn, whatever.

Now obviously whatever they've got planned for Fallout 4 is set in stone, but in terms of future games- what if the stakes aren't quite so macro? Let's assume for a minute that the plot of Fallout 4 is "destroy the Institute" (or something to that nature). What if it was just "find your spouse"? What if the main quest is really only of consequence to the protagonist? You finish it, there's a grand finale, but the consequences only affect the protagonist.

This would completely solve the issue of "play after the main quest is over." Your character would have consequences, but the world itself wouldn't be fundamentally changed, making the lack of response from NPC's believable.

because frankly the higher the stakes the easier is to feel invested, video games are in part both fun, but it is also escapism, and if we gonna escape from out boring real life, why settle for something as boring as "find the characters spouse"?

I'm assuming there would be a bunch of side quests to do. Todd Howard did say that he and other Bethesda employees haven't seen all the content collectively, I think, and the map is supposed to be the same size or a bit larger than Skyrim so there's room for lots of content. Hopefully the quests aren't like Elder Scrolls Online.

I hope the quests would also be more than just that Radiant quests in Skyrim... I really love sidequests with its own story! I hope they have a long one...

Wasnt it mentioned that F4 was going to be about 3x the size of Skyrim? I think I read that here or in some E3 interview.

And OP, I'd be extremely surprised if you couldnt continue after the main questline ends. This was the case in F3, right? I believe it was quickly patched though.

I could be wrong, but Todd Howard/somebody else once said in an interview somewhere (which I unfortunately could not provide the links for) that it's the same as Skyrim...

However, this is the catch that I've read from it:

In Skyrim, most of the map is mountainous, right? It made the map feel a little bit smaller for exploration. However, in Boston, it's not mountainous, meaning that the areas are more accessible and more spacious, meaning that more things could be put on the map. So, hopefully, even though it's the same size as Skyrim, it will feel bigger...

Quests in Skyrim, and especially Elder Scrolls Online, seemed very redundant so hopefully in Fallout 4, they feel different and more interesting.

In an interview, Todd Howard said the Fallout 4 map would be identical to Skyrim in size. MrMattyPlays explains it in a video covering the map size.

This! There is also less loading areas in Fallout 4 than Skyrim.

I think you guys might be missing the OP's point a little, because he's saying that traditionally bgs games have pretty dramatic endings that change the world or should affect most of the game world, however NPCs haven't been programmed to recognize these changes, so it feels like there's absolutely no difference whether the main quest has been finished or not. Now instead of having NPCs recognize your actions or these changes why not have a story which only affects the protagonist and hence of course then the NPCs wouldn't act any differently before and after the main quest.

I'm all for a more personal story, but we already know that wont be the case. Howard said he wanted us to make important, emotional, big decisions that change the world. So, since that is the case, I do hope we actually get to SEE the consequences of our actions this time around.

i'm not too concerned with endings slides, making the game so if your character dies during the main quest it ends isn't a bad idea, otherwise if you character is still alive why shouldn't you keep playing? the world doesn't stop after some quest.

This game was in development for a long time. Since everything seems to be so complex in terms of the crafting system and settlement building system... I'm sure the AI will definitely be programmed to recognize changes... your character also has a voice now... so I wouldn't be surprised if that's not the only thing that changed. Still kind of upset that my character isn't voice by a guy with a better sergeant's voice like (Sergeant Major Johnson from Halo) David Sculley's or awesome narrative voice like uh... CRISPIN FREEMAN'S (Awoken Male - Destiny) ...

But I can live with this average voice.... Maybe one of the DLCs will be voice packs... I'd buy them... and make a new character... and do everything all over again.

One of the things I thought Fable 2 did well was when the player boarded the ship for the spire from that [censored] hole Bandit down (West Cliff I think it was called). If you chose to invest 5000 gold coins to one of the businessmen there, he would refurbish the place and you would end up returning to a middle-high class town. It was a small but nice feature to actually see your actions change something, however simple the action was.