I get why they changed it, it gives combat a sense of urgency and keeps the action flowing. I kind of liked the way vats paused the action, and I could take in all the action and make a decision on what/who to target at my own pace.

How do you guys feel?

I would like to have both a pause vats and "bullet time" slow motion mode without any added on screen graphics. You could mod your FO3 and FNV like that.

I hate the fact that it isn't paused mostly due to the fact of how difficult it can be at times to target a specific body part. Sometimes, not always... its hard to tell which one is selected. How hard it is and how annoying also depends on the input method... keyboard/mouse, etc. I'd rather it just be paused.

In my current playthrough, I notice I am also just using it less, because VATS is stat based, so I can dump 4-5 rounds into an enemy, and it might die, or I can just mlg 1st person headshot in one shot / kill. There's a huge gap in its usefulness right now, made larger by the first statement.

Its better that its slo mo being that in the previous games it was essentially just a cheat button. I tried it in this game as well for a bit and while it still makes the game easier at least the enemies still spread out and swarm you.

I feel dirty when I use VATS. For sure, it helps when five are rushing at you.

I liked the pause best. The slo-mo doesn't really make sense to me...To put a time-limit on how long you have to choose your targets? Not very exciting to me. I go commando (no VATS) as often as I feel I can survive. Sometimes the dogs or bugs are too low or close to see, so I'll rock VATS then.

VATS was put into Fallout 3 to stop combat specifically for the turn-based players who played Fallout 1 and 2. It was not mandatory to use VATS by anyone. Nobody was forced to use it. Yet, because kids who felt it "broke" their gameplay whined and thus, we get VATS 2.0, ie, useless VATS now. If you didn't like it pausing the gameplay/combat then don't use it. Us old turn-based players loved VATS because it gave us the same combat style as the original Fallout where you saw mobs and up came the body screen of where to shoot.

So, any modder's who can return VATS back to what it was originally designed to do for us old farts?

I like having the choice. I want to play pause VATS? Okay I'll load up New Vegas. Slow-Mo? FO4.

Slowed down easily

Paused. and no it is not a cheat.

I've barely used it. And yeah, part of that is because it's slo-mo - I haven't had a chance to figure out all the controls because I have to hurry to try to make it do something. If it had been a pause system, I'd have a chance to figure out how it works.

On the other hand, I haven't really felt much need to use it, so....

Slowed, it doesn't feel like my guy is a god stopping time but some futuristic heightened perception thing.

Pause was practically a game cheat, it makes more sense now. Still a cheat though.

I like VATS to pause a game. That feels like more of a roleplaying game mechanic to me.

i really like the new VATS mode, still is to slow to impact the fight anyway bc is cool everything is moving slow, like when i use Jet =P

At first I hated the slow V.A.T.S but now that I have had some time to get used to it I kinna like. It forces you to be quick or be dead lol

Paused.

Without it it is impossible to use multiple target strategy as numbers can go from 95% to 0% in seconds, so now it's just an aim button without any kind of strategy inside.

I hope it is moddable.

I like slow mo but maybe give the option for lower levels (like Normal and below ) then for Hard and higher it has to be slow mo.

slow-mo puts a bit more urgency into your choice.

i like it that way

Slowed. TBH, the transition was rough, but it feels more challenging to use it now, as I have to make a quick decision, especially with some of the faster enemies like ghouls that can attack you with a moment's hesitation.

Paused (as a general rule in a Fallout game); but of course, none of them really pause time; the first two games allow the player to evaluate the PC and what options they had available... This is stuff that the PC would already know, but would take the player too long to navigate the menus to find. It's not like the PC could see time come to a halt, and then line up their shots.

(*Or at least not in the first two. With FO3, it kind of was.)

Same combat style? "Us"? Loved? Speak for yourself.

We will see, when we see the GECK.

*However, I did not like VATS, because VATS is not an homage to turn based anything... as it is clear that the opponents never get their turn; and that VATS was basically free to use, and afforded a free 90% damage shield while using it.

I'd prefer that VATS either be paused, or actually useful against anything further away than 30 feet without using a critical shot.

As is it's far less accurate than actually aiming if the enemy is outside of flamethrower range, so there's barely any reason to use it if you aren't being charged by enemies.

if you 'are' being charged by enemies, it doesn't actually slow time enough to easily manage the UI to target what you wanted anyways (Unless what you wanted was to shoot them center mass, the default targeting location).

Either the enemy is nearby and you can just shoot it in the face normally, or it's far away and VATS is only good for critical shots and wasting ammo.

As far as modding goes, once the GECK is here it'd probably be trivial to change the time dilation to a tenth of a percent or something, which is close enough to paused that you'd have to wander afk for it to matter.

I like the slowed down version of VATS. Sometimes it works in your favor, sometimes it doesn't. For example, if you initiate VATS on a charging feral ghoul reaver, the longer you wait, the higher your chance to hit it will become (because it's coming at you).

Since the game took a more of an action spin, I prefer as it is, so the slow-mo thingy. As you said yourself, it keeps the action going, heh.