Is it only me or is VATS totally useless in New Vegas?
In Fallout 3 it was kind of important just because of how badly done the aiming system was, but in New Vegas?
It works out great and smooth most of the time and I very often find myself hardly ever or never using VATS.
Especially since they added more damage to your character while he is VATS so it's more often than not just a way to finish people off in style.
On melee characters or explosive weapons it's even more useless, but that is kinda obligatory.

So, what is your opinion on VATS in Fallout New Vegas?

I see VATS as a situational tool, I use it to scan the landscape, scan civilized areas to named characters, and properly aim at feet or arms incase there is a really strong enemy as I am bad at FPS'. So I think it works just fine, I don't think it should be used all of the time, it should be used for specific situations, which is how I utilize it.

I use VATS but more and more it seems I use it mainly to take a little break in an extended fight, especially against multiple enemies. It allows me to "search" the battle field for all the enemies, know where they are and what they are doing. I may switch my focus to an emeny about to shoot or grenade me vs. one that I may have just stunned or made to drop their weapon.

Were you using any mods that made the game harder?
I have always been playing on the hardest difficulty and I never had to shoot at someone's feet or hands.
I get what you are going at but even if it's situational, most of the time you could just spray and pray. Ok, I often do that too, just use it to see if there are any enemies around