Hey people, I've recently completed the game, so I decided to start fresh. One thing that always bugged me about the game was that, on the whole, it was quite an easy game. Admittedly I died a couple of times, but the game is rather straightforward. Anyways, I thought I'd give hardcoe mode a go, but not 'just' hardcoe mode. I also use this:
http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34759

The creator of the mod hasn't asked me to promote it in any way, I just think it fits superbly with hardcoe mode. In a nutshell, the things I love about this mod are:

• Enemies have less health (meaning you can iron-sight efficiently without having to run backwards for ages).
  
• You also have less health, meaning it's definetely more of a challenge to stay alive.
  
• You gain less XP whenever XP points are gained, meaning it actually takes time to level up. Love it!
  
• Editable timescale settings, for people who think the day/night cycle in the vanilla FNV was too fast.

This mod, along with hardcoe mode, is absoloutely immense. Fighting is alot harder now, although enemies seem to have less health, you do too, meaning you really need to use cover etc.

I'm using mods such as this too and i actually consider them a MUST - for players who want some challenge and realism at least.

If I want to challenge myself by playing a more vulnerable character, I'll reduce my endurance to 1, and get the small frame traits which gives me weak limbs. Can't say I trust a guy to radically alter the health of both the player character, and all creatures, in a fair and balanced way so early on. That being said, I'm very interested in a mod that reduces XP gain by around 25% across the board. I'm also interested in one that disables autotravel.

I always play with like 1 ED too.

Anyway i don't understand why many people are relunctant to use mods if they serve the purposes they want. Many of my friends insist of playing vanilla, while i'm sure they would enjoy the game a lot more with a few mods. The people that make them are mostly hardcoe rpgers that simply know how to code. As for the balance issue, i felt for example, that FO3 vanilla was completely imbalanced and easy. After 1 year i played it again with mods (realistic needs (aka hardcoe mode), creature balances and more diversity, less hp for everyone especially yourself and much less xp for leveling. Scavenging on tunnels was never the same, immersion and rp experience was upgraded imensly, thus making it one of the best games i've ever played.

Bethesda has even admited that some of the game's features, were inspired from mods. You'd be surprised how well many modders view balance, if you like an authentic rpg that is.

No, usually I despise mods. Maybe I'm just uptight, maybe I'm ignorant, who knows, but I hate using mods, I guess I get jealous I can't make them. This mod really is a must-have though.