Perhaps my biggest gripe is that both the original ending and Broken Steel seem hellbent on forcing the PC into a persona the writer's themselves envisioned.
It's also does not comply with FO1 style. But this is Bethesda, who brought us Morrowind and whole the Nerevarine thing. So I can't blame or fault them for being them. That, and marching the player the down the Mass Effect road means that they don't have to spend more money on writers to give us another entire branch. This would have meant more scripting and expectations for a domino effect rippling consequences reaching a new outcome. FO1 could do this because usually it meant: player does something, town A is now hostile to the player because he did something, a few npc's have different lines, and a slide is added to the ending.
Assuming I had the manpower, riches, and advisors my Fallout 3 would be:
Races Included: White, Native American, Asian
Native American Tribes Included: Nanticoke, Powhatan, Piscataway, Algonquian
Nationalities Included: USA, Canada, Chinese Remnant
Raider Gangs ( They are divided by ethnicity ): The Golden Horde ( Native ), The Unholy Alliance ( White ), The Skies of the Bloody Sun ( Asian )
Religious Choices: Children of the Cathedral Remnants ( Apocalypse Catholic hippy nutcases ), The Circle of the Great Spirit ( violent basketcase psychos ), or non-denomination
Story:
Vault 101 was chosen to preserve the secrets of government, technology, and warfare so that it would open one day and bring law to the broken and needy survivers of the wasteland. Whether the player is male of female, Dad is the Overseer and Dr. Li is the future mastermind behind Project Purity, and she is also hot. There are several opportunities to get closer to Dr. Li, as well as a cause for triple satisfaction with Dad and Dr. Li before a violent showdown. Dad is overthrown and dies when an explosion causes the room to collapse, and you immediately become the acting overseer, and Dr. Li leaves for the Sisterhood of Steel. In the vault's aftermath, the unexpected death of the chief engineer, who you can also know better, is seen as a sign that vault 101 has now exceeded its purpose.
The Tunnel Snakes incite a revolt, where you may react by:
1. Diplomacy; you appoint someone in your wake and leave peacefully
2. Gaddafi; you deal with the rebels as they deserve, all of them, and leave with the few who are still loyal to you
Now you must find Dr. Li because she is so hot that you must have her one more time, and also because your coming ( heh ) to power in Megaton ( or Tenpenny Tower ) depends on the premise that you will provide clean water. It now becomes a matter of neutralizing the raider threat and bringing the native tribes together to forge your emerging government and repel the already weak Enclave presence in the area. Unfortunately, the religious nuts betray Project Purity and sabotage it because the Enclave of hot lisbians don't like it.
You may act accordingly to these misguided folk in one of three ways:
1. Tyranny and Religious Injustice; destroy John Locke's Social Contract to halt interference of government by unestablished religious groups and choose the new governing religion
2. Diplomacy; re-introduce the lost concept of Secular Humanism so that the wasteland understands, after you personally assassinate the leaders of the troublesome churches
3. American Terrorism; destroy the churches via orbital platform
After this fiasco you return to find disloyalty amidst your people. It seems that the Enclave of Hot lisbians Who Keep Men as Pets has been busy sending spies to incite dissent and separation from within your people. They have also captured the Jefferson Memorial building, the only place for Dr. Li to continue Project Purity. With the support of the Sisterhood, you invade the Enclave base and find that Eden has been working with public subversion tactics, mind control, and is planning a massive invasion. The base is destroyed and you are now free to return and deal with trouble at home and Dr. Li. There, you find that Dad survived and the Enclave brainwashed him and sent him to assassinate you and seize power.
You kill him and must deal with the rebels:
1. Mercy; they are tried and convicted of crimes of war and you new nation emerges
2. Opportunity; you use Enclave mind control technology to halt all opposition
And you return to Vault 101 to do what you should have done the first time: Crush the Tunnel Snakes and lock away their families or show mercy again ( why would you do this? ). Dr. Li activates the purifier. The end.