I won't write another word about F1 & 2 superiority again. Promise. And I got to admit this NMA board is a horrible place.

Its like a wasteland themed 4chan.
Falloutchan if you prefer

With folks complaining about the complainers, how can you be suprised that it all keeps on getting brought up?
Forums and messageboards are about expressing opinion, if people have strong opinions, then they will state them.
There were (are?) a lot of people around who flame NMA and the like out of hand, without listening to their arguments. That causes a response, and then things just carry on.
Both sides have fervent supporters that won't let it go, thats just how things are. FO3 is still fresh in the memory, it'll die down after a while.
Although the Daggerfall/Morrowind/Oblivion debate still rages...

you might enjoy interplays forum. Talk about FO3 is forbidden there.

I hadn't really noticed in this forum, I guess I spend my time over in General Discussion instead. I may have a little surf around to see what you mean.
NMA is a niche interest forum, so you are already dealing with a very partisan crowd. I wouldn't ever look to a single-interest site like that for balanced opinion.
I always got the reverse impression from places like Kotaku or Gamespot, where newer is almost inherently better, and certain ideas are now considered out of date and out of touch.
In many places even respectful criticism of a popular modern title will get you flamed.
Perhaps we need to stop rising to the bait so much, and I am just as guilty as anyone else. (hence my appearance in this thread at all!)

You have a point..though I never go to gamespot for anything but pure info and I tend to mentally weed out the stuff at kotaku. Their commentors are just as bad as the ones I am talking about.
And I have to admit, I have risen to the bait on more then one occasion. I like discussing games, I hate flame wars. I like it when someone may disagree with you..but doesn't act like a 14 year old fanboy about it. Like I think Fo3 is as good of a game as the first two but I am a ware people don't agree with me. Fine, we can move on. There are ton of other games out there .....being on GOG makes me so glad we can play alot of the older ones again, you know? We don't have to stay focused on one franchise so much.
Anyway we all need to simmer and just let love flow...heh. Or group up together and take on some supermutants with our stockpile of prewar weapons....

Just as long as there's no one named Ian who happens to shoot people in the back "accidentally" every now and then :-).

Fallout 3 is awesome. The free open world and amazing amount of exploration makes it one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had playing any game.
But compared to Fallout 1 & 2--just kidding. :P
In all seriousness I think they are two different kinds of game. Fallout is my favorite game of all time. But that doesn't blind me to the fact that Fallout 3 has plenty of its own merits. Is it as good as Fallout? No. But it is presented in a different way and should be approached differently.
Problem is all these damn fanboys. Change one thing about the series and they'll wine about it being unfaithful, don't change anything and they'll whine about how there isn't anything new. I love plenty of series of games, but I'm not so closed minded as to think that every sequel has to be as same as the last one. Change can take a series in a drastically better direction or make it more accessible for the modern age. The old style of Fallout just isn't going to work in our shoot-em-up crazy era. I appreciated and love what Bethesda did with Fallout 3, both as a gamer living in the 21st century and as a Fallout fan.
Of course it's not as good as 1 or 2, but that's like going to the theater and coming out of every film and complaining it wasn't as good as Citizen Kane. Many films will never reach that level of quality and in the same way many games will never reach the level of quality found in the original Fallout. That doesn't make it a bad game.

Here is the thing though: I think F03 as good as FO1 and 2 but in different ways. Does that make me defective because I had as much fun with it as I did with the first two? Sometimes I think people (not saying you are like this) say something isn't as good as whatever just to sound like they have some weird form of geek cred. It is a fanboy/girl thing and people just need to reel it in. People are all different and have different opinions, heh. (I'm sorry, but I had alot of issues with FO1 and 2. They are really good games, but not the perfect jewels of historic PC gaming that people seem to remember.)
Anyway....I just think people can talk about this without being such...richards about it. On both sides.

And it's not like you could use him as a distraction either... the enemies always came *Straight* to you no matter what....man. Luckily you could get the bloody mess perk and enjoy watching giblets fly....

No. I had just as much fun as well. It was a more actiony, reflexive kind of fun (but still with some strategy) than the more slow paced, methodical play of the originals. Both are fun in their own rights and should be enjoyed as such. It's like watching a comedy and an action film (sorry for all the film comparisons), they are very different experiences but both enjoyable in their own ways.Too true, sometimes I think people are bent on hating things before they even come out. I bet you tons of people who hate Fallout 3 and loved the originals disliked it the moment they found out it would be in the vein of Oblivion.I believe the brilliance of Fallout 1 & 2 is not that it is balanced, but that it allows you to make faulty choices, something a modern game would freak out about letting you do.

Have you EVER tried to discuss with F3 fan? I had... It ends everytime same - you freaking noob, you know nothing about games, you just hate F3 because it have better graphics than your shitty F2....
Then tell me again why I have to discuss with those monkeys. Howng

I do love a good discussion, even a heated one, provided that people respond to the questions or points that people make.
It is all a matter of opinion, just like films, and the Citizen Kane example is a case in point, for it's day, it was a high water mark. These days, many films have surpassed it (in my opinion!), I mean its been over 50 years, if we hadn't done better I'd be amazed.
The proof of a great game, is whether it is played and loved many years later. GOG lets us do that in a newer (and hopefully bigger and better) way. In time, perhaps Fallout 3 will be part of the catalogue. I know there are a few Bethesda games that people want here now.

I think I am pretty clear that both sides need to simmer down here...I mean I'm pretty sure I can read myself saying that a few times in this thread ;)

Bethsoft has done a great job of carrying on the tradition of First person RPG games that was started in the 80's. They are one of the few companies that still do it and I am glad they are around. I would love to see some of their games on here, honestly.

lotr-sam0711 <high five> exactly my point of view.
You could say that Fallout 1&2 are like good thrillers, or dramas, and 3 is like an action flick. I have always been a thirller and drama fan :)
Fallout 3 is like Terminator 2 for me. Not about dialogue, story is just an excuse to show tons of cool explosions and Arni shooting some big guns, unfortunate humor (hasta la vista baby). Terminator 2 was all about fun. Just like Fallout 3 with flying legs and exploding heads, mini nukes and all that stuff. And they both serve their purpose well.
Fallout 1&2 will always be like Blade Runner for me.
The whole thing is that I'm old enough to say that in my best times isometric, tactical games were on top. In high school me and my friends were all playing Commandos. Don't expect me to put those games on the same shelf as F3.