I want something close to a mix of Fallout 2 and Fallout New Vegas, the two best of the series so far. I'd like an involving plot but one set in a rich interactive environment, where problems can be solved by taking different approaches, reflecting the skills and attitude of your player character.

I'd love some more detailed quests that rely on discovering the environment, lore and setting, but contain plenty of scary monsters and creative weapons and gear to blast and survive.

No aliens. Ever again. Please.

I'm fine with the Bethesda model of a FPRPG, it's worked great before in wonderful games such as Deus Ex, System Shock 2 and Vampire: Bloodlines and Fallout New Vegas and even Fallout 3 - a flawed but fun game.

Fallout 3 was an important game but didn't quite catch the magic of Fallout 2, while Fallout New Vegas is just a dream come true.

For me Fallout is not about whether it is isometric or 3D, it is about the world of Fallout. Make the world work and the game will be amazing. Fallout New Vegas demonstrated just that and that the game benefits greatly from being more complex than Fallout 3. So no dumbing down the game please.

Regardless, I know I will buy Fallout 4. In a box. Like all other Fallout games I own.

I reject the proposition that Deus Ex, System Shock 2, and Bloodlines have anything to do with the Bethesda model of what a game should be.

To be fair, Bloodlines has it's share of hokey writing and poorly implemented game mechanics and quest designs. If it was less creative and catered more to the lowest common denominator it could have been confused for a Bethesda title.

It also has Jack, the Vorman sisters, the Ocean House Hotel, and one of the best story resolutions I've seen in a commercial game.

Can't understand where all the hate toward Bethesda is coming from. Fallout 3 is what introduced me to this fantastic post-apocalyptic franchise. It's among my top ten games of all time (along with New Vegas) and it was just a fantastic experience... but anyways what I want for Fallout 4 is pretty much a combination between Fallout 3 and New Vegas, meaning: keep factions, weapon mods, ammo/work benches, iron sights, hardcore mode, etc. What they should do is expand upon them. So:

- more options with factions, example: remember how there where 3 mayor factions in Fallout New Vegas (NCR, Legion, Vegas) and the player being able to turn on them with Mr. House's robot army? (resulting in 4 different endings) well ... why not have have a 4th faction that the player can build... explanation; Giving the player options with the minor factions to make allegiances to create a mayor one. BoS, Khans, Followers, Bummers, Freeside, Enclave, etc, with their combined power (the enemy of my enemy is my friend) they could take on the mayor factions resulting in more endings. Or also divide the mayor factions into minor ones by creating internal conflicts, bribing, etc, a la Game of Thrones.
- more weapon mods and armor mods.
- bring back Fallout 3's weapon schematics and add more.
- bring back Fallout 3's random encounters and integrate the wild wasteland trait as default.
- a more polished first and third person views.
- expand upon hardcore mode or make it obligatory.
- KEEP IT AS A SINGLE PLAYER EXPERIENCE, NO MULTIPLAYER ELEMENTS AT ALL.
- NO CARS.
- DRM-free and released on GoG day one! :D

So basically you want a New Vegas 2...
I agree in the car matter. Keeping the Highwayman full was a chore in FO2, and you missed ammo for the energy weapons.
However, permanent wild wasteland brings me memories from those encounters in fo2... and hmmmmm no.
First person and third person don't really go with Fallout. FO was meant to be enjoyed as a turn based game. Then again, combat has always been the weakness of the whole saga. It's the story what matters.

Notes from the board in the alternate dimension where Bethesda developed Bloodlines in-house:

"Jack should have an eye patch and we need a Jack quest. Maybe something like recovering a locket of his "olde wench" from a Los Angeles memorabilia collector down the street. We also think the Voerman sisters need more fish-malk. We are happy to announce that we have assigned the voice actress who did Moira to voice them! Our analysists are concerned that the hotel level does not have enough combat which may alienate our core consumers. They are also concerned that the different endings may confuse our core consumers. It is not clear which ones are good and which ones are evil.

Additionally, Todd would like to see the black guy act more black because that would be funny. Have him say things like 'dog' and 'wazzup' more often."

No. I'm not saying Bethesda should make New Vegas 2 but rather keep what Obsidian made into Fallout 4 and improve them while also adding new concepts of their own. Beside the Mojave wasteland story is complete, can't really see where they could take New Vegas (story wise) if they were to make New Vegas 2.

the whole "wasteland" theme has to end somehow, you can't keep the mad max fantasy for that long. NCR is clearly civilized land.... but that's if you didn't launched the missiles into the wasteland at the end of Lonesome Road.

Having it be set in a drowned region of the world with a bit different tech. but the US plays too big a part in the setting and people will plain just not buy something set in Europe, Japan or some place else.

I like F3, like F:NV better, and look forward to the progression of that model of Fallout in F4; however I would deeply enjoy Bethesda doing something along the lines of what Capcom with Dark Void and create a retro version (Dark Void Zero). I don't even care if it's not the same length or depth as F1 and F2 (though that obviously would be ideal), but if they did a short homage to the old games by creating something that is just long enough to fill all the categories of nostalgia that should be filled I would deeply love it! I think something like that could even be tacked on as a secret within F4!

It's a long story, actually. Suffice it to say that, at one point, there was a real Fallout 3 in the works (commonly known by its project codename, "Van Buren") and it was almost completed when Interplay, due to egregious mismanagement of the company, cancelled it.

Later, Bethesda/Zenimax outbid Troika (makers of Arcanum, Temple of Elemental Evil, and Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines) for the rights to Fallout, which was a contributing factor in the demise of Troika.

Finally, Bethesda turned Fallout into a shooter, when it was always intended to be a tabletop RPG simulator based on a modified version of GURPS. If Bethesda bought the rights to Civilization, and released "Civilization 6" as a first-person shooter, Civilization fans would be pretty annoyed; it's exactly the same thing.

Most of us who dislike Bethesda would be mollified to a large extent if they would simply stop claiming their games are sequels to the originals.

I think you took these words out of my brain. Well said! (Except for the cars. Part of what I enjoy is traipsing all over ... But I am a very slow gamer.)

I think UniversalWolf nicely explained why Bethie lost a lot of fans with FO. It would be the same if somebody else took the Elder Scrolls and set the story outside Tamriel. With aliens and spaceships. And no dungeons. ... ...

So agreed. I'd always choose FO New Vegas 2 over Fallout 4