I do equip my NPCs with better armour and weapons (though there's no dog armour and I don't think Rex could wear horse armour) but it only goes so far and doesn't help when they actively ignore a stay command in favour of running off to attack someone 4 corridors away because they happen to be within detection range because of the layout of the level then get overwhelmed by everything along the path that chased them and boxed them in

This is quite true. The dialogues themselves aren't so bad, but the design (and inconsistencies) in the way dialogue trees work stick out like a sore thumb.

Erm, what? I didn't say anything about the writing (although I personally find it on par with FO3 so far), I was talking about how poorly designed the actual underlying system usually is. It's jarring.

I tend to leave my guys outside the door, learned that on the Nightkin in Repconn. But agreed, it requires tweaking.;)

What? You mean that Dogmeat isn't Dogmeat anymore? Now it won't be half as funny when he's reduced to gibs by a super mutant.

Won't happen anyway unless you are playing Hardcore mode. All companions are flagged as essential now except for in Hardcore mode where they can die.

And take every opportunity to demonstrate this new feature...

But no, the dog isn't dogmeat but nor is he a boring old regular dog...

I had exactly the same companions going to the Boomers and both got taken out but I just ignored it trying to stay alive myself when I got to Nellis AFB the Boomers stopped shelling and both Veronica and ED-E caught up with me. Generally if a companion gets seperated from you for whatever reason they will reset after a few days and return to their default locations or the Lucky 38 if you have met Mr House.

I don't think the shells auto-kill but ED-E just has pathetic hitpoints and armor, even basic Fiends can take him out.

Just to clarify, ED-E didn't get taken out during the initial approach from shelling, but rather when I deliberately blew up four artillery shells inside one of the buildings because, hey, free explosion.

Are you sure about the low health thing? My ED-E has over 300 health, compared to Veronica's 215... Maybe it's because of the conclusion I chose for ED-E My Love.

Possibly yes. If you went with the BoS then they upgrade ED-E's hitpoints and armor however if you go with the Followers they upgrade it's gun. The problem with the vanilla version of ED-E is it doesn't have any armor so regardless of it's hitpoints even a Fiend with a baseball bat can take him down.

I'm one of the rare people that enjoyed the original fallouts as well as fallout 3.

I always let myself buy a new game at the end of each semester to celebrate, but right now I have a conundrum.

Is this game worth buying now, or waiting for the inevitable GOTY edition that will come out after the dlc is said and done.

The reason I ask is I kind of want either Fallout: New Vegas, Fable 3, or Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.

Now I know AC:B will only get one complete playthrough from me (if I start another game I won't get 100% again), but it has an interesting multiplayer.

The Fable games always disappoint me in some way, but they are still entertaining, though I think $60 is too steep for what I get.

And if Fallout :NV is like 3, I will play the hell out of it for quite a while

Basically, how is everyone enjoying it, and could you lease help me.

Answered your own question there. You know from playing Fallout 3 there is a shitload of content in the game even if you never buy any of the DLC. I can understand the GOTY argument but to be honest I wanted to play it now an I am so glad I did. Almost everything is improved over Fallout 3 and thats not an exaggeration. Yes you can finish the game in about 8 hours if you play only the main quest but Fallout 3 could be completed in 4 if you went straight from Vault 101 to where dad is. The appeal of the game is the sidequests and this game has a truckload more than Fallout 3 did.

Thanks, I'll probably end up getting New Vegas. By the time I'm done playing, the prices of the other games will have most likely dropped, and I will have saved enough money to get them eventually.

What is your avatar, anyway. It looks like something from star wars. Pretty great either way.

It's a photoshop of The Emperor from Star Wars with Bobby Kotick's face. I like it.