IDK about the DRM but you MUST get the GOTY edition. Period.

Why should I get GOTY edition?

It's cheaper than buying all the DLC separately, and comes fully patched of course.

THIS plus it gives you so much more to do. The DLC content is brilliant - loved the island you go to as well as the starship plus whatever else there was, way too much to remember. Essential purchase.

Question: I know at least ONE of the DLCs is canonically set with the original protagonist...but are all of them that way? Or are some not canon/connected to the main protagonist of FO3?

Wow. I'm bit wary of DLC but I'll see about it. :)

Wary? Do you think it will bite you?

Well, I'm just worrying that DLC is just one of those 'let's milked those customers to death by pumping out the additional contents that doesn't make sense and lighten their wallets' so yeah.

I have yet to buy the DLC contents for modern games since I tend to opted for vanilla version.

I'd hate it if I drop serious coin on DLC then it turn out to be such piece of crap.

Most of the DLC is missions/areas/etc.....not new weapons or skins for the character.

I have a hard time believing the extra cost for GOTY these days will be anything close to 'serious coin', especially if you just wait for a sale of some kind.

Well, I'm on budget now but I think I'll wait for it to pop up on sale. :)

I got my copy used for only 25 bucks.......it's actually cheaper to buy the GOTY than buy the DLC separate.

Standard retail of F3:GOTY is $30... If you like Steam, you'll have plenty of chances to buy it at a bigger discount.

DLC is the best/worst idea ever.

Take Fallout 3 all by itself. You have a game with a main story campaign and a truckload of side quests in an open world. Some folks hated F3 (I loved it), but most folks agree it is a game that offers a big world, a lot of combat, plenty of choices that can make for a replayable experience, and so on...

In a world where DLC didn't exist, we'd have all been just as happy with this product as it is. But now, the developer can say, oh look, people like it, lets make more that plugs in to main game for a modest price. Bully for us. If you really like F3, you can drop $10 and get added content to opens up a new setting (like the riverboat that takes you the swampy island) with new weapons and monsters and NPCs, etc...

We used to call these expansion packs, and we didn't complain about that.

But the dark side of DLC is the stuff where you can just buy pointless little cosmetic add-ons, like a new outfit, or "a" gun, or whatever, that I believe (as I gather you might) just nickles and dimes the player while offering nothing substantial in return.

When done right, I see the opportunity to breath extra life into a good game. When done wrong, I just see vaporware to expand the revenue stream in exchange for nothing significant at all.

But its like anything else. Some movies have a vanilla edition and an edition with extra discs. The value of those extras are subjectively greater or lessor depending on your specific needs/wants as a consumer. Your smart phone has a lot of optional features, but of the thousands of choices, there might be a dozen that matter to you.

Fallout 3 is one title where I think the DLC content is solid and the value is there. Its a better value for you, though, because you'll get 100% of the 5 additional DLCs for a price 40% less than the original game's retail release price. (or less if you wait a few more months or buy it on Steam) (NOTE: The retail boxed version can be ran direct from the exe without any DRM... but it cannot be activated on Steam. That's only important if you really like having things activated by Steam)

But you are right... there is a lot of DLC that's just bullshit. I think this one is not one of those.

Wow, thanks for telling me about DLC, honey. You confirmed my suspicion about majority of DLC but I'm glad to hear that this is not the case with Fallout 3. Perhaps, I can wait few more months to get it on Steam when it's on sale.