I don't want more Fallout, and for some reason I am questioning this lack of desire. 
 
The first time I booted up Fallout 3, I did what I do in all shooters, I put it on the hardest setting.  This seemed to go well for a while.  I wasn't really having any trouble staying alive until I reached a brick wall.  I had no ammo.  The lady in Megaton had no more for sale.  Since I wasn't spec'ed to use melee weapons, I was boned.  I couldn't buy any ammo.  I couldn't kill anything to loot for ammo.  This left me with a very sour feeling. 
 
My play style with these kind of games is to just go.  Main quest be damned.  I just wanna kill shit, level my shit up, and get new shit.  When I played Oblivion, I didn't touch the main quest until I completely ran out of other stuff to do.  This gave me trouble in Fallout 3.  I killed too many things that didn't yield enough new weapons/ammo.  Having ammo be of limited quantity in a game where hit % is determined by a dice roll felt broken to me. 
 
I am a good shot.  When I point the gun at a dude's head, and pull the trigger, I expect to shoot the dude in the head.  This seemed like a very unrealistic expectation in Fallout.  I could be 50ft away, aim at still enemy, and fire and totally miss their head because the game's internal dice roll decided I didn't do what I clearly did.  I had better luck using VATS, but I didn't want to use VATS.  While watching heads explode is nice and all, it wasn't much fun and artificially extended the length of a fight.  I get more enjoyment out of aiming at a dude's head rather than selecting a dude's head.  I would have been fine with all of this if there was a renewing source of ammo, or just more of it in general.  I eventually dropped the difficulty down to normal and got through the game fine since the enemies took less hits to kill.
 
Aside from shooting with a dice roll, I was bothered by the characters.  I hated all but one of them.  Fawks was the only character I cared about.  I killed Moira in her sleep because I just couldn't take hearing her voice anymore.  While I could have just ignored her, she felt like she needed to die.  It is like watching a horror movie, and the one really annoying stupid character that you want to see die ends up living.  I couldn't let that be the case with this game.  None of the characters ever had anything to say that I wanted hear more of.  That is odd for me.  I am the guy with most RPGs that is asking everybody lots of questions, and trying to learn more.  Not once in this game did I feel compelled to do that.  Adding some more personality to the characters would have gone a very very long way.
 
The environment didn't really grab me either.  I didn't want to look at it, and really explore it like I normally would.  It all looked the same.  I usually don't mind most games that people say are too brown and grey, but this game took the brown and grey color pallet to the extreme.  I understand it was a post apocalypse setting but at least make the brown and greys more vibrant, maybe throw in a bit of red, green, or blue here and there. 
 
Yet with all these complaints, I feel a slight pull to get Fallout: New Vegas.  The core concept of the game seems awesome, and everybody seems to have nothing but good things to say about the Fallout games.  Am I just looking at the game wrong?  Is there something really awesome that I am completely missing?

Don't expect a competent first person shooter.

It's survival RPG, not a run of the mill regenerating health, pick ups galore shooter.  You're playing it wrong.

All games shouldn't play exactly the same. Where's the fun in variety there? Don't come at this game as a FPS but as a RPG and you won't be as disappointed. Let that needle filled with hot loot fill your vein with sweet ecstasy.

" It's survival RPG, not a run of the mill regenerating health, pick ups galore shooter.  You're playing it wrong. "

Your first mistake was to treat Fallout 3 like a shooter.
 
It's not.

I refer to Oblivion-engine games as soulless husks of what are actually good games. They have the concepts and the first person/shooter/RPG parts down, but everything else in the games - from the animations, to the voice acting, to the dialog - is just stale and lifeless. Regardless, I'm always drawn back to play them.

" Your first mistake was to treat Fallout 3 like a shooter.  It's not. "

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" It's survival RPG, not a run of the mill regenerating health, pick ups galore shooter.  You're playing it wrong. "

At no point did I say that it was or that I was looking for a run of the mill regenerating health, pick ups galore shooter.  You're reading my post wrong.  
I just don't want my ability to get through the game to be reliant on a dice roll instead of my skills.  I don't need regenerating health.  the food/sleep/health pack system worked just fine.  I don't need pick ups galore.  I need to be able to get enough to get through the game.  Often times the pick ups that I would get from fallen enemies would be less than the shots required to kill them.  I'm not going everywhere guns blazing.  I spec'ed myself with a high sneak, because I would rather sneak around than just go shooting down everyone.  A game that is supposed to encourage exploration, punishes you for it by having you run out of the one resource required to survive.     What about the crappy characters and environment? "

" What about the crappy characters and environment? "

" okay....  Look, it's an RPG.  Dice rolls are part of what makes an RPG what it is.  Even STALKER, an arguably far more action oriented game with better shooting mechanics, plays the same way. "

" @Chubbaluphigous said:

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" It's survival RPG, not a run of the mill regenerating health, pick ups galore shooter.  You're playing it wrong. "

At no point did I say that it was or that I was looking for a run of the mill regenerating health, pick ups galore shooter.  You're reading my post wrong.  
I just don't want my ability to get through the game to be reliant on a dice roll instead of my skills.  I don't need regenerating health.  the food/sleep/health pack system worked just fine.  I don't need pick ups galore.  I need to be able to get enough to get through the game.  Often times the pick ups that I would get from fallen enemies would be less than the shots required to kill them.  I'm not going everywhere guns blazing.  I spec'ed myself with a high sneak, because I would rather sneak around than just go shooting down everyone.  A game that is supposed to encourage exploration, punishes you for it by having you run out of the one resource required to survive.     What about the crappy characters and environment? "

Wait, so you want to change the rules of the game just because it doesn't make it easy for you?  okay....  Look, it's an RPG.  Dice rolls are part of what makes an RPG what it is.  Even STALKER, an arguably far more action oriented game with better shooting mechanics, plays the same way.    What about your crappy approach to the game?  What about that? "

I see the dead horse getting beaten in this thread, so I won't get into the genre argument.
 
I had nearly every problem you had with Fallout 3. The shooting felt like shit even with VATS, characters were dull, wasteland was boring, I kind of wanted to explore but I kind of didn't.  I had to mod the game to hell and back just so I could stand in long enough to get halfway through the story and quit.
 
That being said, New Vegas is a HUUUUUUUUUUUGE improvement in these aspects.
 
The shooting feels more precise thanks to ironsights.  I got a sneak attack critical headshot from about 100 yards away earlier while looking down the scope of my cowboy repeater rifle.  That felt good.
 
The writing is my favorite improvement, though.  The world in Fallout 3 always felt kind of lifeless to me, like the NPCs were just there because they needed to be there for their own purposes.  It was like Bethesda sat in a room and made a chart saying: "OK, we need this many sidequests in this area, so we'll add this many NPCs to meet that quota." Sure, the characters had stories behind them, but they always felt more like cardboard cutouts than real people to me.  I hope you understand what I'm talking about, it's kind of hard to explain.
 
So back to New Vegas.  Earlier I found an army outpost where they shelter caravans before they're sent towards Vegas.  In the outpost was a bar, and inside I found a woman drinking alone surrounded by empty bottles.  I tried to strike up a conversation with her, but she told me to go fuck myself.  Never to be deterred, I pressed on.  We had a long conversation which I learned that she owned a caravan which had been attacked by some raiders on their last trip to Vegas.  She made it out alive and back to the outpost where she turned back to her old friend: liquor.  Apparently, she was quite the alchoholic.  So much so, in fact, that she refused to carry booze in her caravan because she was afraid she would drink it all before she reached her destination.  She ended up giving me a sidequest (which to my surprise was quite different than what I expected it to be), but the interaction felt so natural.  Between the great VA and the unique mannerisms, it felt like I was talking to someone with an actual past behind them.  So I don't know if you'll CARE about the characters more, but I think I definitely know them better than I ever did the ones in Fallout 3.
 
Oh yeah, so the actual plot?  Leagues better than Fallout 3's fresh-water-GECK-GECK-GECK-project-purity mumbo jumbo.  Instead of having the duty of "save the wasteland" thrust upon you, the game is a classic revenge tale (up to where I'm at, anyway).  The game begins with you being SHOT IN THE FUCKING HEAD for reasons unknown.  You want to find who shot you and figure out why they wanted the item you were carrying.   Even though you're essentially doing the same thing you did in the first half of Fallout 3 (following in the footsteps of someone you're looking for), there's a much more solid foundation to the plot and it feels way more personal.  Lovin' it so far.
 
About the wasteland... well, it's the same, just a little better to look at in the aesthetic sense.  I think they turned off the ugly green filter they had all over Fallout 3's horrid-looking wasteland.
 
Hope I helped you out a little bit.

" Uhh... not really. The dice rolls in STALKER hardly affect anything at all. That game is based almost entirely on skill. Fallout is all about the roll. The things that made STALKER an RPG was the dialog trees, the inventory system, the quests, and the survival. Dice rolls aren't even in the top 50 things I would use to describe that series. "

 Also, Clear Sky and possibly STALKER apply the same firing randomisation rule to shots by the player that they do to shots from the enemy. That is, you have to actually hit your target, then the game essentially rolls a dice to check if you hit your target.  

Even though it looks like a shooter. It is first and foremost and RPG. Invisible dice rolls rules the game. While you can level up to off set the effects of said dice, it'll never be completely gone.

" @SeriouslyNow:  A single notation from a wiki regarding the possibility of it in one of the games in the series must mean everything is roll related throughout to the same ridiculous tabletop degree that Fallout 3 is. Again, no not really. "

" Your first mistake was to treat Fallout 3 like a shooter.  It's not. "

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow:  A single notation from a wiki regarding the possibility of it in one of the games in the series must mean everything is roll related throughout to the same ridiculous tabletop degree that Fallout 3 is. Again, no not really. "

A single unsubstantiated opinion doesn't detract from reality.  So yes, really.  Stop making shit up to fit your opinion. "

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow:  A single notation from a wiki regarding the possibility of it in one of the games in the series must mean everything is roll related throughout to the same ridiculous tabletop degree that Fallout 3 is. Again, no not really. "

A single unsubstantiated opinion doesn't detract from reality.  So yes, really.  Stop making shit up to fit your opinion. "

Brilliant. Go play STALKER again then come back. "

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow:  A single notation from a wiki regarding the possibility of it in one of the games in the series must mean everything is roll related throughout to the same ridiculous tabletop degree that Fallout 3 is. Again, no not really. "

A single unsubstantiated opinion doesn't detract from reality.  So yes, really.  Stop making shit up to fit your opinion. "

Brilliant. Go play STALKER again then come back. "

I have played all three to completion and the version of 1 which is based on what the original game was before it went proper commercial product and as I fucking said already, STALKER is definitely more of shooter.  That said, it's still an RPG and dice roll mechanics still apply.  When you start out your weapons fail more quickly, you miss more often and you often do less damage, especially when it comes to human NPCs.  That's because the dice rolls rarely fall in your favour because the stats are weighed against you until you start to level up. "

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow:  A single notation from a wiki regarding the possibility of it in one of the games in the series must mean everything is roll related throughout to the same ridiculous tabletop degree that Fallout 3 is. Again, no not really. "

A single unsubstantiated opinion doesn't detract from reality.  So yes, really.  Stop making shit up to fit your opinion. "

Brilliant. Go play STALKER again then come back. "

I have played all three to completion and the version of 1 which is based on what the original game was before it went proper commercial product and as I fucking said already, STALKER is definitely more of shooter.  That said, it's still an RPG and dice roll mechanics still apply.  When you start out your weapons fail more quickly, you miss more often and you often do less damage, especially when it comes to human NPCs.  That's because the dice rolls rarely fall in your favour because the stats are weighed against you until you start to level up. "

Are you still taking about STALKER? There is zero leveling or experience in that game whatsoever. "

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow:  A single notation from a wiki regarding the possibility of it in one of the games in the series must mean everything is roll related throughout to the same ridiculous tabletop degree that Fallout 3 is. Again, no not really. "

A single unsubstantiated opinion doesn't detract from reality.  So yes, really.  Stop making shit up to fit your opinion. "

Brilliant. Go play STALKER again then come back. "

I have played all three to completion and the version of 1 which is based on what the original game was before it went proper commercial product and as I fucking said already, STALKER is definitely more of shooter.  That said, it's still an RPG and dice roll mechanics still apply.  When you start out your weapons fail more quickly, you miss more often and you often do less damage, especially when it comes to human NPCs.  That's because the dice rolls rarely fall in your favour because the stats are weighed against you until you start to level up. "

Are you still taking about STALKER? There is zero leveling or experience in that game whatsoever. "

Not character or experience in the common sense, but loot based on how much money you have.  You start with shit loot then explore and do quests to earn better loot.  The loot has stats, like any other RPG. "

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow:  A single notation from a wiki regarding the possibility of it in one of the games in the series must mean everything is roll related throughout to the same ridiculous tabletop degree that Fallout 3 is. Again, no not really. "

A single unsubstantiated opinion doesn't detract from reality.  So yes, really.  Stop making shit up to fit your opinion. "

Brilliant. Go play STALKER again then come back. "

I have played all three to completion and the version of 1 which is based on what the original game was before it went proper commercial product and as I fucking said already, STALKER is definitely more of shooter.  That said, it's still an RPG and dice roll mechanics still apply.  When you start out your weapons fail more quickly, you miss more often and you often do less damage, especially when it comes to human NPCs.  That's because the dice rolls rarely fall in your favour because the stats are weighed against you until you start to level up. "

Are you still taking about STALKER? There is zero leveling or experience in that game whatsoever. "

Not character or experience in the common sense, but loot based on how much money you have.  You start with shit loot then explore and do quests to earn better loot.  The loot has stats, like any other RPG. "

But the loot is relative to the environment you're in. You can go back to the first Cordon area in SoC after getting really far and all the enemies will drop the same based loot they did the first time you went through the area. "

" @MrKlorox said:

" But the loot is relative to the environment you're in. You can go back to the first Cordon area in SoC after getting really far and all the enemies will drop the same based loot they did the first time you went through the area. "

Yes it is.  That's because STALKER doesn't have relative levelling like Oblivion and Fallout 3 do.  That said, you can also easily farm those areas for shit to sell to buy better gear.  Therefore, IT IS AN RPG.  gah "

Borderlands is more your type of game.

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @MrKlorox said:

" But the loot is relative to the environment you're in. You can go back to the first Cordon area in SoC after getting really far and all the enemies will drop the same based loot they did the first time you went through the area. "

Yes it is.  That's because STALKER doesn't have relative levelling like Oblivion and Fallout 3 do.  That said, you can also easily farm those areas for shit to sell to buy better gear.  Therefore, IT IS AN RPG.  gah "

I'm not arguing whether or not STALKER is an RPG. I'm arguing that the gameplay does not heavily rely on dicerolls like Fallout's does. Of course STALKER is an RPG. I used to have to defend that point myself all the time.  edit: unless you meant 'Roll' Playing Game... in which case I do disagree. "

 Dice rolls are part of what makes an RPG what it is.  Even STALKER, an arguably far more action oriented game with better shooting mechanics, plays the same way.

well arnt you the hot shit

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @MrKlorox said:

" But the loot is relative to the environment you're in. You can go back to the first Cordon area in SoC after getting really far and all the enemies will drop the same based loot they did the first time you went through the area. "

Yes it is.  That's because STALKER doesn't have relative levelling like Oblivion and Fallout 3 do.  That said, you can also easily farm those areas for shit to sell to buy better gear.  Therefore, IT IS AN RPG.  gah "

I'm not arguing whether or not STALKER is an RPG. I'm arguing that the gameplay does not heavily rely on dicerolls like Fallout's does. Of course STALKER is an RPG. I used to have to defend that point myself all the time.  edit: unless you meant 'Roll' Playing Game... in which case I do disagree. "

WTF?
 

 Dice rolls are part of what makes an RPG what it is.  Even STALKER, an arguably far more action oriented game with better shooting mechanics, plays the same way.

   Just stop. "

...
 
Anyway, I'm in the same boat as you are, OP.  Played a lot of Fallout 3, don't really want more of that.  There are a few games that everybody seems to love which I just don't get (Uncharted, Gears of War, etc), and I've had to accept that and play the stuff I do like.  People lavishing praise over New Vegas doesn't make it the game for me, or for you.  
 
For what it's worth, you might enjoy Borderlands or STALKER more. 

" Your first mistake was to treat Fallout 3 like a shooter.  It's not. "

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow said:

" @MrKlorox said:

" @SeriouslyNow:  A single notation from a wiki regarding the possibility of it in one of the games in the series must mean everything is roll related throughout to the same ridiculous tabletop degree that Fallout 3 is. Again, no not really. "

A single unsubstantiated opinion doesn't detract from reality.  So yes, really.  Stop making shit up to fit your opinion. "

Brilliant. Go play STALKER again then come back. "

I have played all three to completion and the version of 1 which is based on what the original game was before it went proper commercial product and as I fucking said already, STALKER is definitely more of shooter.  That said, it's still an RPG and dice roll mechanics still apply.  When you start out your weapons fail more quickly, you miss more often and you often do less damage, especially when it comes to human NPCs.  That's because the dice rolls rarely fall in your favour because the stats are weighed against you until you start to level up. "

yo bro you should go play mw2

" @Styl3s:   Fallout 3 is NOT Heavy RPG.  Dragon Age is closer, but still pretty casualised in many aspects.  Fallout 3 and STALKER are set in post apocalyptic settings, loot centric, have degrading weaps and armour, multiple factions, feature fetch quests and they play as shooters. FO3 has levelling whereas STALKER is more combat focused. It's a fair comparison.  If you're going to split hairs don't call FO3 a Heavy RPG.  LOL. "

" Borderlands is more your type of game. "