In real life your map would be square shaped right?

Now look at Read Dead Redemption's Map

Notice that the spaces are clearly indicated you can't go to those parts of the map

In Fallout NV case it's just not as clear via the pip boy

So there you have it 

I'm not confused about the map, but I'm confused about this post.

Talking about invisible walls.. This game has those all over it! I'm trying to climb a mountain and there is a fucking invisible wall blocking my way so I have to go back on the ground and try to find anotherway around.. I don't remember fallout 3 having this problem thought there wasn't as much mountains or hills either.

What?

There are people complaining about areas of the map to which they can not reach on Fallout NV

" Talking about invisible walls.. This game has those all over it! I'm trying to climb a mountain and there is a fucking invisible wall blocking my way so I have to go back on the ground and try to find anotherway around.. I don't remember fallout 3 having this problem thought there wasn't as much mountains or hills either. "

In general (having not played NV), having parts of the map be in-accessible for whatever reason is fine. Blocking off those parts with invisible walls as opposed to terrain or even an out-of-place 30 foot concrete wall is simply lazy. 
 
P.S. I hate when people use the word "lazy" to describe a design decision they disagree with, but there's no other way to describe the reason for invisible walls to exist in 2010.

" In general (having not played NV), having parts of the map be in-accessible for whatever reason is fine. Blocking off those parts with invisible walls as opposed to terrain or even an out-of-place 30 foot concrete wall is simply lazy.  P.S. I hate when people use the word "lazy" to describe a design decision they disagree with, but there's no other way to describe the reason for invisible walls to exist in 2010. "

Agreed, if I see a hill with a gap in the rocks big enough for me and an army to walk through in the direction I need to be I'm going to try it, only to get a tiny bit of the way up, reach an invisible barrier and shimmy around the rocks and around the invisible wall. It's ridiculous, Fallout 3 would let you climb up there and then let you realize theres no way down without breaking your arms and legs, or, just have the chain link fence or a collapsed building or rock in the way entirely.

The most annoying one I encountered was towards the Nelis AFB. When that guy who makes a living on people marching to their deaths tells you how to get to the front gate. The way I was walking had left it so that when the convo ended, I was looking at a wall that seemed to have a oath running up to a flat spot that could potentially land me at the front gate. So I hopped up there just to find an invisible wall about a foot in from the edge. Made no sense to me. It was clearly a path, the color was a bit lighter showing the area was heavily trafficked.  
 
It is so frequent that sort of thing happens. Just minding my own business, jumping around the wasteland and climbing on heaps of rubble, then one of them just won't let me jump to the top. Or paths in buildings... they will be blocked by a bit of junk on the floor about shin high. Really love this game, but it does have it's flaws.

anyone else have a retarded time trying to find vault 22 like i did? invisible walls ruined exploration in this game imo.

I was 3 foot above one of the settlements and it just would not let me drop down because of an invisible wall. It was pretty silly. I can imagine how frustrating this would be, especially since where I was stuck, I had no way to get back up.
 
Good thing I have ~tcl though.

There definitely seemed to be more freedom of motion and route choice in Fallout 3. In New Vegas it seemed like every time there was a hill or mountain I needed to climb, there'd be one main route by road, and sometimes one "back route." Trying to get to your objective any other way proved to be a waste of time close to 100% of the time. It made exploring less satisfying in New Vegas; so much to the point where I'm doubting I'll ever bother for 100% achievements in the game. The removal of most armor with stat boosts also kind of put a damper on exploration as I could usually care less about the junk I find in New Vegas, whereas in Fallout 3 it felt like there was always a better item waiting to be discovered.
 
Also, the OP's link to Red Dead Redemption's map is not indicative of the issue people have complained about in Fallout: New Vegas. If you look at Red Dead's map, all of the areas that are inaccessible to the player (all around the edge of the map) are clearly marked. That's where you can't go, and the walls are not invisible. There's always a physical barrier which the player can see preventing them from going off the map.
 
Fallout New Vegas' invisible wall problem has nothing to do with being close to the edge of the map. I encountered most of these invisible walls when trying to scale a hill or mountain, only to find that even though it appeared my character should physically be able to continue, an invisible barrier prevented me. This is what irritates players, because in a game known for its free-reign style, this design is decidedly against that.

" anyone else have a retarded time trying to find vault 22 like i did? invisible walls ruined exploration in this game imo. "

I cleaned up the OP so this thread makes more since now :)

" @smcn said:

" In general (having not played NV), having parts of the map be in-accessible for whatever reason is fine. Blocking off those parts with invisible walls as opposed to terrain or even an out-of-place 30 foot concrete wall is simply lazy.  P.S. I hate when people use the word "lazy" to describe a design decision they disagree with, but there's no other way to describe the reason for invisible walls to exist in 2010. "

Describing a design decision that you disagree with as lazy is just lazy.  Ha.  Just kidding.  You're right, lazy is the PERFECT word to describe this.  Lordy, just put barbed wire or a chain link fence there.  Fallout already has the assets built in for chain link fences.  Just make them indestructible.  Problem solved.  You can mail me my check, now, Obsidian. "

" @zegolf said:

" @smcn said:

" In general (having not played NV), having parts of the map be in-accessible for whatever reason is fine. Blocking off those parts with invisible walls as opposed to terrain or even an out-of-place 30 foot concrete wall is simply lazy.  P.S. I hate when people use the word "lazy" to describe a design decision they disagree with, but there's no other way to describe the reason for invisible walls to exist in 2010. "

Describing a design decision that you disagree with as lazy is just lazy.  Ha.  Just kidding.  You're right, lazy is the PERFECT word to describe this.  Lordy, just put barbed wire or a chain link fence there.  Fallout already has the assets built in for chain link fences.  Just make them indestructible.  Problem solved.  You can mail me my check, now, Obsidian. "

Yea having chain fences all over the wasteland wouldn't look weird.....  dumbass "

" @eagles_band: Because...there are no chain-link fences in the wasteland?  Or...  Because you're an idiot?  Have you played this game at all? "

" Talking about invisible walls.. This game has those all over it! I'm trying to climb a mountain and there is a fucking invisible wall blocking my way so I have to go back on the ground and try to find anotherway around.. I don't remember fallout 3 having this problem thought there wasn't as much mountains or hills either. "

Yeah I was kind of angry when I started finding invisible walls in NV and realized I had to actually follow the roads and paths around seemingly small and easily scalable hills and cliffs

" @J0n3s1 said:

" Talking about invisible walls.. This game has those all over it! I'm trying to climb a mountain and there is a fucking invisible wall blocking my way so I have to go back on the ground and try to find anotherway around.. I don't remember fallout 3 having this problem thought there wasn't as much mountains or hills either. "

Yeah, thank god I have this on PC so I can un-stick myself with the console.  Never had this problem with FO3. "

" The most annoying one I encountered was towards the Nelis AFB. When that guy who makes a living on people marching to their deaths tells you how to get to the front gate. The way I was walking had left it so that when the convo ended, I was looking at a wall that seemed to have a oath running up to a flat spot that could potentially land me at the front gate. So I hopped up there just to find an invisible wall about a foot in from the edge. Made no sense to me. It was clearly a path, the color was a bit lighter showing the area was heavily trafficked.   It is so frequent that sort of thing happens. Just minding my own business, jumping around the wasteland and climbing on heaps of rubble, then one of them just won't let me jump to the top. Or paths in buildings... they will be blocked by a bit of junk on the floor about shin high. Really love this game, but it does have it's flaws. "

" @kmg90: Precisely. What gets me the most about it is how it is so easily done. I wish they hired people like us to play test games. Instead they have people do mundane tasks like run against a wall for an hour and try to get stuck. Which is needed.... But stuff like this just passes by without a second thought. "