MA5TER_CHAFFE

It seems everyone fears losing the "Desolate Wasteland" feel, and that a partner would sabotage that. To that I ask, what about followers? Followers play a prominent roll in the game. To me, that argument is misguided. It also needs to be noted that clearly, this would be an optional mode, so people who for whatever reason don't bring along companions and just go it alone, will still have that. Some of my friends and I have thought in depth regarding co-op, and what the dev team would need to do to make it function. Here are some of the points we came up with:

• Yes, V.A.T.S would be abolished in co-op, but that's an acceptable sacrifice because you will have TWO people blasting away at the enemy, which would likely balance it. It would certainly still make combat slightly more difficult overall, but personally, I see this as a minor sacrifice.
• A Tether would be necessary, not a traditional tether like the one in OFP:DR, but a 'load-screen tether' like in the Lego Star Wars games (lol), where when a player attempts to enter a zone where a load screen will be necessary, the game will prompt the other player to accept the advance via a button press, or by coming within a certain distance of the doorway in question (to avoid exploiting the feature by having one player deep in combat being whisked away by accepting the door usage of the other player. There are places where this would be slightly annoying, especially in heavy urban areas like the New Vegas Strip where the player is constantly passing through these loading screens, but alas, sacrifices must be made.
• One of the biggest game-changers would be the use of the Pip-Boy, which would no longer pause the game, and therefore would be used in REAL TIME. This would place greater emphasis on the tactical usage of Hot Keys. Both players would need to be certain their Hot Keys complimented each other, and are combat-ready with both health items and weapons.
• A minor tweak, and one that is featured in Skyrim, is real-time conversation, meaning time doesn't magically pause when a player enters conversation. In addition, AI would have to be altered to accommodate two players in a few ways: If the NPC in conversation is harmed by the non-conversing player, then he will break conversation and react accordingly. If the other player attempts to access a restricted area, or steal an object (in sight of the NPC) the NPC will break conversation and react. This does mean that distracting a guard through conversation would be a new, and viable tactic (only if you can engage that NPC in conversation to begin with)
• Because many conversations are affected by skills and perks, the players can choose who talks to the NPCs they encounter, allowing them to invest their XP and perks in a complimentary manner (i.e. a gunman who is knowledgeable in weaponry, repair, survival etc, and a smooth-talking diplomat)
• In conversations prompted by NPCs, whichever player is closer to the NPC will engage in the conversation.
• In conversation involving objectives or other quest-related pieces, the player in the conversation will make the choices, and those choices will effect the points made below for both players.
• All XP would be allotted to both players, and both players would level up simultaneously
• Objectives would be given to both players, and when completed by one, would be completed for both.
• Karma and reputation would be shared.
• Perks involving V.A.T.S would be abolished, as would perks that affect skill increase and rate.
• Yes, in order for all of this to work, both players would need to be online simultaneously and play together. This is the only way to not sacrifice the game's depth.
• Little or no change would be made to the amount of items found in containers, as having two mouths to feed should be balanced by having two sets of hands searching.
• Players inventorys would be separate, as would their caps. Though, naturally, they'd be able to barter and exchange with each other.
• Like in Minecraft, both players must find a bed to sleep (the first player to find one will be prompted to wait for the other, and the first player to find a bed will be in charge of selecting the length of slumber
• A player will select a Wait time and the other player will be prompted to accept or reject it.

There may have been more issues and solutions, but this is all I could recall at the moment. Let me know what you think, and anything I may have missed or should be done differently.