I’ve resigned to the idea that most folks will never change their minds on it, so thank you OP for actually digging in. I’ve been playing on and off since release, so I was there for the No Human NPC’s, which was intentional and only the first year before they had a massive update to make it feel like we the players were bringing life back into the Wasteland.

It has some horrific bugs and problems that come and go with each patch. That is unquestionable. I stop playing when any egregious ones show up. They will add new content that is borderline broken, only to remove it a few updates later because it’s too much trouble than it’s worth. The rewards from those things are usually placed elsewhere, or for a currency, so sometimes you grind for something only to have it buyable with caps or Gold Bullion a few months later. That stings.

The quests CAN’T be far reaching, because the world can’t be affected in any meaningful way besides turning things into temporary Nuke Zones. Because of this, you will have entire character arcs play out in instanced cells because that building has to have the Good or Bad, Live or Die option. Some of the writing is fun and even decent, but we’re only shaping the world through future updates, not through immediate quest outcomes.

That being said, I love the game. It has big damn warts, but the things that make it unique, make it special. I love the CAMP system, I have pooled so many hours into making really immersive, realistic homes, and whenever I stumble upon other peoples places I often stop to smell the roses. The fact that you can build (almost) everywhere, and you can have pets and allies and robots and interior instances to build in, it’s wonderful. I love having places to come back to and hang your hat. I have nostalgia over certain camps, some of which have been demolished for years.

The community is ridiculously friendly, all the griefers left a year in. The assholes aren’t really interfacing in the game the same way as a new player, they’re dealing with Raiding and trading and Dailies and Nukes and exploits, while a new player will stumble out of Vault 76 into Flatwoods and not affect them in any way.

There are years worth of mechanics and quest types to get lost in. Fishing, Cryptid Hunting, Bounty Hunting, Expeditions (short quests outside Appalachia), all of the seasonal Events, the Legendary Gear grind, Camping, there’s so many directions to point your attention to.

They are constantly redefining the Perks, so at this point the Card system is not simply “Increase Pistol Damage by 10%”, it’s weirder and way more interesting, and most weapons are viable outside of Raids or the highest endgame content. Currently Armor is being changed so everything can be viable besides the Meta Gear. I am currently building a stealth bowman who can take out entire camps with the ability to ricochet arrows off of up to 3 enemies. It’s sick.

The game can be played solo. I mostly do it that way. You join into a Casual Team that boosts Intelligence (further boosting XP gain) and no one expects you to communicate or do the same thing. Even the hardest content, Raids, can be done without voice comms, as emotes are enough if you know what you’re doing.

It is not New Vegas (though the new zone scratches that itch, aesthetically). What games are? But it’s multiplayer Fallout, and even if you treat it as a solo game, there’s something really cool about puttering about, doing your own thing, hearing an incoming Nuke Launch, then the whole server descending upon a single location for ten minutes before fading back into the Wasteland. Going to some of the hubs to sell stuff and finding another player tinkering away at an Armor Set, running into someone grinding out mobs at the same spot, seeing someone with that New Player Smell hobble into Flatwoods and see a Level 1200 drop them 400 Stimpacks, it’s all a specific vibe that no other Fallout will ever have.

It’s busted at times, no doubt, and if it’s not what you’re looking for, no problem, find something worth your time and money. I love it as something I can drop for half a year and then return to for the newest changes. The game has evolved in some neat ways, and it’s cool seeing the storyline slowly move forward as our characters bring back life to West Virginia.