I have clocked a ton of hours on FO3 - mostly thanks to mods that changed the gameplay - but with recognition that the base game is amazing and the only reason mods exist in the first place.

However, that said, I always feel like the "sandbox world" has these amazing sandcastles that never get used to flesh out the world in a vibrant way and, what really bothers me is that it seems like it would have been the easier stuff to program but it just got 'left out.'

What do I mean? Well, you have the Citadel, Fort Bannister, Evergreen Mills, Fort Independence, Tenpenny Tower - you have all these focal points of power and politics that could have had quests that allowed you to increase or decrease a faction's presence or even raise it to supremacy (with accompanying ending slides of course) and then.... nothing. Nada. Zip.

The Outcasts offer a lame tech gathering quest, the BOS features in the main storyline but that's it, the raiders and Talon offer nothing. Here are the already laid out places of power but then they aren't fleshed out with quests (multiple quests - even if just taking out the other places and seeing the results, although I'd hope for more than that....)

Maybe I misunderstand the level of programming to add quests? But I'd take political faction quests ANY DAY over collecting Nuka Cola so some dude can lay a girl..... why put all that in the game (fluff) and then ignore something that is immersive, lore correct and makes the character actually feel they are changing the world!?!

Many of the quests felt SO anemic to me - instead of the blowing up of Megaton being the crowning achievement of an evil quest line, it is simply offered to you in a bar by a psychopath and then... nothing.

So here is hoping the devs of FO:NV changed this and hoping that FO4 doesn't offer sand and sandcastles with little lying underneath .....

Fallout: New Vegas has what your looking for then