I may be the only one who feels this way, but...

Please, PLEASE offer an alternative looting/inventory system for Fallout: New Vegas.

The only thing I really dislike(d) about Bethesda's Fallout game, and the Elder Scrolls games too for that matter, is the endless rooting through bags, crates, boxes, chests, corpses, barrels, shelves, furniture and other various whatnot in order to find stuff, and most of the time the "loot" is just worthless junk. Maybe some people enjoy the obsessive-compulsive nature of hunting around for stuff, but frankly it makes me dizzy after a while and really spoils my enjoyment of the game.

Yes, I know in "real life" you have to search through stuff in order to actually find stuff, but that's typically not much fun either. Games are supposed to be *fun*. We've already dis-included any number of other mundane tasks that aren't much fun, so maybe something could be done about this too? Or at least offer an alternative gameplay option so people who like hunting for stuff can do so, and those of us who don't could just get a screen after killing all the baddies and/or exploring all the rooms in a given area listing all the available loot so we can pick and choose what we want and leave whatever. The game could "assume" that we searched everything. Obviously, things like wall safes could still require breaking into, but other than that I just don't see the need or the fun of the endless repetition of searching for stuff.

On the same subject, something else to tie into this would be a way to stash our own piles of loot for later. Yes, you can kind of do that now in Fallout simply by leaving a pile of stuff somewhere, But I'd like to see such locations marked on my PipBoy so I can remember where everything is (why *wouldn't* you mark the GPS coordinates of a loot stash in real life?!?), along with a list of what each stash contains, so if I did leave something game-critical behind somewhere, I don't have to re-roam the wasteland trying to figure out where I left the darned thing.

Okay, that is all. Hopefully others feel the same way...

You are right, sir...you are probably the only one who feels this way.
Rooting around through junk is reffered to as Scavenging. It's sort of what you do to find things. Just...hitting a checkpoint and selecting the loot you want from a list? You, sir, are lazy.

I don't know what you think "loot list" means but it isn't that.

Or else I just don't find it much fun.

EDIT: also, the Mass Effect games managed to get around the endless scavenging and still be fun (though admittedly I liked the first game's handling of loot--for the most part--better than the second)

No, scrounging around for junk, weapons, and ammo is part of fallout. Also, all the hard to get unique items and weapons would take no effort to get. All in all, this idea is horrible. And as to the coordinates thing, thats what good ol' pen and paper can accomplish.

Then you probably wouldn't be a fan of the majority of the Fallout series. New Vegas won't be any different. Scavenging, or Scavving as some say, for things you need to survive is part of the experience. It's an immersive role playing experience, not a free-for-all shooter.

Except that prior to Bethesda's Fallout, finding loot in the Fallout games was a lot easier and required a lot less time. I've played all the Fallout games numerous times, and the only game I found frustrating and boring in regard to scavenging was Bethesda's. It's just the way I feel.

I agree, If he can't appreciate putting time into a game then fallout isn't his game.

Fallouts 1-2: Search for pixelated mess that might be a container. Click the thing that might be a container. Wait for Character to approach and initiate Open animation. Drag loot onto panel or click Take all.
Fallout 3: See Container. Approach Container. Click container. Select desired loot, or select take all.

...I almost see no difference except that Fallout 3's was in a first person view mode.

I really don't like your first idea- it seems to MMO-ish where loot is divied up among party members instead of having them scramble for the loot.
It also seems pretty lazy, and the antithesis of what fallout is all about- that is scavenging and examining and exploring the post apocalyptic wasteland.

Your second idea would be cool though- a pip-boy function to mark loot stashes would be great, maybe call it "point of interest" that you could flag on your map. You can already set an objective and use that to remember the location of something interesting- but you can only mark one place at a time. A multi-use feature that you can use to remember multiple places would be cool.

I think he means that the sheer amount of containers in Fallout 3 was more staggering than the first 2 Fallouts, but honestly, I like the loot system in all the games.

I reiterate my original statement. Lazy.

I seem to recall that searchable items would highlight (and/or the mouse cursor would change) when you ran the mouse over them in previous Fallouts, which narrowed down the mess considerably. In Bethesda's Fallout, searchable containers are *everywhere*, so suddenly instead of having to search only 4 or 5 things in a given area, you have like 20, and most of what you find is going to be trash. That's not much fun to me.

As stated above, the scavanging in previous fallout is not much different than fallout 3's, its just in a isometric pixelated view. Also, the only way to really make this better for you is your idea, and that is a horrible idea.

I enjoy scavenging but I do agree that it can get tedious at times. the only thing I would change about it would be something along the lines of walking by an enemy will automatically pick up their ammo or something. Most enemies I only every looted for ammo cause its weightless and provided decent caps exchange, but even then you would have to look through their inventory if you wanted to check for other items that they may or my not have. That is the closest I could come to agree with your auto looting feature. Even then, may potentially have to be disengaged for hardcoe mode since too much ammo will weigh you down.
Away from that, I loved wandering around buildings looking for things.

They are containers. They aren't a part of the fun quotient. They are designed to merely hold potential weapons, ammo, healing equipment, or stuff you can sell. That is their purpose. They are not meant to be fun.

But the *game* is meant to be fun. If you really enjoy rooting through an endless supply of dinner plates, forks and scrap metal, then by all means, enjoy. I'm just saying it would be really awesome for those of us who don't enjoy that to be able to cut down on the scavenging somehow. Even if it was cut down to previous Fallout levels, that would be fine with me. But I'd rather be playing the actual game (combat, conversations, exploring, etc) than opening 4000 crates in hopes that I might find something useful.

Everything good is out in the open or behind a lock anyway. The only reason to search random containers is if you're looking for crap in the first place.

You know, you don't HAVE to open every container you come across...Most things in the tool boxes, grey boxes and whatnot are merely trash that can be sold or used in custom weapons. The only ones you really need to open are ammo containers, footlockers, and weapon closets. Just because a container is present, doesn't mean you NEED to open it.
Your idea still svcks, by the way. Just need to put that out there.

Pretty sure I remember some of those containers holding ammo too?

Well except for AMMO BOXES which you definitely should check, it was a piddling amount of ammo.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that point then.

How about the other idea, being able to mark loot stashes on one's PipBoy map?

You mean with that "place marker here" function?

Yeah, except instead of only being able to place one marker, be able to place as many as desired, along with a list of what is in each stash.

I happen to like poking my nose around the dark corners in Fallout 3, and I'm pretty good at spying a container at a distance. It's a feature I can live without.