History YMMV / FalloutNewVegas

* PolishedPort: The final release of this game in [[Website/GoodOldGames GOG.com]] fixed some of the bugs, making it large address aware by default (so the memory use isn't capped to 2 gigabytes), and making it more stable in all Windows PC systems including Windows 10. However several fan made fixes may still be required.

* RonTheDeathEater: The New California Republic is far from flawless, with the game depicting them as mirred in bureaucracy, being strongly influenced by rich cattle barons, and imposing unreasonable tax rates on the populace of Mojave. Despite that, canonically supporting the NCR and doing the legwork to make the minor factions in the area cooperate with them is the closest thing to a GoldEnding this game has, and the NCR route only forces you to destroy [[spoiler:Robert House]]. Despite that, the fandom likes to exaggerate the Republic's flaws beyond what the game depicts, to the point of making them come off as no better than the Legion (the faction of RapePillageAndBurn), and quite a few large-scale mods (''VideoGame/FalloutDust'', ''VideoGame/NewCalifornia'', ''VideoGame/TheFrontier'') ended up going the AdaptationalVillainy route.

* BreatherLevel: If you are playing the [=DLCs=] in the official order, ''Honest Hearts'' is definitely this compared to the first ''Dead Money'' and the third ''Old World Blues''. The recommended levels for ''DM'' and ''OWB'' are 20 and 15 respectively, and while Honest Hearts has no ''official'' recommended level, most players agree it's doable around level 10. The contrast between ''Dead Money'' and ''Honest Hearts'' is particularly jarring: ''Dead Money'' stripped you of items, forced you to scavenge for decent armor and weapons, pitted you against jittery Ghost People and invincible holograms, and made the exploration a nigh-literal pain in the neck with the unremovable bomb collar. ''Honest Hearts'' allows you to bring your own items (up to a weight limit), doesn't restrain your exploration in any way, and contains much more manageable enemies.

* BreatherLevel: If you are playing the [=DLCs=] in the official order, ''Honest Hearts'' is definitely this compared to ''Dead Money'' (while Honest Hearts has no ''official'' recommended level, most players agree it's doable around Level 10), Unlike ''Dead Money'' which stripped you of items, and you had to survive on what you found or bought using tokens. In ''Honest Hearts'' you can choose which items to carry, plus there is much more freedom of exploration without fear of your head literally exploding, plus the enemies are much more manageable.

* BreatherLevel: If you are playing the [=DLCs=] in the official order, ''Honest Hearts'' is definitely this compared to ''Dead Money'' (Even the recommended level of ''Honest Hearts'' is only 10), Unlike ''Dead Money'' which stripped you of items, and you had to survive on what you found or bought using tokens. In ''Honest Hearts'' you can choose which items to carry, plus there is much more freedom of exploration without fear of your head literally exploding, plus the enemies are much more manageable.

* RonTheDeathEater: New California Republic is far from flawless, with the game depicting them as mirred in bureaucracy, being strongly influenced by rich cattle barons, and imposing unreasonable tax rates on the populace of Mojave. Despite that, canonically supporting the NCR and doing the legwork to make the minor factions in the area cooperate with them is the closest thing to a Goood Ending this game has, and the NCR route only forces you to destroy [[spoiler:Robert House]]. Despite that, the fandom likes to exaggerate the Republic's flaws beyond what the game depicts, to the point of making them come off as no better than the Legion (the faction of RapePillageAndBurn), and quite a few large-scale mods (''VideoGame/FalloutDust'', ''VideoGame/NewCalifornia'', ''VideoGame/TheFrontier'') ended up going the AdaptationalVillainy route.

** It used to be relatively common {{fanon}} to say that, considering how the companion endings within the game's GoldenEnding (which is more or less a Good Karma [[TheFederation NCR ending]]) for [[TheWoobie Veronica and Arcade]] were rather {{bittersweet|Ending}}, that they would travel east and join [[VideoGame/Fallout3 Lyons's Brotherhood of Steel]], which seemed to be a more altruistic organization that both Arcade and Veronica would be happy with joining. Unfortunately, ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' revealed that in the six years since ''New Vegas'', the East Coast Brotherhood have become {{Principles Zealot}}s once more ''and'' have adopted {{Fantastic Racism}} to the point that [[HeWhoFightsMonsters they're getting dangerously close]] to becoming another Enclave. Seems Veronica and Arcade really ''don't'' have access to a happier ending...

* RonTheDeathEater: New California Republic is far from flawless, with the game depicting them as mirred in bureaucracy, being strongly influenced by rich cattle barons, and imposing unreasonable tax rates on the populace of Mojave. Despite that, canonically supporting the NCR and doing the legwork to make the minor factions in the area cooperate with them is the closest thing to a GoldenEnding this game has, and the NCR route only forces you to destroy [[spoiler:Robert House]]. Despite that, the fandom likes to exaggerate the Republic's flaws beyond what the game depicts, to the point of making them come off as no better than the Legion (the faction of RapePillageAndBurn), and quite a few large-scale mods (''VideoGame/FalloutDust'', ''VideoGame/NewCalifornia'', ''VideoGame/TheFrontier'') ended up going the AdaptationalVillainy route.

** "Up to the Challenge," "Combat Veteran" and "Pros Only," the achievements for completing three of the one-, two- and three-star Gun Runners Arsenal challenges, respectively. Many of the challenges involve weapons that the player is unlikely to use against opponents that are difficult to defeat, such as Deathclaw Pro Hunter(Kill adult Mojave Wasteland Deathclaws with .22 Pistols, Switchblades, Boxing Tape, Recharger Rifles, or Dynamite). Others involve targeting [=NPCs=] of specific factions, making them unsuitable to players who are allied with those factions, and a few involve ''specific'' [=NPCs=], making them PermanentlyMissableContent. Unsurprisingly, these three achievements comprise three of the four Steam achievements with the lowest completion rates("Caravan Master" ranking second), with completion rates between one and two percent each.
** "Caravan Master" requires winning 30 games of Caravan, a game that isn't easy to win and not many people enjoy playing. This is the second least completed achievement in the Steam version of the game, after "Pros Only."

** "You hear that? We have ''options!''" [[note]]Usually used when a set of choices offered are equally absurd, destructive, or just out-of-pocket in general.[[/note]]

** "Truth is, the X was rigged from the start." [[labelnote:Explanation]]In the intro cutscene, Benny tells the Courier, "The game was rigged from the start," and shoots them. People then changed the phrase to refer to something else.[[/labelnote]]

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: In one of the potential Goodsprings endings, is mentioned that the city grew economically with the arrival of travelers and merchants passing through. (also qualifies as KarmicJackpot, since they saved the Courier that made it possible). In real life, the game helped the city become a busier tourist center.

** Easy Pete. For whatever reason, Tumblr just loves making Easy Pete into a MemeticBadass.

* FranchiseOriginalSin: The KarmaMeter is clearly only in the game because ''Fallout'' was the TropeCodifier for it, as it only affects a handful of perks (the most notable of which either require, or reset you to, neutral karma), relationship with Cass (a single companion out of eight), and whether the ending describes you as a prick or not. This was largely welcomed by the fanbase because it moved the game away from ''Fallout 3''[='=]s tendency towards BlackAndWhiteMorality, where most of the "evil" options were driven by nothing more than [[StupidEvil an almost-cartoonish lust for violence]], and more towards the intriguingly [[GreyAndGrayMorality gray area]] of the factions, where the main question is less between "good" and "evil" and more between a representative government that allows more personal freedom but isn't guaranteed to be able to protect that freedom [[ObstructiveBureaucrat even when it wants or needs to]], a dictatorship that will ensure stability but [[WellIntentionedExtremist uses extreme methods to do so]] and can't be certain to last once the head honcho is gone, or more than one way to [[TakeAThirdOption say "screw that" to both of those]]; that's also to say nothing of the fact that every major settlement and faction individually tracks your reputation among them rather than all of them working off of your karma, so for example getting yourself shunned from Primm because you accidentally killed some idiot who wouldn't get out of your way during a shootout with the Powder Gangers doesn't mean the Boomers at Nellis AFB or the NCR soldiers at Camp [=McCarran=] treat you like an untrustworthy asshole as soon as they meet you, long after the Powder Gangers or Primm have stopped being relevant. Where this became a problem was when ''Fallout 4'' went further and removed karma entirely; the devs were no longer obligated to provide opportunities for good or bad karma, and thus any way for the player to act out and be a jerk to people, which got rid of a lot of other roleplay aspects and lead to that game's [[ButThouMust memetically railroaded conversations]], where nine times out of ten when someone asks you to do something, your only options other than asking for more info boil down to "agree", "make a sarcastic quip [[SarcasmBlind they take as an agreement]]", or "put it off until you're ready to agree".

* ComplacementGamingSyndrome: You can only have one human and one non-human companion in your party at the same time, so players usually stick with ED-E and Boone over others unless they are specifically looking for a companion with a different role. The reason why is that ED-E is a mobile carrying sack with decent damage on the side and functions as a workbench with the dlcs installed, while Boone can snipe enemies from huge distances away and provides solid midrange support otherwise. As well, both companions can be recruited in Primm and Novac respectively, which are very early in the main quest. While the other companions are far from ineffective (and can often be more valuable than either ED-E or Boone depending on your build), most runs will end up picking these two companions up eventually.

** Because a Ranger appears on the cover, many people assume that this is the Courier's canonical appearance, to the point of using it to represent the Courier in memes and fan-comics, or even using it as "proof" that the RNC is the canon ending. In fact the character on the cover was intended to be just a random Ranger and not the courier, although eventually this interpretation gained so much popularity that in the dlcs, you can get ranger equipment that is not affiliated with any faction.

** In fact, most of the criticism and drama about this game is more of a result of the BrokenBase that developed, than the actual game itself.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: New California Republic's use of prison labour could've been compared to (or contrasted with) the Legion's slavery, especially with real world penal labour being a hot button issue. The game for the most part glosses over it, and the faction of ex-chain-gangers that took over their prison is a bunch of BitPartBadGuys.

* JerkassWoobie: Cachino, if what he says in his journal is true. He knows that raping and hooking the prostitutes on drugs is wrong and wants to quit, but he seems to lack the willpower. He's essentially a slave to his own evil. [[spoiler:He does go clean if you help him kill Nero, though the game doesn't provide you with a way to check to ensure it worked.]]

** Unfortunately, Rex ends up sliding into this territory as well. While he was a decent companion in the base game and had an overall useful perk, when the ''Lonesome Road'' add-on gave [[RobotBuddy [=ED-E=]]] a slew of significant utility enhancements that put him '''''leagues''''' above Rex in terms of usefulness as an "animal" companion, the cyberdog fell by the wayside to the point some players wished that he had been given additional functions like serving as a mobile campfire/electric hot plate[[labelnote:*]]Veronica used to be considered helpful as a mobile Workbench until ED-E also gained that function too[[/labelnote]] to at least give him relevance for certain character builds.

* TheWoobie: Chris Haversam: a human living with the Bright Brotherhood of Ghouls at the Repconn testing facility. He is convinced that he himself is a ghoul after colleagues told him that exposure to radiation had not only caused him to lose his hair, but mutate into a Ghoul. He even goes so far as to refer to the courier as smoothskin and is convinced that he's hideous and that he couldn't possibly live among humans.

* MemeticMolester:
** Veronica has become this due to the Power-Fist pun.
** ''FISTO reporting for duty. [[http://www.redbubble.com/people/mdrmdrmdr/works/17084824-fisto-assume-the-position Please assume the position.]]'' Now made even more memetic by [[http://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/55439 the power of mods]]!

* CriticalDissonance: The game scored an eight out of ten from most game journalists: basically [[FourPointScale a slightly above-average ranking]], significantly lower than ''Fallout 3'''s scores. [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:Which_is_better_Fallout_3%3F_NV%3F_or_both%3F However]], [[http://www.giantbomb.com/fallout-new-vegas/3030-25933/forums/is-new-vegas-better-than-fallout-3-506476/?page=1 most]] [[http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/fallout-3-vs-fallout-new-vegas.206592656/ fans]] consider ''New Vegas'' and ''3'' roughly equal, and favor one or the other mostly due to personal preferences (with fans of the older Fallout games generally leaning in favor of New Vegas).

** Bear and Bull and Bear and Bull...[[note]]How the ramblings of Ulysses are summarized by the fanbase[[/note]]

* FranchiseOriginalSin: The KarmaMeter is clearly only in the game because ''Fallout'' was the TropeCodifier for it, as it only affects a handful of perks (the most notable of which either require, or reset you to, neutral karma) and whether the ending describes you as a prick or not. This was largely welcomed by the fanbase because it moved the game away from ''Fallout 3''[='=]s tendency towards BlackAndWhiteMorality, where most of the "evil" options were driven by nothing more than [[StupidEvil an almost-cartoonish lust for violence]], and more towards the intriguingly [[GreyAndGrayMorality gray area]] of the factions, where the main question is less between "good" and "evil" and more between a representative government that allows more personal freedom but isn't guaranteed to be able to protect that freedom [[ObstructiveBureaucrat even when it wants or needs to]], a dictatorship that will ensure stability but [[WellIntentionedExtremist uses extreme methods to do so]] and can't be certain to last once the head honcho is gone, or more than one way to [[TakeAThirdOption say "screw that" to both of those]]; that's also to say nothing of the fact that every major settlement and faction individually tracks your reputation among them rather than all of them working off of your karma, so for example getting yourself shunned from Primm because you accidentally killed some idiot who wouldn't get out of your way during a shootout with the Powder Gangers doesn't mean the Boomers at Nellis AFB or the NCR soldiers at Camp [=McCarran=] treat you like an untrustworthy asshole as soon as they meet you, long after the Powder Gangers or Primm have stopped being relevant. Where this became a problem was when ''Fallout 4'' went further and removed karma entirely; the devs were no longer obligated to provide opportunities for good or bad karma, and thus any way for the player to act out and be a jerk to people, which got rid of a lot of other roleplay aspects and lead to that game's [[ButThouMust memetically railroaded conversations]], where nine times out of ten when someone asks you to do something, your only options other than asking for more info boil down to "agree", "make a sarcastic quip [[SarcasmBlind they take as an agreement]]", or "put it off until you're ready to agree".