Sometime over the weekend I stopped playing Fallout 4 and haven't had any great urge to start again.

I hear you. The same thing has happened to me twice so far - once I got back into it to try out some new settlement mods, and most recently I got back into it because I've started writing a playthrough about it.

Unlike Skyrim, which can suck you in (har har) on its own, or Oblivion, or Morrowind, or a lot of other games... Fallout 4 does seem to require a clear goal. "Having fun" or any other subconscious goal is far too nebulous.

Perhaps... try to set yourself some other kind of goal? Like, reach maximum level, get all perks? That will probably necessitate a trip through the main quest at some point, if only to get the XP rewards associated with finishing quests and killing things. My estimation is that if you start at level 1 and have that as your goal, you might reach level 100 before getting completely burned out and decide you never want to see the game's icon any more, much less play it. So never mind, that's not a good goal.

I wish I could help - mostly because it's a shame to see such potential wasted. And by that I'm referring to the quality of the game. It could've been really engaging, but ended up (for me at least, and for thee as well I see) being fairly bland.

I've lasted this far because there's a certain addictive quality to chasing that next perk so you can fix weakness X in your build

Aah, yes, the wonderful dopamine-release trigger of incremental improvement. You fight monsters so you can level up so you can get better at fighting bigger monsters. It would be a never-ending cycle except that after a certain point you reach a difficulty plateau while your power keeps on increasing, and fighting a half-dozen deathclaws and a behemoth is just another sixty seconds of slog before you move on.

Not that I'm complaining or anything. Fighting near-immortal damn goblins in Oblivion got really old after a while, and I suppose a terrible level-with-the-player system is better than what some other games use.

Not that I'm knocking a system that levels monsters with the player either, necessarily. It's not self-balancing, but it's not an abomination either. I can think of one or two ways to easily improve it, for that matter.

because I've been having a degree of fun working out how to build my settlement defenses

I've found the perfect way to do this.

1. Do not build any defenses.

2. Do not build any food.

3. Do not build a radio beacon.

4. Do not transfer settlers in.

5. Walk in, clear the place out, scrap everything, and leave without building anything at all.

That way, the settlement remains clean of all NPCs who would wish to muck it up, and it never gets attacked, because why bother?

Preston can go suck it.

 some of the dungeons/buildings/whatever result in really good fights.

This is pretty much my main draw in the game any more. I can't say I dislike the endgame, because I haven't gotten that far. Twice now I've gotten to the institute, and quit the game to start a new character. And as previously stated, after a certain point of leveling, combat (usually) becomes a trivial matter, the only things to actually cause me any sort of problem are legendary charred feral ghouls and assaultron dominators.

I'm starting to think that Bethesda has stopped wanting to make the sort of games I want to play. It's sad, but these things do happen.

Allow me to steal a quote:

 

There’s one thing I think is important to remember about Bethesda: their fanbase has swollen tremendously with every installment. From Arena through Skyrim, every game they’ve put out has effectively doubled their audience. It is reasonable to ask them to listen to that audience–and I will put it to you that they absolutely do that. What is not reasonable, or at least not practical, is to ask them to listen to their “oldest” and “core” fans, because that’s the one group that’s guaranteed to be the minority.

 

If everybody who loved Morrowind stopped buying TES games tomorrow–absolutely all of them boycotting in unison, something that routinely fails to happen in videogames–I’m not sure Bethesda would ever notice.

if it's any sort of paltry cold comfort, you're not alone.

Aah, yes, the wonderful dopamine-release trigger of incremental improvement. You fight monsters so you can level up so you can get better at fighting bigger monsters. It would be a never-ending cycle except that after a certain point you reach a difficulty plateau while your power keeps on increasing, and fighting a half-dozen deathclaws and a behemoth is just another sixty seconds of slog before you move on.

Not that I'm complaining or anything. Fighting near-immortal damn goblins in Oblivion got really old after a while, and I suppose a terrible level-with-the-player system is better than what some other games use.

Not that I'm knocking a system that levels monsters with the player either, necessarily. It's not self-balancing, but it's not an abomination either. I can think of one or two ways to easily improve it, for that matter.

I know what you mean. The level progression system was one of the better ones we've seen from Bethesda. A little bullet-spongey at high levels, and some perk combos are a lot more efficient than others, but I still think it's better than in Skyrim where your characters all end up exactly the same.

 

because I've been having a degree of fun working out how to build my settlement defenses

...

5. Walk in, clear the place out, scrap everything, and leave without building anything at all.

That way, the settlement remains clean of all NPCs who would wish to muck it up, and it never gets attacked, because why bother?

 

Yep, that ought to work

I ended up working out which direction they were coming from, then putting up a wall of 10 or so 1x1 concrete foundation blocks and sticking a heavy m/c gun on top of each of then. It's amazing just how fast really quite tough enemies will disintegrate faced with all that concentrated fire.

Sometimes I build an overhead walkway and add a second row of turrets. Easy, cheap and doesn't need too many perks.

This is pretty much my main draw in the game any more. I can't say I dislike the endgame, because I haven't gotten that far. Twice now I've gotten to the institute, and quit the game to start a new character. And as previously stated, after a certain point of leveling, combat (usually) becomes a trivial matter, the only things to actually cause me any sort of problem are legendary charred feral ghouls and assaultron dominators.

Massed supermutant warlords are my main challenge. I have to find a way to split them up or the concentrated fire shreds me before I can thin the numbers sufficiently. 

 

If everybody who loved Morrowind stopped buying TES games tomorrow–absolutely all of them boycotting in unison, something that routinely fails to happen in videogames–I’m not sure Bethesda would ever notice.

 

if it's any sort of paltry cold comfort, you're not alone.

 

Ah, it's all right. I don't expect any sort of special consideration, and I don't expect my buying patterns will inconvenience them in the least. I mean it's not like my no longer reading Stephen King has caused him any harm - and nor would I want it to. There just comes a point where you have to say "to hell with brand loyalty" and look for something else to occupy your time.

A good obsession would be finishing S.L.U.T.S. or QAYL  *wink* *wink*

A good obsession would be finishing S.L.U.T.S. or QAYL  *wink* *wink*

That was kind of the plan. I just need to spend an hour or so dismantling the jury-rig I set up for F4 and restoring my gaming system to usability.

Sadly, everything went to hell in a handcart last weekend and I needed something violent and uncomplciated I could use to vent some steam. I'll try again this one, parents and other relatives permitting