i was debating whether or not i should do this as well. at first i was just going to go with the essentials: get DARNUI, Ohud ect. then i thought that i might get the NMC packs, and the fallout redesigned mods..... but then i thought "screw it. i'll go all out." i dont think i would have had time to play through it unmodded and then play through it again modded, i have too many other games to play :D haven't beaten it yet, but the 14 hours i have played so far feels vastly superior to FO3 (even FO3 modded). like what jim_uk said, it is much more of an RPG than FO3, and is instantly vastly superior to FO3 just because of that IMO. i hope that Obsidian makes the next FO games (or even better, obsidian AND bethesda, best of both worlds). anyway, i couldn't play through FO3 unmodded either. i got most of the way through, modded it a bit, restarted the game and played through the game modded to the teeth. FONV is a lot more easier to mod for as well, it has way less compatibility patches than FO3, and thus more stability (although both games still crash constantly, but i deal with it) and more FPS (i have a decent PC that runs most games maxed out, for some reason outside in FO3 modded the game runs at about 30fps, FONV modded runs double. probably engine limitations and amount of mods used, though). but anyway, if you have the time to play through unmodded, then sure, go ahead. but it is highly reccomended after to play through it again and mod it up, OR while you are playing through for the first time, mod it up as you please. personal preference, really.