@Monsly I actually just started playing Fallout 3 again myself. I played it right after it came out when it was very glitchy, and didn't do much other than the main quest. I haven't played most of the side quests or any of the DLC.
Sounds similar to my early experiences on the PC; I had the menu constantly glitching on to the screen which was pretty game breaking. I think it took me around 10 to 15 hours to really get hooked - had a bit of a stop/start thing with it until I got hooked and then I ploughed a crazy amount of time into it within a few weeks.
The problem with Fallout 3 now is that I'm way too powerful - very hard mode makes no difference so the expansions are a bit dull to play. Fallout was at it's best when me and the enemies were tightly matched. I remember clearing out a Talon base at around level 7 or 8 and that was a great challenge.
Did they ever fix the issue where you couldn't continue on and do side quests after finishing the main quest (unless you went back to an earlier save)? I think that was part of why I didn't do too many side quests.
I think one of the expansions (broken steel I think) allows you to carry on after the main quest is done. I guess that should mean you'd be able to do side quests - I completed them all before finishing so can't speak from experience though.
I'm working my way through the Fallout 3 DLC. Mothership Zeta - An interesting idea that's badly executed. It's a corridor crawl that overstays its welcome. You get some powerful alien gear out of it though. The alien epoxy is probably the best thing you get out of this because it can be used to instantly repair any weapon. If I had known what it did sooner I would have made more of a point to gather the stuff. Operation Anchorage - I thought it was quite good. Had a bit of a Call of Duty feel to it, and gives some historical perspective on the war. I really like the Gauss rifle and the T-51b that you get at the end. Point Lookout- I'm about half-way through it. It's not that interesting. Just seems like a bunch of minor hillbilly themed side quests that got slapped together into a DLC. Haven't gotten to the Pitt or Broken Steel yet.
The Pitt was the best of them all. As you said, concise and yet full of action. What I particularly liked was the "from zero to hero" plot style.
I started on the Pitt. However, by started I mean killing all the slavers right from the start for a laugh. I have no idea what my 'strategy' would have led to as the game crashed yet again and I then moved back to playing KZ3 online.
I don't thing the crashing was caused by your particular actions. The Pitt crashed often and I haven't observed any regularity.
Point Lookout kind of sucked. The quest with Desmond and the cult wasn't that interesting and didn't have any kind of big payoff in the end. The mutant hillbillies were crappy enemies and it was absurd how much damage they could take. There was a minor side quest where you got to blow up a Chinese sub which was kind of cool, but that was pretty much it. I actually thought it was worse than Mothership Zeta. Just a bunch of disjointed, not terribly interesting quests in a dull swamp setting. I'm starting the Pitt now and I'll see how that goes.
The Pitt was quite good. It had an interesting moral dilemma, and was about the right length. Gathering the ingots was kind of annoying, but you get some good loot for doing it. That special silenced assault rifle you get combined with the Chinese stealth armor is almost like cheating. The Pitt was easily the best of the DLC's I've played. I'll have to finish up the main quest now and try Broken Steel. ---Spoilers--- I thought it was quite interesting that the slavers are actually the less evil choice in this situation. Ashur is a former brotherhood of steel paladin with far reaching plans to rebuild the city, free the slaves, and develop a cure. Moreover, the baby is better off and it's much more likely a cure will be developed if she stays with her mother, who also happens to be a scientist Wehrner on the other hand is a scumbag who just wants power for himself, and is using the slave revolt to get it. He really doesn't care about the slaves, and siding with him will mean chaos. Really interesting that things weren't what they initially seemed and that the moral choice was more shades of gray than anything.
If you're ever in two minds about doing the right thing then just kill everyone. That's farily neutral as nobody wins, apart from you lol.
I think Lincoln's Repeater might be the all around best gun in the game. That gun is an absolute monster when it comes to getting headshots in VATs. It's easy to repair, since hunting rifles are everywhere. And once you have access to the ammo press in the Pitt, you'll never be short on .44 magnum ammo. A3-21s Plasma Rifle is a close second. It's also an excellent gun, but the plasma rifles you need to repair it are more scarce.
The alien blaster seems the most deadly but I'm loathe to use it despite having lots of alien epoxy. I've never used any of the mini nukes either.
That and the fact that the alien power cells are not an infinitely avaliable resource. I always find myself backing onto my plasma weaponry, always effective and with the abundance of Enclave troops you experience always readily avaliable.