Shamanic Rhythm said:
Out of interest, what is your idea of a stats system which has meaningful interaction with the rest of the statistics, and/or tangible impact on the game?
And the way you're talking about strength, luck and intelligence sounds like you're taking what is the 'optimal' playthrough and from that deriving that anything else is worthless. Which is like saying that any Pokemon lineup that doesn't include Dragonite or Alakazam is useless. Or that any Sorceress build in Diablo 2 without Frozen Orb is useless. The other stats in Fallout 3 had some worthwhile benefits that made for interesting character choices, if you weren't just playing for minmaxing.
A meaningful interaction would be when one attribute doesn't have a clear and obvious more useful application than another. For example, the difference between 10 and 1 int at level 20+ is astronomical in previous Fallouts. The skill point gain per level makes an enormous difference. The difference between 1 and 10 luck is "barely ever getting a crit" and "almost always getting a crit", because each point is multiplied by the weapon you use. Luck is by far the most important attribute for doing damage. And strength is just too useful to pass up. The inventory weight limit alone makes it vital if you don't want to be encumbered by just the weapons and armor you use. Contrast this to the difference between 1 and 10 perception. The only difference is the red blips on the compass. That is literally it. Endurance? The difference between 1 and 10 endurance is 180 health and some rad resistance. That makes very, very little difference beyond the very start of the game, because you get the same amount of health when you level up regardless of your endurance, eventually rendering the impact endurance has basically null. Rad resistance can be easily maxed out with rad-x when you need it anyway. Agility is the most 'useful' attribute out of the useless attributes. It makes reloading 10% faster or slower per point if above or below 5 points, and it gives a whole 3 AP per attribute point. It shouldn't be below 6 in any case, because it's necessary for some vital perks. Charisma just increases companion damage by 5% per point, which is extremely boring.
To make a meaningful difference, each attribute needs to have a tangible benefit. It's much better in FO4, because now each point in every attribute provide a tangible difference. Strength is the same as before, but perception, endurance, charisma, and agility has been buffed/changed to bring them up to par with the benefits of strength. Luck and intelligence has likewise been nerfed to bring them down to par. You're no longer crippling yourself by having less than 10 int, because it's no longer the single most important attribute, and putting points in charisma actually has value beyond roleplaying and perks. I won't say it's perfect, but it's absolutely better than what it used to be.
