Curt

Never been madder at myself than I am over spending money for any of this fey, French... Work.

Thought i must be missing something in the preview videos, let's play videos and whatnot. It looked almost specifically designed to turn me off at every turn.

But the reviews were universally off-the-charts laudatory. I must be missing something!

Nope! Worse than I expected. Trust your instincts- if this (or anything) looks offensively bad, trust yourself. Everything isn't for everyone.

Still trying to "get" GTA5... Several hours in and all I can think is "why does Rockstar allow this Chinese pirate game be sold?"

Even the supposedly great graphics look cheap... Like a copy of "Great Thieve Automobile" you'd buy in a back alley of Moscow or Bejing. Everything is at least a step back (or more) from 4 or even San Andreas. Including the overall esthetic.

So, following The Sims 4 model?

Cool! I'll save my money and play the ENJOYABLE Civ5 and ignore the $$$ drip, drip dripping of DLCs. You know, like intelligent people do while ignoring the markedly inferior Sims 4 while playing an enjoyable game like Sims 3.

IGNORE this article if you are beginning to mod FO4!!!

At least 2 of these mods should never be used (regardless of its Nexus popularity) as they will likely make your save files unplayable, and assuredly will not function with other mods.

Armorsmith and scrap everything should not be part of any mod order as both break precombines, eventually making the game literally unplayable from your save files.

If you want an actual guide for modding F4, you could do much worse than "The Midnight Ride " as it focuses on making F4 more stable, and provides a solid basis for additional mods for a unique experience. It is regularly updated, and unlike this article provides usable community assistance in modding matters.