In reality, Fallout Games have always been plagued by bugs and exploits, etc, and making the worlds both 3D and bigger than anything anywhere has ever done really didn't help the fact that FO3 and FO:NV were rushed through Bethesda's Far-Too-Small-for-the-massive-undertakings-that-are-these-games
Some people claim that game developers today are lazy in regards to debugging these days because of the existence of DLC and the widely accepted practice of using downloadable patches. Some people allege that many companies have begun use players instead as play-testers. By and large, I disagree with this notion and believe that developers honestly try to put out a good, sound product, that most of the patches out there have to do with adjustments for online play which could not have been foreseen, or to keep players from cheating in online play, hacking, etc.
Fallout: New Vegas Is not such a game. It never was, and it's beginning to look like no Fallout game ever will be.
So what's the excuse, then, for re-balancing the game's weapons, items, etc.? Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of most of the changes they've made. However, this is the sort of thing that ought to be covered during play-testing, not done from reading in forums about some peoples' complaints and the methods and strategies others have developed to simply destroy anything in their path with greater-than-intended ease.
It is my opinion that Bethesda needs to greatly expand it's Quality Assurance team. If they were to do so, they may ensure that future products don't have these issues, game-breaking in any sense or a need for the re-balancing. Instead of what we have now; an expectation that we the players deserve to open our doors to Bethesda, expecting to greet an old friend and to welcome them in and see what new delight they have in store for us, and instead open the door and look to our stoop, finding only a flaming bag of dog-poo.