The crafting system in Fallout 3 was frankly not good: there were nice ideas, but many fans didn't spend their time uncovering them. Fundamentally, if it's more rewarding to use the items you find on your enemies corpse, then the crafting system is essentially pointless. New Vegas actually made the system more complex and less intuitive, huge lists of recipes and associated ingredients are not a fun combination. Bethesda's Skyrim had a simpler system, one that everyone could engage with, but alas, it did not have enough depth to it, and players were able to craft the games ultimate items too easily. Fallout 4 needs a system that is easy to get into to, but difficult to master. The developers will surely want to create an engaging system that we want to explore, searching out materials and plans to make sure we have the best equipment possible, because that is the key to longevity. Skyrim did have a fantastic Alchemy system, which won many plaudits from reviewers and fans alike, and Bethesda should use this as the basis for a system that encompasses all crafting in Fallout 4.