Among the modders eagerly tinkering away at Fallout: New Vegas, arguably "correcting" what they see as deficiencies in the original design, be ... lead designer J.E. Sawyer. Sawyer has developed an optional patch for the PC version, which reduces the level cap t' 35, halves XP acquisition, cuts water 'n food drop rates, 'n tweaks a bunch a other variables, all detailed on Sawyer's Formspring. ye can download the mod here.

So why be this a mod instead a an official patch? "In addition t' technical reasons," Sawyer said, "some a the mechanics changes make the game significantly more difficult (base health / stim changes) or at least more a a hassle (carry weight, stims having weight, H2O/SLP/FOD rate increase). I'd rather have people opt-in t' those changes than make them the default in a patch." This be also something Sawyer be doing in his spare time, as nobody be officially working on New Vegas anymore.