Imagine if on Fallout New Vegas, they had tried to make someone running with a knife effective as someone with a anti materiel rifle and explosive rounds at a open field, for the sake of balance. Magic on high magical settings are like firearms IRL.
It is OK that you disagree with me, but this is a really bad example.
My example of rogue vs vivisectionist was that one class can do everything that another class can do plus tons of useful things on top of it.
Follout does not have classes.
About ranged vs melee: It depends on the situation.
- In an open area, especially if there is a position were you can see everything and you are hard to see, the best option is a sniper rifle.
- If you fight an enemy with a ranged weapon and you cannot hide or get close to the enemy fast, you better have a ranged weapon yourself.
- If you can sneak up to an enemy you can kill them silently without causing an alarm.
- In a situation where you need to get close to enemies or where enemies manage to get close to you, its good to have a melee weapon.
Melee vs range is a tactical question. In the best case you chose the battlefield. If you can see enemies from the distance and they do not see you, its usually better to start combat from afar. If you can get close to enemies without being detected it can be better to attack in melee.
If you cannot chose the battlefield its better to have both options. If you are attacked by enemies who shoot you from the other side of a valley you better have something to shoot back. If you fall into a pit with beasts ranged weapons are useless.
In every RPG a character should have both a melee and ranged weapon ready all the time. In the best case you have 4 options to attack ready: ranged AoE (explosives/fireball), single target ranged (gun/bow), melee for max damage (sword/hammer/axe) and a small melee weapon like a dagger that can be hidden and you can use it as tool.
In Fallout NV my favourite weapon was the sniper rifle because the game is set in a desert: wide open areas with rocks or bushes to hide behind.
In the original Fallout my favourite weapon was the pneumatic hammer. Lots of damage and only one AP per attack. Just make sure to start combat when being close to the enemy.
@vic: I agree with you.
The problem is that computer games are about combat.
If your char is too weak to beat the boss you cannot continue.
If your char is a dumb and anti social freak it is rarely something that prevents you from continuing the game.
For example I have just finished Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Most of the time the game rewards you for sneaking around. If you fight enemies you should sneak up to them and beat them in melee or you use a silenced gun to kill them with a single headshot while being hidden.
And then the game has boss encounters who are just a giant bullet sponge. Players who have learned to sneak around are forced to fight an enemy head on with a minigun.
To be fair, there are also boss encounters that can be done in a sneaky way. But the 3 bullet sponges in the game feel somehow wrong in a game that is great otherwise.
Prof. Dr. Dr. Mad S. Tist 
