In an email interview with Jeff Gardiner regarding August 3rd's release of the next "Fallout 3" DLC, "Mothership Zeta," I asked if it would even be possible to increase the level cap from its current 30 (as set by "Broken Steel.") Specifically, if the stat caps were boosted beyond 10 and skill caps were boosted beyond 100, would the game system simply break?
Clearly it's not the first time Gardiner has had the question, but his reaction was a bit more focused:
"I know from the outside this seems like a fairly simple proposition, but doing this could unbalance the game in a variety of ways."
He goes on to say that "Fallout 3" was always designed to be replayed several times as a variety of different character types, so if you're looking to expand your play time you may want to start from scratch. He did leave the door open for future level increases, though:
"We’re very happy that people enjoy 'Fallout 3' so much that they want to keep playing it, and I’m sure we’ll look into addressing these concerns in future games."
Not exactly the confirmation I was hoping for, but at least they're keeping it open for "New Vegas."