In Fallout New Vegas should I turn on all DLC as a new player?

Solution 1:

So, let's start with the easy ones, the 4 Courier's Stash packs, and the Gun Runners Arsenal.

The Courier's Stash consists of 4 DLC add ons that each comprise one of the preorder bonuses the game came with from different retailers. All they do is add some starting equipment. If you enable all four, you'll start the game kind of armed to the teeth, with some gear that sells for a rather large sum of caps - if that's what you're into, by all means, turn all four on. If not, pick and choose. You can review the component pieces here.

Gun Runner's Arsenal meanwhile, adds a ton of new equipment throughout the game, as well as a variety of new achievements. There's no reason not to turn this one on right out of the gate, as there will be loot scattered around.

As for the other four, Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road; the changes to the main Wasteland area in which New Vegas takes place are pretty minimal - you won't have "9 NPC's charging you about side missions". Instead, the new DLC's each offer you a quest in the form of adding a new radio station for you to tune into - once you tune in, you'll get a new quest, and can go to a new location to zone into a new area where each of the four DLC take place.

That said, it can be overwhelming, and besides, the recommended level for all four is 20+, so you might want to use a mod like Delay DLC to prevent the transmissions from triggering until a relevant point. I would also strongly recommend taking all four DLC quests in the order listed above - the four form a coherent narrative that, combined, make up a sort of parallel storyline to New Vegas's main adventure, and it's worth seeing that story in it's entirety and in order - but there's no reason to wait to install all four and enjoy the new perks, increased level cap, and other goodies that each adds.