Why is Skyrim so popular?

What about the Skyrim hate that stems from people wanting MORE choices & exploration, like in the previous iterations of the series. The Elder Scrolls is well on it's way down the drain.JC_Spot

Modding community. I would have given up on Skyrim on Day 2 if it were not for the community mods.

Modding community. I would have given up on Skyrim on Day 2 if it were not for the community mods.

Priapus101

yeah skyrim was meh for me.. oblivion was very addictive.. I also think its because as I'm getting older I've found my desire to play games like skyrim has just.. gone away?

Still into sports games, cant get enough of them. but im finding it harder and harder to play rpg's and most fps's.

yeah skyrim was meh for me.. oblivion was very addictive.. I also think its because as I'm getting older I've found my desire to play games like skyrim has just.. gone away?

Bishop1310

I think the reason some people find Oblivion more addicting might be because everything seemed so complicated and you had a steep learning curve for many things in the game like Soul Trap, Spell Making, etc. Skyrim didn't streamline anthing, just dumbed it down to make it a lot more noob-friendly. It also didn't deliver so many things we'd been promised like the ability to burn down buildings and destroy a town's economy, the wood-cutting which is the lamest thing I've seen in my life since you aren't cutting down trees, just cutting down blocks of already chopped trees, Dragons rarely attack towns and don't even destroy buildings. Only mods are keeping up this game. About Bethesda claiming people have invested an average of 100 hours into the game? I bet those people didn't even touch the main story, they just installed mods to get the most out of the game and played only the mods.

It does everything it sets out to do like many other people said. This is one of the few games that actually was as good as hyped to me as it plays exactly like like as seen as from all the trailers and gameplay builds. I don't get why people are so dissapointed by the story and combat, this isn't dragon age or the witcher.

The game got boring to me after 126 hours of gameplaydanygo1996

[QUOTE="JC_Spot"]What about the Skyrim hate that stems from people wanting MORE choices & exploration, like in the previous iterations of the series. The Elder Scrolls is well on it's way down the drain.trodeback

[QUOTE="trodeback"][QUOTE="JC_Spot"]What about the Skyrim hate that stems from people wanting MORE choices & exploration, like in the previous iterations of the series. The Elder Scrolls is well on it's way down the drain.JC_Spot

Skyrim "You must find the lost ancient tomb. Here, I will mark its exact, pinpoint location on your map. If it gets to hard, just slide the difficulty down, but you should be alright, considering the monsters will just scale down to your low level."

Morrowind: "Since you're level 25 now, I suppose I could spare you my half-condition Iron Sword so you can kill that Nix Hound guarding the road to the lost ancient tomb."

Skyrim: "Since you're already level 10 and already use Daedric Swords, I'm sure you should be able to handle the Elder Dragon perched atop the gate to the ancient lost tomb. And don't forget that you already have Lydia, Vigilance, Spectral Assassin, Werewolf form and the all-mighty difficulty option to help you!"

because people can have different tastes than you?

these dumb threads multiply by the minute

I don't really see why people are loving this game so much. After I put in 40 hours, I was over with most of the content this game has to offer except the Radiant Quests which are more boring than seeing paint dry. Most of the other quests are fetch-or-kill type. Why do people claim "OMG Skyrim has so much content all gamers went MIA for months!" I don't find anything interesting to do since most quests suck, there is nothing interesting in the environment and all that detail Todd Howard said was in the game, where the hell is it? The enemy variety is miniature and most people don't have any sort of personality. The first dozen hours were awesome, but then it turned out really boring. Oblivion had way better quests, even if there were no random encounter, much more beautiful environments, so much enemy variety and better NPCs, even if they looked like clay models. Oblivion intoduced me to RPGs and I was hooked for a hundred hours straight.

So the question is, why do people like it so much? And please don't tell me it's so much fun to roleplay...

LordTrexGuy

[QUOTE="LordTrexGuy"]

I don't really see why people are loving this game so much. After I put in 40 hours, I was over with most of the content this game has to offer except the Radiant Quests which are more boring than seeing paint dry. Most of the other quests are fetch-or-kill type. Why do people claim "OMG Skyrim has so much content all gamers went MIA for months!" I don't find anything interesting to do since most quests suck, there is nothing interesting in the environment and all that detail Todd Howard said was in the game, where the hell is it? The enemy variety is miniature and most people don't have any sort of personality. The first dozen hours were awesome, but then it turned out really boring. Oblivion had way better quests, even if there were no random encounter, much more beautiful environments, so much enemy variety and better NPCs, even if they looked like clay models. Oblivion intoduced me to RPGs and I was hooked for a hundred hours straight.

So the question is, why do people like it so much? And please don't tell me it's so much fun to roleplay...

Jacanuk

[QUOTE="Jacanuk"][QUOTE="LordTrexGuy"]

I don't really see why people are loving this game so much. After I put in 40 hours, I was over with most of the content this game has to offer except the Radiant Quests which are more boring than seeing paint dry. Most of the other quests are fetch-or-kill type. Why do people claim "OMG Skyrim has so much content all gamers went MIA for months!" I don't find anything interesting to do since most quests suck, there is nothing interesting in the environment and all that detail Todd Howard said was in the game, where the hell is it? The enemy variety is miniature and most people don't have any sort of personality. The first dozen hours were awesome, but then it turned out really boring. Oblivion had way better quests, even if there were no random encounter, much more beautiful environments, so much enemy variety and better NPCs, even if they looked like clay models. Oblivion intoduced me to RPGs and I was hooked for a hundred hours straight.

So the question is, why do people like it so much? And please don't tell me it's so much fun to roleplay...

JC_Spot

because people can have different tastes than you?

these dumb threads multiply by the minute

Krelian-co

I agree that people can have different tastes than me but such overrating?

And threads like these only seem dumb to 10 year old children. I have got some great answers from my fellow Gamespotters so now you can go home and play Black Ops. There's no need to come back to this thread EVER AGAIN.

[QUOTE="Krelian-co"]

because people can have different tastes than you?

these dumb threads multiply by the minute

LordTrexGuy

I agree that people can have different tastes than me but such overrating?

And threads like these only seem dumb to 10 year old children. I have got some great answers from my fellow Gamespotters so now you can go home and play Black Ops. There's no need to come back to this thread EVER AGAIN.

yes because "i don't like x game hence it's overrated" are not dumb at all, nor repetitive, not at all.

black ops is so last year xD

and who were you again to tell me where i can or cannot post again?

It certainly would'nt hurt if Bethesda decided to opt for more impactful crpg mechanics and heavier focus on storytelling/plot.

As it is, Skyrim is more or less an FPS with a clunky inventory. The "two gun" control scheme makes Alteration and Conjuration, vary from annoying to downright useless.

You don't present the player with a plethora of skills and then encourage them to stick with a total of two.... That's just bad design.

[QUOTE="LordTrexGuy"]

[QUOTE="Krelian-co"]

because people can have different tastes than you?

these dumb threads multiply by the minute

Krelian-co

I agree that people can have different tastes than me but such overrating?

And threads like these only seem dumb to 10 year old children. I have got some great answers from my fellow Gamespotters so now you can go home and play Black Ops. There's no need to come back to this thread EVER AGAIN.

yes because "i don't like x game hence it's overrated" are not dumb at all, nor repetitive, not at all.

black ops is so last year xD

and who were you again to tell me where i can or cannot post again?

I created this thread and I have every right to ignore trolls.

[QUOTE="Krelian-co"]

[QUOTE="LordTrexGuy"]

I agree that people can have different tastes than me but such overrating?

And threads like these only seem dumb to 10 year old children. I have got some great answers from my fellow Gamespotters so now you can go home and play Black Ops. There's no need to come back to this thread EVER AGAIN.

LordTrexGuy

yes because "i don't like x game hence it's overrated" are not dumb at all, nor repetitive, not at all.

black ops is so last year xD

and who were you again to tell me where i can or cannot post again?

I created this thread and I have every right to ignore trolls.

a. im not a troll because i call your overrated thread for what it is, a waste of forum space

b. you can ignore me all you want, you can do w/e you want for all i care, you just can't tell me what i can or cannot do, got the difference?

c. you hurt mah feelings.

[QUOTE="trodeback"]

[QUOTE="Zubinen"]It's the atmosphere as well as the fact that the skill curve for the game is a flat line(which is a turn off only for a select few gamers), and on PC it arguably has more mod support than all other games in the past 10 years combined. As has been stated previously, Skyrim is like a virtual skinner box, you know every action you make in the game helps to work toward the next little "reward nugget" to satisfy your ongoing addiction. I personally found that vanilla Skyrim is so awful that it actually makes me sick(as in I actual feel like vomiting[I wish I were joking] when playing which could be due to the uncanny valley effect) but I bought the game knowing it would have tons of top notch mods and incredible mod support for many years to come.JC_Spot

This sums up my feelings pretty well about Skyrim. The mods is what makes this game so popular. The ability to choose from a ton of different modifications to your gameplay makes it worth coming back to again and again.\

It seems to me from what i read on most Skyrim hating threads is the next generation of gamers want gameplay much more linear, less choices & exploration & more shooting/killing/sex. I'd put examples of what appeals to the younger crowd but I'm sure most ppl know what I'd say anyway.

[QUOTE="LordTrexGuy"]

[QUOTE="Krelian-co"]

yes because "i don't like x game hence it's overrated" are not dumb at all, nor repetitive, not at all.

black ops is so last year xD

and who were you again to tell me where i can or cannot post again?

Krelian-co

I created this thread and I have every right to ignore trolls.

a. im not a troll because i call your overrated thread for what it is, a waste of forum space

b. you can ignore me all you want, you can do w/e you want for all i care, you just can't tell me what i can or cannot do, got the difference?

c. you hurt mah feelings.

a. this isn't a waste of forum space, overrated as you may think

b. i never commanded you to do something, just suggested

c. can we stop fighting like kids and get along like friends now?

[QUOTE="JC_Spot"][QUOTE="trodeback"]

This sums up my feelings pretty well about Skyrim. The mods is what makes this game so popular. The ability to choose from a ton of different modifications to your gameplay makes it worth coming back to again and again.\

It seems to me from what i read on most Skyrim hating threads is the next generation of gamers want gameplay much more linear, less choices & exploration & more shooting/killing/sex. I'd put examples of what appeals to the younger crowd but I'm sure most ppl know what I'd say anyway.

pl4yer_f0und

This. Also, lawl at him for thinking there was any decent choice/exploration in Morrowind. You had *preset classes* in that game. In Skyrim, you can skill up anything you damn well please.

Skyrim: "Here, go to this place we marked on the map for you and defeat the crap out of everything. It might not be easy getting there in one piece, but you can probably get it done."

Morrowind: "Here, we're gonna make you go back and forth between three or four places because we have no idea how else to keep you occupied, doing nothing but talking to npc's, before we stop trolling you after about an hour or two and tell you where the dungeon is, and once you get there try to beat the monsters despite the awful combat system".

[QUOTE="JC_Spot"][QUOTE="trodeback"]

This sums up my feelings pretty well about Skyrim. The mods is what makes this game so popular. The ability to choose from a ton of different modifications to your gameplay makes it worth coming back to again and again.\

It seems to me from what i read on most Skyrim hating threads is the next generation of gamers want gameplay much more linear, less choices & exploration & more shooting/killing/sex. I'd put examples of what appeals to the younger crowd but I'm sure most ppl know what I'd say anyway.

pl4yer_f0und

[QUOTE="pl4yer_f0und"][QUOTE="JC_Spot"] What about the Skyrim hate that stems from people wanting MORE choices & exploration, like in the previous iterations of the series. The Elder Scrolls is well on it's way down the drain.JC_Spot

You are forgetting how much enemy variety Morrowind had compared to Skyrim. The first few enemies I met in Morrowind were rats, people, etc. and after a few levels Netches, Nix Hounds and Atronachs. Skyrim only throws bandits and bandits and a few wolves at me. I would also like to know a lore-friendly reason for the removing of Levitate.

Maybe Bethesda would put it like this:

"The last known person to have the power to levitate was the Nerevarine, even if that meant he was a rogue and there were miles better sorcerers across Tamriel. Unfortunately, since the Nerevarine passed away, so did all these sorcerers at the same time and the secret to fly was lost forever."

Well unlike other games that aim to do so much, Skyrim's extremely well polished for an open world first person lite RPG/action game. It may have crap quests with embarrassing dialogue you'd think was written by school kids, and simplistic combat; but it's immersive and enjoyable on a higher level than a lot of other open world first person games.

I can appreciate and enjoy games just as much with more refreshing combat like M&B, or games with interesting stories like Planescape and TW, or Morrowind for its imaginative setting and creature & land variety; but they all lack major things that Skyrim has. Skyrim's the jack of all trades, master of none and the only game to really do this.

M&B has its combat but no story and lacklustre graphics: Morrowind has its depth and creativity but it falls flat on its face with Serious Sam AI, crappy combat and still NPCs that act more as encyclopedias than people with personalities: Planescape has arguably the most amazing story and dialogue for a video game, but again, the combat's too easy and simplistic.

Beacuse it ownz!!!!!!!!!!!!

[QUOTE="JC_Spot"][QUOTE="pl4yer_f0und"] Says you, but no matter what there is no satisfying your kind of gamer. Gamers who don't want change are deluding themselves, game series ARE going to change over time, its just the way of things. Right now games, except for niche titles, are getting simpler, get use to it, and in fact I think Elder Scrolls games are staying more to their roots than other IPs, like Mass Effect, Dragon Age. But on the other hand if games don't change, gamers complain still. Take Call of Duty, Diablo 3. This is why Devs realize that no matter what they do, people are going to be dissapointed, so they just go with the option that will appease most of the gamers. Like I said, while Skyrim might have dumbed down leveling, and other things, the core of an Elder Scrolls game, immersion and exploration, is still as strong as ever in SkyrimLordTrexGuy

You are forgetting how much enemy variety Morrowind had compared to Skyrim. The first few enemies I met in Morrowind were rats, people, etc. and after a few levels Netches, Nix Hounds and Atronachs. Skyrim only throws bandits and bandits and a few wolves at me. I would also like to know a lore-friendly reason for the removing of Levitate.

Maybe Bethesda would put it like this:

"The last known person to have the power to levitate was the Nerevarine, even if that meant he was a rogue and there were miles better sorcerers across Tamriel. Unfortunately, since the Nerevarine passed away, so did all these sorcerers at the same time and the secret to fly was lost forever."

[QUOTE="pl4yer_f0und"][QUOTE="JC_Spot"] What about the Skyrim hate that stems from people wanting MORE choices & exploration, like in the previous iterations of the series. The Elder Scrolls is well on it's way down the drain.JC_Spot

You do realize that fast travel is optional, don't you? And I don't know about you, but I don't want to waste hundreds of hours on top of my already 300+ hours invested into the game just walking back and forth between places for the millionth time.

Also, lol at Morrowinds "27" skills where at least 10 were utterly useless and had no business being a skill. You also had less choice of which race to play based on the significant differences in base stats. Samething with factions. Skyrim has more content than Oblivion, so no they are not decreasing the amount of content everygame. I'm sorry you have bad taste in video games, maybe one day you will realize that the feeling of nostalgia does not necessarily equate to a better game compared to today's standards.

Skyrim is so popular because threads like this keep popping up, giving it more publicity.

And also because it is simply an awesome game.

[QUOTE="JC_Spot"][QUOTE="pl4yer_f0und"] Says you, but no matter what there is no satisfying your kind of gamer. Gamers who don't want change are deluding themselves, game series ARE going to change over time, its just the way of things. Right now games, except for niche titles, are getting simpler, get use to it, and in fact I think Elder Scrolls games are staying more to their roots than other IPs, like Mass Effect, Dragon Age. But on the other hand if games don't change, gamers complain still. Take Call of Duty, Diablo 3. This is why Devs realize that no matter what they do, people are going to be dissapointed, so they just go with the option that will appease most of the gamers. Like I said, while Skyrim might have dumbed down leveling, and other things, the core of an Elder Scrolls game, immersion and exploration, is still as strong as ever in Skyrimshakmaster13

You do realize that fast travel is optional, don't you? And I don't know about you, but I don't want to waste hundreds of hours on top of my already 300+ hours invested into the game just walking back and forth between places for the millionth time.

Also, lol at Morrowinds "27" skills where at least 10 were utterly useless and had no business being a skill. You also had less choice of which race to play based on the significant differences in base stats. Samething with factions. Skyrim has more content than Oblivion, so no they are not decreasing the amount of content everygame. I'm sorry you have bad taste in video games, maybe one day you will realize that the feeling of nostalgia does not necessarily equate to a better game compared to today's standards.

You do realize that fast travel is optional, don't you? And I don't know about you, but I don't want to waste hundreds of hours on top of my already 300+ hours invested into the game just walking back and forth between places for the millionth time.

Also, lol at Morrowinds "27" skills where at least 10 were utterly useless and had no business being a skill. You also had less choice of which race to play based on the significant differences in base stats. Samething with factions. Skyrim has more content than Oblivion, so no they are not decreasing the amount of content everygame. I'm sorry you have bad taste in video games, maybe one day you will realize that the feeling of nostalgia does not necessarily equate to a better game compared to today's standards.

shakmaster13

More differences = less choices? Are you retarded?

And "utterly useless and had no business being a skill"? Because Illusion, Alteration and Pickpocketing are so freaking useful, right?

He may have bad taste, but at least he has a bullsh!t filter :roll:

[QUOTE="Maroxad"]

Because Skyrim does what it sets out to do, immerse you in a PLAYER-driven fantasy land where you are the hero. An open world action "RPG" with freeroam certainly has its appeal to a lot of people, and Skyrim does a great job in that regard.

LordTrexGuy

When the environments are so ugly, the characters so personality-deficient and where the world hardly responds to your deeds, how do you become immersed?

Well unlike other games that aim to do so much, Skyrim's extremely well polished for an open world first person lite RPG/action game. It may have crap quests with embarrassing dialogue you'd think was written by school kids, and simplistic combat; but it's immersive and enjoyable on a higher level than a lot of other open world first person games.

I can appreciate and enjoy games just as much with more refreshing combat like M&B, or games with interesting stories like Planescape and TW, or Morrowind for its imaginative setting and creature & land variety; but they all lack major things that Skyrim has. Skyrim's the jack of all trades, master of none and the only game to really do this.

M&B has its combat but no story and lacklustre graphics: Morrowind has its depth and creativity but it falls flat on its face with Serious Sam AI, crappy combat and still NPCs that act more as encyclopedias than people with personalities: Planescape has arguably the most amazing story and dialogue for a video game, but again, the combat's too easy and simplistic.

cyborg100000

Skyrim is like an all you can eat buffet, there's alot of food there, but nothing is particularly good. I'd rather go to a steak house, if I want steak. And the next day I'll go to a place that specializes in seafood, if I want that. = Play Planescape if I want 'story' (good writing, characters, dialogs, choices & consequences), play Temple of Elemental Evil if I want good combat...

[QUOTE="LordTrexGuy"]

[QUOTE="Maroxad"]

Because Skyrim does what it sets out to do, immerse you in a PLAYER-driven fantasy land where you are the hero. An open world action "RPG" with freeroam certainly has its appeal to a lot of people, and Skyrim does a great job in that regard.

JKnaperek

When the environments are so ugly, the characters so personality-deficient and where the world hardly responds to your deeds, how do you become immersed?

Mods give characters a personality and make the world actually interact with you?

Please show me these awesome mods you're speaking of.

[QUOTE="JKnaperek"][QUOTE="LordTrexGuy"]

When the environments are so ugly, the characters so personality-deficient and where the world hardly responds to your deeds, how do you become immersed?

N30F3N1X

Mods give characters a personality and make the world actually interact with you?

Please show me these awesome mods you're speaking of.

Sure, please do show us some of these awesome mods you saw in your nooby dreams. I really want to play a quest where I can destroy High Hrothgar and yet all the guards would ramble about arrows in their knees.

[QUOTE="LordTrexGuy"]

[QUOTE="JC_Spot"]Immersion and exploration? How immersive is fast travel? And how fun is exploring when you have an instant compass to guide you directly to every location? It's barely even the same game as Morrowind. Morrowind skills = 27 Skyrim skills = 18 Morrowind Base Weapons (non unique) = 134 Skyrim Base Weapons (non unique) = 117 Morrowind Weapons (unique) = 74 Skyrim Weapons (unique) = 63 Morrowind factions = 11 Skyrim factions = 10 In practically every aspect Morrowind has more content. Not to mention Morrowind had spears, crossbows, levitate etc. They deliberately took levitate out of Skyrim because it would ruin their dungeon and map design, what a joke. They are putting less content into every game they make. At least players of COD can say each successive game has more content than the last.JC_Spot

You are forgetting how much enemy variety Morrowind had compared to Skyrim. The first few enemies I met in Morrowind were rats, people, etc. and after a few levels Netches, Nix Hounds and Atronachs. Skyrim only throws bandits and bandits and a few wolves at me. I would also like to know a lore-friendly reason for the removing of Levitate.

Maybe Bethesda would put it like this:

"The last known person to have the power to levitate was the Nerevarine, even if that meant he was a rogue and there were miles better sorcerers across Tamriel. Unfortunately, since the Nerevarine passed away, so did all these sorcerers at the same time and the secret to fly was lost forever."

So they simply removed it so the player wastes his entire time going all the way in a circle which ends right near the entrance to the cave? I do understand it would be game breaking but how do you like running around a whole mountain just to get 10 metres up? They should put in at least some kind of climbing animation so we don't have to glitch horses and get to the top. And to add to the lore-friendly reasoning:

"As soon as the Nerevarine died, all the potions of Levitating either got expired, got crushed by bandits, were drunk by Daedroth which evolved them into the Dragons the Dovahkiin fights around 200 years later or the potions got hold of Nervarine's death and commited suicide."

I found vanilla Skyrim to be good but other games pulled me away and I never got to finish the main quest. I just recently got back into it about 3 weeks ago, downloaded some mods and this game turned from good(8) to excellent(9.5). With the new expansion coming out soon I am really looking forward to more play time.

Also as one person mentioned, this game is very immersive, mods like camping, horses for followers and all the lighting and sound mods. Make this game much better.

[QUOTE="N30F3N1X"]

[QUOTE="JKnaperek"] Mods take care of those problems. Stop noobing your Skyrim experience.LordTrexGuy

Mods give characters a personality and make the world actually interact with you?

Please show me these awesome mods you're speaking of.

Sure, please do show us some of these awesome mods you saw in your nooby dreams. I really want to play a quest where I can destroy High Hrothgar and yet all the guards would ramble about arrows in their knees.

[QUOTE="LordTrexGuy"]

[QUOTE="N30F3N1X"]

Mods give characters a personality and make the world actually interact with you?

Please show me these awesome mods you're speaking of.

JKnaperek

Sure, please do show us some of these awesome mods you saw in your nooby dreams. I really want to play a quest where I can destroy High Hrothgar and yet all the guards would ramble about arrows in their knees.

Hey noob, I've already seen most of the mods both of these sites have to offer and I've yet to see one of these mods you saw in your damn noobish dream. And no one has yet trolled me so take your noobish, trolled bottom outta here. You reply shows that you yourself are a big noob, I bet you can't even install just .esp mods whereas I'm sure I know how to fully use Wrye Bash. Now I'm LMAO looking a your reply. Sorry noob, but you just got trolled.

[QUOTE="mep69"]Skyrim is overrated.davnol

What other game spawns as many memes as Skyrim?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mWHkUsjQNM&hd=1Zubinen

Warcraft 3 could.

I think and feel similar to the many here. Skyrim is single player Runescape with better graphics and POV gameplay, not much difference. Loads of grinding and levelling and no community ingame. Yes, it can be VERY boring, but there ARE some plusses, I just haven't found them yet. I didn't play ANY Fallouts past 20% of the first one, and never Morrowind or Oblivion. I love MMORPG's and am moving back to them shortly if this doesn't pan out, I'm about 10-20 hours in, and might not make 30 hours if this doesn't blossom into the game it advertises to be. There is a lot of fiddly searching that will need some button adjusting but in all, is interesting and thought provoking, but I am here for FUN! SO goddamit where is it? Bethesda? I do NOT want to have to rely on a mod to make a packaged finished game more fun. Mods ruin games as they take away some of the true course the game takes.

Time bomb ticking on this one...