Who knew that playing by yourself could be such a social experience.
I saw screenshots of the game prior to me playing it; I like to research before I buy with the increasing cost of games these days. When I loaded it up the first time, I did suffer a few issues like it crashing due to an outdated XFire bug (which is now fixed) as well as the additional support from the patches, so that is no longer an issue. Witnessing the lighting effects, facial details, and every little texture that can be seen almost in the physical world we live in, I was amazed by how far graphics have come, even on medium-level settings.
The gameplay is quite interesting. It is easy to get used to, but it is either you like it or don't. I do not know any other game that allows you to hack and slash the way the system is set up in TES:O (Dark Messiah comes close, but it is a bit more... interactive, allowing the use of objects like spiked walls and fire to your advantage while TES:O does not). Of course, the ability for the player to play the game in whatever fashion he/she so desires is always a plus. That and if the game is not liked at all (i.e. official textures, lighting, content, et cetera), there are huge amounts of mods that fine-tune the game as well as two official expansions. But in all honesty, the littler things like physics (way too exaggerated; if you shoot someone with an arrow, they shouldn't do three sommersaults and continue flopping around as well as if a body falls.. it does not move until it hits the ground.. like it was frozen, or something) and the clunky inventory (it'd be helpful for a drag-and-drop diagram of where you are putting your equipment rather than the highlighting interface) this game is extremely solid.
Actually, if those and any other overlooked details are not overlooked in the future, I would not be surprised if the next TES game would win the Best RPG of All Time Award.. if there is such a thing.