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[B-Dubs]

i'm a little baffled by skyrim hate sometimes. when it came out nobody could shut up about it for about 8 months like it was some life changing event, and now all i hear about is how lame it is despite having spent 100+ hours on it. i understand its not for everybody but it seems weird anybody would spend that much time on something so allegedly shallow...

maybe its because i was new to open world wrpgs, or because i pretty much sat the gen out until 2011, but it was a mystifying experience for me... probably in my top 5 gaming experiences of all time. i think people hate on the combat because it had the misfortune of coming out the same time as Dark Souls, though that doesn't excuse its jankiness. and yeah virtually every quest is a dungeon dive but i'm not really sure how there can be a way around that... pretty much every ES was like that before.

but even to this day i'm discovering new things, and i haven't even touch DLC yet. i understand different strokes for different folks but i find it odd the game has so much backlash two years later

The reason is that it is an ambitious game, it crafts a huge open world with a lot of stuff to do. You could get lost playing it. The problem is that it has a lot of glaring flaws, namely how the players interact with the game. The combat isn't bad because we're comparing it to Dark Souls, it's just straight up horrible. There is literally nothing redeeming about it. I spent 47 hours on the game, but I will freely admit I almost dropped it 20 minutes in due to the combat.

The reason it got so much hype because it dared to try and give us what we all always wanted, a huge open world with great graphics and a million things to do. They did that and we rejoiced. The problem is they spent no time working on how the player actually plays the game. So on one hand it's a great game, that shows what modern design can accomplish. On the other it's something out of the 1990's book of game design (and not the good one, the horribly boring one).

Basically everyone was blinded by hype and the scale of what they did, so hardly anyone noticed that they had spent absolutely no time on how we actually play the game. So once the hype wears off we all realized that it has no real staying power and isn't really as awesome as we thought it was.

 

[XeNoN89]

I got about 20 hours of enjoyment out of it before it became obvious how it worked. It almost feels soulless to me now. It's a very cut and dry experience.

Yep, about the same time here. Was having fun and then It seemed to dawn on me suddenly that I'm just wasting time doing endless amounts of boring tasks in the game

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Skyrim and Oblivion are both a hot boring mess, that I couldn't play longer than 1 hour each.

I bailed on Morrowind after one tomb and on Skyrim after the dull intro and first town ("go here and get that".. uhm... No?), but I put 100 hours in Oblivion on PC and 80 again on consoles, so there is at least something in that game that pulled me in.
(thief's guild mostly)

And despite it being one giant fetch quest, I don't regret doing so. Never finished the main quest either. I got to the giant gate and the console version, but that's it. I never fought mehrunes dagon either, which kinda sucks. (then again, looking him up on google is somewhat dissapointing compared to those Oblivion armors)

 

[Dresden]

It's been said before, but Skyrim will be well-liked by The Internet again once TES6 comes out. People will talk about how much depth the world had and how neat all of the little stories that are tucked away in the environments are, and about how compelling it was to play a role in a civil war, and how TES6 doesn't even begin to live up to how great Skyrim was. Rinse and repeat for TES6 vs TES7.

Yeah, I hear quite a bit of praise for Oblivion these days.

Oh wait.

 

[Gintamen]

Didn't even get more than a couple hours in, I've seen a friend play it before that, so I had to realize that I don't want to put in even two dozen hours to get the mq done. I don't want to be forced into using Google mods to make a game playable and good looking at that.

 

[jtb]

there comes a point when my time is more valuable/scarce than my money and skyrim is a good example of a game where there just isn't enough variety in the game for me to really be willing to put that kind of time-sink into the game, especially when the core mechanics—while much improved on vanilla oblivion—just aren't that compelling on their own. and the world was a bit bland. (though, again, improvement over oblivion)

 

[Burgess_101]

One word:

Mods.

 

[Deacan]

Playing on a console, 1/3 of my playtime was looking at loading screens.

 

[Gintamen]

One word:

Mods.

Not everyone plays on PC, not everyone likes to be forced into to mods to actually enjoy the game.

 

[N2NOther]

250 hours and a platinum trophy (my only one). I loved every minute of Skyrim.

 

[Screaming Meat]

OP: no offense, but it sounds more like you didn't value your own time. You just wasted 120 hours on something you find utterly boring and you weren't even paid for it.

 

[Nose Master]

It's not the game that's unfocused, it's you. Don't blame the game for your lack of focus.

If you don't want to do every little last thing in methodical order, then don't. You're already swimming in every resource you'll ever need.

The game design isn't flawed because it allows you to do whatever you want. You want a breadcrumb trail? Follow a walkthrough, and be done with it. Don't expect the game designers to make the game 100% linear so your fragile mind doesn't wander off at every possibility.

 

[B-Dubs]

One word:

Mods.

Modding a $60 game for it to be enjoyable and not a chore should be a crime, it shouldn't be needed. The developers should be the ones taking care of that. That the crafting system isn't too much of a grind, that the combat is fun, that inventories as easy to navigate. That's all the developer's job. Mods should be about adding content and customizing the UI, not fixing the game.

 

[computers putin']

120 hours? I couldn't even pass ten hours; terrible menu interface, boring world that barely had any life to it, and wasn't any fun to explore, and bland combat. I just didn't find it to be fun in the least and I still don't understand the hype. Seems like it would be better on pc with a shitload of mods though.

 

[xbhaskarx]

The worst part of Skyrim was how soulless it was and how nothing you did had any consequence whatsoever. So much wasted potential.

If you play it for 120 hours you can make a thread about it...

 

[OmegaTreeFish]

When it came to Skyrim did some of the main faction lines and the main story. Got about 40-50 hours out of it but thats mainly because my system crashed and I lost my save file the first time. I played a mage and did most of the mage guild stuff. Then I restarted once I restored my system and started an Orc. Did the main story and the fighters guild stuff (guys that are warewolves). Then When I was bored I started a stealthy rogue character but got bored after a while and stopped.

I enjoyed the game but that was enough for me. All the pointless mini quests mean little to me.

Oblivion had a similar experience except the main difference being in that one I loved the side line guild stories and hated the main story which I put off for ages. I then broke the game with my 100% invisibility set and wizzed through the boring main story stuff just to get it done. However I really liked the shivering Isles expansion.

I think they are good games but I have never really understood how people put hundreds of hours into them. If they like it then great but all the pointless side stuff (bar the guilds) just seems like pure filler in a game that already is huge enough.

I also dont get how someone can put over 100 hours in then say the game was crap lol. Why did you play it so long?

 

[Burgess_101]

Modding a $60 game for it to be enjoyable and not a chore should be a crime, it shouldn't be needed. The developers should be the ones taking care of that. That the crafting system isn't too much of a grind, that the combat is fun, that inventories as easy to navigate. That's all the developer's job. Mods should be about adding content and customizing the UI, not fixing the game.

Of course but the fact is how many games out there create a basis like TES does? Not many and sadly yes Skyrim has many flaws but mods honestly make it the perfect open world game. The 80 odd hours I got out of it is worth it to me.

 

[Almighty]

Well the reason someone can put so much time into the game is Skyrim does a good job giving the illusion it might be more then it is.

I know for me it did. Sure it's fun at first. I played as a fighter running around doing the guild quests and what not, then I got bored of that and tried a thief thinking "hey maybe it will be different", then after I got bored of that I tried a mage, then after I got bored of that I tried a hybrid, then I hit the realization that no matter how you play the game is still pretty much the same. The game is shallow and only has very little reactivity to the players actions. What makes it worse is the little it does have is handled terribly. Like the guards commenting that my warrior who cast one spell in his life, to get into the mages collage, is a wizard.

You also figure out that after you have seen a few of each type of dungeon that you have seen them all, hunting dragons gets boring, the quests are uninteresting, think maybe some mods will make it more interesting, and so on. Before you know it you sunk 100 hours into it.

Bethesda are very good making their worlds appear like they might have more depth then they actually do. Sure I enjoyed some of the time I spent with the game and probably got my monies worth, but at the end of the day the game was five miles wide and an inch deep.

 

[Stealth_Cobra]

I completed pretty much every quest in Skyrim (asides from those repeating quests and all those broken quests in my log) , took me about 270 Hours or so.

I'll admit overall it's all about quantity over quality. The world is huge, but empty. Dungeons are everywhere, but they all look the same and have the same random loot inside. NPC all look pretty much the same, have the same voice and say the same booring things. There's a gazillion booring books I don't care reading about. I'm playing heavily modded Skyrim too, so most of the big flaws have been ironed out. I can fast travel whenever I want, the combat is kinda fixed, the difficulty curve is better, I can carry alot more stuff, meaning less booring trips to sell stuff, vendors actually enough cash so they can buy the stuff I sell them, etc... So kudos to anyone that played vanilla Skyrim and did not kill themseves due to all the tedium. As for Oblivion, I never actually finished the story mission due to having to close all those repetitive oblivion gates. By the end, I would enter an oblivion gate, toggle collision detection off and basically run in the sky directly to the oblivion gate sigil to close it. Mostly did the thief guild and dark brotherhood questline and was done with it.

In the end, I absolutely prefer Fallout 3 in all regards. There's alot less quests in Fallout 3, yet each of them is fun and appealing. There's alot less areas to explore, but you really feel like scavenging. With enough mods, it does feel like a beautiful, living, breathing world. New Vegas felt too big and barren imho... Didn't finish it either. The only Bethesda game I truly enjoyed from start to finish was Fallout 3.

 

[Windom Earle]

Never liked Oblivion and didn't buy into the Skyrim hype. Put a few hours into it, but the load times of the 360 version were crap, hated the meaningless side quests and the enemy auto leveling. You're also right about the UI, OP.

The Fallout games are far superior and I also find the story/setting more interesting. I'm bored of the medieval stuff.

 

[robin2]

I got about 20 hours of enjoyment out of it before it became obvious how it worked. It almost feels soulless to me now. It's a very cut and dry experience.

Exactly how I felt. The illusion broke at around the 20 hour mark. Really felt amazing before that point. Then you realize how empty the whole thing actually is.

Same.

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

I wish I could quit this game.
Problem is I keep installing new mods and trying all sorts of random shit.

 

[Kallor]

Skyrim is wasting your time. Play Morrowind or play New Vegas. You won't find yourself spending a couple hours doing a boring quest where you fight the ultimate badass vampire emperor king lord master epic cool enslaved the entire world only to drop 5 pieces of gold and a potion of uselessness and then spend dragon points on smelting iron something something 25% faster.
You'll be exploring to find out what a character has to say or what happened to something town. You'll look forward to leveling up for just one last perk for the day and getting a little bit better at handling the world.

 

[Jintor]

Same.

The thing for me though is that at 20 hours I've invested enough time that I'm like "Well, I might as well..." and then I spent another 60 hours fiddling around chasing something I'm never going to get back.

 

[thomasmahler]

That's the Elder Scrolls Effect: At first you don't understand exactly how it's all built and it seems like an insane production - But then you kinda figure out that it's always repeating the same things and its losing its magic.

 

[nacimento]

I had great 110 hours. Did everything (except DLC).

 

[StarEye]

For me, TES is more about exploration and discovering the world (and getting new weapons and armor at the same time), and less about deep gameplay or story elements. That said, I would love it if TES had Dark Souls' combat (without the difficulty), because then the encounters would be fun as well.

Also, most of all, it's mainly the melee combat that needs to improve in TES.

 

[ZealousD]

That's exactly the point, there is so much content, that it can't all be prime quality. You can't have best of both worlds.

So then cut some damn content! Fallout 3 isn't completely immune to these problems but at least there were fewer issues and I finished it in less than 100 hours...

It's been said before, but Skyrim will be well-liked by The Internet again once TES6 comes out. People will talk about how much depth the world had and how neat all of the little stories that are tucked away in the environments are, and about how compelling it was to play a role in a civil war, and how TES6 doesn't even begin to live up to how great Skyrim was. Rinse and repeat for TES6 vs TES7.

At least for me, this was my first TES game and it will probably be my last. So you won't hear anything from me about how Skyrim was better than TES6.

 

[marrec]

Exactly how I felt. The illusion broke at around the 20 hour mark. Really felt amazing before that point. Then you realize how empty the whole thing actually is.

In every Skyrim thread there are those of us who've seen the true depth of what Bethesda has to offer.

Skyrim tricked me for around 25-30 hours before I realized that I actually was never having any fun playing it, I was having fun anticipating it actually getting fun at some point.

 

[DesuNe]

It's just a classic case of quantity over quality. Sure it's a big world but does it have varied quests and not the same copy 'n paste NPC every where? Nope.

It's like GTA, they have a giant world but you interact with about 10% of it.

Just depends what you want I guess, do you want to wander in a soulless world or do you want a small area which is filled with interesting details.

Also, the hype for Skyrim is just because it's many people's first encounter with any sort of open world RPG so they're just amazed by the fact that you can "do what you want".

 

[eXistor]

I got about 20 hours of enjoyment out of it before it became obvious how it worked. It almost feels soulless to me now. It's a very cut and dry experience.

This. After a bit, the illusion just goes to hell and you see nothing but shit game-design. The game is no longer lulling you into a strange and interesting world with its own history and lore, you basically start seeing code. When you hit that point it just doesnt work anymore. Bethesda games are generally so sloppily designed that this happens fairly soon and the games are just not good enough to support any scrutiny.

 

[Gestahl]

It'll be interesting to see how backed into a corner Bethesda gets now that nearly every major Publisher/Developer is getting ready to jump full hog onto the open world bandwagon. Maybe they'll finally be compelled to make compelling content

 

[mokeyjoe]

My main problem was that the world didn't feel very real. Especially the transition to interiors, the NPC clones and the tiny 'cities'. I suppose I played it for 20 hours or so and got enough enjoyment out of it to warrant the purchase.

Are there any big open world RPGs that don't suffer from these problems?

 

[kodt]

You played the game too long, that is the problem. It doesn't have 120 hours of engaging content to offer. After a while you start to notice repetition and little reward for your time (since you are already a badass).

For me the game was fun for about 20-30 hours, then it just fell flat. That doesn't mean it is a shitty game, because I thoroughly enjoyed it for those 20+ hours, which is longer than many games we praise.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Full disclosure: This is my first Elder Scrolls experience.

I was originally thinking of writing a very long post, being very specific about the elements of the game that bug me, but in the spirit of my original point I am going to keep this very brief.

I understand a lot of why people praise Skyrim, and probably the whole Elder Scrolls series in general. As much as the game has flaws on a technical level, there really is a great appeal to have a massive world to explore. I felt connected to the world and there were plenty of great moments that I wanted to share with friends. There are definitely highlights and things I liked about playing this game.

But I've put in about 120 hours into the game and I'm not even sure that I could say that I'm halfway finished. There is a lot of content but there's also a shitload of fluff and things to do that waste my time. The UI is just astronomically bad and the amount of time I spend doing inventory management, crafting items, dicking with vendors, etc is staggering. It's like almost half the game. I go into a dwarven ruin or a crypt for the 5th time and it feels like I'm just going through the motions. Oh God, I have to fight ANOTHER dragon? I've got 20 Dragon Souls in my inventory and no shouts to use them on! Oh man, before I can become Thane of this hold I have to chop that wood, retrieve that satchel, and pet this cat.

The design is just not very focused. It doesn't seem like Bethesda was very interested in making sure that all of the elements that make up the game are interesting and polished. Just stuff the game as full to the brim with content as possible and people will overlook everything else.

I loved Skyrim. I loved the randomness, but I only did the things I thought was worth my time. I think I played it for 40-50 hours and then I felt I had exhausted the fun parts. I thought it was an amazing experience, with the Dark Brotherhood being the highpoint of the series for me.

The sense of world and yonder is amazing in these games. Skyrim did the MMO immersion better than almost all current MMOs. It really felt like a real world. As such I find it natural and fitting that it was filled to the brim with optional/useless/obsessive options and tasks to fit. But I don't think these activities are suitable for most people. And I am surprised that you spend 120 hours doing something that felt like you wasted your time.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

I got about 20 hours of enjoyment out of it before it became obvious how it worked. It almost feels soulless to me now. It's a very cut and dry experience.

Exactly how I felt. The illusion broke at around the 20 hour mark. Really felt amazing before that point. Then you realize how empty the whole thing actually is.

Yeah, at a certain point you realize that Skyrim isn't a role playing game. It's a Scandinavian walking and bar filling simulator. Walk over the next hill to see what the five markers on your compass are so that they're filled in on your map. Keep doing a thing to fill a bar and once that's done there's two dozen other bars to fill to no real end.

Skyrim was basically fetch quests and stale dungeons. Technically, stylistically, graphically, it was great, but the actually gameplay was so boring that I gave up after 10-20 hours. I agree that it was souless.

Agree with all of the above. I played around 25 hrs, the last 5 of which I just grinded out to finish the main quest. The game is just dull as hell.

 

[HitokiriNate85]

That's basically exactly why, as cool as I think Skyrim looks, I never bothered buying it. It seems a lot like browsing online to me. You have a goal about 10% of the time and the rest is spent just clicking stuff.

 

[BraXzy]

That game first lost its magic for me when I became the head of one of the guilds and the only thing it changed was I no longer had to steal, but could simply take the items from the guild.

If I am the grand mage of winterhold I expect people to become humbled by my presence.

 

[VandalD]

That game first lost its magic for me when I became the head of one of the guilds and the only thing it changed was I no longer had to steal, but could simply take the items from the guild.

If I am the grand mage of winterhold I expect people to become humbled by my presence.

You know, if you've got the aptitude, you should join the Mage's College in Winterhold.

 

[pa22word]

I got to the same point OP did at about 8 hours. TotalBiscuit sad it best: "[Skyrim] is has the breadth of an ocean, yet the depth of a puddle".

Fuck cliff racers.

Someone needs to make a gif like this featuring the Crazadors in New Vegas.

 

[cripterion]

I think the game becomes quite good with the dozen of mods out there. Just one big meaty game. Not for everyone though.

 

[Vazra]

I feel Bethesda does not value programming.

 

[JDdelphin]

I loved Skyrim. I loved the randomness, but I only did the things I thought was worth my time. I think I played it for 40-50 hours and then I felt I had exhausted the fun parts. I thought it was an amazing experience, with the Dark Brotherhood being the highpoint of the series for me.

The sense of world and yonder is amazing in these games. Skyrim did the MMO immersion better than almost all current MMOs. It really felt like a real world. As such I find it natural and fitting that it was filled to the brim with optional/useless/obsessive options and tasks to fit. But I don't think these activities are suitable for most people. And I am surprised that you spend 120 hours doing something that felt like you wasted your time.

This guy gets it.

 

[Canis lupus]

Its a boring game with the shittiest combat system ever.

 

[BizzyBum]

Thank god for mods, vanilla gets old pretty fast. Vastness of an ocean but the depth of a puddle is the perfect description for the base game.

The AI is always so disappointing, which is why I'm really excited for next-gen because maybe we can finally see some vast improvements to AI. I don't care if TES VI has the same graphics as Skyrim, if they can deliver a more massive, random, and less scripted world then that's all I want.

 

[Turin Turambar]

But I've put in about 120 hours into the game and I'm not even sure that I could say that I'm halfway finished. There is a lot of content but there's also a shitload of fluff and things to do that waste my time. The UI is just astronomically bad and the amount of time I spend doing inventory management, crafting items, dicking with vendors, etc is staggering. It's like almost half the game. I go into a dwarven ruin or a crypt for the 5th time and it feels like I'm just going through the motions. Oh God, I have to fight ANOTHER dragon? I've got 20 Dragon Souls in my inventory and no shouts to use them on! Oh man, before I can become Thane of this hold I have to chop that wood, retrieve that satchel, and pet this cat.

The design is just not very focused. It doesn't seem like Bethesda was very interested in making sure that all of the elements that make up the game are interesting and polished. Just stuff the game as full to the brim with content as possible and people will overlook everything else.

The UI is bad, thanks god it can be modded on pc. Thanks to that, the time dealing with it can be shortened drastically, but I understand it's a problem with the console version.


Now, you seem to be complaining there is almost too much content. 120 hours, and not even finished half the game!! Well, I think the game has a bit more than 300 hours of content, so yeah.
They key factor is that you don't have to do everything. The goal of playing the game isn't finishing all the content. You don't have to kill all the dragons, or do all the dungeons. You are supposed to choose your favorite subset of content and playing that, at least until you are bored and then you finish the main quest if you haven't done before, see the credits, the end.

If you want a open world RPG with a bit more interesting content but in exchange not as huge, play Fallout New Vegas.

 

[butman]

Leave this overrated game and go play Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen and have fun!

 

[Takuan]

I enjoyed all of the guild quests, personally. The rest of my enjoyment came from experimenting with mods and such. I've probably plopped over 150 hours into the game, two separate saves (lost one and started over again a year later), and I've yet to even beat the game - I don't even think I'm close.

I agree with the sentiment that the game is rather soulless after the glitter fades. After a offing a few dragons and gaining some shouts, it does become a matter of going through the motions.

 

[Blue Ninja]

A few days ago, I spent an hour and a half fighting an Ancient Dragon that spawned while I was still low level. I was playing on Expert with the Deadly Dragons mod enabled. The thing could nuke me from orbit in seconds, and I had to resort to some very dirty tactics to take it down. But this game let me do that, and that's why I love it so much.

 

[Valnen]

This is the Bethesda way. "I played that game for 100 hours and had a shit ton of fun, but in retrospect the combat is lame!"

I played for maybe an hour tops because the combat is just that bad. I gave played Oblivion longer because I thought it would get better as I played, but the thing is with these games is the combat actually gets worse the longer you play! This is especially true in Skyrim from what I've observed.

They need a whole new combat system for this series to be worth my time. Perhaps turn based or something like an old school CRPG with a full party. I'm convinced Bethesda is too incompetent to make a good action-focused melee system.