Question is in the topic title... It's something I thought of today while at work and I thought it was quite interesting.

I spend literally over 300 hours in vanilla Oblivion when it first came out back in 2006. Yet when Fallout 3 dropped in 2008, with vastly improved gameplay mechanics than Oblivion, I only put about 20 hours into it before stopping. NV came out next, featuring some very enticing gameplay, and yet I stopped playing at roughly 30 hours...

Did I enjoy both Fallout games? Heck yes I did!! I was blown away by FO3's intro, quests, etc. NV astounded me with some awesome things like crafting, character needs, and great dialogue.

And then we get to Skyrim, and I easily sink 40 hours into it the first week, with no end in sight.

I think for me, the atmosphere and aesthetics bear a huge more amount than I realize on the amount of time I desire to spend in a world. Oblivion's sugar sweet fantasy land and Skyrim's beautiful, mountainous landscapes are far easier to "live" in than Fallout's grimy, dingy wasteland.

When I'm in a tavern or just taking a stroll in TES, I pause to look at the sights, or spend time hanging around areas simply for the beauty and feeling I get from it. In Fallout, I'm in a rush to get from one place to another, or to get out of a building because everything in it is so dingy and dirty. In my eyes that's a sign of success for the aesthetic feel that each series goes for, but does it affect your playtime and desire to spend time with it like it does for me?

I couldn't get into FO3 (granted I still played a lot and hit lvl 20 but couldn't "get" into it) because while in its genre its fantastic, my favorite games are always fantasy, with Magic, colossal creatures (too bad skyrim has none) and Liches! So fallout being the game it is with guns and stuff I just wasn't attracted enough to get into it..

Maybe because FO3 is garbage and NV is slightly improved garbage.

Actually, I couldn't stop playing New Vegas. I liked fallout, but I think New Vegas felt deeper and better developed.

I'm still playing the crap out of Skyrim though..

Because FO3 and the rest were desolate wasteland... Not very appealing imo~ Still a good game, but highly depressing~

No trouble at all. I've poured far more hours into both those games than any TES game. Hundreds at this point.

I play on the xbox.

I spent well over 1000 hours in FO3 over 30 different characters. Conversely I played NV for maybe 40 hours. It was empty and boring by comparison. With Skyrim, I can see myself putting in another 1000+ easily.

Beth makes the best worlds to explore, hands down. And that's why I love the games they develop.

No, I spend a massive amount of time in all worlds/games.

I love skyrim. And there's just so much stuff to do

Cheers

I played the sh*t out of Fallout 3, loved it. Didn't get NV, as so many people complained about the bugs. Didn't get any DLC for either game, actually - and I still sunk 50 hours into FO3.

Skyrim has a lot of the elements that made Morrowind so amazing. I've put more hours into Skyrim than I ever did with Oblivion.... and just like you, I picked up Fallout 3 to see what all the fuss was about and was instantly bored of it. Just could not get into the story at all, and the crappy Oblivion-esque graphics/animations didn't help either.

I loved Fallout 3, and probably sunk around 200 hours into it before getting bored (I had spent so much time exploring that I had hit the level cap while at only stage 3 or 4 of the main quest). The environments are desolate, but that's to be expected. I haven't played New Vegas yet, and I'd like to see some more colour in Fallout 4, but the entire concept of the 50s future world gone apocalyptic is really interesting to me.

Fallout 3 was the game that really pulled me in all the way.

I had fun messing with Morrowind and Oblivion, but neither captured my attention as much as Fallout 3 and Skyrim did.

Yeah I'm like this. I did a single run through Fallout 3 then canned it. I played New Vegas for about a week then canned it. Just not my thing I suppose. I mean it sounds great: post apocalyptic 50's Americana, but the reality for me was a large empty world with little to keep me interested.

Skyrim on the other hand keeps me keen.

Opposite

My hours in a FO game is usually double of that in a TES game. I guess I just like lasers that much

Compred to even Oblivion, FO3/NV are extremely lacking in content and things to do. I put a lot of time into those games, but most of it in FO3 was with the Real-Time Settler Mod, and New Vegas came from just doing all the quests and DLC. I don't know why, but I get extremely bored doing the same things in those games, that I enjoy doing in TES.

I played quite a bit of Fallout and Oblivion but both left me cold in many ways. In Fallout I just felt under constant siege with no room to breathe and since I couldn't develop my companions I just felt alone most of the time. I've been a heavy BioWare player for many years so although I've enjoyed Bethesda games I've never really felt at home in them as much as in Skyrim. I wish there was a way to marry BW to Beth to make the ultimate gaming experience.