When I started playing a week ago I approached this the game the way I approach pretty much all RPGs I play - thinking about building a powerful character, choosing the right perks, crafting and enchanting everything, trying to exploit the system.

But now after playing the game for several days and experimenting much of the little world Bethesda created, I have to say I'm feeling guilty for such approach. And I have to say sorry to myself and to Bethesda for that. I know many people also like playing a game with this 'me against the system' mentality, and that's why we have here in this forum so many complains about perk trees, spells and the like. But in the end, after noticing the amount of details the game has to offer, you realize that everything you worry about regarding game mechanics only prevents you from enjoying your travels, the landscape, and the immersion this game can create.

I really wish I could ignore design flaws and character development in RPGs, and focus on enjoying the game world itself. I'm really trying to do that, and I think that if there's a game that can change this mentality, that's Skyrim. For example, just now I read a thread where the OP said he encountered a random giant mourning the death of his mammoth in the fields. Another guy wrote about his travels to the far desolated north, and how much powerful is the landscape there and the feelings it can create. I don't think any other game bring so much emotional and detailed content like this, and the truth is that you'll never enjoy those things if you're either in the forums complaining about something or in the towns grinding your smithing/enchanting skills.

Congrats to Bethesda.

Yep, pretty much.

They wanted to get away from the scenarios where people would just min-max instead of just playing the game and enjoying the adventure for what it was.

It's more enjoyable when it's about what dungeons to explore and what things can be tried out instead of being all about crunching numbers on a sheet; more about "I smashed that troll's face in and then set it on fire" than "I maxed out my attributes by level 20."

I'm enjoying Skyrim a lot more than I did Oblivion, even though I liked being an overpowered end-game vampire in Oblivion, because I would not truly "play" the game until so many hours later and at level 25 because of min-maxing attributes to take advantage of the stat buffs vampirism had.

In Skyrim, I'm more concerned with finding the next interesting quest and exploring new stories of other characters and finding that when I level a skill up, it's a pleasant surprise instead of a fixation.