Haha, do you feel better? Maybe you can lend him your copy of Skyrim when you finish it...maybe.

I'm mostly going dark *or trying to* in order to preserve my sanity. My imagination will tear itself apart by release date if I let it. :wink_smile:

I really hope I'll be able to stay away from the impending trailers that come out closer to launch. They will surely test my metal.

I can understand people wanting to stick around to see how the gameplay mechanics work. Personally, I'd rather find that out myself. I <3 surprises.

Essentially, at this point, Bethesda has earned my trust. They did this when, after Morrowind was fairly buggy on Xbox and the GOTY Edition improved on that, they moved to an entirely new platform and still managed to improve on and polish the sequel to it in almost every way (by my standards at least; with the possible exception of grittiness and historicity in my opinion.) Since that time, they have never let me down. Not with any of Oblivion's expansions, and not with Fallout 3 or any of its DLC.

Therefore, I too have decided not to scour the net for every scrap of info that comes to light this time around. I want the game to be as fresh and surprising to me as possible this time. I have confidence that whatever they do with it, even if I disagree with certain design points potentially (they can't please everyone in every single respect, and I might be one of those people,) I'll still end up with a huge, immersive game with a ton of content no matter what, which is all I ultimately care about. And it's TES, so at this point, the lore and universe alone is enough to svck me in. I want to return to the world I love and see what kind of shape it's in now, in a province I haven't ever seen. New gameplay mechanics and AI impressiveness etc. are just gravy to me at this point. They had at with Morrowind frankly lol.

That said, I'm not ready to "go dark" QUITE yet. I'm not reading everything that comes out, and I am ACTIVELY AVOIDING plot, setting (towns, etc.) and character (skills, races, etc.) spoilers, but I am going to at least check periodically for gameplay footage. Once the first gameplay video appears and I see the draw distance and the visuals, that's going to be it for me. From that point forward, I'm not going to read or watch a thing. Instead I'll focus on the lore and anticipate what twists and turns in it we can expect this time around. That will be my anticipation this time, instead of the hype and previews.

The only exception will be if they release more of the music, because so far I have loved it and simply really enjoy listening to it as music on its own, regardless of the game.

I'm a long time Morrowind fan, when I bought Oblivion I knew next to nothing about it, never read articles or forums about it, and the amount of disappointment that hit me was enormous - I expected the depths and spirit of Morrowind but with a new generation graphics...
If I got in to Skyrim that way I'll probably uninstall the game the moment I realize it's ALL going to be cold snowy and north like... I hate snow and cold. So I prefer to prepare my self this time around, get comfortable and used to some ideas and to know some features that make tolerating the cold worthwhile I can although "de hype" the game a little in my head - I still expect to much of Morrowind in it I think.

Good words Vamphaery. It's impossible for Beth to please everyone because we all have such varied expectations.

For some people TES is about the lore and roleplaying. For others it's all about the graphics or music. And some people just want to jack silverware and knock peoples fruit bowls on the floor. Heheh.

I might go the same route you are, but I'm going to try to avoid even the gameplay videos.

About soundtracks, that's an exception I would make. I like to listen to soundtracks of games before I play them. Skyrim has had some amazing stuff so far.

@ Sshodan

I can understand how you feel. Oblivion lacked the spirit Morrowind had. I still enjoyed both a tremendous amount, but in different ways. Have you seen the magazine yet? It displayed some gorgeous looking wooded environments.

I'll go dark a month or so before hand.

You can't stop the signal.

Once you go to Vvardenfell, you never go back.

Did everyone come across Morrowind the same way? I was just randomly in Blockbuster back in '02 and came across the game. It looked interesting so I picked it up (I think I also saw a review of it on Toonami at the time). Anyways, it was Halo, Morrowind, and then Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic that kept me hooked on Xbox for life (I was a huge playstation fan before the ridiculous price and lack of games from the PS3).

To be realistic, after the GI coverage is over, we probably won't hear anything about Skyrim until E3 (maybe PAX East if Bethesda mysteriously shows up with Skyrim). Luckily, some great titles are coming out in the mean time to fill the void while the wait of Skyrim continues (Dead Space 2, Dragon Age 2, SWTOR, Mass Effect 3, Arkham City, Battlefield 3, etc.).

The only games I ever played were SNES games so I knew nothing about PC games besides Doom. I rented Morrowind one day and quit after I couldn't hit the first mudcrab I came across. Took it back and didn't try again for about a year. After I spent some time with it I couldn't go back.

I actually got it very intentionally - there was a PC gaming magazine I bought regularly back than, and I never missed any major RPG releases. So I was aware that something is cooking for a couple of years, and after it got a good review I got a copy - one of my best game decisions ever

I highly appreciate anyone who can go in the dark before a game's release, especially one so controversial as Skyrim. It's a feat on it's own and a testament to the strength that gamers put into their personal experience. However, in my opinion, a game is only ruined when we see what's actually in it. By reading tech information on the game, looking at screenshots, and delving into development videos, the information presented by Game Informer isn't nearly enough to ruin my experience with the game. Despite it's assured excellence, I still have to make sure that what I'm spending 60 (and possibly more) hard earned dollars on is worth it.

Hopefully, the GI news will continue it's general application---general screenshots, information, etc. If so, by the time this cycle of exclusive information is over I'll just wait until E3 or, depending on my satisfaction, the release date. :foodndrink:

I wouldn't restrict myself from all types of information because that would just be punishment, and I think my game experience would be affected by this.

Like many others here, I'm going to wait till I get to see some real screenies and a gameplay vid.

I have a specific checklist and once it's basically filled, I'm going to check out and wait for 11-11-11.

• What do Argonians look like?
  
• What do Kitties look like?
  
• Will I be able to select sub-races?
  
• Spears
  
• Crossbows
  
• Is there spellmaking?
  
• First few gameplay demonstrations
  
• I guess that's it.
  
• no wait, mounts ...

I'm not going to lie. I have been waiting for this for 5 years. There is absolutely no way I am not going to absorb every bit of info possible. However, if it begins to get to where the story is being spoiled, I will not read.

Dude,I cant do it.I am weak.Its impossible to go dark for 10 months!Especially when were talking 'bout TES!

Nope sorry. I'm going to eat up every bit of information pertaining to Skyrim from now until release. I did the same thing with Oblivion and it didn't hamper or hurt the game for me in any way. Playing the actual game is a lot different than watching videos or looking at screens.

Good luck to those that want to do this.

Hell no, I've set my homepage to gameinformer and have the skyrim theme tune playing on loop in the background.

No , i won't only when i will have something else to do like play Witcher 2 :rolleyes:

Right now, I'm a pathetic sponge, but once I have that game in my hand, I'm going dark like a black hole, and I won't turn on the light until that first play-through is done.

Same here.

I just can't control myself. I already feel like too much about the storyline has been spoiled, with the greybeards and all.

Gods give me strength! :flame:

So I want to revive this guy to see what people are planning on doing about E3.

I'll probably be skipping any TES related information, especially the videos. I mean, think about your first mammoth. It won't be as special if you see it in a video. Although I know it's going to be super hard not to click the play button when that video eventually pops up!

Screw it. I'm going dark. See you on the other side guys.

Personally, I am going to watch the E3, and then go dark forever, probably. I can't see myself resisting the urge of watching it live....

BUT, I will join all you dark-dwellers after that, you can count on that

I always do this for game I know I will buy. For example for FNV I only check out the first preview similar to the game informer preview for SR, I never saw any video, never saw pics of the strip, had no idea who the main character were,etc.

For SR though things are a bit different as I want to know basic gameplay info so I know were to set my expectations. But I will not watch any more gameplay footage, I try to avoid any new screen shots(this is hard as unlike a video were you have to click for it to play, screen just pop up in articles) and I ignore all plot/quest info.

I cant do it... I just cant -.- Every day I think about skyrim...

I.... I love you Skryim... I know we don't really even know each other but we already have that connection. It's something special and don't pretend you don't notice it too.. I can see it in your eyes,your smile, I can hear it in your laugh. Forget about Oblivion.. that was a fling, she was nothing like you are. You're so much smarter, versatile and have ten times the depth and culture she did. As for Morrowind, she was very dear to me even with all the mistakes she made that seemed to bring us back to square one.. a few times, still, that was in the past. Now I dream of a future with you Skyrim, and I know it will be a bright one.

With all my heart
An Adoring (TES) Fan

True, videos are easier to avoid than screenshots, especially if you check gaming blogs at all.

I made myself not watch anything Portal 2 related, and I think I had more fun than I would have had I known about all the cool gels and storyline. Hopefully this will make a difference with Skyrim, too!