Prior to its release Skyrim was hyped so much with so many trailers, interviews, and previews.
There are things that were mentioned about Skyrim that we never got to see in the game, thanks to the Hype.
"ZOMG, the cities are gonna be so massive !! so many interactive choices !"
"Oh yeaah, dragon fighting is gonna be epic as hell, they're gonna be such unique experiences.."

This is a problem not just with Skyrim, but with modern game developers in general..
Pre-orders take up SOOO many part of their sales that hyping is almost as important as making the actual game !!!!!
Hype it up enough then you can sell millions of copies without having to release a good game !!
So game developers spend CRAZY amount of money putting advertisemants all over internet and tv while they could've put those money into making the game better..
How can we, as users, fix this??

Well here's my advice: DON'T PRE-ORDER !!! DON'T BUY INTO THEIR HYPES. DON'T EXPECT THAT JUST BECAUSE THEIR PREQUEL WAS GOOD THEIR SEQUEL WILL BE JUST AS GOOD ! IT IS NOT EVER!! TO LATE TO BUY A GAME A LITTLE BIT LATER TIL THE WORD GETS AROUND WITH PEOPLE SAYING THE GAME IS EITHER GOOD OR BAD !! ..have a little patience for the sake of all the gamers out there.

They couldn't even develop their dumbed down game properly for an entire platform. Sloppy ass LAG .

Well.. I'm not supposed to preorder a game that's already out. Or was it games in general?

I didn't pre-order the game, nor did I really pay any attention to the hype.

I have other things to do than just look at interviews, but honestly, can you blame them?

if you made skyrim, wouldn't you tell everyone it was the best game ever and honestly think it was?

Good advice, if not the most cogent of posts.

I'll add my two cents as well: Ignore hype.

i did not buy into the hype too much, I kinda was depending on modders from the get go. I could kind of tell that the game has been really hurt by consoles. But it is like the only open world fantasy game with modding potential out there.

Good advice indeed.

In addition to the TES series I like the WWE games (don't judge me) but year after year they've been declining. In much the same really as this series (graphics over content). The difference is Bethesda will streamline aspects of their games into Oblivion (tee hee) but still have artistic integrity, so with the tools they leave themselves will make the best game possible.

LOL!

They defiantly flooded us with info. :/sarcasm

I like the fact that you are saying it like Skyrim flopped and we're all idiots for buying it. Well, I'm the one having loads of fun with that game, and you're the one bickering. Who is the real winner here?

Good advice indeed!

amen brother. hype is what makes us gamers so exploitable as a market. i can guarantee you just announcing another TES game will garner a ridiculous number of pre-orders, maybe even more than skyrim got... just from an announcement. it really is our fault this whole pre-order bonus nonsense and yearly sequels thing got out of hand: when you can outsell your last game with pre-orders before anyone has even played it, what incentive is their to improve it?

im switching over to digital distribution so i dont have to worry about pre-ordering at all... once i can afford my new PC at least (curse you american job market!). i might miss the bonuses, but f**k it, the bonuses only get more and more substantial the more we but into that crap.

and not that im condoning it in ANY way WHATSOEVER .... but there are ways to get those pre order bonuses without pre ordering.

you're missing the point, sir.
i never said the game was crap. I love skyrim. but i just think they allocated their resources way too much in hyping.

Baldur's Gate 2 and Gothic 2 would like to have a word with you.

Enough time has passed where "gamers" are making up a significant segment of society as voters. What you really need to do is get legislation passed that will hold game developers to the same "lemon" laws that exist for other products. In other words, releasing a game with bugs is standard fair. There is no way to catch everything. It's very hard to predict how consumers will actually use a product. However, releasing a game that is loaded with problems that interrupt game play beyond normal expectations should be held to the same consequences as releasing a faulty baby car seat -- where said manufacturer is forced to recall the product, refund consumer's full cost, and not release the product until it is actually stable. Stable is different than bug free.

Would you rather them release no information at all? I don't that would work out so well.

We were sort of subjected to a media blackout from announcement up until later in the year. And even then there was a miniscule amount of info being given.

Bethesda is a company.
Companies exist to make money.
Advertising means more money.

It worked.

Also, it's better for them to soften the blow by saying so and so feature is taken out. Rather then people buying the new TES game and flooding the forums for all the stuff they didn't know.

Skyrim is a good game that needed about a year more development than it got. It's better than an un-modded version of Oblivion(other than in the bug department).

Are you serious? While this game did get alot of advetizing it's also an amazing game that has a very immersive world.

Too many features in a TES game with it's large open world and unique features. Like the other night I was playing Deus Ex Human revolution standing in an office and found it funny that I can only interact with like 2 objects. In TES games I can literally move any object (bottles, cups etc) open every shelf, etc.

Even another year peeps would be griping why such and such was left out. This is why most RPG companies prefer linear point A to point B content.

Money is not a commodity that guarantees results. You don't just need more money to make a game better, you need better developers and programmers. Throwing more money at them will not make the game better. Hiring more people will not necessarily make the game better.



Here's the thing: I don't trust the opinions of the majority of gamers. I knew that I would like Skyrim even if it was just a carbon copy of Oblivion in a new setting. Don't tell me or anyone else what to do just because you have unrealistic expectations of a company that makes videogames. Your sage advice is only sage advice for you.

Strange. I recall quite a few posts complaining about the lack of information, screenshots, and information updates of any kind. People predicting that no new information would be released until after certain events.

I seem to have missed the non-stop hype. YMMV, of course.