I certainly don't think Skyrim is perfect, but I'm hard-pressed to come up with specific complaints and I can't help but laugh at everyone who says they think this game was rushed or that the developers were lazy. For one second, step out of your mindset that everything has to be made perfectly FOR YOU and please appreciate the breadth of what Bethesda has accomplished with this game. Consider the legacy of games from "Adventure" on the Atari 2600 and please reconsider accusing anyone of "laziness" in this game.

Ditto for everyone who wants less story and more open-endedness. You're fully entitled to your opinion about how you like your games, but please don't say the game is "broken" because Bethesda made a distinct choice to put more story in the game.

But here's my moment of appreciation: I play a stealthy ranger Wood Elf with an emphasis on bows with dual-wielding as a back-up. What I like about how the game is shaking out for me is that so long as I can control the battlefield, I feel very powerful. When enemies are in a large but contained space and are not too sharp on detection (Draugrs or bandits in caves, for instance), I can usually take out three or four enemies with four or five arrows without ever being detected. This makes me feel badass.

But then, if the fight gets up close and personal, it starts to feel desperate. For example, I was sneaking through Goldenglow and trying to come up behind a seated guard to backstab him when another guard suddenly came down the hallway. In a flash, three or four guards were on me and I had to backpedal, pull out my sword and dagger, and start slashing to fight my way out. And I barely made it. And I love that!

I think it's great that I can play a stealthy character who's badass with stealth and good (but not great) in a stand-up fight. FWIW, I'm neither min/maxing nor strictly roleplaying. Just kind of wandering all over Skyrim and cleaning up quests as I go. So I just wanted to inject a little praise into the proceedings here.

Forums are always full of negativity because people who are annoyed are more motivated to vent. It is only really a problem when they move from "I don't like X" to "X is objectively bad" with flimsy evidence. But such is life. I just ignore such threads.

Personally it's my favorite game ever in a very long history of gaming.

I love the game myself, the only complaint i can think of is a few quest bugs. as to my favorite aspect probably the deadric quests very well thought out or just stopping and observing the wildlife.

Good to hear there are people enjoying the game as much as me.

This forum needs more of these posts.

Most people like the game. People just complain about complainers.

I just finished handing out 20 leaflets to the good people of Riften in the name of Mara and now release that dispute its issues, I [censored] love this game.

I agree with you 100%. I guess that's why I was able to love Oblivion as much as I did, because I didn't get mad about the fact that the game wasn't made specifically for me, and I adapted even though the game wasn't 100% what I wanted from it.

Yes, in the end, I would say that Oblivion failed to live up to Morrowind's quality, but that's really the worst thing I can say about it. It was an AMAZING game that gave me some incredible roleplay / character moments, and overall just gave me one of the best video game experiences of my life. I had to adapt to the differences, and I did just that instead of complaining about how the game was broken and Bethesda was horrible because my playstyle was eliminated (via Enchant being removed as a skill, and needing to reach a certain point in the Mage's Guild to get to it). I adapted, and to be perfectly honest, probably developed a better character than I ever had in Morrowind.

I feel the same way about Skyrim, except the difference is, I feel that Skyrim actually does it better than Morrowind. I feel the Perks system gives me way more customization, and choice over my character's development, and roleplay opportunities than Morrowind did. Morrowind may have more skills in number, but that number is bloated by 6 or 7 combat skills, and 4 armor skills. Perks make up for most of the skills that were lost (within One Hand or Two Hand, you can still perk and specialize in swords, axes, or blunt weapons, for example. Hand to Hand and Unarmored also have perks to make them viable, even without a full on skill tree), and the ones that aren't replaced in perks are typically still in the game (I.E.: Mysticism wasn't removed - it's spells can still be found in Alteration and Conjuration).

There are certainly things that Skyrim can do better, but as far as I'm concerned, it's the best Elder Scrolls game yet.

As far as the point of the thread - "A moment of appreciation" - I still appreciate my second day playing the game. I had just been named the Thane of Whiterun, and Lydia appointed as my housecarl. I had heard talk of the College of Winterhold, and since my character was partial to the arcane arts, I decided to check it out. So with Lydia accompanying me, we hopped in the carriage to Winterhold, and checked it out. I did some work for the College, and decided that it was time to head on back to Whiterun. So I grabbed Lydia from the Inn where we were staying, and she sat waiting for me, and we decided to head out. It was around this time that I realized that the carriage service didn't work out of Winterhold, so it was time to make the long trek. So we embarked on our journey, through the snow covered mountains.

It was on our way out where we met the Old Orc, an old Orc warrior who had outlived his prime, and wanted to die an honorable death while he still had a little something left in the tank. Thadious was faced with a moral dilemma: Do I kill this Orc? It's wrong to kill. But - he wants to die, and he wants to die honorably. Wouldn't I be giving this Orc some dignity by allowing him to die with the honor that he so seeks? So reluctantly, Thadious decided to give this Orc the honorable death he was searching for. With a heavy heart, Thadious went on his way.

A little further down the road, he was approached by a man who seemed to be a fugitive. The man asked Thadious to hold something for him. Thadious was suspicious, but cooperated. The fugitive ran off into the snow, and began to hide, as a bounty hunter approached Thadious asking him if he had encountered the fugitive. Thadious again was conflicted, being a man of honor and justice. But he decided to keep his word to the fugitive and not sell him out, but he did hand over the dagger that the fugitive had given to him. The bounty hunter then began seeking out the fugitive, and quickly found him, slaying him. Thadious watched as this happened, helpless to stop it, feeling a sense of guilt, not intending to get a man killed. But needless to say, what was done was done, and couldn't be undone. There was no time to dwell on the past.

Thadious pressed on, with Lydia in tow, this time taking a turn towards a path that led up into the snowy peaks. And that's when he heard it... The screech of the dragon. There wasn't much direction for Thadious to go, the snowy mountains surrounded him on either side. He was going to have to face this beast. He watched helplessly as the beast breathed fire upon his companion. Thadious could only try to heal Lydia, but the dragon was so powerful. He watched as Lydia fell. He thought he had lost her. Thadious began to run, and headed out of the narrow confines that restricted his strategic capabilities. As he returned to open land, the dragon swooped down to land. Finally, Thadious was able to meet this beast face to face. After a fierce battle, Thadious ended the beast's life, and absorbed it's soul. He began to walk back down the mountainous pathway, and met up with Lydia. She had survived the attack!

Happy to see this, they proceeded. The path branched off, and they chose their direction, a direction that led them up... up! Thadious found a beautiful shrine, and approached it. A voice began to speak to him. It was the voice of Azura. He had stumbled upon Azura's Shrine, and the Daedra spoke to him directly. He had been given a task by the Daedric Prince, and he left, with a new objective to complete.

The path led him to a word wall, defended by a second dragon. This dragon Thadious slew a bit easier than the first, and the duo proceeded.

It was getting dark, the travelers were getting tired, and just their luck, they stumbled upon an inn towards the base of the mountain. Here they stayed for the night, to regain their strength. They would continue their journey in the morning.

After awaking, and continuing their journey, they made their way through Rorikstead. After some time spent in the small village, they made their way through the open valleys and back to Whiterun, finally safe, and secure.

^^^ And it was this experience that made me realize this game was at least just as good as Morrowind, but probably even better. Unlike Oblivion, I once again had the sense of being lost in a harsh and hostile land. I had the immersion of actually journeying through a foreign land, and facing the dangers along the way. And the beautiful part was that this experience was just the first of many.

I really love the game. The only complaints I have so far could be fixed with mods. Bethesda has made a great product and I am thankful for it.

I love the game myself - of course it's not perfect - the quests aren't particularly great, but I've encountered a number of good ones - the hand-crafted world is amazing, and there's so many nice touches to the game... I think they should be proud of their work. Can't wait to see what DLC they make - hopefully we'll get some decent sized ones like the Tribunal/Bloodmoon and Shivering Isles...

They need more assurance than my $60 + your $60 + $60 * million plus sold? No thanks.

No complaints about the game. I did notice in the past 3 years, the number of whiny [censored]es has pretty much doubled, which is why most game developers are switching to surveys and ignoring forums. lol :batman: