I was just wondering because throughout my play of Morrowind and Oblivion I've never wanted to start over so much. I have yet to play through the main quest, I've divided some guild quests among my characters and I already have around 4 characters about level 30 and I'm thinking about two or three more that I could do. So does the new perk system add to the replay value?

Let the flame wars begin!

My answer is probably going to be the tinder that starts the flame war, but...

It's not adding to my first playthrough, so it certainly isn't going to help with my second. Therefore, no.

That's OK, flame wars are the lifeblood of the forums!

*Prepares for some serious flame-war with heavy insults etc*

It does......................... Compared to having nothing.

Yes, instead of the battlemage I made in oblivion I'm doing a nightblade and a Mage as my second. As well as starting a two handed heavy armor tank in a week or two.

The answer you seek OP is this:

Go through the perks. See if they are interesting/important/etc etc.
Imo some are, some are not.

Some invite new builds, or flesh out build types. But a majority in my eyes do very little than effect a damage variable in one way. The perks from the different armors or one/two handed skills, are not very different. A fourth of the magic perks are just what skill raises in the school did before. There are some unique perks that add a new aspect of game play, but not as many as Id hoped for.

I also got this theory that it's only because the first 25-30 levels the game is actually challenging on master. Could be that. Yeah a lot of perks that svck but I still think the game is fun for the most park, if it were more like Oblivion or Morrowind I would probably never stop playing and I'd call my xbox that Elder Scrolls machine.

No.

And here is why not.
More than half of the so called 'perks' should have been governed by skill in the first place.
Gimmicks never enhance shelflife, they are there to detract from flaws.

The Fallout 3 perks were great! These... not so much.
I actually wish we had VATS in Skyrim so I can stop blowing up Lydia (accidentally).

Yes it adds to replayability. It makes skills feel more earned in a noticeable way. It makes developing a character feel more fleshed out and true to the players image of what they want. Playing a Nord warrior i actually feel more immersed in the roleplaying then in previous Elder Scrolls rpgs. In a way the character creation and growth process reminds me of TES 1 ARENA for some unknown reason. Deceptive in its simple appearance with alot of details underneath for anyone who looks under the hood.

I think skyrim and perks were their first crack at a good idea, I still got faith in the next one to blow this one, and every other one out of the water. Optimistic thinking to say the least.

I think it can add to replay value because you cannot get all perks.

But then again, the perks are not "unique" enough to have a different gameplay.

What's the difference between all perks in one-handed skill and two-handed skill? Both of them seem to do similar things. Axes cause more bleeding, swords have more critical damage, maces ignore armor. Backwards power attack can paralyze. Two-handed weapons just do more damage. They should have added perks unique to one-handed and two-handed weapons.

What's the difference between light armor and heavy armor perks? Both of them have perks that can completely negate armor weight. Heavy armor can be as weightless as light armor.
Light armor, through unbalanced enchanting/alchemy/blacksmithing, can reach armor cap like heavy armor. So they are about the same, there is almost no difference. This is why there should be balance in the game, otherwise it breaks immersion.

Now the sneak tree is very unique. Your entire playstyle revolves around one-shotting people most of the time, but requires that you remain undetected. But they should have made your sneak attack multiplier bigger the higher your sneak skill is.

The block tree is also very cool. The last perk, which can stun people if you run into people with your shield raised, sounds very cool. Block can also reduce magic damage.

The key to replay-ability here is that you cannot do everything on your first try, and there must be a different enough play-style to warrant replaying. But unfortunately, imbalances are threatening it.