Does anybody else feel the increased marketing campaigns were negatively affecting the quality of Oblivion and Skyrim? I do not know how much hype went into Daggerfall or Morrowind; I only got TES3 late in 2002 after seeing the trailer once and looking at the official site back then. I found Morrowind enthralling as it was, with no particular prior expectations.

But I remember the hype for Oblivion. And while I tried to avoid it with Skyrim, some of it got through because no one would shut up about it after the media brainwashing. This is one of the reasons why I am extremely critical of the flaws in those two games.....they did not warrant the level of media attention, not when it felt like a step-backwards from Morrowind's charm points. And I don't need to remind you of 11/11/11.

I don't think it is just Zenimax/Bethesda either. I've heard EA and Activision have spent an incomprehensible amount of money on their total marketing budgets. It especially bothers me when games use elaborate outsourced CG shorts or celebrity endorsemants for marketing. It makes no sense to me at all; buying advertising space on gaming magazines or websites is one thing, but all this starting to look like propaganda campaigns by the publishing companies. No wonder so many studios went out of business.