I needed the tutorial in Oblivion since it was my first TES game. It should be skippable for people that want to, but I liked how it was comprehensive.

How about a tutorial that's not just attacking a couple of rats? There's dragons and a civil war this time right? How about have the game start you in a town that's under attack and you have to fight your way out?

While I understand how important the tutorials are for the story, I do actually wish that they were shorter, or skip-able. It irritated me how when ever I'd start a new game in Oblivion, it took forever to get through everything. I suppose they could do something to increase the replayability of it. Personally short and simple would be nice to, like in Morrowind

You shouldn't have to cheat the game into skipping the tutorial.

Morrowind had pretty much No tutorial, I wouldn't mind a long turtorial if it was well done, Fallout 3's was probably the best I have seen

I think the Skyrim's beginning sounds like there's not much of tutorial, But I can be completely wrong.

I find the tutorial kind of intergral to TES. It wasn't that bad in Morrowind. It was kind of length in Oblivion, but I was excited as s4!+ running through the tunnels under the prison for the first time with Uriel and his Blades.

This. I don't get the problem with Oblivion's tutorial. With a save right before you exit the sewers, you don't have to play it ever again, while still having all the options of character creation.

Oblivion's tutorial in a way was skippable. Just before you exit the sewers the character gen screen comes up, so I made a save right there so that I could skip the tutorial. Therefore, I don't care how long or short the tutorial is, as long as I can save and create a new character at the end of the tutorial, like it was in Oblivion.

I don't ( or would'nt ) mind a long tutorial i skyrim ,if it's interesting.
They have changed the menu,they have changed combat and other things,so a tutorial will guide you through the new changes.
I will say however.....once you've done it once or twice it should be skipable.
Yes you can read a manual,but if the tutorial is interesting and fun,well.....i would rather do that.
I did'nt mind morrowinds or oblivions both were ok for me.Oblivions would let you chose your stuff again without the tutorial ( which was to save the game at the sewer exit to the open world ).
I personally had no problem with that.

morrowind style shorty mic shorty pants tutorials

A good tutorial, but more spread out, so instead of condensed and in one hit at the beginning. So perhaps the first 2 quests in the main questline gives us small tutorials(Perhaps Esbern teaching us) so then it seems more fluid and not so much in your face.

Oblivion or at least fallout automatically makes a hard save at the end of the tutorial. So you never have to do it more than once.
Only reason to use a mod with alternate start is roleplay reason, some people do not want their paladin to start in jail.

Like in Oblivion, every intelligent player who didn't wish to replay the tutorial would just reload the save after the tutorial where you can change everything about your character one last time. Bethesda has thought about all of this, it's just some ppl not paying attention.

Skipable, after completing it fully the first time playing.

Honestly I disliked how Oblivions Tutorial practically FORCED you into the Main Quest. Also it's sheer length was off-putting. I much prefered the Morrowind style "here's how stuff works; Go!". There was a hint of the Main Quest but it was presented in a manner which didn't feel rushed. In Morrowind I had no problem taking my time and doing what I wanted and then getting around to the package in my own time (or the option to dump it and forget about it), whereas in Oblivion I felt like I had to do some of the Main Quest for the situation to make sense.

One smart idea I missed in Oblivion was a tutorial for the mage guild university or perhaps in the different guild halls. Make some potions, then make a couple of spells with different effect and use them, last make an enchanted item.
Don't need it myself but think many novice players would benefit from it.

I'm encouraged that people are struggling to find fault with their preconceptions of Skyrim to the point that they are forced to criticise the length of the tutorial.

Here's an idea for the tutorial:

You get escorted out of the prison by a guard to the top of a mountain. He then shouts in your face (In all caps of course): "READ THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL!" and promptly Sparta kicks you. Short and sweet.

But on a serious note, I think there should just be a skip-able one. A long one for those who need it, and none for those who don't. The problem with the Oblivion tutorial was that even if it was your 10 millionth play-through, you still had to go through the tutorial. I mean, you should know that left-clicking attacks and how to pick a very-easy lock by then. And, even if they don't make it optional, we can always just pop our Mod Tools and make an Alternative Start that allows to Arrive By Ship.

Perhaps do a Gears of War style tutorial... Which way do you want to go?? One way being a tutorial the other going straight into the gameplay. So it flows within the game, and doesn't break away from it.

Ya, isn't that the reason of that last chance character alteration? I hope they have this in Skyrim.

Mass effect 2 is the worst in this regard, a long cinematic you can't skip, followed by a lengthy tutorial.

Not all TES games are like that. Morrowinds tutorial was like 5 minutes long. I want a tutorial like Morrwinds in Skyrim. Short and then it just dumps you into the world.. I loved that.

Starting a new character in Oblivion was quicker than in Morrowind. In Oblivion, you just load the save state before you leave the sewers and it's practically instant. In Morrowind you always had to sit through the tutorial. Unless you're concerned about the few skill increases in the Oblivion tutorial ruining your perfect build, I honestly don't see how Morrowind's opening is better.

EDIT: I mean speed-wise. I actually do prefer Morrowind's feeling of "This is how you move your character. You're on your own now. Bye."

Skipable.

If it's important for the story I don't care about the length, but i don't want all the hints and junk to pop up every freakin' playthrough.