Hey guys,

So I am currently doing a project and it revolves around the question "Has the development of characters in video games affected their sales?". For my research I have to collect data which may or may not be used at a later date. As my question involves sales I would like to know what your own views are on buying a game (Skyrim) and what has influenced your decision on buying the game the most. If you have something you want to say/ it isn't in the poll, please go ahead, every little bit helps towards my research.

I will be doing a similar thread but on other forums, such as Gears of War, to help keep my research spread and not narrowed down to only one game. I will also be using reviewers as a form of research as well.

EDIT: Forgot to say, could you comment with a reason for rating out of ten, cheers.

From this I hope to attain what you consider to be important on buying a game yourself, and what you think makes the most difference, I would greatly appreciate it if you could complete the poll, show this to your friends/ ask them to look, and even posting a comment.

Thanks for taking the time to read this,
regards.

Skyrim's lagging behind other studios on character development. It's still rather difficult to interact with NPCs in an emotional and meaningful way in TES

Still, I love the game for its gameplay.

I can't believe you didn't have any option for enviroment in that poll, that was the biggest impact for me, the graphics wern't the best but the details where astounding, certainly the best landscape I've ever seen in a game, they make great use of lots of rocks on all the mountains making them look rugged and jagged and they added lots of static fog around them and snowy animations across the ground, no other game has done it this well, it was the biggest thing that blew me away with this game.

I agree on that aspect, compared to other TES games, you don't quite feel connected with the characters. Don't get me wrong the game is brilliant, but I felt more of a connection with Martin in Oblivion than with anyone else in Skyrim so far

Thats fair enough. I didn't include it because I was trying to make the options more generic, rather than specific, if you see where I'm coming from. The landscape is much improved, and is more varied, I like that.

1. Other -- A genuine interest as an RPG player on if they managed to improve their formula on making their games and produce a decent aRPG (which, generally, they did when looking back at their two previous titles).
2. PC
3. Gave it a 6 (would've given a 6,5, but it was not an option). It's fun for a time and for what it is, but the issues are too glaring to consider it a "really good" or "remarkable" (aside from the environs, everything just feels bland after the initial impact -- as is custom with Bethesda games -- the quests are repetitive dungeon dives for the most part, most charcters lack chacter and there's generally very little to make me care, to want to help them and do their quests, and the gameplay is the standard generally uninspiring Bethesda gameplay with too much freedom and too little boundaries for the games own good thus causing nothing to really matter), but as said, it's fun for its time and for what it is, a decent timeburner and a showcase that Beth did indeed improve on some aspects. And 6 is plenty a score from me.

Opinions will vary on here, but I'm glad your saying this, because it's good to get both sides of research, to avoid being bias. As you have explained in fair detail what your opinion is, I can help better understand why some people are disappointed/ it hasn't lived up to their expectations. Would you consider this game as one which was "over-hyped"?

1. Other- Bought previous versions of TES games (Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion) therefore, if you are doing market research, you can say that I bought this due to "brand value" since I bought an elderscrolls brand game
2. Own it on PC and 360.
3. Gave it a 9. Probably will go to a 10 with various modes and patching to come.

This.

I was waiting for someone to say that. That is the same as me. If you were new to the TES franchise, which of the given choices would you have picked?

Yea, I would. In fact, even though I don't pay much at all attention to hype, I think I would've appreciated it more if the hype was more subtle and the reviews more honest and down to earth. It's not so much about what I expected (I've learned to keep my hopes and expectations on a decent level, so I wasn't really disappointed with the game) , but what it was painted out (and later failed) to be in the hype one could not escape if browsing gaming sites and forums. It was given way too much credit and too little actual critical evaluation in my opinion.

I am having so many tech problems with the game that I am quitting and waiting for the patch. Really disappointed as I have really looked forward to this game.

i gave it a 10/10 for the sheer beauty of the graphics, and the gameplay and animations are amazing!
i brought it for the xbox 360 by the way....


Forgot to add
The music fits the game well and is also amazing :foodndrink:

Which of these had the biggest impact on your purchase decision?

Other - Enjoyed a previous Elder Scrolls game.

And since you asked this of another person above who had the same reply, I would have picked "Gameplay" if I was new to the series. RPG is my favorite gaming genre and I usually try out anything with good reviews or a lot of buzz.

You know I see something here that reminds me of my own thoughts on games such as these. I was wondering, after nearly 40 hrs of skyrim so far, when does the magic wear off? Not as regards Skyrim itself. Not that at all. But in regards to these huge, open world "sandbox" games in general.

Lets face it. 'Open World' may as well be a synonym for 'fetch quest.' They go hand in hand. Every quest in these worlds revolves around 'go here, get/kill/observe this, and come back.' That, in essence, is an open world game. There is no progression. Quests are not quests. They are errands. You never really feel as if you are getting anywhere - rather, you just retrace ground you have trod numerous times before, looking for the next magical macguffin.

Now, there is something entertaining in this formula to be sure. People love it. It offers a semblance of freedom never known in video games, this 'open world sandbox.' But like the FPS and the Platformer before it, it is a fad. Pretty soon, 'open world' will be the new FPS, and people will tire of playing the prophesied savior who must retrieve numerous magical artifacts for people too lazy to go get them (or pay a team of mercenaries to do so) and they will move on. After all, that is, at the heart of it, all this is. Something new, a fad.

Pretty soon, crossing and recrossing the same old territory time and again, to look at the same cave walls for the 50th time in order to get the next best weapon in order to go get the next best weapon (that repeat is not a typo, but rather a synopsis of open world gaming) will wear people out.

And where will the RPG genre go, once people tire of going over the same old ground time and again for little to no reason?

That's exactly how I find the hype with games. I keep my expectations at a minimum usually, but the forums really do alter your hype-gauge, which is usually changed once you actually get your own hands on experience with the game. But I have to agree, you can't escape the forums, likewise with the game-play video's/interviews etc

Check out the Uncharted series for great selling games that have better story line and character development than most (99%) of movies.

I personally think Uncharted 3 is about a 10 where as Skyrim is a 9.

Hype/history/pedigree

Keep on topic please, I only own an Xbox 360 anyway

gave it an 8 due to other rpgs doing alot more with charecter development and voice acting skyrim has fallen behind in that respect. game was released with far too many bugs to be deemed acceptable, this game shouldve been tested a further 6 months before release and bethesda is getting a reputation for releaseing unfinshed games if it was bug free i wouldve given it a 9. some of the dungeuons are repetetive and maybe too large id prefer smaller more unique dungeons, companions havent been used as effectivly as they could all they seem to be is mobile chests, exploration and game world is impressive but at times it feels more like a lvl up dungeon crawl than an rpg, so in conclusion i would like it to be more rpg less mindless dungeon crawl i dont mind if that means the game would be slightly shorter ....... ps i agree with stratos i think mass effect is also a long way ahead

To me, it's how immersive it is. All of the little factors that svck me into the computer screen and make me feel like I'm THERE. That's what really makes a game to me. Of course, this is probably several of your options at once.

Other, It's an ES game.
8/10

So you mean, your purchase choice is from previous experience from other TES games?

Yep. c: