Ok so I was looking at the Skyrim map. http://skyrimguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Skyrim-map.png

And I thought to myself, if Skyrim is about the size of Oblivion is that enough space to pull off what Bethesda are trying to do?

In Oblivion I did realize it was big, but I never got the feeling that walking from kvatch to the imperial city, or other combinations was really a huge journey.

In Morrowind I actually really feel like the game is big and its a long journey to get from one town to another.

So saying Skyrim will have 9 holds with different environments means that each different environment should have a substantial amount of space. For example, I want Fall Forest to feel pretty big before I get to Pine Forest.

But sadly I really didnt get that from the size of Oblivion.

I really want you guys to be truthful and honest, do you think the size of Oblivion can pull off the feeling that Skyrim is trying to bring?

Supposedly everything is scaled differently because of the mountains and that in turn makes everything feel bigger.
IMHO Oblivion felt kind of empty. Skyrim is much more detailed and there is a lot more on the way to take in. I personally think that if Beth does it right, which is what they have shown so far, the feeling Skyrim is supposed to convey will portray just fine

Just how many threads do you start man?

I'm confident it will feel very, very big. Especially given how packed its supposedly going to be, there should be plenty to keep us going, and getting us sidetracked en-route to a town.

They talked about this somewhere. How Morrowind feels bigger even though it isn't actually bigger, this seems to be because you have to traverse around things to get places. This will be the same in Skyrim as you will have to traverse in, around and over mountains, thus making journeys seem longer. I think Bethesda actually said somehwere its about the same size as Oblivion but it will and does feel much bigger.

Exactly.

That map doesn't look acuret, the in game map I saw had riverwood more to the east.

It's about as big as if the Imperial City were the very bottom and Cloud Temple was the top of the map.

True, in fallout 3 the more things on the way somewhere meant the more times I had to stop, and in turn the bigger the game seemed.

huh? what makes you say that? all indications suggest that your are wrong... if thats what your suggesting... that skyrim's map size will only be as big as the distance from the imperial city to cloud ruler temple....

I think it could stand to be a bit bigger.

I really have no limit, whatever comes to mind I express it or I might forget it.

Yes, because Morrowind proves it can be done. And that world was even quite a lot smaller than Oblivion's.

For TES V, I think it'll be big enough. As others have said, it will almost certainly feel a lot bigger than Oblivion, even if the gameworld is about the same size. The only thing that worries me slightly is that the scale will feel unnatural and cramped because of all the stuff they're trying to shove into the game. Journalists have noted this as an issue, and they only tried the game for an hour.

For future TES games, i'd definitely like to see them up the scale by a minimum of x2. The key is getting the balance right between random generation and hand-crafted design.

Same here. It wouldn't have to be much, but at least a bit. Say like, 20-30% bigger, with things more spread out.
A cramped up world with ridiculous scales is not very good world design.

MW felt bigger in the beginning because you were often a bit channelized into where you could move. Oblivion was bigger, but had none of this channelizing going on. Skyrim being extremely mountainous, is definitely going to show more signs of this. Meaning that it will take you some time to get from A to B if they are at different altitudes, but short apart on the map. So the z axis is better utilized.

So Oblivion was extremely crowded and felt really bad because you could get to anything without hazzle. Skyrim will have the same crowdedness, but getting there will take time.

Still, Skyrim being a place of grand mountains - I just can't believe how they're gonna pull it off in such a tiny tiny world space. At approx 6.4x6.4 km (42km2), how much mountain could you really fit in there? So to me, it's gonna feel awkward and anything but realistic.

No athletics skill, heavy armour, mountains everywhere, pretty sure getting from one side of the map to the other is going to feel like quite the trek.
And what was up in the mountains in OB? One shrine, a few camps, and the occasional gate. Crossing mountains should at least provide some interesting diversions this time around.

I feel that Oblivion should have been bigger. That way, buying a horse actually means something. Most of the time, running was almost just as fast.

And I want that feeling of surprise of finding something in a vast landscape. Or finally arriving at your destination after a LONG trek through the wilderness. Oh well, that's probably never gonna happen, too much work for the developers, and not enough 'gamers' who want to put that amount of time into the game.

I think the size will be fine, particularly if (as they say) the world is more densely packed with features. It should make journeys more interesting.

I may just avoid the temptation of using fast travel this time around.

That actually makes things worse. A small world packed with lots of things means an incredibly cramped up world, with ridiculous scales.
In short, it means really really bad world design.

Let's face it, if they said from the start it was 20% bigger than Oblivion, the initial YES!s would still have been snowed under by the likes of "20% bigger is alright, but I think 50% bigger at least is necessary".

well remember, you actually do not move that fast this time around, and 20% bigger is more than you may think. in OB we were floating around everywhere at like 40 MPH, and now we are far more connected to the environment. also, roads were just superfluous because the land was so flat, roads just slowed you down. with all of the mountains, you may be almost forced to take the same roads. try taking roads to cities to see what i am talking about, for instance walking from Waynon Priory to Kvach travelling on roads, it takes forever.

More like, " IT NEEDS TO BE THE SIZE OF DAGGERFALL!!!1!"

it would be better if it was biggerr, but I guess they put lots of effort into the other stuff. They have put a lot of content into it though, more condensed than oblivion

I am worried about it being to cramped in. Obviously it is good to have loads of points of interest (dungeons, forts, houses, statues etc) but to find sometihng every 30 seconds would be stupid. I like there to be some open space with not much else to see other than trees and I quite liked that in Oblivion.

I'm not saying I want the game world to have less in it but I would prefer the game world to increase in size to accomodate everything, without feeling completely suffocated by it all. Still how I am imagining it in my head probalby isn't that bad in reality and I think Bethesda would have already realised this concern of game world size in ratio to what's in it.

bigger =/= better, unfortunately. Id rather have the current land size packed full of content than a bigger landmass that's relatively empty.