Ever since i played Oblivion (and morrowind therafter) i pretty much taken it for granted that the elder scrolls is the biggest ship on the horizon for me as far as games on any platform go, i've never really put any thought into why exactly i feel that way, and why all other games seem to fade away in comparison with bethesda's creation.

I'm not a particularly anolytical person (unfortunately) and the only way i can explain this is simply by remembering the effect that these games have had on me, so for example, the overiding feeling of "WOW!!!" that i got when first entering the Chorrol mage's guild, to see these living, breathing characters going about their business, practicing their spells and greeting one another or simply sitting down eating was really quite an amazing experience, it almost felt like i was really there and just about to be let into the mysteries of the magical arts.

I rememember walking through the golden fields and woods of tamriel as the sun was rising to the beautiful music of jeremy soule, or looking up in wonder at the strong walls and balconies of the huge city of Vivec in morrowind, other games have come close, but nothing has really ever beaten these gaming moments for pure escapism, and these are just a couple of examples, the elder scrolls have offered many more.

It is indeed pure escapism, and of course there are many valid arguments as to why escapism this strong may not always be a such a great idea, to stay in touch with our real world is a vital necessity, but for the time that i did spend playing the elder scrolls it left me with the impression that i had witnessed and even been a part of a great work of art, i can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of other games that i could say the same about, and even then the elder scrolls would still be unique.

Is the elder scrolls special to you over other games, and if so why is that? is it the graphics? i don't think it is as most big titles have amazing graphics yet do not manage the immersion that games like Oblivion have, i even have a friend who for years had no interest in games, until i left my xbox and oblivion game at his house, he still swears it's the best game he ever played and he's played many since then, i'm not sure what the ingedients are at all hehe. :biggrin:

Yes, and that is why I'm giving Todd such a hard time. I want Skyrim to be good, I need it to be good.

Yes. I game, and then I play The Elder Scrolls. It's a whole hobby onto itself.

Immersion, and Lore ... That's all.

Everytime I play some kind of RPG, most times I don't like it because it does not feel as TES, even though it shouldn't, since its another franchise, for example Dragon Age or The Witcher or Fallout.
Even though they're good in their own way, It doesn't feel "right".

TES ruined RPG gaming for me ... in a good way.

So when Skyrim got announced I was the happiest boy around, since I'm getting a game I know it feels the way I like.

I don't really like any other games apart from the elder scrolls any more - they all seem so horribly limited. I can still have fun with them - I played a bit of just cause 2 recently, which was definitely fun. But the elder scrolls, that is serious fun - I actually feel I have invested something of myself into the games, as I have chose exactly where to go, what to do, how to do it - it becomes a personalised experience.

Elder Scrolls is big for me cuz I played Morrowind and it was the greatest game I had ever played. It's still the best RPG I have ever played... Now I'm hearing things about Skyrim that scare me... Oh gods, not again... I don't think I can go through it again...

Yes it's more special than other games because it's a world. More or less consistent with each installment, but it's a huge, detailed world that I can explore with a character built from scraps. I love that. And the books. The books are awesome! And the music... man, the music!

The Elder Scrolls are a world, that is living, breathing, and constantly changing. The players all have input on how others feel and experience the game. Loremasters spread understanding of the world, while mod makers enhance the world and make it a better place. With each new iteration we experience a different viewpoint of Tamriel, and with that new viewpoint comes new experiences.

When I can play a game and travel anywhere, and do most anything, with no input from the game telling me what to do, it really does cease to be just a game and enters into the realm of an experience. Its as close to an alternate reality as we can get. When you have as much lore as TES behind your game, its not JUST a game, because all of that is present while you experience it. The lore changes how you view what happens; it adds a new dimension that other games just don't have, because the object of what you're doing is usually so shallow or not explained. Why is Ganondorf so hell bent on taking over Hyrule? I don't know. But ask me why Dagoth Ur does what he does, and I can give you a background so detailed that he could almost be a real person.

No other game series goes into such painful lengths to make what should just be a mass of polygons and isolated experiences into a fleshed out world.

I play video games, but I live The Elder Scrolls.

This indeed.

As well as everything Orzorn said above. ^

I've been playing since late 1996 (maybe early 1997, I remember snow when I first played Daggerfall). This series has been my main series I've played and looked forward to over the last ~15 years. I have no doubt thousands of hours of play time across Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Redguard, and Battlespire. You're damn right it's more special to me than other games.

They certainly are special to me. Definitely my favourite game series.

Most games to me are a fun 8-14 hours, and then that's it, maybe some later replays or having a go at multiplayer, but TES is more than a game, it's an experience, a world, another life. I have done at least 300 hours of Oblivion, probably around 400 or so, and I'm in the middle of another replay right now. One thing, firstly, is how you can play anyone. The game is focused around combat, but how you go about that and what else you do is completely up to you, you can beany race, either gender, any sort of speciality and each character has their own story. And then when you go out into the world, you don't hAVE to do anything particular. I rarely take the amulet to Jauffre in Oblivion, I'll go off and do some sidequests or searching for new stuff. The world is so open and alive, a whole land for you to explore as you please, filled with real people with real lives. And on top of all that, the world is fleshed out with it's own lore and logic, which runs deep.

Of course it is more special, it has Argonians :rock:

I've only really played oblivion, and I have to say that NO game I have ever played surpasses it. There's just so much to do, and all of it is just such high quality gameplay. You really feel like you're in it. You're buying and selling goods. You're getting paid to do quests. You are moving yourself through a great story. Talking to people in a realistic way. It's just an awesome game. That's all there is to it.

I can't think of a single other first-person, open world/open-ended RPG series with real time battles and in-game books containing lore.

currently the only games im looking forward to more than skyrim are Deus Ex Human Resources, Dead Island and Rage and of course no game will ever top minecraft for pure awesomeness...........EVER. its not that i dont like TES games its just that im more attracted to sci-fi than fantasy in general. fallout 3 and new vegas were a hundred times better to me than oblivion was and Stalker was even better than the fallout games. the one exception to that rule is morrowind but that is mostly because it was my first TES game and it was so different from other cliche fantasy games out there. i dont recall playing any other games with such an alien and interesting environment.

I remember being in a music/game store in late 2006, i had already played oblivion and i asked the chap behind the counter if he could recommend any games to me, we went round to the game section and he then almost religously took Oblivion off the shelf, held it up in his hands as if it were a sacred relic, looked me straight in the eye and said "this..... this is a game you NEED to play" i still smile when i remember that, because it's obvious that game has impressed a lot of people myself included, we spent the next half hour talking about Oblivion after i explained i'd already played it, his co-worker kept looking over angrily as he was left to serve all the customers :laugh: thats never happened with any other game before or since.

When I first got Oblivion, the girl in the shop said "Careful, it's addictive." She wasn't lying.
Of course the best thing is Fallout 4 will probably be announced long before I get bored of Skyrim, so that's favourite and second favourite sorted.

:rofl:

Yes, The Elder Scrolls have been the best "do whatever you want, and be whatever kind of character you want" games I've played.
Daggerfall was already great (although my friends were more interested about Doom and Quake at that time), but then Morrowind came and changed things.

And

:foodndrink: When I found Argonians in Daggerfall's demo I was so excited. I knew it was the race I was going to play as in this series.

Pretty much this. There's a reason why grey morality is the best morality and that's because it's how real life works. Every villain is a hero in his own story and good guys sometimes do bad things. As far as heroes go, You, Vivec, and Azura are the biggest [censored]s ever and as far as bad guys go, Dagoth Ur wasn't actually that bad.

As a child that pretty much made the game for me and I've been nostalgic ever since. :shrug:

there came a time in my life when MW was pretty much my "real" world for a couple of months

true story

above and beyond, it's the only series of its kind. It's like playing a PnP RPing game on a console. That makes it the best.

Very special , i really enjoy playing DF and MW since they are both fantastic games . I also enjoyed trashing OB in more than 30 different forums and gaming sites for quite some time , SK one way or the other is going to be very entertaining.

yea its special... it let me escape the real world when i didnt feel like being in it for awhile... i could forget the crap that happened/was going on. (fyi nothing too bad just your normal highschool stuff and then re-adjusting to life after highschool was over)

no other game has really svcked me in like that... i do love other games but its not the same they are just entertainment... oblivion was an escape... (i dont have any other way of explaining it)

TES and Zelda series resonates with me in a different way then other games. I view these games as legendary and I truly believe Skyrim will deliver the goods.

I've been playing the ES series since ES Arena. Morrowind was a big jump going full 3D. If I added up all the hours I played MW I'm sure it would exceed all the hours played on all other games I've played combined.

It is the immersion. Being able to just live in a strange fantasy world. There are some rules in the worlds I don't like (cups don't break, guards are psychic, etc.) but I can live within those rules and still have immersion and a lot of fun.