Think back now, if you will, long ago (or maybe fairly recently) to the very first time you booted up Skyrim.

You have a totally black screen. The music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn2XD42R5DE starts up and soon you see "S-K-Y-R-I-M" across your screen. Then the light fades in and you see Ralof (or just a blonde guy) sitting opposite you in what appears to be a wagon. You are able to move your camera about, a little bit. You look at the tall mountains that surrounds the path the wagon is on. Then Ralof starts to talk with you, "Hey. You're finally awake."

As you look about the other characters in the wagon with you talk a bit. You learn that Lokir is from Rorickstead and is a horse thief. The guy sitting next to you (with a gag in his mouth) is Ulfric, the leader of some kind of rebellion. This sets Lokir off on a rant and he starts praying to The Divines.

Then Ralof identifies the town you are heading into as Helgen. Finally, the wagon stops. What you see in front of you is a large tower with a big man wielding an axe and wearing a hood. Soon, you're out of the wagon and waiting to be called to the chopping block.

What did you think of that first encounter with Skyrim?

Was it enjoyable?

Did you fight the character restrictions imposed on you? (No moving at all, but your head.)

Did you keep thinking, "OK. When do I get to create my character? Is there a way to escape out of this cut scene?"

Did you follow the "tutorial prompts" and look around when it said to?

Did you sit back and watch like a movie?

I realize many players (on PC) have modded that whole intro out, but try to think back to that very first time and share what your thoughts were about the experience as a whole: Good, Bad, Ugly, or Indifferent.

Thanks for sharing

No i was in awe taking in all the scenery.

I love the intro but I hate the second sentence Ralof says. I want to have a character go through the intro again but I use alternative start so I can... have an alternative start. I know there is a caught crossing the border option but I don't like "caught crossing the border."

Edit: I think in a few pages this might turn into a silly debate about certain NPCs.

At first, I thought the intro was...meh. Compared to Oblivion, if you let the cutscene run without skipping to the character creaction, this one wasn't as epic and awesome. Felt a little disappointed.

When Ralof started speaking, I looked around, observing the people in the cart in front of mine, the rider behind us. We're on a long, windy path, cool. The guy gagged looks pissed. When Ralof began talking to the others, I swiveled back and forth to each speaker. Once I learned that Lokir had stolen that horse, I thought, "Oh! He's going to be important, I'm sure!" As in, he and I would escape together to his village (he *did* specify where he came from.) Ralof then reveals that the gagged guy is Ulfric Stormcloak, but that didn't explain why he was gagged.

Ralof soon began dropping bits like the Thalmor, how he used to be sweet on a girl from Helgen. Nice exposition from him, it really set the mood on how much things had changed since the time of Oblivion.

Imagine my shock to learn that Lokir would die prior to thhe character creation, so that was a bummer.

Personally, I thought the whole tutorial was long. It takes a while to get to the character creation, and it takes a while to get your character actually moving.

Excitement!

I immediately started looking around. I liked the scenery and couldn't wait to be set loose in the world. It's not that I didn't like the cutscene, it was okay, it just didn't move me too much. Being led to the chopping block isn't scary when you are 100% sure you're going to escape. And that guy stupidly running off and getting an arrow in the back wasn't the best first impression of 'proud and brave' Nords.

I was also desperately trying to fit crossing the border into my backstory.

edit: Oh, and I liked Ralof reminiscing about a girl. It was a nice way to set the mood.

I enjoyed it, but I had spoiled myself with some vids released on YouTube, so I knew it was coming.

Sometimes now when I have a nice Role-Play planned out I let the game start at the beginning, as opposed to loading that auto-save where you select your race.

I got the game a day early, my Finnish friends told me that I was a "lucky bastard."

I was trying my absolute best to listen to what the characters were saying, and understand the story. I was paying more attention to that than the scenery.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect, beyond "dragons, awesome, pretty!" so I really enjoyed the intro, it gave a bit of a flavour of the world without too much exposition. I got super-confused once I was trying to make my way to the keep, though, kept jumping slightly wrongly and not being able to find my way through the smashed-up inn.

All I could think was "how the hell did the executioner die? That's... kinda lazy."

What, was Alduin's Meteor Storm shout so powerful it just caused him to surrender his life force? Why didn't Ulfric or Tullius drop dead as well? Or you? Laaame. I would have liked it if he survived, and you could talk to him later and either kill him, or have him as a follower.

Random thoughts that crossed my mind:

"Wow, this game looks good!"

"Ok, so that blonde guy is supposed to be our guide... Those are really ridiculously big arms."

"Hey, why is my head moving in the wrong direction?" (I hadn't been gaming in quite a while - and never much on the PS3 - and had forgotten that I need to invert the controller or else I just run into walls and stuff. It took me half the intro to realize. )

"Oh, look at those red berries!"

"Wonder how that gagged guy looks without the gag... And I wonder if we are supposed to rescue him, if that's our main mission?"

Then I made a Khajiit, saved and quit.

A few days later, I started all over again and made a Breton.

After Alduin's attack I spent half the intro running into walls and yelling angrily until my husband pointed out that I could invert the controller...

And after that, I kept running around like a drunk chicken, trying to avoid to become dragon snack, completely missed the existence of Hadvar, but finally managed to enter the keep and follow Ralof out of there.

The rest is history.

That was my very first moment in any ES game. I had chills and goosebumps. I honestly didn't know what was going to happen or expect.

memory is a little foggy looking that far back. But...

I remember thinking to myself "wow, this is really great looking graphics!" (PS3 player at the time) and I was comparing it to games like Dragon Age and oblivion. I think I was looking around long before I was told I could. Up at the sky, down, around. I probably tried to move but realized I couldn't. I think I was so engrossed in looking around that it was not until another start that I noticed Tullius and Elenwen.

All this time though I am wondering what I look like and who am I. When do I get to create "myself" heh.

Of course we all get unloaded off the cart and Hadvar starts asking me who I am. I get the chose race menu and I must have stared at it for 30 mins. "I don't know who I am!" lol Eventually chose a female dunmer with red hair.

In the chaos that followed I never knew you could pick Ralof or Hadvar. And since Hadvar said stick close... I did lol. Lost track of him outside the cave when I paused to look again at all the pretty flowers and the fact there was a noticeable time scale. Hadvar gave up waiting and ran off. So it was not until another play through of mine did I realize there was "home coming" dialog with who ever you follow and their family.

Well, I came to Skyrim with very few expectations for what would happen when I loaded it up; I had a vague concept that dragons are involved and people get shot in the knee, but I didn't have much beyond that.

I quite liked the wagon introduction; it was the first time I discovered that the Skyrim world was a semi-medieval one, still using horse drawn carts as a means of transport. I had no clue how any of the controls would work, so yes I did follow the prompts ... although after I figured out how to look around I spent quite some time marvelling at the scenery. I remember being a bit confused that I couldn't see myself (third person shooters had been my 'thing' up until this time) but when it got to character creation (another new concept for me in a game) that became clear - obviously you can't be shown a character whose parameters are as yet undefined.

Generally, I'm quite fond of the idea of starting the game as a prisoner and IMO the game does a good job of setting it up so that your arrest can be considered an accident (how sympathetic Hadvar is, for example; if you were actually a mass murderer of his fellow Imperials I doubt he'd be like that.) Although of course there is always that question of, 'Was it really accidental?' - I think that gives your background a lot of flexibility. And it also gives you the chance to change it down the line, which is something I found I quite like about Skyrim; almost a "You remember I told you about my 'accidental' arrest? Well, I'll confess, I really DID kill those guards ... and now I'm going to do it again!" type reveal.

Overall, a thumbs up from me for the introduction. Gave you what you needed to know without bogging you down with a full-on tutorial level, with a bit of intrigue as well.

Yeah that first time at the character creation screen was crazy. I think I spent a good 2 hours at least deciding on a race and appearance. Eventually settled on a Redguard with dreads.

I didn't like it. Scripted, cinematic intros just don't belong in TES games. I don't like feeling railroaded into questlines right from the start, and I certainly don't enjoy going through such a long intro again and again every time I make a new character (thank god for mods!). I wish the devolopers would stop pushing so hard for a more cinematic experience. That's just not what the series is supposed to be about. I also don't think a simple and intuitive game like Skyrim needs a tutorial of any kind. Just throw players into the world and let them have at it.

I still can't figure out why the game does make so much of Lokir and Rorikstead. Unless it's to show you what a cruel world Skyrim is, get you attached to him and rooting for him to go back to his nice home in Rorikstead ... but oh dear, he dies.

I wish there was a quest to take news of Lokir's death back to his loved ones in Rorikstead. When you get there, it's like Lokir was never there...

For me that scene was just...awesome. It was my first elder scrolls game, and the moment I saw that scene I had a GameGasm. Also seeing as it was my first Open-World game I spent the first 15 minutes picking everything up.

Liked it the first time and still like it with each subsequent character. Have only seen it 6 times with the 6 characters I have played (don't suffer from restartitiis) and always enjoy it. I think it sets the scene well for the game and is nicely done.

I was impressed with the way the Game looked as My character rode the Wagon to Helgen, and I had to pan around and enjoy the scenery after trying to move. I had the Magic broken during character creation by blocky noses

It sets up what the narrative of the game is going to be like, heavily scripted and linear. It's a terrible beginning for an TES game. I liked it when I first got the game but hate it more and more as time passes on.

Don't remember much. I think I just sat back and watched the opening like a movie, but I was mostly thinking about the kind of character I would make. I kinda liked the tutorial, but I was slightly annoyed that it didn't really end after leaving the cave. About 15 minutes out of it I got that stupid low stamina/health prompt that you can't turn off telling me things I already know.

I do remember some of my original thoughts on the setting though.

"Wait, whose this Stormcrack guy? Rebellion? What? Oh, you asshats! It's your fault I'm here, isn't it?"

"Holy [censored], Emperor Titus Mede II? Didn't the empire end in the last game? And what's this about Eight Divines? Well, it's been 200 years since then, I guess it would make sense for religion to change like that. Besides, wasn't it "Eight and One" or some crap like that? I guess they decided to drop the "One"."

"Ugh. Why does my character look so wrinkly? I hate this so much."

"Wow! Such scripted cutscene. So cinematic. Wow! Much excitement. Wow!" :eyeroll:

"Get me out of here, hunky Imperial Soldier guy. You're the only one I can trust. :blush:"

I thought why my cart didn't glitch out as in many people's videos on YT. I guess my console version has always been very stable. I still believe that each copy has a different rate of stability in terms of lag, crashes, glitches, ec. The best moment for me is when I approached Lake Ilinalta. It looked incredibly gorgeous and unbelievable for the current generation. Or at least for my standard.

It's a little different if you are new to TES.

My first thought was "A carriage... this seems to be a medieval-ish setting" and "I wonder what the gameplay is gonna be like"

Then "This Ralof guy is quite friendly"

And when he started talking about Imperial walls and towers, my reaction was the same as Serana's. "Empire? what Empire?"

I also ignored Ulfric completely, and the whole talk of Thalmor and Stormcloaks just sailed over my head.

When it was time to go inside the keep, I went with Hadvar simply because I didn't notice there was another option. He said "Still alive prisoner? Follow me if you want to stay that way", so I... did.

It was enjoyable the first time. After that, not so much.