"Giants are peaceful creatures..." Says the loading screen tips, but I'm starting to think they're out to get me.

Seriously, though, "they won't attack unless threatened"? I could aggravate them by walking nearby their camp (because it's near or on the road) with no weapons drawn and nothing indicating that I will attack their bloody mammoths. Doesn't this go against what that helpful little tip said to me earlier?

Maybe the giants were supposed to be a lot more peaceful, but the Skyrim devs got a kick out of that ridiculous physics bug and decided to make them more hostile to show the gamers some of the best Skyrim has to offer? That's the only real explanation I can come up with; makes no sense why a giant would attack the Dragonborn when he/she has done nothing to offend, but actually trade with farmers without so much as shaking their hand too rough.

I wish you were able interact with them. Ask them of the good ol' days on Atmora and such.

For the same reason that every single damn bear, sabrecat, and wolf out there wants to kill you. I'm frankly surprised that the foxes, deer, and rabbits aren't too.

Giants never attack my characters unless I invade their territory. And I think they have a right to attack if I do that.

Giants leave me alone if I leave them alone. I don't go walking right up to their face, that's all. I show a little restraint, and they reciprocate by showing a little restraint too. Nobody attacks anybody in my games.

The only time I have problems with giants attacking me is when a dragon attacks them and I try to help.

I don't wander that close to giant camps, but when I run into those giants that are walking away from/back to their camp... I don't think they attack you, do they?

But if they're merchants (in a sense), isn't it bad for business to launch every potential customer up to Masser to found a new colony up there? Maybe that is the giant's line of trade.

It doesn't say that :

Giants are generally peaceful creatures, so long as potential threats keep their distance... and leave their mammoths unharmed.

You're a potential threat, regardless of any danger to the big tusked geezers

Oh, right. My mistake, then.

But I could make my character look as helpless as the farmers they haggle with, and they still smash my [censored] to space.

Maybe your game is bugged somehow? Not sure but in my game, I have no problems with them. In fact last night I ran across a giant who's mammoth had died and it was floating in a pool of water. The giant looked so freakin sad!! He just stood there staring at his dead friend. My character walked right up to him then walked around the mammoth to see if she could find out what happened. Finally she left him to grieve and laid a small bunch of tundra cotton on the mammoth. T'was a sad, sad evening.

It could be, I think of Stonehill Bluff (or was it Red Road Pass?) when I think of "travelling to/from Dawnstar, minding my own business, I wonder what kind of crap will happen to me today?". I somehow aggravate the neighboring giants (which their camp is waaay too close to the road for my comfort level to tolerate) just by walking past that camp on the road. Stomping and going ape[censored] at the passerby just because he's within eyesight of them.

They're extremely territorial, which I can understand since they're not exactly on the friendliest terms with other races.

That said, I can name dozens of times I've seen giants save traveling NPCs from dragons, sabre cats, bandits, etc. They're pretty cool guys, as long as you don't intrude on their territory.

I've never really had a problem with Giants. If I keep my distance they never bother me.

How would you like it if some cockroach(the big ones) was in your room scurrying around?

It's their small slice of heaven in a big land, respect their personal space.

They're not so bad.

I'm running a mod that makes dragon fights nigh impossible to fight alone. Without the help from the giant at Steamcrag Camp and my trusty companion, I would have been in combat with the dragon at Bonestrewn Crest for Lord knows how long.

In then end, I left a few cave bear pelts near the chest at the giant's camp as a way of saying thanks.... even if I had to sneak in there to do it!

i've had it when i seen a giant fighting a dragon so i step in to help, i kill the dragon and put away my weapons and the giant helps make my character the next volenteer to nirn's early space program!

but they also don't like it if your too close to any of their camp's (i found that out too easly thanks to an npc who joined me after giving me a quest (i forget which one) and desides to stop me next to a giant's camp to talk to me (the giant didn't like that) and after the npc stopped talking to me the giant sent me into space).

They just want to invite you to their privileged space program.

I'm sure their aggressiveness depends on what level you're playing the game.