As the title says, why the 5 years in development?

Even splitting their efforts between TES and Fallout, they have a much larger staff, and i find it difficult to imagine that there would have been a year or two with no work going into Skyrim. So why so long this time?

I imagine the simplest answer would be that developing their new Creation engine would screw around with schedules.

Did you ever think they just didn't start making the game up until that point?

No, they didn't start til they finished Fallout.

They had a small team working on the dragons, solely, before they really started anything else :shrug:...

They didn't start development until after Fallout 3, so it's only about three years

They said they were wanting to wait for the next generation of console systems but that didn't happen...

... they waited and waited as the XBOX and PS3 grew old... until they couldn't wait any more.

You're complaining about Bethesda taking it's time and making the game the best they can, so it's better than ever before?

I've seen it all.

So its good.

It was during FO3 too they were just jotting down some stuff for Skyrim, then after FO3 they started hitting the hardware

That's not very nice.

You don't have to be complaining to wonder why something is in the world.

I'm not complaining when I wonder why humans live so long in comparison to other animals.

Let me put it this way, would you have rather had something else? Or do you like what you've got coming to you now?

If they didn't have the delay that they had the very well might have came out with squids as the major enemy instead of our current scaly friends flying high above.

All in all, I really don't mind the delay myself, more advancement in technology now opposed to what it could have been a few years back leads to a better game in my opinion.

Quality.

Just saying, why even ask about it. If they're spending 5 years on a game, the general idea I get is "Oh, they're taking their time, doing it right, and perfecting everything."

'It'll be done when it's done' as some people like to say. If it takes them 5 years, awesome. If it takes them 7 years..... I'll have to freeze myself, but still awesome.

I believe they started pre-production during the development of Fallout 3.

While they hadn't started actually developing the game, I'll bet they had the story finished. And probably a whole lot of ideas and maybe some "prototype" stuff done by the time Fallout 3 was finished. But no, significant man hours were not put into Skyrim until after they finished Fallout 3.

If I know Beth at all, I'll bet they already have a location and loose plot for Fallout 4 finished. While they're finishing up Skyrim, they're also readying themselves to dive into Fallout 4.

*drool*

Look, there I go exciting myself again.

Edit: If I had it my way, Skyrim would take much longer to develop than that. Although I'm not sure of the financial situation of Beth, I would assume that with all the publishing activities Beth is doing as well, they could stay afloat for quite some time during development.

This post is just...getting too complicated and out of hand. I'm getting way off topic.

... Duke Nukem Forever... I didn't want to do it, but I just destroyed the logic in your words....

Ummm, 1 obvious because Fallout. With previous TES titles they didn't make any other game in between. (III to IV) And it's only been 3 years, they didn't really start Skyrim until after Fallout 3.

it's only been three years in active development. Bethesda only really has one development team.

also Morrowind was in development for a little under/over 5 years.

DNF WAS PERFECT!

Screw LA Noire, who needs dozens of cameras when you have PLASTIC FACES!
Forget Mass Effect, story's for women and children!
Leave Halo, fun is for idiots!
......

I made myself sad again.....

Duke nukem was never good to begin with. <_<

I believe it was six years between Half life and Half life 2, which turned out quite well. If they'd rushed it, however...

:mellow: I'm having a really hard time telling if you're being sarcastic right now...

Yeah, it was doomed from the start. They took a character that was loved because he was an immature [censored] with no intellect whatsoever, used 1999's technology to start it, tech progressed so they had to scrap some ideas, and then eventually just threw the crap together and hoped that the long-ass development time would make it famous and sell well.

Bethesda isn't a group of mentally challenged gorillas, so they may be able to pull Skyrim off.

MAY be able to.

I've personaly never played Half-Life but a lot of people seem to love it, so I can't say anything about it. All I was trying to say is that not evey game that takes a long time is going to be amazing. Not that I'm saying Skyrim will be bad, I believe it will be amazing.

I sure hope so!