Hi guys,

I'm here to ask one simple question:

why do you like the Elder scrolls, What about this series makes it special for you?

For me its the amazing story telling, how immersive it is, but most of all the ability to be anybody you want. you can be anything from an illusion mage to an axe wielding maniac.

What are your thoughts?

There are several reasons why I like the Elder Scrolls. These points mainly apply to the last three games in the series.

First: mods. Bethesda's games are the most thoroughly mod-able games I have ever known.

Second: open world landscapes. I love the fact that my character can actually run or walk from one end of their game worlds to another without traversing "maps" or zones."

Third: non-linear storytelling. Several story lines take place at one time. The main quest is only one of them. We can mix-n-match quests to suit the needs of our characters. We don't even need to do any of Bethesda's quests at all. We can invent our own.

Fourth: the mix of first-person shooter and roleplaying combat. Combat in the Elder Scrolls has always been a hybrid player-skill/character-skill system and I think this is one of its best features. While I like character-skill-based roleplaying combat and I like player-skill-based first-person shooter combat, I love the Elder Scrolls' fusion of the two.

Fifth: semi-classless character generation. Classes in Morrowind and Oblivion were not the restrictive, rule-bound classes we find in Dungeons-and-Dragons. They acted mainly as starting points, after which we could go in almost any direction we wanted. Skyrim has moved even further toward this classless approach.

Sixth: leveling through skill use. The Elder Scrolls' skill use system of leveling is, in my opinion, the most logical, most immersive, most intuitive roleplaying leveling system in existence.

Seventh: artistic vision. From Morrowind's Telvanni towers to Oblivion's Deadlands to Skyrim's breathtaking view of Solitude from a distance, the art design of these games have been, at their best, wonderfully creative. These games have been a joy to see and to wander through.

Eighth: Jeremy Soule's music.

You don't just play an Elder Scrolls game, you live it.

The game is not only open world, but there are so many possibilities of things you can do, choices you can make, etc. It sort of makes you feel like you ARE your character. Especially with the more recent games (but NOT ESO). TES games feel like they come to life and you get svcked in to that world.

Oh my god yes! Mass Effects music may set the perfect tone for a scene, or Beyond Two Souls' make that characters death that much moreemotional, or Final Fantasies add a degree of scope and whimsey, but Soule's stuff I can LISTEN to. Not play a game, just pop a CD in the player and listen to. The only other game I've gotten that out of is Advent Rising... And Hellmarch, of course...