One could argue that Skyrim is heading in a similar direction. It's hard to judge yet, but I can already imagine the post-release whining about the game feeling dumbed down.

I don't care; Mods fix everything!!!

But it's not that I don't care. I want the game to be amazing, and I'm sure it will be, to some extent. But the flaws it does have, don't matter to me too much, because within a year, I'll be able to have all the mods I need to make it truly MY Skyrim.

Indeed. Mods can and will perfect the game.

The addition of Perks to character development is very exciting to me. They were very enjoyable in Fallout 3 and New Vegas. Crafting characters with cool arrays of special skills like that really appeals to my deepest RPG urges. Really looking forward to it. (Not so excited about the removal of stats, but I guess it's OK.)

Of course, the coolest character development system in the world is no good if the stuff your character actually does is no fun, but it looks like they've made melee combat, archery, magic, stealth, and questing all more fun and interesting than ever before. So, yeah, I'm excited.

The apparent storyline doesn't thrill me. I don't care about being teh chosin 1. Perhaps interestingly, I never finished Morrowind, possibly because its whole story about being the guy in the prophecy was so snoozy. On the other hand I did finish Oblivion, possibly because its story about being some guy who just happened to be around to rise to the challenge when things got weird worked better for me.

I also find it the whole dragon shout thing a little weird and very against the grain of choice in character. If all my characters have crazy yelling-based superpowers, doesn't that kind of detract from the coolness of their individual skills?
My character is an award-winning physicist! He shoots ice bolts and can teleport.
My character is a heavyweight boxing champion! He shoots ice bolts and can teleport.
My character is a world class jewel thief! He shoots ice bolts and can teleport.
Does that seem lame to anyone else?

Dragons actually look pretty good, and I'm surprised to see myself typing that. Normally I roll my eyes, hard, whenever I hear or see anyone talking about how cool dragons are. And I cringed a little when I heard Max Von Sydow say "Dragonborn!" in that tone of voice that said, "Dragons are cool and you have dragon blood in this game! Send money now!" You know? I really don't care about dragons. But the preview videos showing you fighting these massive powerful things that really have weight look really fun. Of course, those are preview videos; it's anyone's guess at this point how fun it will be in practice. But I am hopeful that they will pull it off.

Summary
+ Perks
+ Better melee
+ Better magic
+ Better stealth
+ Better day-to-day questing
- Boring world-saving chosen one main quest
- All characters have same goofy superpowers
+ Dragon fights

Overall, looks really good. Some things will annoy the hell out of me, but I'll like character building and the basic gameplay so much that I'll happily overlook them.

it will be interesting because you know what they have already done

I'm expecting it to be my GOTY 2011, for sure. Went with option 2. Calling anything the best game of all time before it comes out is just dumb. :spotted owl:

I figure that if I can keep my expectations extremely low, I will never be disappointed. I've been doing that with every Bethesda game since Oblivion and it's worked out pretty well for me thus far...I find myself actually enjoying their games now. :twirl:

Best game of all time doesn't mean it is flawless.

Nicely said, Deus Ex isn't flawless yet it's the best game of all time.

Easily the best game of all time. Morrowind was the best game of all time until Oblivion, Skyrim will slaughter Oblivion in many ways I am sure. They know how to make a good game and honestly games nowadays seem to severely svck. You have garbage like Halo games that are exact copies of the original with very slight differences in each new game if any. Call of Duty games are lag filled most of the time. No RPG comes close to any TES game what so ever, they are either garbage or they dont feel very open world which is key in my opinion for an RPG now otherwise it gets very boring very fast. I use to be addicted to games and play alot but today is plagued with junk so thats why I say Easily the best game ever.

GOAT and definte GOTY. Skyrim has no competition, COD is massively overrated, TW2 has major flaws and is PC only, GOW3 is in the same camp as COD, Revelation will get old after a week. Skyrim will make Oblivion look like a joke and I want that to happen.

Edited- Why is number 1 not winning. Yes Skyrim will have flaws, all games have flaws but it will be the best in the series destroying Oblivion and Morrowind, yes even Morrowind.

It'll easily be the best game of all time, but it'll have noticeable flaws. What do I choose?

I really don't think I know enough about it whether to determine it's promising to be sublime, fantastic, great or just pretty good.
I'm afraid it could turn out The Witcher 2 did some things better. On some parts where the two games will be comparable that is. I guess it'll be worth anywhere between 8.5 and 9.5 though.

I'm buying it and I will probably enjoy it. In some ways they are dumbing it down, in others improving it. As long as modding is possible then I can make it what I want it to be. Spent hundreds of hours playing Ob but only because I was able to mod it to y tastes.

Too much we don't know about the game, especially if you're asking how much I personally will like it.

So far, I see nothing to indicate I won't like it a lot more than Oblivion. But I see nothing that tells me, it will be better than Morrowind, mainly because those things have to be "Experienced" rather than observed. It certainly has potential, but potential not realized isn't of much solace, but I guess that's what the Creation Kit is for.

Anyway, critically?

High:10/10
Low:8.8/10


It just has so many things going for it right now that the mainstream gaming outlets love. First of all, a simultaneous multiplatform release. Second, a well-established pedigree of predecessors, without actually being a sequel in anything but spirit. (Systemshock 2 - Bioshock, as opposed to Bioshock - Bioshock 2). It's being published by a relatively "Smaller" Publisher. IE, not Activision or EA. Being extremely successful has this stigma about it now, that the media just loves to piss all over.

I would say it can easily earn 10/10, and I don't see any lower than a 9.

But because the question is addressed to each individual and each individual answers it according to his or her personal opinion, then by all means each individual can deem Skyrim the best game of all time. To him or her it could very well be the best game of all time.

Regarding the question. It's funny now that i think of it how little factual information we have about vast aspects of Skyrim.
I wish it to be the best game of all time.

Didn't anyone get the memo? 8.5 is the new 9.

Expect to see a lot of 8.5's for Skyrim. :twirl:

Easily the best game of all times, until TES:VI release date lol

TES VIII: Nirn will be the best game ever made - fact.

:celebration: :celebration: :celebration: :celebration: :celebration: :celebration:

It will be excellent but, like all games, have some noticieable flaws.

A great game with some visible flaws, like every other TES games I've played.

I hate this whole "best game" thing. There are many good games in totally different genres, comparing them is rather pointless. There are many "best games" in my opinion, and I'm pretty sure Skyrim might become one of them, too. From what I have seen so far, it has great potential.

I will go crazy and say it will be the best game of all time