Not another Skyrim thread

[4RM3D]

Stop making Skyrim threads for ever little thing! Oh wait just a minute... what did I just... do!? I don't even... This is quite ironic.

Actually, I don't care if you make another Skyrim thread. I did notice something and I might be (somewhat) wrong, but I haven't seen any other game having as many discussions (threads) as Skyrim.

Now, although Skyrim did sell a lot of copies, it didn't sell more than an average mainstream (triple A) title. But the average mainstream title doesn't nearly get discussed as much as Skyrim. Heck, even the best selling title (and series) of all time -that is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3- is surprisingly absent in the forum's discussion.

Skyrim doesn't feel like an average hype. I don't even know if 'hype' is the correct term here. Regardless of semantics, I have to applaud Bethesda here. Regardless of whether you love of hate the game, you can't argue the popularity the of the game. It even managed to score a new meme.

But what is it that makes Skyrim such an interesting topic? I mean, more than other mainstream games.

 

[LordXel]

Skyrim is popular because of all the stuff you can do in it with different paths, different character types to play as, and dozens of sidequests and dragons. For a while the constant popularity of Skyrim annoyed me as well, but I haven't played it and I won't play it until I finish Oblivion because I just got it before Skyrim came out and I'm also busy with Skyward Sword. I know that was stupid to buy Oblivion first, but I didn't know Skyrim would reach God like popularity.

Anyway in response to why Modern Warfare 3 is absent from the forums: 90% of the Escapist users HATE Call of Duty. I'm in the minority who doesn't play Call of Duty but I don't hate it either.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

If you and I were to play through MW3 or BF3 or any of those other latest titles, the campaign or single player story bit would be very much the same experience, except we might mess up differently, I might not understand the flow of that one wave where you decide to get shot at by a tank or whatnot. But, in the end, we'd both be playing the same interactive movie and be done with it in one to four sittings on average.

With Skyrim, it's a whole different thing. There's at least 300 hours of story material packed into it, and even though I already finished it once with a character I thought was what I really, really wanted, I am still discovering new stuff in my second playthrough. Even though it's got more than a fair share of bugs, it's currently my favourite way of spending time playing a game, because I can do so at my own pace, and I can decide freely what to do and what not to do most of the time. It allows me to build and play out my own story between the bookends of starting out ignorant and naked and finally confronting the big baddie dragon. It's fun and it's one hell of a ride, and even though it's been out for a month now, I haven't met or talked to anyone who has had the exact same experience, has found the exact same things or even just got the same interaction with NPC folks we met. The game allows you to see things one way and doubt your own judgement, or - to some extent - dig deeper and find out the truth, and make better judgement based on your OCD Monk detective skills. It's some of the best computer gaming I've experienced so far, even though there are bugs and glitches. I mean - we love competitive online gaming here, but we've all just been playing Skyrim for a month now... and I for my part know that I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Skyrim gives me a lot of what I want and need when I decide I have time to spend on a game. I haven't had that feeling for a long time.

 

[4RM3D]

If you and I were to play through MW3 or BF3 or any of those other latest titles, the campaign or single player story bit would be very much the same experience, except we might mess up differently, I might not understand the flow of that one wave where you decide to get shot at by a tank or whatnot. But, in the end, we'd both be playing the same interactive movie and be done with it in one to four sittings on average.

With Skyrim, it's a whole different thing. There's at least 300 hours of story material packed into it, and even though I already finished it once with a character I thought was what I really, really wanted, I am still discovering new stuff in my second playthrough. Even though it's got more than a fair share of bugs, it's currently my favourite way of spending time playing a game, because I can do so at my own pace, and I can decide freely what to do and what not to do most of the time. It allows me to build and play out my own story between the bookends of starting out ignorant and naked and finally confronting the big baddie dragon. It's fun and it's one hell of a ride, and even though it's been out for a month now, I haven't met or talked to anyone who has had the exact same experience, has found the exact same things or even just got the same interaction with NPC folks we met. The game allows you to see things one way and doubt your own judgement, or - to some extent - dig deeper and find out the truth, and make better judgement based on your OCD Monk detective skills. It's some of the best computer gaming I've experienced so far, even though there are bugs and glitches. I mean - we love competitive online gaming here, but we've all just been playing Skyrim for a month now... and I for my part know that I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Skyrim gives me a lot of what I want and need when I decide I have time to spend on a game. I haven't had that feeling for a long time.

I have heard and read a lot of different (user) reviews of Skyrim, but none have nailed it like you just did. Excellent summary.