Why is Skyrim popular?

[LilithSlave]

It's because you can play as Hatsune Miku, duh.

 

[mjcabooseblu]

I love Skyward Sword. (It may seem weird that the first paragraph of a thread has no apparent connection with its title, but bear with me.) It's beautiful, well-written and solid, and really pushes the Wii's hardware to its limit. It is a game that everyone deserves to get, and a game that would turn any graphics junkie or motion-control naysayers into followers of the Nintendo way.
It would, but for some reason, everyone seems to be ignoring it in favor of a completely different game.
Now I have not played this particular game yet, but from what I've heard about it, I'm not sure I want to. A sub-standard if not retarded script, bugs and glitches in every corner of the game, a completely broken and lazy PS3 port and gameplay mechanics that have been outclassed by so many games before it add up to a game that doesn't deserve the memetic status it holds.
I'm not saying it's bad. I'm saying its place in the hearts of everyone here... confuses me.
Which brings me to my question: How did this all start? What were people looking forward to in Skyrim, why did they even care about it, and why is "Arrow to the Knee" of all the lines in the game quoted and twisted like it's an untruthful cake?
tl;dr: Why is Skyrim popular?

So what you're saying is you can't understand why a good game is more popular than a bad one?

 

[SycoMantis91]

Because I haven't played it 8 times already with better controls and story.

 

[Euan Russell]

Skyrim is the best instalment of the elder scrolls and is the only one I found awesome. Skyward sword was just so boring even though I lovw the legend of zelda. Get skyrim not oblivion and for a zelda go for twilight princess or majora's mask.

 

[Atmos Duality]

It certainly isn't because the GAMEPLAY is any good; it's bland and repetitive...however, getting lost in a massive world is certainly appealing. I know the appeal of wanderlust in games.

Oblivion and Fallout 3 ruined it for me. Oblivion because of how every end was scaled to your level, so you never felt as though your adventures actually WENT anywhere, or carried any tension.

Fallout 3 because...it's an overhyped piece of shit with a neat theme.

 

[Grivahri]

Because like call of duty you don't have to think when you play the game. No that's not really true. But the fact is that you don't have to pay attention to story or characters, there is an enormous environment to discover and relatively easy combat. It is also fun. But the reason why SO many people like it is because it is similar to a movie in one way. You can power down your brain, relax and play Skyrim. You are not required to think to play the game. I am in this case referring to casual players. This is alot to the game.