Why is Skyrim popular?

[ChaosEternal]

Because everyone on this forum hates you so much that we all banded together and decided to ignore all of your favorite games in the hopes that you will get bored and leave. It's the most ambitious conspiracy in history, but we really do just hate you that much.

Wait, were we supposed to tell him about the plan?

On topic, I'd say it is because Skyrim:
1. Had a massive advertising campaign
2. Is moddable on PC
3. Is a multi-console release
4. Is a Non-Linear Open World game
5. Is buggy
6. Is full of extra content to pursue
7. Because of 2, 4, 5, and 6 there is a massive amount of potential content to cover, from the lag in the PS3 version to the Macho Dragon Mod, to getting every hidden whatever.

I personally love LoZ games and TES games, and have played some of both Skyrim and Skyward Sword. (I actually got the Skyward Sword bundle and the Skyrim CE. ^.^)

 

[Whateveralot]

I AM a fanboy. If you're trying to use that term as an insult it's not working.
I'm not slandering your opinion, but I'm not adopting it either.
And I get the feeling that partaking in this argument isn't getting me any closer to finding out the answer, so I'm bowing out.

I don't think you're actually looking for a discussion here. You just want to hear agreements with your opinion.

Anyway, if you want the answer:

marketing.

Skyrim had an amazing marketing campain that kept potential buyers engaged with Skyrim for months on end, all to increase anticipation. And it payed off.

Also, Nintendo has screwed up the Zelda-audience with the Wii. Sure you will disagree, but I'm not here for your agreement (unlike you, apparently). The Elder Scrolls games have a longer-lasting concept with some pretty neat innovations throughout the series. For Zelda...well...the concept was there. Not much room for new stuff. It's all a bit samey. But sure, you can disagree. Bite me.

 

[MaxwellEdison]

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.

1. The story line is relatively good.
2. I've yet to encounter any bugs.
3. PS3 HAS NO GAMES. Play it on Xbox or the computer - This might be a problem, but I don't know. I don't know anyone with a PS3.
4. Again, the mechanics seem pretty good. Though I'm not sure how one improves upon sword swinging.

I think the issue with your opinion is that you've only heard about the game from people who have exaggerated its flaws.
The reason people like Skyrim is because it's a huge, open, beautiful, and generally in-depth world. The story is pretty great, imo, if only for the fact that the world-changing events are actually decided by player actions. It's a great example of where games should be going: More choice, more depth in the game world, more ideas and philosophies built into the story. This is also what I liked so much about Deus Ex HR, and it seems the gaming community, as a whole, agrees with me here.
Besides the glitches (which I've never encountered), I don't see what you don't find appealing about that.

 

[yukshee]

To answer the OP: there's nothing that beats Skyrim for stain removal. Ignore all this gameplay guff try Skyrim on your kitchen & bathroom surfaces and even encrusted stains from DNF will simply sluice down the pan.

 

[D0WNT0WN]

I hate Skyrim and Skyward Sword.

Skyrim is a buggy, casualised mess of a game that does its best to pull me out of my immersion when I just seem to get into it. The combat is so boring, Magic is hold R1 to win and the Melee weapons make me feel motion sick when the camera lazily sways to the side when you attack. The only positive thing I can say about it is the enviroments look nice sometimes, especially that tundra region to the north on the way to Winterhold.

Resistances are broken and Destruction Magic really needs fixing but wait instead of fixing it like any good developer would Bethesda have just made Skyrim (and Oblivion while im ranting) really mod friendly so the users can fix it so they can work on the next few pieces of DLC.

Skyward Sword is a terrible Legend Of Zelda game. My main hatrid of Skyward Sword derives from the overuse of WiiMotion +, for swordplay it is fine and generally works but for flying and everything else it is a massive chore and they way Nintendo seems to ignore the analouge stick on the Numchuk just tells me that Nintendo is adament with forcing this stuff on us. Also you have to revist the same few areas and the really poorly implemented crafting to pad out the length of the game is terrible.

And finally the character designs are laughable, I agree with Yahtzee when he said Link looks like he had been set apon by a swarm of angry wasps.

 

[Creator002]

My friend before playing Skyrim: Why would anyone play Queerim? It's just a stupid RPG. You beat it once, never play it again.[footnote]He holds this belief about any game that has no online multiplayer. Somehow, he can't seem to fathom that some people like playing single player only games and enjoying the same story again in a different way. He really pisses me off sometimes.[/footnote]
He plays Skyrim on his PC just for kicks. I look at his play time when I'm next over, 50 hours.
Me: I thougt you hated "Queerim".
Him: Nah, it's not so bad.

My point? You can't judge something when you haven't played it because you have no reasonable stand point.

Why I like Skyrim? I enjoy the open world style gameplay as well as feeling almost alone and lost in the game world. The quests are also quite fun and none of them are required to progress in any way except plot wise or just to complete the quest.

 

[putowtin]

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

It's not Shakespeare good, but it's not Resident Evil bad

bugs and glitches in every corner of the game

Not come across one yet

a completely broken and lazy PS3 port

I can't comment, I'm playing it on the 360

and why is "Arrow to the Knee" of all the lines in the game quoted and twisted like it's an untruthful cake?

Cause it's the one you hear the most from guards (unless your in the Dark Brotherhood)

 

[lacktheknack]

I'm personally furious that people ignored Uplink during its Humble Bundle day in the sun, or Myst Online throughout its tumultuous life (It's still alive! Go play it if you like puzzle adventure games!). I've figured out why, though.

People like Skyrim because it offers a bunch of stuff that other games (including Skyward Sword) don't. Plus, it's big and had a lot of hype build-up.

 

[Risingblade]

I hate Skyrim and Skyward Sword.

Skyrim is a buggy, casualised mess of a game that does its best to pull me out of my immersion when I just seem to get into it. The combat is so boring, Magic is hold R1 to win and the Melee weapons make me feel motion sick when the camera lazily sways to the side when you attack. The only positive thing I can say about it is the enviroments look nice sometimes, especially that tundra region to the north on the way to Winterhold.

R1 to win? you sir know nothing of magic in skyrim!

 

[Sightless Wisdom]

Elder Scrolls V. That's the short explanation, the longer one involves me telling you that the game is actually very well made considering it's size and the amount of options in every scenario that they had to code in.

 

[Lunar Templar]

only part of, Bethesda's really, popularity i don't get is the 'free pass' they seem to get from releasing games with more bugs then a bee hive.

other then that, every thing about Skyrim sounds nice enough, i guess.

 

[DaBozz]

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.

1. The story line is relatively good.
2. I've yet to encounter any bugs.
3. A lazy port? Seems pretty good for a lazy port.
4. Again, the mechanics seem pretty good. Though I'm not sure how one improves upon sword swinging.

Besides the glitches (which I've never encountered), I don't see what you don't find appealing about that.

Trust me if you're playing on PS3 you'll find the game unplayable soon unless Bethesda hurry up with that Ps3 patch. You have to play a fair while before it starts becoming bug central though.
I'm actually tempted to say it has more bugs and glitches than Fallout New Vegas.

OT: Skyrim -does- get to much hype I agree with the OP on this. the arrow to the knee joke isn't funny, a large amount of people that played it never played Morrowind or Oblivion but are suddenly like "OMGZ I LEIKS TEH ELDERZ SROLLS LOLLOLOL" the glitches are broken, but all that said its still a good game and I still wracked up 130hours play on it, but its not and never will be my game of the year 2011.

 

[lacktheknack]

I'm personally furious that people ignored Uplink during its Humble Bundle day in the sun, or Myst Online throughout its tumultuous life (It's still alive! Go play it if you like puzzle adventure games!). I've figured out why, though.

People like Skyrim because it offers a bunch of stuff that other games (including Skyward Sword) don't. Plus, it's big and had a lot of hype build-up.

I know we're supposed to be talking about the fifth one here, but... what happened to your Daggerfall LP, man? That was awesome!

It's in developmental hell. ;_;

IT SHALL ESCAPE, MAN. IT SHALL ESCAPE. AND IT WILL BE COMPLETED. And then I'll do a Mirror's Edge LP and then maybe try Skyrim if I'm insane.

 

[M920CAIN]

Umm... wait a second...

"Skyward Sword is so awesome!"
"Why do people like Skyrim?"

What exactly do these two things have to do with one another? Because I can't help but get the impression that you're sulky about the fact that people (or at least the people here) are talking about Skyrim instead of Zelda.

You're correct. I am upset that people are talking about Skyrim over Zelda. Having played Skyward Sword, though, I believe that Skyrim would have to be PERFECT to better it to such a degree that it drowns it out. Considering the points I made in the original post, though, it is not perfect, and can't deserve more than SLIGHTLY more PR than Skyward Sword.

Get off my lawn! I hate Zelda as much as you hate Skyrim. There! someone said it. *moves to next troll thread*
If you want a real answer: different people, different tastes.
tl;dr: pointless thread is pointless.

 

[D0WNT0WN]

I hate Skyrim and Skyward Sword.

Skyrim is a buggy, casualised mess of a game that does its best to pull me out of my immersion when I just seem to get into it. The combat is so boring, Magic is hold R1 to win and the Melee weapons make me feel motion sick when the camera lazily sways to the side when you attack. The only positive thing I can say about it is the enviroments look nice sometimes, especially that tundra region to the north on the way to Winterhold.

R1 to win? you sir know nothing of magic in skyrim!

I disagree, my first character was a Mage and my main offense was Destruction magic. My entire experience fighting was me walking backwards while holding R1 (L1 aswell when I got the perk) and chugging magic potions if my magic bar was low and my enemies were still standing.

 

[EternalFacepalm]

Play it instead of basing your opinion on what you've heard about it. People like both games, stop sulking over Skyrim getting more attention.
Besides, Skyward Sword is a linear (at least, I'd call it linear) game with little exploration. Skyrim is a giant, non-linear game that focuses primarily on exploration. There's a lot more to talk about in Skyrim than there is in Skyward Sword.

 

[jibjab963]

If you wish to know why it is so popular then go out and rent it for a week or so. I can't say anything about Skyward Sword because I haven't played it. (I really want to though.) But I have spent way to many hours playing Skyrim. Just from doing quest to exploring its wonders this game never stops amazing me. Just when I think I made my character into an in-game god it throws in a creature I have never seen before and it just destroys me. I love going through dungeons and seeing what treasures I can find. And for the bugs and glitches I think they helped make the game great. I mean, in what other game can you see a horse moonwalk or a dragon fly backwards? This is just my sole opinion and other players of the game may disagree with the few reasons that I mentioned, but I know that even though we are all gamers we all have personal preferences still. Especially when it comes to the great hobby of gaming.

 

[Luke Cartner]

Because its fun, provides a feeling of freedom and escape, is an evolved gaming experience and has dragons.

Considering the OP hasn't played any elder scrolls games, maybe he should play just one before comparing any of the series to a zelda game (kinda insulting given the difference in gaming experiences between the two)

 

[Rune342]

When Skyrim came out, I only had money so I actually waited. I wanted Skyward Sword first. Skyward Sword was a good game, but I just felt like it was missing something. Yes it had a good story, great graphics for the Wii, and fun gameplay, but after the 4 days it took to beat it, I didn't touch it again.
Soon after, I got Skyrim, and I'm still currently playing it. Sure it's a bit glitchy, but it's fun. A lot of fun. I can do what I want and play how I want. If I don't feel like doing the main story, I can go help some thieves, or become a bard.
More people are paying attention to Skyrim because it's what they like more. And some of us even have played Skyward Sword.

 

[Risingblade]

I hate Skyrim and Skyward Sword.

Skyrim is a buggy, casualised mess of a game that does its best to pull me out of my immersion when I just seem to get into it. The combat is so boring, Magic is hold R1 to win and the Melee weapons make me feel motion sick when the camera lazily sways to the side when you attack. The only positive thing I can say about it is the enviroments look nice sometimes, especially that tundra region to the north on the way to Winterhold.

R1 to win? you sir know nothing of magic in skyrim!

I disagree, my first character was a Mage and my main offense was Destruction magic. My entire experience fighting was me walking backwards while holding R1 (L1 aswell when I got the perk) and chugging magic potions if my magic bar was low and my enemies were still standing.

ps3 version?

anyway considering how awful destruction magic levels it wouldn't have stayed easy that long :/