Exactly, It seems alot of newer players think it is all about finishing the quests and then complain the game its shorter then BGS stated. Too many people with the platform leveled linear mindset. The game is about making a character and living another life in another world. Not finishing everything as fast as possible. I am level 45 and barely in the second act of the Main Quest and have done a few faction quests, along with some Daedric ones and side/misc. In between I craft, explore and look for different unique things in the game. That is how the TES series in meant to be played.

That's why you pile quests - you wait till you get several in same general area and do them all at once.

Also, on the way there are ingredients/smithing materials, random events and radiant quests. And it's not like you walk same road over and over, so there's really no repetition to speak of.

The great thing about this game is that you can do what you like, fast travel, no fast travel, lots of quests, few quests, whatever you like.

Remember though, this is a single player game, one person's choice has no effect on anyone else. So no-one has any right to criticise others for thier choice of how to play.

On my last Oblivion play through, I never fast traveled. I'm too impatient to wait so long to finish quests and trophies on the first play through. If my first Skyrim character gets boring and I make a new one, maybe I'll take my time then, but for now, I fast travel. Most enimies on the road are just wolves anyways.

I'm a little confused by the people who place such a high value on immersion that they will never fast travel but talk about wandering around after receiving a quest from an NPC, especially a quest the NPC says is urgent. Your character isn't acting in a manner that is remotely approriate for the situation. I ask someone to get back my family's sheild and I see that guy wandering around town for weeks on end, I'll just say [censored] it and hire someone else. However, you as a player know that this can't happen so you dike around as much as you like and treat this aspect of the world like a silly game. How is that not immersion breaking?

Well, once you learn the main roads, you can actually travel on horse pretty quickly. I think the map appears to be much bigger than it actually is. So Doing the quests without fast traveling wouldn't take as long as people think. But I'm still too impatient.

I refuse to fast travel. To me, it's like walking/driving to some real place, in real life. You can't fast travel to your local Walmart. I find it to be quite an adventure and take in the atmosphere of the game more, when you walk. I love the places that they created. I'm always wow'ed when I get to The Rift, even though I've been there countless times. You'll miss A LOT of random things too, if you fast travel. Bethesda put too much effort into the scenery for me to forget that it's even there.

I usually forget that fast travel is even an option.So no I never fast travel anywhere.

That`s totally wrong. Even in real life someone might want something urgently (everyone wants something urgently), but you can`t always get that item straight away for various reasons.

Also, consider that in ancient times `urgent` is not like 21st century `urgent`. there are no aircraft or cars or highways to make things happen quickly. Everyone walked or rode a horse or cart which takes AGES and that`s if you`re not stopped by weather, bandits or illness. 2 to 3 weeks in the old days was considered quick. A month or so was the average time to get anything done that meant travelling. People expected that then.

This game ISN'T real life so I fast travel. Otherwise I'd be quickly bored of always doing the same stuff, walking here, walking there, bla bla bla. I'd rather take the shortcuts than losing my sanity over a game.

I only fast-travel by carriage. Just like in Morrowind. Though riding a giant bug is a whole lot cooler.

It makes for a nice balance between walking everywhere and essentially teleporting from one location to another. Constant fast-travel makes the game feel small. Not that it isn't small as is, therefore you're never too far away from a major hold and its travel services.

I wish there was a teleport-for-pay service or something that you could assemble through questing, like the propylon indices.

Fast-travel should be restricted. There should be mark and recall, and teleport-for-pay, and horsecarts, but never "I'll just skip over all this distance instantly whenever I feel like it". It reduces the feeling of being far away, lost and isolated, which is very important in making the most of what precious little space Skyrim has to offer.

That's one thing that bothered the hell out of me in the original Dragon Age. You traveled all over the huge countryside, but there was no sense of distance or time passing or the game giving a damn that you just skipped from Deep Roads all the way to the Capital and then back. It all felt like a one-hour plane ride rather than a lengthy and grueling journey.

If I have a quest I want to do I'll fast travel to the place it needs me to go after that I'll wonder around blindly maybe punch a mammoth to death.

Yes, like with Morrowind. Pay for Carts and Magic paid teleport was fine and kept it `real`. Everything should have a cost.

it seems Bethesda wanted to appeal to those who can`t be arsed to pay by giving Fast travel. Fast travel cheapens the experience since there is no charge or reason to it at all, except to be a gamey `cheat`.

How would exploring get "boring and tedious"? It's what the Elder Scrolls is all about.

I for one haven't fast traveled once in Skyrim and do not plan to do so.

Some of my favorite famous citations are :


"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive."

-Robert Louis Stevenson


"Not all those who wander are lost."

-J.R.R. Tolkien


No need to say that I don't use fast travel.

I never feel bored to wander. Never.

Unlike Oblivion, because CTDs are pretty much non existent for me in Skyrim, I'm free to walk to my hearts' content. In Oblivion, walking 5 cells from the Imperial City is like 80% chance of CTD.

Backtracking is a pain in the ass for me because I don't like seeing places I already explored more than twice. I have a good memory of those places so I don't need to visit them again. That's why I like using fast-travelling so much.

You're missing the point. Say you're a member of the companions, you accept a mission to resuce a hostage. On the way to rescue the hostage you notice a ruin/cave/etc. and decide to explore because you as the player know that hostage isn't going anywhere. How is that decision not immersion breaking?

I hated oblivion because you could fast travel all the time with out having to have been there, but since this game you have to walk there. I find my self walking every were so much more and it's enjoyable just to see the different parts of the land. it's quite amazing!

And the many strange random things that happen while you're en route somewhere. I almost regularly get attacked by Imperial Soldier imposters, and I've been attacked by 2 DB assassins so far. In addition to this, the Thalmor seem to have me on their KOS list lol. I see no reason to fast travel anymore.

Completely optional. What a bad argument to hate a game.

Even though I don't fast travel, I still prioritize my quests. If someone needs rescued, I take the job, and treat it as a priority. I may pass other dungeons on the way, but I don't lose sight of my goal. I note them for the future. It's nice to have the cleared message on locations now. I used to write that same thing on the map in Morrowind when I'd cleared a dungeon, so I could keep track of where I'd been/what dungeons I'd completed.

No, pal. You`re missing the point. What I said still stands, even concerning rescuing a hostage. If the perosn gets sidetracked by something else how does that break immersion? No one else is going to know. Anything might`ve slowed you down. It`s still immersive because in real life you might be tasked to do something important and STILL get sidetracked by something else either due to your own laziness or because of something else.

Also you make a big assumption that people just ignore very urgent jobs, chances are they don`t, but even then a guy can still be sidetracked by something equally urgent or interesting. Point is, it will still take time, so often you can spread the tasks around especially since urgent is still looking at a week or so ancient time. Not hours.

As a rule I don`t usually ignore a job that appears very immediate unless there`s something else I promised to do before.

Oh I don't believe fast travel is necessary to prioritize quests. I just found it odd that people consider fast travel immersion/rp breaking but are willing to ignore how urgent or important a quest is to the NPC that hired them or asked for help.

The "rescue the kidnap victim" discussion doesn't have anything to do with fast traveling. If you fast traveled there it'd probably take you longer in game time than sprinting. If you are an "immersion uber alles" player than you will probably go there as soon as you can. The main benefit to limiting fast travel isn't "immersion" per se but just that it is better for chilling out and exploring in general. You don't get loading screens, more random stuff happens, it feels less like work than checking off quests as fast as possible.