it is my GOTY. I never had any problems about crashes, stutters, freezes or whatnot. It has always worked perfect for me and yes I play on PS3 and I'm not trying to make it look better than it is. In the four or five months I've been playing it has only freezed once, so I don't care for that.

I love the game and it is the only game that came out that actually interested me so it is my GOTY!

It is my GOTY for sure. I played other good games like inFamous 2, but Skyrim certainly took the cake in terms of enjoyment and sheer time put into the game. The game has its flaws, but even then it was, and still is, highly enjoyable for me.

But even then, GOTY awards don't mean [censored].

Skyrim derserved it,

While it did have it's own set of issues, as all Games do it is simply amazing. Rarely can you find a Game that offers a Free Roam experience with so many unqiue locations, many with their own seperate stories within them that are not a part of any Quest/Storyline. Nor do you fine the same level of detail, and thought put into the enviroment. There has been many occasions where I caught myself stopping to just look at my surrondings in the game. Bethesda has a talent for creating a world you can just get lost into.

Story wise it is greatm and hard to match. With Skyrim, and other Elder Scrolls Games you have more then just the Main Questline to look at. There are of course the Factions-which I will admit some of them do not feel as 'meaty' as they did in Oblivion. Despite that I did enjoy them, especially one of the 'Darker' ones. Toward the end of it I found my jaw on the floor, and a sinister grin on my face. Honeslty I have found some of the Faction's Stories to be better then the Story in many 'B' Class Games that I have played. 'Too Human' *Cough*

All that aside there were many improvements from the previous Game. General Gameplay I feel is much smoother, and Combat far more satisfying. The Menu(s) are much cleaner, and are easier to read, and navigate. The Map even was improved. To list them all would take a while.

Now I did play Gears of War 3. Never was a big fan of the series. Honeslty it felt like a series where they tried way to hard to make it 'awesome'. Like a bad over the top action film. However I did enjoy Gears of War 3, and to be honesy it is the only one I liked. The Story was not too short, or long, and was good. The general Gameplay was improved as the OP said. However was not what I would call Game of the Year matieral. Halo: Reach in my opinion would be far more deserving.

Then it really doesn't matter a [censored] who wins or deserves it? Voted by the industry for the industry, an argument I don't want to get in to, it's just the way it is. I can't decide yet, the DLC for SR3 was awesome, let's see how well Skyrim does and how long we have to wait!

Personally, the amount of terribad shadows and other annoying aesthetics mean it could've been GOTY, for me at least, but it simply wasn't polished enough.

There's no question, for me. Skyrim, deserves to be GOTY...

I can honestly say that no other game has ever captured my imagination, or had me so deeply involved as Skyrim.

The sheer size and detailing of the world, the amount of quests...the diversity of some of those quests, and how hours of time just seem to melt away from your life, as you play...lol

I've enjoyed all the Elder Scrolls games for years...I feel there's no other games, or genre of games that can touch them.

You can see the work and the love that Bethesda puts into their work...and that's more than I can say for many of the other developers lackluster contributions that have been released over the years.

This game has completely captured the imagination of my girlfriend, and she will drop everything at times to watch me play, for hours...that seems special to me as well...she's never done that with any other game I've played before.

Mike

No, it didn't deserve any awards.

Batman Arkham city for sure. Had no problems through my whole playthrough one of the most polished and enjoyable games i have ever played. Skyrim may have a longer play time than batman but its glitches/bugs bring it down for me. Which is to be expected as it is a huge open world game.

You must be upset over something, don't worry you'll be alright.

agree ^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35TbGjt-weA

Best game of the year for sure. Not much competition however. Best RPG? Please, it's so weak in that genre.

I love that this has now descended into conspiracy theory drivel about the awards not being "by the people". Honestly?

Is that why Skyrim also won the Gamer's Choice Award by such a massive margin? Is that why sales are through the roof?

If you really dislike the game, it's time that you realized that you are in the minority. Period.

But who actually votes for these things? Not the ordinary gamer who puts money down for the game.

The only thing I know of where gamer`s actually vote is the Goldren Joystick awards.

Stick your head in the sand and call it `conspiracy theorists` - - you people love your labels don`t you? Makes it easy to dismiss anyone you don`t agree with - -

But don`t tell us what to think.

When the mice are away the fanbois will play.

I love how people like nere are blindly defending a sub-standard game as it's not even finished. Last half-finished game I played was original Fable, don't get me wrong that game was awesome, but when you realized stuff was neglected for release, then it feels like personal insult.

A GOTY should be a finished game.

And Skyrim was unfinished... how?

Or are we just using buzzwords because they sound pretty?

Like Daggerfall...oh wait...

Gamebreaking Bugs, I encountered one when first playing X-Box the dragon didn't even move and stayed pinned to tower, so couldn't jump down into area. That is sorta of thing they should have held back shipping it because of. With bugs like this and seemly half-finished lore, you call it buzzwords, but when game shipped with all these issues, as I said about Fable it's a bigger insult imo.


Rules of gaming have changed since then, and more money in the industry.

I think it deserved goty. While skyrim does not live up to past games very well, in its own its an amazing game.

That bug wasn't fixed by reloading a previous save? Because that's what would qualify it as game breaking. Also, that doesn't actually sound like a bug that couldn't be fixed with ranged spells or a bow.

And half-finished lore? Oooooh, I get it. You mean that you don't like some of the lore choices, so it must mean that Bethesda's developers didn't make the game right.

the more important question is,

why should anyone care about these awards? awards are the result of hype and sell profits without actually looking at the game

If I didn't know any better you're coming across as a devoted fan (not a compliment) mindlessly defending a franchise. As for your fixes, one shouldn't have to do this, two you can't get a bow that early. As for your claim about me not liking lore, I won't deny don't like some of it, but much of it seems unfinished. I didn't say it was a bad game, I said this, it didn't deserve GOTY, so if my opinion so angers ya, then dude take step back, wow.

Skyrim is the game of my life!
Okay, every game has its flaws and there are always things that "would be nice" if they were or weren't there.
But I absolutely LOVE it for so many reasons!

• I love the story lines. Even a simple cave can have its own story...
  
• Dragons were never that cool in a game
  
• I love the way you level up, it's highly original and those perks are great!
  
• I love all those different villains you can encounter
  
• I love the way you're not stuck to one class, that you can try all kinds of weapons, spells and shouts whenever you like...
  
• I love it that you can have a life: buy a house, make friends, make enemies, etc.
  
• I love the lore. It's so great just randomly walking Skyrim, not knowing what adventures await you... And just cooking, sitting by the fireplace at home, seeing your husband again after a great adventure, reading a book, it's all possible in Skyrim!
  
• I love the encounters. To me, it's real RPG as I'm not a good archer in real life but in the game, with the right perks, I'm so good at it.
  
• I love the way the game never gets boring. I always know what to do next and if I don't I'll figure it out on the way.
  
• It's so great starting all over with a new character. Even the exact same dungeon again is just as exciting of even more exciting and even a little different as it changes according to your level and progress.

There are probably hundreds of reasons why this is the best game ever that I'm forgetting. I've always been very picky in games, either they couldn't quite grasp my attention or I was completely fond of them. Now I found myself obsessed. Maybe that's the only real downside of Skyrim, it's horribly addictive...

Yes. Skyrim was absolutely the GOTY for me. I loved Gears of War 3, but it just didn't do it for me like Skyrim.

I wasn't aware that opinions weren't to be debated in a free exchange of ideas.

I don't believe the lore seems unfinished. Not even a little bit. And though I've experienced some bugs along the way, I've never had a bug that couldn't be fixed with a simple reload. I guess I take a potential 5-minute inconvenience as... well, an inconvenience... instead of a game-breaking flaw.

Also, I don't mind your opinion. I mind that you can't state it without insulting everyone who disagrees with you.

Did it "deserve"? The word deserve in this context is a flame bait in itself. It beats me why people are so concerned about these awards like they actually change something for you as an individual. Are you working in the industry, do you need other studios to 'win' a contest against Bethesda? This thread has been done to death with no revelations in the end, and I think it's better to discuss strictly on a personal level, is Skyrim the best 2011 game that you played? For me, it is.