I think that it feels empty in terms of quests and NPC's. Now that may sound strange as someone will probably say ''there's like 400 quests + radiant quests''. What I mean is the quests seem like simple fetch/kill/collect quests. The guild missions are really empty too. I never really thought they were stunning. The Dark brotherhood quests are just run and kill quests. No thought has to be put into them at all. However the last second to last quest was quite unique however but the unique quests are few and far between. Now the next is dialogue. It seems as though the dialogue is really shallow and the NPC's have like a line each and repeat it thousands of times. I don't feel attached to the NPC's in a game sense at all. I couldn't care if I butchered the whole town as long as they shut up. For example the leader of the grey beards has about five questions you can ask him and he only replies in most cases with one or two lines, He's one of the frickin' main characters. To put it in contrast in Fallout New Vegas one of four main quest characters had so much back story on himself and the territories he controlled plus he had about ten questions you could ask him and he would have decent replies. All of the other main story characters have equal dialogue. In New Vegas and Fallout 3 I actually cared about the gameworld I was in and about killing in it. Now with Skyrim the game world itself is stunning I literally spent my first 50 hours in the game just exploring, the beautiful aurora's and what not. However it feels like they've created a hand tailored beautiful world and filled it will quantity over quality content and rushed what they put in it.

It would have been much livelier if it didn't have to drag a rusty old anchor called Xbox 360 with it.

the game doesn't feel empty, YOU feel empty

Skyrim is massive, the town feel alive, and there are so many quests that AREN'T Misc quests.

It is very much NOT empty.

Altough "quantity over quality" sounds pretty harsh, it's more or less true for all Bethesda games (talk about Daggerfall). And I really like that, it leaves a lot of room for my own imagination.

Apart from that, I personally don't really care about "main" characters. It's the usual peasant with his daily problems I'm interested in to see what life is like in Skyrim. And I think they put quite A LOT of work into that aspect of the game.

There are more bandits in a single medium sized dungeon than citizens in any city.

Plus even they have more dialogue (which was actually quite good)

empty? hardly, if anything it can be overwhelming at times but in a good way

I don't mean empty as in physically empty I mean in quality of writing and NPC's and such like.

Well, to be honest I've never felt any sense of attachment to any characters in Morrowind or Oblivion as well. Although to be fair I do feel attached to my companions. It seems like the AI has actually seen a downgrade since Oblivion though- for example, it appears that Jarl Elisif never goes to sleep, ever.

Towns are pretty empty though, I agree. It really svcks when you see the stall owners yelling "fresh fish!" over and over again, and they aren't even talking to anyone because the town's population is about 10 people.

I think the various cities and towns might seem "livelier" if the NPCs conversed with each other rather than just the player. You can see this sort of thing happening when you reach Whiterun for the first time (e.g. Nazeem talking to Anoriath about meats, Ysolda advising Carlotta about pricing) but these are just one-offs, at which point it degenerates into townsfolk shuffling through their daily routines with absolutely nothing to say to one another.

Totally agree but even with companions, every housecarl says the same thing. In New Vegas each companion had it's own motives, quests, backstory, one could even change the main quest and some would leave you depending on who you sided with. You could unlock certain abilities and skills by helping them and such.

That may well be true, but FNV had a grand total of 8 potential followers whereas Skyrim has well more than that.

Nope it doesn't. Actually enjoying it, even on a PS3

Oblivion felt more lively with it's large defined towns and imperial city, Skyrim feels emptier to me with less towns & less emphasis on "City" and i think that's how Bethesda planned it and it suits the location, It's not a bad thing but if i want busy cities i play oblivion.

Regarding the limited companions in NV, Well they had stories and backgrounds with missions, Depth if you will, Skyrim just has followers and it's easier to place many more in game.

I envy you I get about 10FPS after start up then a complete freeze...

to be honest NO

OB felt empty though but MW and skyrim feel ... well more

the cities MUST become bigger (mods to the rescue)

yah that emptiness not even a game designed by God can fill, indeed-y

They did a hell of alot with the small size of the game,if you're on pc bring down the mod "Wars in skyrim 3' you'll definitely feel crammed in and longing for breathing room after you install that mod.

im hoping with the new DLCs/Patches there will be more NPCs in towns , unique dialogues and a lot more quests less brainless quests a bit more puzzles
Nightgate Inn .. i have no freaking idea why it's open , only one guy there all the item , would be cool to find some travelers from time to time lol
and answer to your question yes its empty

If by empty, you mean shallow and largely relying on superficial attraction, then yes, I agree.

I love the game, but yes, developing interesting and memorable npcs is not one of Skyrim's strengths.
There was this woman in the Thieves Guild who was great but I'm pressed to name any others that made any sort of impression.
For me its more of a roaming and exploring sort of game. If you want interesting npcs something like Dragon Age:Origins or NWN:Mask of the Betrayer are best for that.

Wouldn't call Skyrim empty, there's load of stuff, maybe you meant shallow. There is plenty of filler, but yea in New Vegas there was much more depth to characters with some very cool back stories. Obsidian did an excellent job with the script on FNW and sadly Bethesda dropped the ball again. Not sure if it's their writers or the lead just decides that story and characters are not important but I hope they can get their act together as other developers are light years ahead of them in that department.

TES(and some other games for that matter) need to go back to text based dialogue IMO

the game lacks depth and meaning. my choices basically have no impact on the world around me.

the npc's and dialogue are so "empty" it's ridiculous.

a game that has poor dialogue with meaningless choices and bland quests is going to find it difficult to not be "empty."

skyrim is a roleplaying sim, with few rpg mechanics. you quest, fight, loot and levelup all in a particular roleplaying mindset. that's it.