Is anyone else having this problem? Either I've just been very unlucky or they aren't generating. I've logged in about 27 hours and have yet to see one.

Unequip that dragon repellant.

It won't wash off

Well, have you started the main quest yet ?

You need to do the first few parts of the main questline.

After you kill your first main-quest dragon, they should start spawning randomly.

I've talked to the Jarl in Whiterun. Thats it.

It's probably this.

I think Dragons are similar to Random Oblivion Gates that begin to generate after an early point in the main quest.

Once you do the first few missions they start appearing very frequently around habitable places. (not in the towns that have their own zone, like Solitude (But they do show up outside the zoned towns). But the smaller ones that are open to the rest of the world, like dawnstar.)

Continue that quest.

Once you kill the quest-dragon, others will start appearing across Skyrim.

i think doing the first part of the scripted dragon quest may spawn them. don't know for sure. i have about 18 hours or less maybe and i have seen many dragons. just saw about 3 of them flying around in the distance around Ivarstead.never attacked me . i was attacked several times here and there though. once in the middle of riften ,lol had at least 20 people or more attacking it. seems odd that you have that many hours in game and have not seen one.

Kill the dragon for that quest, dragons will then randomly spawn

Thanks everyone

I also have yet to have a random dragon encounter after first one which attacked riverwood. Since then only named/staged events. 21st level, have witnesed the dragon "rising" thing - no dragons.

I average killing a dragon every 7 gameplay hours. (35 hours in, killed 5 dragons). Also, there have been about 4 other dragons that I have seen, but not engaged. I have only finished the first part of the main quest given by the Jarl in Whiterun.

Yeah, definitely start the main quest. That's when they start to appear.