I just bought Skyrim and have been excited to finally play it after hearing so much about it. First of all, I put the disc in and it takes forever and multiple reboots to get the game to finally start (it stayed on a black screen for a looooooong time, xbox live menu was accessible and prompt. Yes I did download any update it asked me to..). Finally I start my game...I watch the looong and boring cart ride and get to where they kick you out. I proceed to create my perfect character (I put in a literal TON of effort and everything looks perfect...right down to the cheekbones. Anyway, after creating and naming my character, the game just stops. It is not frozen and I'm simply stuck standing there. The guy with the pen is just looking to his right and not saying a word. I watched walkthroughs on youtube in case I was missing something and it appears he is supposed to saw a few words and tell you to die...well he won't do any of that. I would like to take this time emphasize that the game is not locked up or anything; I can still look around, audio is still available and in-game time is passing it seems.

Anyway I have searched and searched and I have managed to come up with nil on related issues.....ANY insight on what I can do (or even what is wrong, simply because I am curiouso, but how to fix it is much more appreciated..) I apologize if this is the wrong place to post this, or it is a really common issue with a simple fix but I have not been able to find it and if I could be pointed to the appropriate locale to receive aid that would be appreciated.

I must say I am excited to play this game but....In searching for a resolution to my problem I am becoming disappointed with how prevalent issues are with this game and can only cross my fingers if I ever do get to play I will not encounter some of the more deadly ones.

Thank-you in advance for anyone who can or even tries to help..I really really want to get my adventure started!

(PS. I would like to use a solution better than "Just start a new game" because I have put a great deal of effort into creating my perfect character and it is not likely I would not be able to accurately reproduce it from scratch. I *AM* open to simply porting it over to a new file though, if that is possible..)

Found it.. I installed the game onto my Xbox360 and now it works. It took a couple of trys because the "Disk is scratched or dirty, you should wipe it off or purchase a new copy of Elder Scrolls - Skyrim right now for $59.99" This is a brand new disk, that I just removed from the box 1 hour ago. I am glad I did this because the disk seems to be generating errors at an increasing rate. Not impressed Bethesda.