PC users are often so quick to blame us console gamers for all of their complaints. Who said console gamers want things dumbed down? I'm on the Xbox 360 and I'm not keen on the UI. I too find it fiddly, I don't like all the scrolling and things are too difficult to find. The perks UI is not very friendly and I often get onto the wrong perk. It's not necessarily any easier with a controller. I too would prefer a more structured and detailed layout.

On a semi-related note, it's ironic that most pc users love their computers and hate certain other products because they are free to theme and make things look how they want without sticking within the boundaries of tired, structured grids of icons.....

Pffffff, "Worst screen in the history of UIs". Try better first! It's great, in my opinion.

You shouldn't have to do that. The mouse is like the best possible tool for menu navigation. So the right solution is to totally ignore it, i guess..?

It looks nice, though it should've been a quick menu since there is pretty many trees to scroll through.

Actually having played both the PS3 version (for around 30 hours) and the last two days the PC version (six hours so far), I actually feel that the interface - including the skills menu and the admittedly rather clunky perk trees - is slightly quicker and easier to navigate on PC (using mainly WASD plus E and Tab, instead of fiddling around with the mouse) than with an anologue stick or D-pad on a controller.
But of course "quicker and easier to navigate" doesn't mean that the interface is at all as good and user friendly as it could have been on PC, just not worse to navigate with a keyboard than a gamepad.

It looks nice, though it should've been a quick menu since there is pretty many trees to scroll through.

I like you +1

I think it is a good idea, and beautiful to look at. Two observations however.....It is clunky to navigate, and you can't get a "Summary" of all your selections. You know, like a list. You have to navigate and view.

What? The mouse is a convenient but horribly inefficient tool. There are text editors made for professional programmers that can be used 100% without a mouse, all through keyboard shortcuts, because it's much more efficient.

I will admit that some parts of the interface are bad, especially the wasted screen space. Being a console port is really no excuse for this.

I have found that the trick to using the interface for PC is to just use the keyboard instead of the mouse. Most of it isn't that hard to use once you get used to it, and it can be faster than using the mouse.

I am finding the crafting interfaces can be really fast if you just using the keyboard. The weird thing is that "Yes/No" options requires you to use the "Y" and "N" keys, but it never says that anywhere so you just have to figure it out on your own (or read it on the forums). Also, anytime it says "Enter" you can use "E". Who would ever use "Enter" when it is on the other side of the keyboard?

The perk interface is still horrible no matter what you do. I am still trying to understand the best ways to navigate it.

This.

I'd agree that it's a little awkward navigating the perks... at first. Now it's easy. A very minor issue in a huge, fantastic game. Why some people are compelled to start entire threads to rant over small problems with hyperbole like "worst screen in the history of UIs" I will never understand. Unless it's trolling, in which case I just fell for it.

The perks menu is the only one that actually frustrates me.

All the other aspects of the UI are not optimal, but definitely not so frustrating that it takes away from the game, at all.

I do not play a game to look at the damn menu's. The Morrowind UI may have been as attractive as an Excel spreadsheet, but it was so efficient and quick to use that i hardly had to look at it anyway, and in the end much more pleasant to use. I really do not understand why anyone would prefer Skyrim's (Or Oblivion's) UI over Morrowinds.

I really like the perk UI. I thought it was a good implementation.

Only Grognards program entirely without the mouse.

Anyhow the point here is really that when it comes to getting things done, the scale looks something like this

Keyboard shortcuts > Mouse >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> WASD navigation

There are probably worse ways you can design a menu then WASD navigation only, but you'd really have to try hard.

Especially when sometimes a click will send you flying off to another perk tree entirely, and sometimes not even the tree next to the one you were viewing, but another way off tree. It's absolutely maddening after awhile.

Yes, this UI is functional, some of the worst UIs ever made are functional, that doesn't mean people enjoy using them.

Do some genuinely enjoy Skyrim's UI, lists and starchart and all? If so, I'm glad for them, but a lot of us just plain don't.

My main issue with the UI is the mouse. I am quite frankly astounded as to how badly they've implemented mouse support to their menus.
And please, the argument 'don't use your mouse' doesn't solve the fact that the game routinely pretends the mouse is hundreds of pixels away from wherever it actually is.

Even if it were designed for consoles, it's still poor. It's the silliest thing that you can jump between constellations by going to the right or left. If they'd disabled that and then removed the tilt from the constellation and zoomed out a bit then they'd have much better navigation.

Again, they chose form over function with this interface. They're supposedly channeling through Apple with this interface, but even Apple got function down before prettying things up.

Anyone use the http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34735 mod for Oblivion? http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/images/34735-1-1290466437.jpg. Why wasn't this in vanilla Oblivion and why is it still not included for Skyrim? Everything you need for keybinding: right there!

I mostly like the UI. I find the menu system leagues better than Oblivion's. 100 hours into that game and I was still pressing the wrong button in the menu screens. And I think the Favorites system is a great addition.

I must agree, however, that the Skill/Perk menu, while pretty, is difficult to navigate. I don't like having to scroll up each tree just to see what the last perk in a given set is.

I actually love the interface, but it definitely needs a few tweaks.... clumping equipped items at the top would be nice... using more than a quarter of the screen so you don't have to scroll as much, and I can't believe, after all the effort they go through to allow us total and complete customization, to NOT allow you to see your character while equipping items is just a crime!

And what [censored] thought to put the Quests in with the system settings instead of with the Map, items, magic and skills section??

Even with a pad I find it awful - hell even all the menus are imo (playing on PC)

I think it's pretty amazing.

Scrolling through them all is annoying, but the moronic exaggerations aren't cute. It could've been done better, that's it. Stop being children, if possible.

I really like the look of the skills menu, but it is a bit hard to navigate, and I would like a complete list of my chosen perks instead of having to helplessly try and navigate through it all and write them down by hand =/

I love it really. It always amazes me and fills me with delight when I see those huge archtypes appear on my HDTV. I love navigating them and inspecting every tree once and awhile. The rest of the UI is clean and a joy to navigate through, it could use some improvements.