I'm currently playing my third character (everytime one character dies I start another) and this one is a pure mage. I didn't even touch the main quest and went directly to Winterhold to begin the College quest line and it's HUGE. I've been playing for about 13 hours in this char only and I feel like there's still so much to do, plus there are other side quests in the College that I didn't even touch.

When I finish this char I'll probably start another and do the same with the thieves guild, then another char that will join the Companions and who knows what's next. The point is that every time is like a completely new game with different gameplay machanics.

And I've barely scratched the surface of the main quest :bonk:

$60 is a steal for so much content.

That's TES for you.

The only minor annoying thing I've noticed so far is that some quests cannot be traced or completed without the use of ingame map and journal. I was trying to only use a printed map and keep my own journal but I met NPCs who just told me to go to x place without giving any clue of where in the world is that place. Another NPC told me to get y item but didn't tell me how to find said item. After wandering around talking to every NPC and reading every book in the College I realised the only place I could find these informations was the journal.

I still don't use compass and quest markers tho.

The Winterhold College quest line in particular is amazing. It's so much better than Oblivion's Mage Guild quest line.

I'm hoping, and I'm sure, that there will be more equally epic non-main quest lines,

I know exactly how you feel, i'm on my 3rd character as well. I'm playing a reguard defense based warrior, shield and mace, on master difficulty, without using the map. Knowing some areas of the game from my previous characters has helped out a ton, but i didn't anticipate how hard it would be on master. It's like im relearning how to play the game all over again. Just killing a falmor or a dungeon mini boss gets me riled up. I love this game!!