So is skyrim more realistic or immersive than oblivion was? for example is the game dependant on you eating/sleeping/drinking etc? or is it even a option? What good immersive features does it have? is there anything major missing from the game?

These are the sort of questions i need to find a answer to. As ive heard a lot of mixed reviews about this game.

No its not realistic. Thats a good thing.

You no longer sleep to level up

Nuff said.

You need to play it and discover for yourself.

There's certainly enough to immerse you.

I'll tell you now you don't "have" to eat but there are benefits to both this and resting properly.

Don't let other people tell you what it's like for you.

It's the latest "Elder Scrolls" game and they make great games.

Azrael
The Nord with the Sword

I truly feel like Cyrodiil was an empty barren wasteland.. and skyrim is a rich diverse and colorful place culturally and historically, politically as well. Strange since Cyrodiil is suppose to be the equivalent of Italy and the capital city the equivelent of Rome compared to real influences... and Skyrim is suppsoe to be freaking scandinavia. I truly feel like cyrodiil was not justly made to the quality it deserved.

So yes... Skyrim is a much, much, MUCH deeper experience then Oblivion. Just sitting in an inn and having a bar-maiden sell you a beer while lisening to dudes talk by a hearth with a chick playing a guitar in the corner is LEAPS AND BOUNDS better then the inns in oblivion... you don't need to eat and sleep, but you cant help yourself from doing it anyway. Thats speaks alot for the atmosphere of the game and i havent felt immersed like this since Baldur's gate 2.

Depends on what you like, if this game isnt realistic i guess i'll have to wait for Arwen to do some realism tweaks, (smiles in hope at you Arwen )

Ahh i see, thank you it seems like the base is there but there will be some mods needed before i can play though, like no fast travel as one of them.

You must be a DnD player.. because in modern games... you can't get more RPG then this game.

You don't have to eat or sleep - it isn't a neccessity. But i do like sleeping in taverns when it's nigth and do my travelling in a morning haha.

I think in terms of environment and graphics, the game is more realistic LOOKING, but no, you don't have to eat.

Unfortunately the RPG genre has declined in certain aspects for me but i think this game has potential.

Yes you can . . . with mods that improve the RPG aspects.
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Sam_A_1992:

Food heals you, it does not reduce your hunger . . . because you never get hungry.
And the HP benefits in food are not even necessary, since the health regen rate is so fast (+40HP/real minute), you can cast a bunch of healing spells in a row (before your magica gets too low), and there are free healing potions all over the place.
You can cook food, but all that does is make it more "healthful" (heals even more).

Drinks increase your stamina, which is not really even necessary since I generally have plenty of stamina, since it is not even depleted when jumping or running,

For me it feels that many of the potential role-playing aspects were never finished.
Skyrim has food, drinks, beds, and the ability to hunt, harvest, and cook food. But there is no real reason to eat, sleep, drink, or to cook food.
My character should have to have to eat, drink, and sleep. Why should I be limited to just pretending that she gets tires, gets hungry, and gets thirsty, when it all these things could have easily been in the default game?

The game is waaayyyy too easy, which totally kills immersion for me.
I've already slowed my health regen down to 1/3 the default speed, reduced my carrying capacity down to 1/3 default, and disabled my compass.
I'll start modding all the Needs, once the Creation Kit is released.

Here, this should tell you alot about it. Its my overview of Skyrim compared to Morrowind and Oblivion: http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1263874-happily-proven-wrong-an-elder-scrolls-fans-look-on-skyrim/page__p__19226059__fromsearch__1#entry19226059

I consider Skyrim Morroblivion, it has a beautiful mix of both games, both Morrowinds immersion, exploration, coupled with Oblivion style graphics, combat, etc. Read my Overview if you want more in depth explanation.

Oblivion was Bethesda taking its first steps in the right direction... They tried a lot of new things with that game, things that not many other RPG's were doing at the time. Skyrim takes what made Oblivion and Morrowind great and improves off of that base and adds in its own bit of unique design. The game is certainly immerse, but the realism is definitely suspended.

I suppose it depends on your definition of realstic. I mean its not the SIMS you don't have to remember to poop, take showers or go to work. Its a fantasy RPG, the game world is kind of a living noval but I mean there is magic and dragons, so unless you believe in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy its pretty unrealisitc in that sense.

To me emersion is more about story. Does the story make sense, is there some attachment to the story and the character I portray? Does the game get me to care about the world, groups in the world, individuals? When I fight does my heart start pumping? All these elements are very much alive and well in Skyrim and in many ways have been in different proportions in all of the Elder Scroll games. This games story I find more engaging, I feel as if the world lives around me, yet Im an intrical center piece around which the story is told. I would say its the most imersive game I have ever played but in the last couple of years there have been many really great RPG's, so I think its more fair to say that its right up their with Fallout 3 and Dragons Age. Great story, great characters, fun gameplay ... its all in there.

I think most people have been complaining about the interface, some bugs, a few imbalances.. of which I think their are some valid complaints. I don't see many people complain about imersion, realism or story.

what I have been doing but trying not to is skipping over the night time. I'm trying to not do this and sleep more in order to slow the game down a bit.