I have seen a number of threads that details the bad. Despite the number of hours played many hate it (or greatly dislike it). And I wonder why so many blow so much time on it. But always say the previous ones are better. (So why not just play the old ones?).

So what makes Skyrim good in comparison to the older games? What makes it better? What makes you put in 30+ hours into it and not feel like a waste of time?

I would give my opinion on the matter but it takes time for me to come up with a good reasonable opinion. But please enlighten me on this matter, I want to know what you think makes skyrim as good if not better than the originals. And please no nostalgia that is never a good enough reason (Though it can be touching).

The only thing I find Skyrim better than the previous games is, for the most part, the game world design. The artists did a great job on everything(though many textures had terrible resolution)

I find it's got a far more detailed world than its predecessors. NPCs have more unique dialogue. Some excellent roleplay mechanics - and even more with Hearthfire. The Daedric quests are better than Oblivion's. The major cities are all unique. The towns/settlements have detail and quests attached to them. I could go on.

This is all opinion, of course. And in turn there are many things previous games do better than Skyrim.

I loved Morrowind, but combat in this game(namely magic combat) is far superior. There's also plenty of replay value so long as you aren't making a bunch of level 81 types

What makes Skyrim great? Bethesda got off their lazy ass and finally implemented the last 4 directions for animations.

The ability to go anywhere and do anything - when you want to.

Even though the game is quest-driven, you ultimately decide when to quest, or when to wander off the beaten path looking for stuff.

This wide-open game-world is pretty much unmatched by any other game.

Could you all give a little more in terms of what EXACTLY makes skyrim better (or even) with its predecessors? I haven't played Morrowind in a while. And even if I went back to play it I wouldn't be in the right mindset to properly compare it to Skyrim. Same for oblivion.

What is it about the guilds that make the new game out strip the old ones? The pacing? Characters? Quests?

But I'm glad some users do have a reason to love this.

Since it's a positive thread I'll only mention the good and leave the bad out of here.

- better graphic engine and overall improved graphics
- better world design
- vastly improved NPC and creatures animations
- improved interactions between NPC [repetitive after a while but it's inevitable]
- unique and detailed dungeons
- an awesome OST [and it just fits better with the game atmosphere than in previous TES, it's more.. coherent, if you get my meaning]
- improved voice acting
- improved player controls and combat system
- improved enemies level scaling

Despite its flaws and being obviously rushed it's a superior game over previous TES titles.