the mining and smithing reminds me a little of runescape but way better of course, definately a good addition to the game, that and dual wielding are 2 of my favorite additions, btw im not a runescape fan

GAmes can attain more mass appeal while still retaining their hardcoe roots. Like I said I think bethesda struck a good balance here. But it's not like some other older rpgs in ways. It has a differnet mood and feel to it.

It is more streamlined, but ONLY that means that they've taken away annoying technical things that didn't need to be there (such as repairing gear). They also beefed up the story to make it more deep, added more random encounters, and have created a massive world with multiple unique locations. For the masses? Perhaps a bit more, which is good, but it still is a hardcoe style of RPG that I know would turn away most of my friends that only play games like halo/gears of war/modern warfare. Skyrim has attained its massive popularity through merit in being a great game which stays true to its roots; while offering insanely good graphics, innovative music and sound, deep and large story, the sandbox and desolate feel of morrowind, and a more realistic presentation of the world as it would be, which is a more violent, gritty, and sixual world than the sterile and storybook feel of the previous games (though to be fair they had their own fair share of violence and advlt themes just not quite as prevalent as this one).